Come Around3
Disclaimer: I do not own Bones. Neither do I own the track Rubber Ducky.
Pairings: Hodgela and B/B
The way you start the New Year, is how you are going to spend the rest of your year. A motto the team remembers when they are stuck at the lab for New Years Eve. Hodgela, B/B
A/N: This is based on a review I got. I love this chapter as much as I love the first one, but a part of me hates it as well. You'll know the part when you see it. But all I have to say is, what I did was necessary. The sequel will be WAY better.
(-X-)
It was five in the morning and most of the New Years celebrations were now over. Jack and Angela were finally winding it up. Both of them were exhausted due to all their partying, if you could call it that.
"So, what are you going to do?" Hodgins asked Angela as he helped her wear her coat.
"I don't know, go home, take a shower, maybe get some sleep," she replied as she turned to face him.
"Well it's the New Year, no reason we can't do that together," he answered with a twinkle in his eye. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You serious?" she asked him, "but what about my clothes?"
"Your house is close-by, we'll pick up your clothes on our way to my house," he replied smoothly. Bringing her closer to him, he leaned in, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips; instantly dispensing any doubts she had on the matter.
"Or do you want to be lonely for the rest of your life?" he asked her, teasingly.
She giggled and whacked him on the shoulder. "Fine," she agreed grudgingly. He kissed her again. But this time he let her go as he turned around and picked up his jacket. He slung his arm around her shoulders as they exited the building, listening with a smile, as Angela told him the directions to her place.
As they sat in his car, Hodgins started the radio. They had nothing but old classics playing at this hour. The two of them sat in comfortable silence, both being too tired to talk, till he parked in front of her apartment building. Angela hopped out and as she shut the door, said, "Be back in a minute." Then she ran into the building. Hodgins drove around the block, wondering how much longer she would take, when his stomach growled. He made a quick call to his house keeper asking her to order . . . he wasn't sure if Angela would want Chinese, or Pizza. So he settled for both. A minute later she was downstairs.
"Hey," she greeted him with a quick kiss as she sat in the car.
"I'd hate to admit it, but I'm getting used to this," he confided with a smile on his face. This felt so right. And he was too much of a man -well he thought he was too much of a man- to admit it to himself. If he got his way he'd freeze time and let this day go on forever.
Soon they arrived at the Hodgins Manor. In truth it was more of an estate. It had a full-sized swimming pool, basketball court, squash room, gym, and a tennis court. It also had a guest house with ten rooms outback. Behind his garage which could hold ten cars, and the tennis court. The backyard of the main house overlooked the swimming pool. The house had been designed by his sister, he told Angela. She noted the softness in his voice and the affectionate look on his face when he spoke of his sister. She smiled to herself. As an artist, she recognised the small details like this, and this little detail told her that he was definitely close with his sister. She realised she had lost track of what he'd been saying.
"Pardon," she asked.
He chuckled, "Never thought I would here you say pardon. Isn't that a little too formal?"
She smiled. He could be SO immature sometimes.
"Fine. Say what, homie-dog?" she repeated herself.
He smiled as he looked at her. "I'm not a rapper."
"Well you sure dance like one," she replied. She liked this banter thing they had. It was almost like what Booth and Brennan had. But here, she understood most of the jokes Hodgins cracked. Some times she was the only one who got the jokes he cracked. Other than Booth that is.
He laughed out loud and decided she had won this war of words. "I was saying my sister designed ten rooms and ten garage spaces because ten is my lucky number."
"That's it? We had a little argument for nothing?"
"I'd like to think of it as banter," he commented. That mischievous twinkle in his eye was back. She wondered what he must have been like as a kid. She had zoned off again. So she tried to focus on what he was saying.
"-but it was a argument employing banter. So really we had a bangument."
"Bangument?"
"Why not? It's a mixture of banter and a argument. A battle of wills you can say."
"You spend too much time around Zach," she told him as she giggled. She got out of the car. He had parked a minute ago.
"Oh My God! I might get . . ." he paused for effect, and then in a voice that sounded a lot like Booth exclaimed, "SQUINT-I-TUS!"
