I will be continuing with When Darkness Falls.I hope to have the third chapter up within the next 24hrs. This damn idea just wouldn't leave me be so, it seems I'll be writing two fics simutaneously...
Disclaimer: Own Bones or any Television show for that matter...?
Would that I could.
He sat in the dark staring out the window absently sipping a now tepid bottle of beer wondering how the hell one of the most important parts of his life had fallen apart in the past 48 hours. Chuckling wryly to himself he decided to be honest and admit that it all began long before then. Replaying events in his mind, his traitorous mind flew to the day that set this all in motion.
"Stop avoiding me Temp."
"I am not avoiding you Booth, I am just busy." she replied defensively as she sidestepped him to slidebehind her desk, setting the stack of files in her arms down amongst the chaos that already resided on the surface.
"Fine. Stop avoiding the situation." he countered through gritted teeth.
Averting her eyes she began sorting through the mess in front of her trying to prevent what was going to happen. Of course she couldn't just leave well enough alone. She knew that she was baiting him before she even uttered the words.
"I don't know what you mean."
Groaning in frustration, Booth rounded on his heel and began pacing the space of her office wound tighter than a spring. To the casual observer, it looked as though the former Army Ranger was ready to put his dormant skills to work perhaps on the woman standing just a few feet away. Anyone that knew him though would be more than happy to point out that he'd probably like nothing more than to haul said woman against him and kiss her senseless. After a few more turns around the office he stopped in front of her desk.
"Look at me."
Slowly placing her hands flat on the surface in front of her, she collected herself and prepared for the worst. Raising her eyes to his she was startled by the look in his eyes. Everything emotion, all the trust and love he had tried to convey to her in he past months was laid bare before her and he was now forcing her to acknowledge it.
"Are you trying to get something through my thick skull here? Let me tell you something you should know about me by now, I'm not good with subtlety. If you are having second thoughts and are trying to let me down easy, just spit it out. I'm tough, I can take it."
He watched as the carefully guarded mask fell and sheer torment appeared on her face. She sank into the chair behind the desk and dropped her head into her hands. For a brief moment he felt guilty for making her feel this way but then quickly replaced that with the anger that bubbled just beneath the surface in regards to the situation she was creating by being scared and running. His thoughts were interrupted and then pushed aside as he heard her begin to speak.
"If you want the truth, I'm scared shitless. Everytime I think about us, it's like a sucker punch to the gut. Is that what you want to hear? All of the most important emotional attachments in my life have been ripped away from me. Do you have any idea what that feels like? Everything in mypast has told me not to get attached, to live for the moment, that the other shoe would drop anytime it damn well felt like it. Now, with you, I honestly don't know where to go from here and I have no faith in what you are saying becauseeverything I have survived completely contradicts it."
He walked around the desk and crouched down beside her chair. Swiveling it around so the she was facing him he placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look him in the eye.
"I guess what it comes down to is whether or not you trust me. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you and you damn well know it. If you can't move forward on this with me, then we need to call it quits, just keep in mind that it would be your doing, not mine."
Sighing he stood and walked quietly to the door. Turning to look at her once more before he left he quietly murmured,
"Honestly Temp, I thought we were past this."
Taking another swill of beer, he silently chastised himself for his words and actions that day. Sure everything had turned out great after his impassioned little speech. Dr. Temperance Brennan had taken a leap of faith that day and admitted to herself and finally, her friends that she loved him and that they were going to work on being in a committed relationship, consequences be damned. It was what he had wanted, right? Absolutely. What he hadn't known at the time was that he'd backed her into a corner.
