Spoilers: Math test tomorrow. That spoiler enough for you? Kill me now. I have that horrible sinking feeling that I'm going to do badly no matter how much I study. Though, that's probably a subconscious way of shirking my studies…'subconscious' my arse...
Disclaimer: Whatever. I've got too much homework to bother with this.
Author's Note: Snuggling? Sweets? What could be better?!
"So…" Sweets began, drawing the word out. "Where am I sleeping? This house have a spare room?" He looked around expectantly. Laura groaned.
"Room?" Brennan and Alex questioned simultaneously.
"No. Oh, no, no, no, Sweets. Not happening," Booth protested adamantly, holding up a hand as if to block the sight of the psychiatrist from his eyes.
"Agent Booth, I don't see why-"
"You said it yourself, Sweets: It'd defeat the purpose of the exercise," Booth interrupted through gritted teeth. He was having enough trouble with things as it was; having Sweets there was not going to help. He removed his feet from Brennan's legs, earning a sigh of mock-relief from her.
He ignored her dramatics.
"You can't stay, Sweets. There are only four bedrooms," Booth continued. Two of them were vacant, but what the hell. Booth didn't know, either, that technically, three were vacant.
"Agent Booth. You have, as of now, two days of this assignment left. If anything productive was going to happen, chances are it's already happened. I need to see how the two of you-" he gestured between Booth and Brennan "-interact in this kind of setting."
"Not to mention the four of you," he added, looking at Laura and Alex, who were currently both covering their smiled behind their hands. Booth shot them a questioning look.
Brennan stood up. "I'm going to bed," she said simply. A chorus of goodnights came from Alex, Laura and Sweets, while Booth shot her a warning stare. She looked at him, confused. "What?"
He drew in a breath and blew it out steadily. "Fine. The kid can stay," he snapped, defeated. Sweets looked thrilled.
"Really, Agent Booth, you won't know I'm here."
"Yeah. Right. Whatever, Sweets. Just don't come running to me if you have a nightmare," he mocked, following Brennan out of the room.
Booth and Brennan met again in the kitchen after arranging Sweets to sleep in what was Brennan's room, putting all her things into Laura's, which was surprisingly uncluttered. Booth had made the specific decision to actually wear pyjamas this week, and was partially relived when Brennan came down the stairs in sweat pants and an old t-shirt. He wasn't the only slob in the house.
"He just wants to spend time with us. He has no friends his own age," Booth whispered to Brennan as they left the room. She smiled, but didn't fail to notice that Booth's mouth was unnecessarily close to her ear. She put her arms around herself as they moved down the stairs in a surprisingly vulnerable gesture. Booth mistook the reason and slung his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.
"Cold, Bones?" he asked casually. She shrugged, but decided better of it.
"Yeah. Cold. They should put some heaters down here…"
"Yeah, Bones, but they don't actually expect people to sleep down here," he chuckled. She rolled her eyes, then realized that they'd stopped walking. They stood in the doorway, Booth's arm still shrugged around her shoulders protectively. She looked at him as if to ask something, before he lowered his head towards hers.
She closed her eyes as she felt his breath, then jerked back, trying to move out of Booth's grip.
Unfortunately for her, on the way back, she smacked into the doorway and instinctively bounced back into Booth, landing herself half on the floor of the small room and half on the mattresses they'd dumped on said floor. She also landed Booth half on top of her.
Well done, Brennan, she scolded herself. That was effective.
"Booth, get off me," was all she said. Booth laughed; Brennan closed her eyes momentarily as she felt the laugh reverberate through his chest, but forced them open again.
"Oh yeah? Or what?" he challenged. There was mostly playfulness, but a little of something disturbing familiar in his voice. She narrowed her eyes as he shifted his position, so he was lying across her instead of on her, one hand propping up an amused face. They stared at each other.
"Or I will tell Sweets," she threatened, both serious and amused. She looked, to Booth, to be rather proud of her comeback. He only laughed again, causing her to grit her teeth.