Angela burst out laughing. She dropped her bag as she held onto the car for support. Some of Hodgins jokes were lame, but at times he could be really funny. She had zoned off, she focused again. He was laughing as well. He walked over to her side of the car and picked up her bag. Her laughter subsided as he led her to the main house, whilst they held hands.
When they entered the house, he went off to find the house-keeper with specific instructions. She headed up the stairs to find a room. The main house, like the guest house, had ten rooms. So she set off to find a room to keep her bag in. She wandered around the top floor exploring most of the rooms. She noticed they were decorated in mostly European style, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, and a few with Chinese artefacts. But there were more Italian themed ones than others.
She found a room mostly decorated in Italian style. It had dark maroon wallpaper and the designer had created a warm atmosphere using warm tones. She liked this room more than the others. She set her bag on the floor near a balcony. She opened the door and took a step out. The sun was just rising. It looked beautiful. She noticed how the sunlight gently highlighted most of this estate. Booth hadn't been kidding when he said that the Hodgins had a lot of money.
"Looks like you found my room."
Hodgins voice broke through her thoughts. She noticed she had been zoning out a lot around him, as she noticed small details that made up the bigger picture. He was a regular puzzle. With other guys this didn't happen. She heard what they had to say and but didn't care. Here what he said meant something, and she treasured everything he shared with her. She knew he liked privacy. She hadn't been this way with Kirk . . .
"Angela? You hoo?" Hodgins hand was being waved in front of her face.
"I was taking in the sunrise," she replied quickly trying to get her mind off the painful subject of Kirk. "You know me, always the artist." She tried to seem normal.
"Yeah, I do know you," Hodgins said. He had noted the changed in her voice, in her manner. She wasn't like this usually. He had spent the whole night struggling to listen to what she was saying and not zone out whenever she shared a little detail about her life. So this change in behaviour had nothing to do with the sunrise. He had seen her when she took in other sunrises. She wasn't like this. Was she having doubts?
"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"Nothing," she mumbled. That was the cue not to push her.
"Is this all yours?" she asked after a while, though she seemed a little happier.
"Yeah. My family owns most of the estates in this area," he didn't sound happy as he spoke of them.
"I take it you don't like them."
"Most of them. There are a few who are good."
Both of them returned to their thoughts. After a minute . . .
"So, how bout a bubble bath?" he said, in an attempt to cheer her up.
"You aren't serious, are you?"
"I am. You, me and a tub filled with bubbles." His face didn't change. He just kept grinning.
"Oh God." She rolled her eyes.
"I'll throw in a free massage," he said trying to convince with his blue eyes begging her.
"Fine. But we don't have bubble bath solution."
"I have a toiletry kit with me. Someone gave it to me as a gift." He left the balcony and went back in side. She followed suite, curious to see what he would do. He had gone to his wardrobe, where he rummaged about for a minute before he pulled out a blue toiletry kit. He tossed it to her.
"Nothing says 'You Stink' more than sending your loved one a toiletry kit."
She smiled at the comment. She read the title and giggled: Morning Glory Bath Kit.
No wonder he smelled so good. She looked up to find him gone. A second later the sound of water rushing was heard from the bathroom. He had gone to run them a bath. She fished out the Morning Glory solution. There was a candle and some pot-pouri in there as well. She took out the candle, maybe he had matches lying around.
"Do you have any matches?" she called out to Hodgins.
"Yeah, somewhere in here!" he replied.
She walked into the bathroom. She was surprised to find it half the size of Hodgins room. There was a bathtub almost the size of a Jacuzzi toward the back. The bathroom's wall was painted in warm earth tones. Angela noticed that it had a Spanish design, with what looked like old, fake Aztec artefacts hung on the wall. The sink was placed to her right, in front of a large bathroom mirror. On her left was a large wicker closet. Its doors were opened and she could see Hodgins rummaging about in there. He finally looked up. It seemed he had found the object of his search; two large loofahs and a box of matches.
Hodgins notice her looking around the room with a look of curiosity on her face.
"My sister designed this bathroom. She bought most of the furniture too. Luckily, we have an almost similar taste," he explained as he handed a loofah to her. He took the candle from her. "Do you want more of these?" he asked.
