AN: No more games this chapter... just a giant rocking horse... But we're back in my favourite state. My family is from Port Pirie, that's why i had them stay there and now they're off to Adelaide my city... What's in store?
Chapter 17
When Brennan awoke she was still cradled into Booth's arms and wondered why waking up in the arms of her partner felt so comfortable, maybe Angela really was right. Maybe she really was in love with Booth. She ran her hand gently over his bare chest before dragging herself out of his nice warm bed and scribbling a quick note on a piece of paper. It was about half an hour before they needed to get up so she snuck back to her own room hoping to have time not only to think but to get ready for their day which would begin with the three hour drive to Adelaide.
Booth was at her door in under an hour having already piled his own suitcase back into the car. Brennan had been ready for almost half an hour and had been pacing back and forth through the room ever since, trying to decide what to do. She still hadn't made a decision when she climbed into the passenger seat of their rental car and once again pulled out one of her Harry Potter books, by then she had moved onto Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and was thinking she wouldn't mind a tiny vial of Felix Felicis herself, not that she really believed in luck, but it couldn't hurt. She would have to rely on her own rational thought though, which in this situation didn't seem to help much.
When they stop an hour or so later in Port Wakefield for breakfast Brennan asked the question that had been begging to be asked since she'd gone back to her room that morning. They sat outside, enjoying a slight ocean breeze while seagulls flocked around them hoping to score a few crumbs of their pancake breakfast.
"You've been in love haven't you Booth?" Brennan asked, already suspecting she knew the answer.
"Yes" Booth admitted, and Brennan realised that it hurt knowing that more than she had expected.
"I mean you've been in love, not just loved someone, like you love you son" She clarified, to which Booth nodded "Well how do you know you're in love?" she asked quietly.
Booth considered this for a moment "If you love someone then you'd do anything for them, you'd die before you let something happen to them. Knowing if you're in love with someone is harder, I don't know how to explain it, but I suppose it's just a complicated mix of platonic love and sexual attraction... I can't describe it any better, sorry Bones"
Brennan pondered Booth's words when they climbed back into the car and continued towards Adelaide, it was still only eight in the morning. If Booth was right and being in love was a combination of sexual attraction and platonic love then perhaps Angela had been right. She considered that, she loved Angela too, and would do anything for her, in fact she'd do anything for any of her friends at the Jeffersonian, yet she had never had an urge to kiss them or otherwise make a move. She could recognise that Booth was different, she would do anything for him, had done anything for him and she could freely admit at least to herself that he was a sexually attractive man. More than that though, she felt her body react whenever she saw him, her heart would beat just a little faster, her skin would feel a little warmer and her body would ache to be close to him, almost buzzing she thought. And then she realised, just as they passed a small sign saying welcome to Adelaide and the sparse houses became more and more frequent, soon replaced by factories and stores. She really did love Seeley Booth.
It was a liberating thought. At least until another burrowed it's way to the forefront of her mind: What if he didn't love her? She'd been about to tell him, to blurt it out while they sat waiting for a set of traffic lights to change, but instead she clamped her mouth tightly shut and turned to stare out the window.
"I thought you said this was the City of Churches" Booth complained as they made it to the city centre "I've only seen two churches since we got here"
"Huh?" Brennan asked distracted.
"Churches" Booth reminded.
"Oh, well there's one right there" Brennan pointed to their left where Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral sat, dwarfed by a huge glass monstrosity behind it. "Go right here" Brennan instructed, according to the map the central market was right down the road, it was supposed to have amazing food and jewellery Brennan had read.
The food was delicious, that much was true and Booth and Brennan bought several pastries, both for a quick snack and for their lunch later before finding themselves in one of many tourist shops which sold all sorts of corny Australian merchandise. They left the store, each with a cheesy t-shirt proclaiming that they had visited Australia and a variety of small key rings and stuffed toys that they could give to their friends and some to keep for themselves when they got home. Booth's t-shirt had 'G'day Mate' written in huge letters across the front, to which Brennan pointed out that they were yet to actually hear anyone say the infamous catchphrase. Booth had shrugged his shoulders and brought it anyway, the guys back home would like it. They wandered easily through the city, not bothering to move their car after all there were signs proclaiming a free tram service in the city area. They wandered easily through the mall, which according to the information Brennan had looked up was one of the state's biggest shopping areas, the other was a place called Marion, which they agreed to visit on their way south to their hotel.
Brennan and Booth decided that Rundle Mall was decidedly unspectacular aside from the Haighs store on the corner which they discovered sold fantastic chocolate. When they'd become decidedly bored of shopping, they began heading south towards Mount Lofty for the afternoon. Of course they took a slight detour when they saw a sign that read 'the Great Rocking Horse', twenty kilometres. It really was a giant rocking horse as they found out when they climbed it. They couldn't help but take photos of the strange structure, each of them standing at its base to show the size.
Brennan laughed and smiled along with him, joking about the absurdity of a huge wooden rocking horse built in the middle of the Adelaide Hills. She even helped him pick out a wooden train set for his son. But Booth knew there was something going on, her smile never reached her eyes and she seemed distracted almost falling over while they were climbing, strange for a woman who was usually so steady on her feet. Then she got the look on her face, the one that he knew meant she was trying to figure out something, the one that meant her brain was grappling some problem. He usually loved that look, because it was so her, her brow crinkled slightly and lips turned up oddly, but that day he knew it meant trouble. There was no case, she was thinking about them. Booth knew that whatever she was thinking about would lead to another difficult conversation, one that would challenge the very comfortable atmosphere that they had worked hard to re-establish after their night together. He saw it all falling down around him, like rain, and he'd forgotten his umbrella.