A Bad Day

"Bren, did you pull an all-nighter?" Angela planted one hand on the desk and the other on her hip.

"Mmm, what?" she looked up from the laptop.

"You did, didn't you. I'm calling Booth."

"Don't!"

"Too late." She sang. The cell phone was ringing.

"Booth."

"Brennan needs breakfast."

"She didn't." Angela shoved the phone into Brennan's hand.

"Hi, Booth." She said, a little nervously.

"What did I tell you?"

"I don't know." She stuck the phone between her chin and shoulder and her fingers went back to the keyboard.

"Were you even listening?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You're not listening to me now, are you, Bones?" He emphasized the last word as he pulled into a coffee shop.

"What? Um – okay, you know what Booth? I am not a teenager and you are not my father."

"Don't I know it." He said with more feeling than he had meant to, and then grimaced, but it sailed right past her.

"And you were the one who didn't want me going to my car alone late." She continued.

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I'm on my way."

"I told you."

"Hey! It's already," he checked his watch. "7:22. The day's half over."

"This from the man who was still asleep at 11:37?"

"I'll be there in a minute." He flipped the phone shut. She turned Angela's off and passed it back to her owner.

"So, uh, what was that?" Angela grinned at her friend.

"What?"

"You slept over?"

"No! Ange. No. I went over on a Saturday to give him some paperwork."

"Ok, whatever you say." She sashayed out with a doubtful look on her face. Booth was not in a good mood when he reached the lab. Rebecca and what's-his-face had gone out last night, so Parker had stayed the night with him. And thrown up until 2:00, not only in the bathroom but once in his bedroom and then in the living room. So now his apartment smelled like puke and antiseptic, and he had had only a few hours of sleep after two weeks of accumulated sleep deprivation before Cullen had called and woken him up, so he had to pack up Parker's things and carry him into the car and take him back to Rebecca's, where what's-his-face had answered the door in nothing but his boxers and a face full of shaving cream. And Rebecca had not been happy, and neither had Cullen when he finally, finally arrived, and there were three messages on his answering machine from his mother that he had been avoiding answering. He had thought, briefly, about taking Cam down this weekend, but his family really wasn't Cam's kind of crowd, and though she was more 'normal', Cam's social skills really weren't that much better than Bones'. She just knew what she was doing when she pissed people off or talked about her job during dinner. Besides, they both knew it was a casual thing, and meeting the parents seemed like it sent the wrong message, and then Cam met what's-his-name (not to be confused with what's-his-face). Not that he had a problem with either of his exes dating other guys, but it sucked that he was going to have to tell his mom that yet another year had passed without any prospects for more grandkids. At least he had Parker this year.

"Hey, Booth. When was this sleepover with Brennan?" Hodgins asked with a grin. Hodgins was grinning a lot lately. Booth added him to his mental list of people to resent before what the entomologist had actually said registered.

"Wait – what?" But he had escaped to his office.

"Rough night?" Angela asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. She followed Hodgins and shut the door. The blinds were drawn. Booth stopped and stared for a second.

"Context?" Brennan asked brusquely. She was in field gear already, with her jacket on and her field bag, she looked none the worse for the wear of (yet another) sleepless night. He tried to add her to his list but found he couldn't. "Booth?"

"Hodgins was asking me something about a sleepover."

"Oh." She blushed. "Well, Ange was in the room when we were on the phone, and, well…" she trailed off lamely.

"Right. Almost forgot." He held up the coffee and the bag containing the muffin. "I thought it was a little early for Thai."

"Thanks." She said, completely without humour. He sighed, but he kind of liked her obliviousness. Was obliviousness a word? Then he caught himself. Who the hell cared? Too much time with squints.

"Come on." He put a hand on her back. He didn't think about it anymore. Had never, really. It just seemed natural. Then one day he caught himself doing it and had realized with surprise that she hadn't kicked his ass yet. That was when he knew that 'Bones' was there to stay. They were in the car, sharing a comfortable silence in which Seeley contemplated the suckiness (That definitely wasn't a word. Oh God.) that was his life of late and Brennan ate and thought about her book. She was having trouble with her Kathy's growing relationship with her partner Andy. Romance wasn't really her thing. Then the phone rang. They both patted their pockets.

AN: Minor cliffhanger, but it's not like you've got long to wait. Which reminds me: I learned everything I know about forensics on this show, so the case is purely ornamental and really bad. Seriously, whatever your expectations are, lower them. The plus side is, it'll be wrapped up in about a hundred words. Yay me!

If you don't like fluff, you are so in the wrong story.

I started writing this around the time Gravedigger aired. I'd never written fanfiction, but I don't really get to choose what I write, so here we are. Most of this time has been spent convincing myself to get an account and post this, so I was delighted and flattered by the response the frst chapter got. I'll never hold chapters for ransom for reviews, but it's nice, especially at the beginning, to know that people are interested. (I was a lurker for months, so I understand that too). Thank you very much, I hope you keep reading and enjoying it. And that I'll never write an author's note as long as this one again.