"Sure. It'll add to the atmosphere," she replied. Hodgins liked the way she said 'atmosphere'. He took out five more candles from the cupboard and handed a total of six candles to her. He then took out a CD case from in there. He walked over to the Panasonic CD near the tub and put one inside it. He hit play.
Today
is gonna be the day
That they're gonna throw it back to you
By
now you should've some how
Realised what you gotta do
I don't
believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
Backbeat
the word was on the street
That the fire in your heart is out
I
don't believe that anybody feels
The way I do about you now
"I love this song," Angela told Jack as she lit the candles and arranged them around the tub.
"Me too! Funny coincidence." The twinkle was back in his eye.
Angela giggled a minute later.
"What?" asked Hodgins.
"I just noticed that the song you are playing, belongs to an album called 'What's the story Morning Glory?'. And the bubble bath is Morning Glory scented."
Hodgins smiled. "I was hoping you would notice that."
By now the mood was set: the candles were lit, the bath was drawn, the music was playing, Hodgins had even dimmed the lights. It was perfect. Except that they had to get in.
Angela looked at Hodgins. What were they going to do?
"I'll go out and get into my trunks and you can get into your bikini in here?" he asked.
"Okay," she agreed. She went out to get them. She then headed back into the bathroom to change. Leaving Hodgins outside. He changed in a short while and then waited for her to tell him to come in. A minute later she summoned him inside. When he entered, she had already gotten in and was playing around with the bubbles and foam. He picked up both loofahs and handed one to her as he got in too.
They just wallowed for a few minutes, both exhausted by the long day they had had. The warm water, scented candles and relaxing music wasn't helping. After Angela yawned, Hodgins realised how sleepy both of them were.
"Rubber ducky, you're the one! You make bath-time so much fun! Rubber ducky-"
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What do you think you are doing?"
Hodgins' out of tune version of 'Rubber Ducky' that he was belting out was interrupted by Angela who was jolted awaked by the fact that he was belting it out loud in Whitney Houston style.
"You seemed sleepy," he answered mischievously.
"Well I didn't need your rendition of that song. By the way, how do you know the lyrics?" Angela asked as she tried to keep a straight face. Hodgins had foam over his already curly hair, and it seemed like had been doing some sort of Santa Clause's beard thing with the stuff too. Not to mention his eyes were twinkling like he were a little boy.
"Oh ha ha ha. I get what you are implying but-" he was interrupted once more.
"What am I implying?" Angela asked. She looked quite innocence. But Hodgins knew otherwise – Angela innocent? It was more likely that Bones believed in love at first sight. And since neither seemed quite likely he knew she was stringing him along. Not that he didn't mind.
"'You' are implying that I listen to kids music," he had the sudden urge to stick his tongue out at her; which he did.
Angela retaliated by sticking her tongue out as well. They then stared at each other, trying to break the other one first. Angela broke first. But this was brought on by the fact that she realised how immature they were acting. This little epiphany resulted in her laughing fit.
"I win." Hodgins stated triumphantly.
"No you didn't," tears were running down her eyes. "Don't you realise how silly this is?"
Hodgins lip started to tremble. Soon he was laughing with her. After a while they stopped; their stomachs ached. The last time Angela had laughed this hard, it had been with Kirk. She was slightly saddened by that memory.
"Still sleepy?" Hodgins asked.
"No." Angela replied. "This has to be the best New Years ever."
They returned to wallowing.
And all the roads
that lead you there are winding
And all the lights that lead you
there are blinding
There are many things that I would like to say
to you
But I don't know how
Half and hour later they got out. Both very hungry. Hodgins left Angela to change as he went to his room. He noticed that his house-keeper had brought the food here and left it like he had asked. He changed into a navy blue t-shirt with a white shirt underneath and a pair of beige cargos. He dried his hair quickly with a towel. He then took the food into the balcony. The cutlery had been set up just like he had asked. It was the early hours of the morning. The sky looked absolutely beautiful.
Angela stepped out of the bathroom dressed in a maroon tank top and a pair of black jeans. Hodgins was nowhere to be found.
"Hodgins?" she called out. She too was drying her hair. She shut the bathroom door after checking that they had extinguished every single candle.
"I'm out here!"
She went outside. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue. "Hey," Hodgins turned to face her. He had been unpacking their food onto a table outside. The first thought that hit Angela was, how blue his eyes were. The sky really brought that out. The second thought was how much food that was. But as they sat there eating, Angela felt that it wasn't enough. Hodgins was helping himself to his third slice of pizza. He didn't mind his figure. Then again, men didn't have to.
They didn't talk much as they ate. Both too tired and too busy pigging out. But they were quite comfortable like this. After they were done, they cleared up. They left the garbage outside his room.
"Good night," murmured Hodgins as he slipped onto his side of the bed.
"Mm hmm. . ." replied Angela. They didn't know who dosed off first.
I said maybe
Youre
gonna be the one that saves me ?
And after all
Youre my
wonderwall
Said maybe
Youre
gonna be the one that saves me
Youre gonna be the one that saves
me
Youre gonna be the one that saves me
0
When Angela woke up she found one of Hodgins arms draped across her. Both their feet were intertwined as they spooned. She noted how comfortable this felt. The last time she had felt this great, it had been Kirk . . .
She sighed and went to check the time. It was five to twelve. And suddenly she remembered. She was spending time with her father. They were going to have lunch together. How could she have forgotten that? She jumped out of bed.
The groan Hodgins gave out the next moment answered that. Of course he made her forget.
"Why'd you do that?" he asked as he lay like a star fish on the bed.
"Because I have to meet my dad for lunch and I'm going to be late."
"Oh. Ok."
"Get up! I need a lift there! And you need to get ready."
"I'm ready," Hodgins watched her as she rushed around the room in a frenzy. She had finished brushing her teeth and was now stuffing her clothes into her bag. She zipped it up and looked around to see if she forgot anything. He however was still sitting on the bed. He had not made a move at all.
"Hodgins," she pleaded.
"There is a price."
"Name it."
"Well . . ." he didn't think she'd agree so quickly. He thought she would bargain. But then again, this showed how badly she wanted him to do this for her. So he tried to speed up his thought process. Angela gave up. She had no patience for this.
The next thing he knew she was kissing him furiously. They pulled away a moment later.
"Where do you need to go?" he asked with a smile.
0
They had barely made it in time to lunch with her father. Hodgins dropped her off and went to find a parking spot. Angela rushed in to find her dad sitting at a table. For once she was the late one. After going through formalities one goes through with a relation you have not seen in a while, Angela told him about Kirk's death. Talking about him brought back many memories. But it also brought back a lot of pain.
Hodgins joined them a few minutes later. And Angela was reassured that nothing would happen to him. Nothing like what had happened with Kirk. She introduced him as her new boyfriend and hoped her dad approved. As she had hoped, the two of them hit it off.
"Angela, the last time you wore maroon was when you were four," he father commented halfway through the meal.
"I had taken her to the park," he was telling Hodgins, "she was wearing these brand-new coveralls and she was so proud she had learnt to ride a bike on her own. She was cycling about and then her bike banged into a rock and she fell off and scraped her hands and knees. But she was more upset because she had ripped her new coveralls at the knees. And I remember this little boy with had been in the bushes nearby, bug-collecting or something. He helped her up and tried to cheer her up. He gave her his last pack of chewy creepy-crawlies in his effort. She stopped crying and began helping him find bugs. They found a beetle. It was time to go home then. So when I came to get Angela here, she thanked him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He named his beetle-"
"Angie. . ." Hodgins murmured at the same time as Angela's dad said it, realisation dawning in his eyes. Angela and Hodgins stared at each other.
"You were the little boy who made me feel better," Angela realised. She gave him a kiss on the lips. "Thank you."
"You know, Angie died a few months later. It lived long for its life-span."
Soon lunch was over. Hodgins left to get the car. It was pouring outside. He didn't want her to get wet.
"Don't let this one go Angie-bear," Angela's dad told her.
"Yeah," her mind went back to Kirk. She had let him go. And now he was gone. She just hoped nothing happened to Hodgins. She saw some sort of future with him. Unlike most guys she dated.
0
It was really pouring down as they neared Angela's apartment. The two of them were talking about trivial things when all of a sudden a car sped by them, a moment later a police car in pursuit passed them too. Hodgins slammed the brakes. But the car got no friction so they sped forward and crashed into the barricade. Angela looked at Hodgins to see if he were okay. But he had passed out on the steering wheel. She quickly shook him awake. There was a cut on his forehead. Nothing major but he may have had a concussion. She quickly called the paramedics. They were there half an hour later.
It turned out that there had been many accidents due to this car chase. A murderer was trying to get away and the police were in pursuit of him. They checked Hodgins and stitched up his cut. It was superficial. He had had no concussion, he was fine and dandy. This relieved Angela, she had been worried about him. It had brought out the feelings she had had when Kirk had died. She didn't know if she could've handled it if it had happened to her again. Some guy she loved dying. It took a lot of emotional strength and she didn't know if she had it. She gave Hodgins a kiss. But she could not quell the worry she felt. They headed back to the car. But the crash had wrecked the front. But luckily, it still worked. They got in a drove to her place slowly.
(A/N: You may hate me for what I am about to do. And you may have seen this coming. But I as much as I hated this. It was necessary for the sequel. Which you guys will love. Trust me.)
As they neared the entrance to her building she asked him to stop the car.
"What's the matter? I thought we were going to spend the afternoon watching chick flicks of your choice while I moaned and groaned throughout Torture-Hodgins-fest 2006."
As Angela turned to face him she had tears in her eyes. "Hodgins, after Kirk died, it took a lot for me to get up again. I still remember him. And now I almost lost you. You gave me such a scare, I don't want to go through Kirk again."
"Angela, you won't lose me. Ever. I promise," Hodgins said reassuringly. He leaned in to kiss her. But he was surprised when she pulled away and didn't let him. "Angela?"
"I know, but what if you can't keep your promise. I'd never get over it. I can't do this." With that Angela Montenegro got out of the car and ran into her building as the tears that fell down her face mingled with the rain that fell.
After she left, Hodgins realised how cold the car was. How empty it felt. There was also this pain in his chest. It was getting worse.
(A/N: Also It may have seemed like a stupid way to end the relationship but it had to be done and I'm not proud I did it so why do it well right? Besides you will get the sequel a whole lot sooner now and you have a new chapter. So think bright.)
When she reached her apartment she rushed to the phone and dialled the one number she knew would make her feel better. Tears streamed down her face as she saw a frame with Kirk's picture, and then one with the whole team at the Jeffersonian. And then it slowly hit her. She had ruined the best chance at happiness she had ever had, with or without Kirk.
Someone picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Bren," she sobbed. "I think I made the biggest mistake in my life."
0
Hodgins was still sitting in his car. But now he had parked in a parking lot nearby. He felt numb. And cold. And that throbbing chest pain was worse. He tried to clear his mind and go through what had just happened. He let his head rest against the top of the steering wheel and took deep breaths. Everything had gone well, their bath, their nap, the lunch . . . and then they had driven home.
He had always thought she had gotten over Kirk quite well. She probably thought she had gotten over him well. But the truth was that she hadn't. And that came out whenever she got close to someone. This pain really hurt now. And he was having a hard time breathing. Had he had any internal bleeding due to the crash? The paramedics said nothing much had happened. But as he thought about it, he realised that the reason behind the pain he felt inside, it was because she, Angela Montenegro, had broken his heart.
I'm
dressed all in blue and I'm remembering you
And the dress you
wore when you broke my heart . . .
(-X-)
A/N: Right now you guys are probably hiring assassins to kill me. But don't worry, I will post the sequel soon. I personally hated and loved this chapter. But I promise the sequel will good(or as good as I can make it) because it will have uncharted territory for us Hodgela fans. B/B fans will have stuff for them too, so . . . fear not! (couldn't think of anything better to say after murdering a perfectly good relationship)
I don't care what you have to say about this fic, good or bad, or the different ways you are planning my death, but I would sure love to hear it. So please R/R!
