Booth spent the next day hoping and praying that he wouldn't have a new case come his way. He desperately wanted to keep his date with Bones that evening. Of course, if they had a new case, they could discuss it over dinner on their date, but he wanted tonight to be different. He didn't want to talk about murder and mayhem that evening...he wanted to talk about them...about where their relationship stood, and what he wanted from it going forward.
He chuckled to himself as he checked his phone. What he wanted and what would actually happen weren't necessarily the same thing, especially since his Bones was involved. She was quite adept at putting up walls or deflecting questions if she considered them too probing. He'd have to look for openings and use a delicate touch. No pushing this time...nothing that would make her defensive...
Nodding to himself as he turned back to his monitor, Booth had to admit that Avalon had been right all along. He should've never listened to Sweets. Given Brennan's stubbornness, coupled with her emotional vulnerability, he should've known better than to have backed her into a corner that night in front of the Hoover. That misstep had led to a cascade reaction...failure upon failure had followed that giant fuck up, and now here he was...hoping to make another drastic change in the course of their lives...hoping to have a chance to make things right once and for all.
After hours of being too distracted to actually accomplish anything, he decided to wrap things up for the day so he could make it home in time to get cleaned up before meeting Bones. Grabbing his coat, keys, and phone, he was about to leave when an unexpected visitor appeared at his door.
"Special Agent Booth?"
Suppressing a groan, Booth pretended to smile. "Director Rollins...I, um...I was just leaving."
"Oh? It's a bit early, isn't it?" Rollins walked in and sat down, crossing his legs and smoothing his tie as he made himself comfortable. "Busy night?"
"I have plans, but nothing that can't wait…" Sitting down behind his desk, Booth put on his best professional demeanor. "What can I do for you, sir? Do you have a case for me?"
"No, nothing that mundane." Rollins laughed quietly as he checked his cufflinks. "Listen, my wife and I are hosting a holiday gathering for all the upper echelon of the Bureau a week from this coming Saturday...you know, directors, associate directors, special agents in charge of their divisions, people like that...and so I'm here to extend the invitation. It'll be catered by chefs from one of the finer restaurants in the area, so the food will be good. My wife says the dress code is festive casual, whatever the hell that means. Anyway, feel free to bring a date…around sevenish..."
"Um, Saturday of next weekend? I'm not sure I can make it…," Booth stammered. Not wanting to admit that he might not be able to get a date, he made a show of checking his phone's calendar app. "I'll get back to you…"
"I'll expect you, then." Seeing Booth's grimace, Rollins raised an eyebrow. "It'll be good for your career if you show up, Booth...you know, so you can press the flesh...make sure to meet the right people...shit like that. The directors need to know who you are if you expect to get a good promotion in the next few years."
'I'm not sure I want a promotion that bad…,' Booth thought to himself. Knowing it'd do no good to put up an argument at that moment, he gave the director a noncommittal shrug. "Fine. I'll see what I can do." Fidgeting nervously with his keys, Booth glanced towards the door. "Is there anything else, sir?"
Rising to leave, the Director chuckled. "That should do it. I'll send you an email with the rest of the pertinent details…"
"Excellent. Thank you, sir."
Watching as the man walked out the door, Booth shook his head in annoyance. "Son of a bitch…"
Oooooooooo
As she stood in front of her mirror, Brennan once again wondered if she was dressed appropriately for the 'date' she had planned with Booth that evening. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to have a meal with a friend...it's not like I'm meeting the President."
Smoothing the sapphire blue sweater over her black slacks, she sighed. Perhaps it was silly to be so concerned about her appearance, but it seemed that she was having difficulty controlling her nervousness, and this was how that nervousness had manifested itself. There was no denying that this 'date' with Booth felt different than a normal meal shared by two friendly work colleagues, but she wasn't sure why. Why am I so unsettled? It's just Booth...
Of course, maybe the meal wouldn't be the important part of the evening...maybe it would be the conversation that occurred between them. She knew things were different between them now, and perhaps it was necessary to discuss that. After all, Booth had demonstrated many aspects of social interactions to her, and this might be the time to show him how much she had learned from him over the years.
Checking her mirror one more time, she decided that she looked acceptable. Nodding to herself, she left her bedroom and strode across the living room to gather her belongings so she could leave.
"Wow!" Max was grinning broadly as he studied his daughter. "You look great! I hope Booth can concentrate on his meal with you sitting across the table from him. That blue sweater is gonna knock his socks off!"
"Dad!" Smiling self-consciously, Brennan pulled on her coat. "I like this sweater, so I wore it. That's all there is to it. The fact that I'm meeting Booth this evening had nothing to do with what I chose to wear. Besides, it's just dinner with a friend."
