Ok, mendenbar, just breathe for a moment. Lance is 25 and like all people (or at least me when I was 25) he's going to need time to figure out exactly who he is and what he wants. But rest assured, this is my story and Lance is going to end exactly in the place I want him too. Remember, I have nothing but love to shower upon Sweets, and I want everything to work out for him too! ;)
RT, thanks for your comments! Every time you say something I write is "just like Sweets" it makes me beam. Almost there!
Hang in there readers. I know everyone is nervous about Daisy's return.
Bea and Lance went on a few more dates over the next three weeks before Booth was due back home. None of them seemed very successful to Lance, who had barely gotten Bea to kiss him. One night they were watching a movie at Bea's while Lulu slept, and Lance decided to try for something a little steamier.
Bea was tucked under his arm on the couch, the bright colors of the Swedish film "Let the Right One In" reflected on them in the semi-dark. While she had been enjoying spending time with Lance, it was already clear to her that she just wanted to be comforted by someone she loved at this point. She thoroughly adored Lance, and though he was very attractive, she found that after almost two years without sex, she just couldn't bring herself to get entangled in physical intimacy with him. She was game to cuddle though.
Lance leaned down and kissed her with what Bea knew well were very scrumptious lips. She did her best to resist them, though she sensed Lance was going for tongue action. She let him a little, poor guy. Now she feared she was just toying with him. It felt good to melt into him a bit though. She closed her eyes and gave into the wonderful feeling of being safe and cared for.
Lance reached down to touch her breast; he was growing aroused. He suddenly realized that Bea was not only no longer moving into him, but she wasn't even kissing him back. She had fallen asleep. He felt like a fool and sank back into the couch. He had wanted kids so badly with Daisy, but if this was what it was like to try to make out with a mom, maybe he wasn't ready for it.
He tried to watch the movie again to distract himself for a while, but eventually he carried Bea to bed and drove home.
Lance was sprinting over to the Royal Diner to see none other than his friend Booth, fresh back from Afghanistan. Lance felt like his heart was going to burst, he was so excited. He flung open the door and almost broke the little bell that alerted the staff to customers. There was Booth, beefy as ever, sitting at their old table, beaming a bit himself.
Lance walked over, and Booth got up. Their arms became momentarily entangled as Lance tried for a half hug and Booth attempted to simultaneously sock his arm and shake his hand. As awkward as it was, it was clear that both men were very happy to see each other again.
"It's great to see you!" Lance couldn't restrain himself from exclaiming. "How was Afghanistan?"
"Oh it was fine, Sweets. I helped some kids train up for combat. They look so young to me now. Hopefully they won't get themselves killed."
"Was it worth going?" Sweets asked, raising an eyebrow. He was very curious about how Booth had been coping with the lack of Parker and Brennan in his life.
"Well, it was hard to be away from Parker and…yeah, it was worth it. You know, it's rewarding to serve in that way. I liked teaching quite a bit. What about you, how are you liking teaching?"
"It's great! The semester's almost over—it's flown by. I miss working on cases with you though. I'm glad you're back. Things at the Jeffersonian have been slow." Lance had so many questions for Booth, but he didn't want to overwhelm his friend. Booth did not respond well to intense outpourings of emotion. "I…I've been kind of seeing someone new at the Jeffersonian."
"Oh yeah? Pie, please," Booth asked the waitress who had arrived to take their order. Lance was secretly very pleased that all was normal in the world with Booth when pie was involved. Lance had what Booth was having.
"Yeah, she's a single mom though. I'm not sure it's working out," Lance finished when the waitress had left.
"SWEETS. You do not want to get involved in that! Take it from me. You can't go getting in the baby mama drama!"
"But you have a kid," Lance whined.
"Yeah? You shouldn't date me either. Seriously, Sweets, take it from me. I'm glad you're moving on from Daisy, but not with a mother. Ok? Why don't we set you up with one of Padme's friends?"
"You mean Jared's fiancée?" Lance was quizzical. Booth had never tried to set him up before. Was his involvement with Bea that disconcerting to him?
Lance tried a new topic. "So, Dr. Brennan's coming back in a few weeks. How are you doing with all of that?"
Booth glowered at Lance momentarily. "I can see you haven't changed, Sweets."
Lance was a little hurt, but understood that this comment came from Booth's own insecurity. In fact, Lance felt that he had matured quite significantly in the past year, contrary to Booth's statement.
Lance said, "Well, I know things were a bit tense with you two before you parted. Caroline insisted that you'd never work together again! You know, I'm not at the FBI anymore to provide therapy, but I'm always here to talk—"
"Sweets!" Booth interrupted. "Give it a rest, ok? I don't know what's going to happen when Bones gets home. I missed her, sure. You think I'm not conflicted? You think I'm not sc—" Booth cut himself off this time.
"Scared?" Lance filled in.
"Look, can we just enjoy our pie?"
"Of course. It's really good to see you again, Booth," Lance said one more time just in case Booth had forgotten.
Booth smiled and shook his head.
It seemed Booth was only back for a heartbeat before the big day was upon Lance. Everyone was back in town and a small celebration was arranged for the Founding Fathers that night. Booth had told Sweets that he was meeting up with Brennan at their pre-arranged coffee cart on the mall earlier that day. Lance was dying to know what had happened. He secretly hoped that Brennan had finally admitted to herself that she couldn't live without Booth and that they had kissed. That seemed unlikely, but it was a bright and sunny out—a good day for optimism. While storm clouds were beginning to gather in the west, for the moment they appeared puffy and harmless, like dirty cotton.
Lance was so nervous about seeing Daisy that he was physically sick to his stomach all day. He hadn't eaten any dinner and when he got to the bar at 8pm, he was afraid he'd be drunk off his first sip of alcohol. He went to the bar and ordered a Corona, which seemed as harmless a drink as possible, and then spotted his friends.
Angela was bedazzling in a bright blue frock; she had her arm slung through Hodgins' and both looked relaxed and happy. Lance took note of Angela's swollen belly with shock.
He went over and put an arm around each, and they hugged him back exclaiming "Sweets!" and "We missed you!"
Lance responded, "It seems congratulations are in order?" He gestured toward Angela's stomach.
"You're lucky that isn't just the result of one too many baguettes, Sweets!" Hodgins mocked.
"Thanks, Sweets! I'm about 5 months along!" Angela followed up, beaming.
"Wow," