A/N: Another day to celebrate! Nothing big like my Tigers in the World Series (man I wish I still lived up there! I spent the first 25 years of my life watching them lose, and they finally get good after I move away!), but grading 65 Personal Finance Tests during the faculty meeting today is also a worthy accomplishment ;-) So in honor of my normal work activities (lol), I have for you today...fluff! Pure, unadulterated fluff. And the mysterious box Booth had in his pocket--but it isn't what you think :-D
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Brennan managed to keep her laughter quiet enough so that Booth didn't come rushing out of the kitchen wondering what had possessed her. After a few moments of gleeful giggling listening to him scrape the ruined lasagna from its pan, she managed to calm herself and decided to lend a hand.
"Let's just order take-out," she suggested, rising and making her way out of the living room. She spotted the small box that Booth had left on the end table earlier and picked it up, bringing it with her into the kitchen. "There's a great Thai place not far from here…"
He smiled broadly when she appeared around the corner, her hair slightly mangled from writhing on the couch. "Let me fix your hair first…" He slipped his arms around her and smoothed the amber strands, letting his large hands slide down her body and come to rest on her hips as he placed a tender kiss on her lips. "There."
She was practically glowing with happiness, completely forgetting the box in her hands.
Then he noticed it. "What's that?"
"Oh, this?" She shifted her focus back to the palm-sized gold box she was holding. "I don't know. You brought it in with your request for reassignment."
"Remind me to tear that up, by the way," he smiled, taking the box from her. He turned it over and examined it, trying to remember what was inside. Everything that happened before seems so long ago. Did I really buy this only this morning? Then it clicked and he chuckled. "I meant this to be a going-away present," he told her. "Something to remember me by after I left town…if you still wanted to remember me."
"Well I definitely want to remember you," she smirked.
The chuckle turned into a thankful laugh. "Glad to here it. Go ahead and open it."
She took the box back and pried the lid off, revealing two rigid gold bracelets. "They're beautiful…" she breathed, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Not as beautiful as you," he replied lightly, delighting in the red tinge that reappeared in her face at the comment. "And they're bangles…"
Her brain registered the word immediately and her face lit up. "Like The Bangles?"
"Yes," he laughed. "Like The Bangles. I wanted you to remember something good about me, and I knew these would do that."
"'Walk like an Egyptian…'" she sang softly, her giggles returning.
"Yeah," he responded, beginning to blush himself at the memory of dancing at the American History Museum, "'Walk like an Egyptian'. And I did. There's an inscription, too," he added quickly to change the subject. "Ubi tu caius ibi ego caia," he recited proudly.
She grinned. "That's Latin."
"See? I can be smart with dead languages too. And…the jeweler helped me figure it out." He winked at her, his infamous charm smile making an appearance.
She grinned brightly and her eyes dropped back to the bracelets. "'Wherever you are I am'," she translated.
"Now you have a little piece of me to take with you everywhere you go."
Her smile softened and she slid a finger over the material of his tie, meeting his gaze again. "Just like you with the tie I gave you."
"Just like me with the tie you gave me," he repeated contentedly. "Neither one of us will ever have to be without the other."
"I like the sound of that." Her hands found his shoulders and she leaned up for a kiss, more serious this time than the last. "I love you, you know."
"I love you too," he whispered back, tingles forming all over his body. Then he smiled the smile she always called his I-told-you-so grin. "You once told me there was no such thing as magic between two people. Has this—us—changed your mind at all?"
She smiled back, the one he always called her not-so-fast smirk. "Nope," she decided. "What we have is already more real than any magic."
He kissed her again softly, sweetly, and drew back the tiniest fraction of an inch. "You know, Temperance, this time I think you're right."
Her grin widened. "I like the sound of that, too." She kissed him quickly one more time, brushing a hand over his face as she pulled away, her stomach growling loudly. "And, if I remember correctly, you promised me dinner tonight."
"I'll call the Thai place," he conceded. He kissed her hair and ordered her out of the kitchen, reaching for the phone and phone book.
Brennan wandered back out into the living room, sliding her bracelets onto her wrist as she slowly walked around, studying every piece of furniture, every decoration, every photograph with new eyes. When she discovered the stereo, she began flipping through Booth's collection of CDs, wondering who some of the artists were and silently rendering her opinion of those she recognized. Then she found a CD she had become very familiar with.
"Sam and Dave," she smiled, flipping the case over. "There it is…Hold On, I'm Comin'."
Strong arms snaked around her waist and a warm body pressed up against her back. "That's what you said yesterday."
He kissed her neck and a soft sigh escaped her lips. She leaned back against him and smiled. "Said what?" she asked, almost dreamily.
"When I called you and asked you to come over. You said, and I quote, 'hold on, I'm coming'."
"I did, didn't I?" She rolled her head against his shoulder, her eyebrows knit in confusion. "How did you remember that?"
"Because," he began slowly, embarrassment creeping back into his voice, "while I was waiting for you to get here, I sang that song to myself over and over again. I thought of dancing with you in your office, how good it felt to hold you like that…and it kept me from going all to pieces. That's sort of our song, you know."
She turned all the way around in his arms, her hands clasping together behind his neck, the puzzlement deepening on her face. "No, I don't know. Our song?"
"Yeah, Bones, our song. Most couples have a song that means something special to them…maybe it reminds them of a happy memory or was playing during an important moment in their relationship. It's something that only they share together."
"And Hold On, I'm Comin' is our song?"
He chuckled. "I think it's been our song for a while now." With one hand he reached over to the stereo and pushed the power button, selecting the CD he wanted from those already loaded in the tray.
Don't you ever feel sad
Lean on me when times are bad
When the day comes and you're down
In a river of trouble and about to drown
Just hold on, I'm comin'
Hold on, I'm comin'
I'm on my way, your lover
If you get cold, yeah, I will be your cover
Don't have to worry, 'cause I'm here
Don't need to suffer baby, 'cause I'm near
Just hold on, I'm comin'
Hold on, I'm comin'
"This is us, Temperance," he smiled, pulling her toward the center of the room. They began to sway gently, much more slowly than the tempo of the music, gazing into each other's eyes and ignoring the fact that they were following the clichés set forth by every love-struck couple before them.
He kissed her softly, the blissful smile on his lips mirrored on hers. "This is you and me."