Here's another short piece of it. There will probably be a part 3, especially if I get some nice reviews.
A Train Car Named…
Part 2
Brennan read the same page three times, then gave up, closing the book and darting a covert glance at her partner. Booth was staring out the window, even though there wasn't much to see in the pitch darkness beyond the glass. What he was really watching was her reflection beside him. His mind kept going over what had happened. Obviously there were some unresolved issues between them, but he wasn't sure he wanted to address them here, now, where there were people all around them to hear.
Brennan cleared her throat. "Uh, I'm going to bed," she said softly.
Booth's head snapped around. "Oh, yeah, sure Bones. Goodnight," he said with a small smile. Gathering her things, she smiled back at him and made her way down the aisle to the sleeping car. Booth closed his eyes, trying not to think about her getting ready for bed, climbing into her berth and settling down to sleep…'Stop it, Booth,' he scolded himself sternly. 'She's your partner. What happened earlier, that was just—the situation just got the better of us. Things have to go back to the way they were.' He sat there awhile longer, trying to muster the courage to go to the sleeping car and go to bed himself. He guessed she'd been gone at least half an hour, plenty of time for her to be safely tucked into bed. He waited another fifteen minutes just to be sure, then he headed to the sleeping car.
A night light was shining in her berth and the covers were rumpled and he sighed with relief that she was already in bed. Pulling his shirt off, he sat on his bunk and took off his shoes and socks, then shucked his jeans. Normally he slept in the buff, unless Parker was sleeping over, but tonight he thought he should keep his boxers on, just in case. He stood to pull the blankets back, then straightened at a startled gasp behind him. Whirling around, he was dismayed to find Brennan standing in the walkway in her nightgown, a cosmetics bag clutched to her chest, her eyes wide as she stared at his chest. Snatching the blanket from the bunk, he covered himself.
"I—I'm sorry!" he stammered. "I—I thought you were already in bed—"
"I was, then I remembered that I didn't brush my teeth," she explained, deeply embarrassed. The picture of him nearly naked kept flashing in front of her mind's eye. Part of her was wishing he'd drop the blanket so she could see more. 'Stop it,' she scolded herself sternly. 'He's your partner.'
"Oh, well, me too," he said, and reached for his jeans, pulling them on. There was an awkward moment as he sidled past her in the narrow passageway, but they managed to pass each other without touching.
Brennan was safely tucked into her bed when he returned and he sighed with relief. He debated sleeping with his jeans on, then decided it wasn't worth the discomfort. As long as they each stayed in their respective bunks, there wouldn't be a problem. Settling back with a sigh, he stared up at her bunk above him. He hoped she was asleep. She wasn't.
"Booth?" she queried softly.
Booth nearly groaned. Uh-oh, here it comes. "Bones, I really don't think this is a good time to discuss what happened. You were scared and I wanted to comfort you and it just happened. I agree we have some unresolved issues, but I think we should wait to talk about it. Discussing it in the dark when feelings are still pretty intense isn't a good idea."
There was a long silence above and Booth began to wonder if she'd fallen asleep. "I—I was just going to ask you if you snore," came her voice with an undertone of—laughter? Was she laughing at him?
Suddenly the humor in the situation struck him too and he chuckled. "Uh, yeah, I'm afraid I do. Sorry," he said, still grinning.
"So do I," she said with a chuckle.
He laughed again. "Goodnight, Bones."
"Goodnight, Booth."
&&&&
I know, it's short, but that was just such a great place to break it. Now, please, please, please review so musie will cooperate in writing part 3. And a special note to you 'lurkers'—don't you know how much writers live for reviews? I mean, c'mon, we pour our hearts and souls into these stories, slave away over the keys and give you our babies, the least you could do is leave a little ol' review to warm our hearts!