Disclaimer: In spite of desperate measurements, I still don't own Bones and its characters, just the storyplot.
R&R is always highly appreciated. I'm an R&R-junkie.
Chapter 4.
When Brennan woke up, she was alone in the shelter. The blanket was carefully placed over her, but there was no sign of Booth. She sat up and glanced outside and saw him sit by the campfire making breakfast. He only had his pants on and his hair was wet. He had just been to the stream and washed the sleep off of him. She saw the muscles in his back, and she couldn't help but stare at them. His broad shoulders, muscular back and arms. Suddenly she shook her head to wipe the image from her eyes and got her clothes on before she packed the backpack with the blanket and took it outside for Booth to pack the rest of the gear.
"Morning" he said when he saw her.
"Morning" she answered, trying not to stare at his bare chest. She felt intoxicated everytime she even thought about his naked back, chest and arms.
Why did she feel like this? He was a friend and her partner, but could there be more? She decided that there were not supposed to be anything more than friendship and partnership, if it went further it would spoil everything.
He watched her from the corner of his eye and thought she was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, but could there be more than friendship and partnership? He didn't know, but he wanted to give it a try, but he couldn't tell her. Not yet.
"We better get moving" he said after they had eaten some berries and a fish that he had been able to catch while washing himself in the stream.
"Yeah" she answered and handed him the backpack.
He packed down the gear that they were going to take with them, took the fire out properly and watched the compass to see where they were going.
"We're headed that way" he said and pointed towards some mountains behind a big meadow full of flowers and trees.
She started walking in the direction he pointed. He put the backpack on his back, put the compass in his pocket and started following her. At least this time she didn't hit him.
After a few hours they had come to the trees. It was like a little forest. The roots were sticking up from the ground, the branches were hanging low and stretched out like arms trying to get a hold of them. The sunrays shone down here and there and made small places of light. Suddenly Brennan stumbled and fell. Booth hurried to her side.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine" she answered, got up and started walking.
The walking however did not go so good. She limped pretty bad.
"Bones, stop" Booth said.
"Don't call me Bones" she said between her teeth, but she stopped and winced a bit of pain.
"Sit down here on this stone" Booth ordered her.
She did as he said. He took off the shoe and sock and gently examined her foot and ankle. He gently pressed the ankle and when she winced he stopped and put on her sock and shoe again.
"Just a sprain, luckily no broken bones" he said.
"Don't call me Bones, oh right yeah, no broken bones" she said, first irritated but when she realized that he had meant the bones in her foot and ankle she softened a bit in her tone and even gave him a hint of a smile.
He smiled back and helped her up and supported her. She limped forward with some support from Booth. It was going to take a while longer now with her sprained ankle and all, but somehow Booth enjoyed it all even though she was injured. He put his backpack securily on his back and lifted her up into his arms. She protested heavily.
"Put me down Booth, I don't need you to carry me. I'm a big girl and I can walk myself."
"Yeah, you could but right now I want you to stay off your foot so I will carry you for a while."
She grunted a bit, irritated but later got sleepy by the steady pace that Booth walked with. She put her arm around his neck, leaned her head down to his shoulder and chest and almost fell asleep. Under her arm she felt his muscles work. He had put his jacket down in the backpack and only wore a sweater. She could feel his heart beat with a bit higher rate, but that was normal since he was carrying her and it must be strenous, she was not that light and she knew it.
After a while he stopped, let her down, supporting her, and looked around and said:
"This is our place for the night, we better get some rest."
"We need something to eat too."
"Yeah, I'll go and see if I can get something."
He left her alone and went out into the woods to hunt for food. Suddenly she heard a gunshot and was startled and started looking around. A few seconds later, she saw Booth come back with something in his hand. He held it up in front of her and she saw that it was a rabbit.
"Here's dinner" he said.
"That's gross" she said.
"I'll skin it and hang it above the fire later. First I'll make a shelter and gather some firewood."
"I can get the firewood" she said.
"Are you sure?" he looked insecure.
"Yeah, I mean I can try at least. I will not let you do all the work."
"Alright then, but stay close, you never know what is lurking in the woods."
She gathered the firewood within viewingrange from Booth, while he made the shelter. He built a similar one from the night before.
An hour later the shelter was built and they sat by the campfire waiting for the rabbit to be thourouhly cooked where it hanged over the fire, skinned and on a pole. They had both taken off their jackets which now lay in the shelter and wore now only sweaters instead of jackets. She saw that Booth's sweater were a bit tight and the muscles were visible through it. Then she shook her head slightly and thought:
'What am I doing? It's Booth and he's my partner for crying out loud. I can't look at him like this. '
"Rabbit's done" Booth said suddenly and took her out of her thoughts.
He cut her a piece of meat and then cut one for himself and they ate under silence once more. After the rabbit was eaten, they burned the rest of it to keep animals away and then they went for bed.