"Huh. Well then I'd tell him you pulled me. That you are subconsciously attracted to me," he countered, squirming almost painfully on top of her.
"I don't believe in psychology." She looked like a defiant child, and Booth couldn't help but pinch her cheek with his free hand. She pulled out of his grasp, only succeeding on shifting their positions again. Now she was totally on the cold floor, and she and Booth were slightly more parallel.
"Just because you don't believe in it, Bones, doesn't mean it doesn't exist," he replied smugly. She glared at him as her hands found their way to his shoulders to shove him off.
"Uh, uh, uh, Bones," he tutted, as he removed her hands from his shoulders and pinned them to the floor above their heads. He removed one hand to prop himself up again so as not to hurt her. More than necessary.
She continued to glare at him, but he could see she was affected by this. At least you're not the only one, he muttered inwardly.
"Booth," she warned quietly. He shrugged and smiled.
"Why did you pull away?" he whispered, again a little closer than necessary. She rolled her eyes as if she'd told him thirty times.
"Because, Booth. I…you…you were going to kiss me!" she suddenly blurted. She shut her mouth tightly, embarrassed by the outburst, and the content of what she was saying. To her shock, Booth laughed.
"Squints do have excellent deductive skills, I must say," he pondered mockingly. She jerked her hand half-heartedly, trying to get it back from Booth's bigger one. He smiled again.
"Shut up and get off me," she said, sounding a little more exasperated than angry now.
"Too grabby?" he pouted mockingly.
"Yes, you - shut up. Stop mocking me; it's not a flattering look on you," she huffed. Booth smiled genially and let go of her hands. She sighed with relief and moved again to shove Booth off. Suddenly his hands gripped her waist and he pulled her on top of him, maneuvering himself onto the mattress as he did so.
She sat up, and swatted his chest before she realized that she was straddling him on the bed, his hands on her waist still. He looked her up and down appreciatively before smirking at her. She rolled her eyes as if to say men!, before dragging herself off him and diving under the blankets as quickly as she could, her back turned to him.
Once out of sight, Booth closed his eyes part in thanks, part in regret, but mostly to calm himself down. Fun as it had been, the floor-sparring had been a little too risky for someone who liked to have control over every situation.
Opening his eyes, he grinned at the back of Brennan's head. He could as good as see the annoyance seep out of her. He chuckled before dragging the blankets off her and onto himself.
Screw control, he thought bitterly as she automatically rolled over to grab them back. She landed directly against Booth's chest, and his arm went around her with the blankets. She looked at him cynically, eyebrow raised. His Charm Smile was magnificent.
"Don't fight it, Bones," he said quietly before pulling her closer and snuggling into her like a child. "Everything happens eventually."
Brennan moved to stretch, only to feel a weight tightening on her waist. She opened her eyes as she remembered why. She bit her lip. What now?
"Bones," Booth mumbled. Brennan started, then calmed herself when she realized he was still asleep. She started again when she wondered why he was saying her name in his sleep.
Shrugging, she decided to talk to him while he was asleep, both avoiding confrontation, and, with any luck, being more persuasive.
"Booth. Let go," she whispered loudly, poking him in the shoulder. He pulled her closer and buried his face into her neck. She let out a sharp breath while Booth breathed heavily. He sounded almost relieved. She tried not to notice how comfortable she was; how warm.
She cleared her throat. Maybe she'd have to wake him up. He didn't stir.
"Booth." Nothing.
She tried removing his arm from around her waist, but he was already holding her too securely to warrant that kind of movement.
She put a hand to his hair to try and pull his head back, only succeeding in making him groan and tighten his grip in his sleep. She swore under her breath.
"Well that's not very ladylike," he muttered against her neck.
"That was mean, Booth."
"What? What did I do?" he exclaimed, surprised.
Alex and Laura Looked at Sweets as Booth and Brennan walked into the kitchen, still in their pyjamas. Brennan looked particularly annoyed, but neither she nor Booth acknowledged the other three agents.