"Right." Max gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You just keep telling yourself that, Honey, if it makes you feel better."
"Whatever." She pretended to glare at him. "Don't wait up, Dad." Giving her father a hug, she giggled. "I'll tell you all about my 'date' tomorrow…"
Watching as she left, Max chuckled as he turned on the television. "Hopefully, there'll be things happening on their date that she doesn't want to tell me about…"
Oooooooooo
Arriving at the diner a few minutes early, Booth waved at Frankie. "You saved it for me, right?"
"Sure did." Frankie pointed at Booth's favorite table. "Look...I even marked it."
Laughing, Booth picked up the hand made sign. "Reserved. Thanks, Buddy."
"No problem. Gotta keep my best customer happy."
Glancing around the diner, Booth was relieved to see that most of the dinner rush was over. The restaurant would be quiet, and if they were lucky, they'd practically have the place to themselves that evening.
After looking over his shoulder, he pulled a small bouquet of daffodils and a vase from inside his jacket and after arranging the flowers, he set it at the place across from where he'd be sitting. "Perfect. Now I just have to wait for her to get here…"
He chose to sit at the side of the table facing the door so he could see her when she arrived, wanting to capture that first glimpse of her as she entered the diner, and he wasn't disappointed.
Hearing the doorbell chime, he looked up and felt his heart skip a beat. She was breathtaking. "Oh my God…look at her.," he gasped softly, trying to remain calm. "She's so beautiful. How could I have thought Hannah was the one for me?"
Brushing tiny snowflakes from her hair, Brennan wore a happy smile as she walked over to the table. Her cheeks were flushed not only with the cold, but also with appreciation for Booth's appearance. The black henley sweater he was wearing emphasized the width of his shoulders to perfection. Holly is correct...Booth is a very attractive man…and I need to ensure that no other woman ever has an opportunity to lay claim on him...
Slipping out of her coat, she sat down with a coy grin. "Hello, Booth. The flowers are very pretty..."
"Hiya, Bones…um...I like your sweater. That's a good color for you." He knew he was grinning like a fool, but he didn't care. "And I'm glad you like the flowers. Hungry?"
She nodded as Ellie brought a coffee for him and hot tea for her, along with some menus. "Yes. I think the cold weather has increased my appetite."
"Yeah...me, too."
Trying to act casual, they both looked over the menu for a few minutes, even though they both had it memorized. Finally, Booth cleared his throat. "Whad'ya think, Bones? Soup and salad?"
"I think maybe tomato soup and grilled cheese. What about you?"
"A cheeseburger and fries…" Grinning, he peered over the top of his menu. "You're gonna steal my fries, aren't you?"
She giggled softly. "Perhaps. After all, we are trying to reclaim some of our past, aren't we?"
"Yeah." After telling Ellie what they wanted, Booth cleared his throat slightly. "So I know I said I didn't want us to talk about work this evening, but I need to ask you for a favor about something that's work related, if you don't mind."
"Of course, I don't mind." Brennan smiled as she put her napkin in her lap. "What do you need?"
"Well, I have to go to a holiday office party a week from this Saturday, and I wondered if you'd come with me." Stirring some sugar into his coffee, Booth shrugged. "Director Rollins is having some sort of shindig for the agents in charge and the directors...you know, FBI bigwigs and guys like that, so I have to go…"
"Oh...so it's a work related engagement..." Brennan smirked at Booth's discomfort as she stirred squeezed some lemon juice into her tea. "...and I suppose you need a date?"
"Yeah, I do, and you know…" He reached over to clasp her hand. "...if I'm gonna keep my status as an alpha male at the FBI, I need to have the most beautiful woman in DC as my date…" Chuckling as she narrowed her eyes at him, he quickly added, "...the most beautiful woman in DC and the surrounding states, that is…"
"I see." Pleased with the compliment, she smiled slightly before raising an eyebrow at him. "So my presence at this event is merely an anthropological necessity as far as you're concerned...you want me there to help you maintain your dominant status within your herd. Understandable…although I'm not sure I want to be viewed as simply a sex object decorating your arm..."
"Come on, Bones...you know better than that." Rolling his eyes as she giggled, he deployed a killer rendition of sad puppy eyes. "Please?"
Laughing at her silly partner's attempt at flirting, she finally agreed. "Oh...okay. I'll go to the party with you."
"Good. I'll text you the details next week." He paused as their dinner arrived. "So no more work talk, okay? Let's eat!"