"I thought you were asleep. You were just using it as an excuse to grope me!" She paused, her temper seeming to fail her a little as Booth smiled. "Again," she muttered. He smiled sweetly and stepped closer, bringing his hands to her upper arms.
"Do I need an excuse?" Her eyes flashed to his, and Laura flashed a twenty at Alex. Sweets just stared.
Brennan's jaw bulged in annoyance and self-control. Booth grinned when she didn't respond and turned her towards the kitchen. They both stopped when they saw the three shocked and amused faces staring back at them. Booth's hands fell from Brennan's arms.
"So…" he began slowly. "Coffee?"
"Nothing. Happened," Booth scowled.
"Hello, people! Brick wall!" Sweets exclaimed, motioning between himself and the pair. "You're not leaving until you tell me-"
"We didn't have sex."
Both heads swiveled to Brennan. She shrugged. "That's what you wanted to know, right?" Sweets opened his mouth, then closed it.
"Gee, Bones. You know the term 'private life'? Well, the operative word there is private," he hissed. She shrugged again.
"Well, he's shut up, hasn't he? And we didn't have sex, so I'm not lying. I don't see what the problem is."
"The problem is, Bones-"
"Whatever, Booth," she breathed, exasperated. He smiled at her triumphantly and she leaned back in the couch. Booth grabbed her hand absentmindedly. She didn't react.
Sweets' face became a mask of surprise, though he controlled it well. Booth sighed. "Can we go? She's already told you, we didn't…you know…do it." Brennan snorted at Booth's choice of words.
"You know, Agent Booth, the fact that you can't say 'sex' is something in itself."
Booth scoffed. "I can say 'sex'." He subtly squirmed at the word.
"But not in relation to Doctor Brennan," Sweets challenged. It was almost a question. Their hands immediately disentangled. "Do you think there's something there?"
Booth glared at him. "No."
Brennan remained silent as Sweets continued to push.
"Booth, I want you to tell me you and Doctor Brennan had sex." Booth and Brennan both looked shocked. Booth made a few incoherent sounds before actually speaking.
"I…uh…why? I already told you we didn't," he babbled.
"I just want to see if you can do it."
"You're getting enjoyment out of this, aren't you? Stupid child…" he muttered under his breath. Sweets rolled his eyes.
"Insulting me will get you nowhere." He briefly wandered how many times he'd had to say that to Booth. To himself around Booth.
"Just say it, Booth," Brennan said, sounding somewhat bored.
"You say it," he snapped back. She almost laughed at his childish comment, but she couldn't escape Booth gaze. They stared at one another for a few minutes, even as Sweets continued to talk.
"Agent Booth?"
"I…we…uh…made love," he finished as quickly as was humanly possible. Brennan stared at Booth. What was he talking about?
"Agent Booth?" was all Sweets said. He raised an amused eyebrow.
"What? I said it, I want to leave," he persisted, insistent as a child. Brennan finally caught up.
"Wait, why did you say that?" she asked, confused. Booth shrugged.
"Say what?"
"That we made love," she stated simply. Booth blushed slightly, but his jaw clenched.
"Because Sweets told me to," he replied nonchalantly. Sweets grinned.
"No, actually, I didn't, Booth. I told you to say that you had sex…" Sweets regarded him with smugly professional amusement. Booth folded his arms and sunk into the couch.
"Same thing," he spat, waving a hand as if to clear the air of awkwardness. Brennan sat up suddenly.
"Oh, come on! You were the one who spent an hour trying to convince me it wasn't!" she whined, sounding like a child just proved wrong but not willing to let go.
"Shut up, Bones! You're not helping!" he hissed at her quietly. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged as if to absolve herself from any responsibility.
"What? It isn't my fault you can't say sex," she rebutted. Now she was just amused. He could see the glint in her eyes that was reserved particularly for teasing Booth. "That's a problem for Sweets."
Hearing his name, Sweets cleared his throat. Both heads turned to him, one amused, one seething. He suddenly worried for his physical safety. He turned his attention to the glaring Seeley.
"And how does this make you feel?"