Oooooooooo
Despite having known each other for years, there was still some lingering discomfort between them...memories of what had happened over the last few months seemed to hang in the air between them, and they ate their meal in silence before Booth set his coffee cup aside and reached for his dessert. "You know, I don't think we've had so little to say to each other since we first started working together. C'mon, Bones...what's going on?"
She looked out the window for a few seconds before turning back to her soup. "Nothing…"
"Look, I know that things have been off between us, and I know that it's my fault, okay? And I'm sorry about that, but I can't do anything about the past now...all I can do is try to be a better...friend...going forward. So, whad'ya say...can you give me another chance? Can you let me prove myself to you?"
"I don't think you need another chance." Seeing his surprise, Brennan wore a soft smile as she stole some of his leftover fries. "I've always considered you to be one of my closest friends, Booth. Nothing could ever change that."
"Right. Thanks, Bones." Thanks, but I want so much more than that… Trying to smile, he ate his last bit of pie and pushed the plate away. "So no trip out of town this Christmas? Couldn't you find any old Incas to dig up in some exotic faraway land?"
She laughed merrily. "I've never dug up Incas, Booth." Laying her napkin aside, she shook her head. "My dad wanted to spend Christmas with me, since Russ is unavailable, and I didn't want to worry about trying to get ready for a trip while he's here." Looking into Booth's eyes, she sighed. "Besides, I've had an epiphany. I've realized something important recently…"
"Really? What's that?" He leaned forward, gazing at her intently. "Well, let's hear it...if you want to tell me, that is…"
"I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'll try." She stared at her empty soup bowl for a few seconds. "In the past, when I left town over Christmas to go on some sort of expedition, I thought I was getting away from all the pain I'd always associated with the holidays...you know, the pain from my parents leaving...the pain from being in foster care...the pain of being alone...things like that." Looking up at Booth, she brushed away a tear. "What I didn't realize was that the pain wasn't caused by external sources...it was inside me. I wasn't leaving it behind. Instead, I was taking it with me wherever I went. No matter how I tried to bury the pain by concentrating on my work, it was still there, nagging me from the back of my mind."
Sighing softly before sipping her tea, she shrugged before looking into his eyes. "I finally realized that the only way to get away from the pain was to let it go. It took me several years to realize that, but now that I have decided to let it go, I have a renewed relationship with my father. Now I realize that what happened to me in foster care was not my fault. Now I don't have to feel alone any more, because now I'm able to maintain friendships." Seeing Booth's stunned expression, she sighed. "I don't think I would've ever been able to face those feelings if you hadn't helped me understand them, Booth. I was able to trust you from the start of our friendship, so with your support, I could move on...I could finally throw off the pain and therefore be more open to loving others…"
"I see. So…" Booth reached across the table to take her hand. "...um...do you think you'll ever be able to trust me like that again? Like you did before Hannah was in the picture?"
She smiled sadly. "I've always trusted you, Booth. That wasn't ever the problem. It was more like I wasn't sure what was appropriate behavior when it came to our relationship while you were with her. As I'm sure you remember, I picked the most inopportune time to tell you that I wished I had taken a chance on us. That was a poor choice on my part, and I felt so...foolish...afterwards..."
"That wasn't your fault, Bones." He shook his head as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "I was the one who screwed things up…I was the one who let Hannah come between us…"
"Given the circumstances between us after that night at the Hoover, when you asked if we could be a couple, and I said 'no', I understood that you had to move on...to find someone who could love you the way you deserve to be loved." She sighed softly. "Even then, I still trusted you, Booth. You did what you said you'd do…"
"I know now that I made a huge mistake when I thought Hannah could love me like that, Bones. I also know that I should've been more patient...I should've let you take things at your own pace, instead of forcing the issue. I think I'll always regret that. We've lost so much time together because I was so impatient." He shrugged sadly. "Well, anyway, that's in the past, right, Bones? So the only thing to do now is to move forward...I mean...you know...maybe give ourselves another shot at it...at being...close...closer than we are now..."
"I agree." Studying her cup, she nodded. "I think we can move forward together from this point."
"Yeah, me, too...like me and you, together, right?" Seeing that she'd understood what he'd meant, he smiled happily as he reached for his jacket. "Hey, I thought you said you had something to show me this evening…"
Brennan smiled as she rose from her seat and picked up her bouquet. "I do. Shall we?"
Putting his hand in the small of her back, Booth smiled as he guided her to the diner's front door. "We shall…"
They paid for dinner and walked hand in hand into the night, each feeling a sense of relief. Maybe the hardest part was behind them now.
He gave her a shy smile. "Thanks for having dinner with me, Bones."
"I enjoyed it tremendously, Booth." She grinned as she took his hand. "Now...come with me…"
A/N: so ends part one of the date. Part two will be posted in a day or two.
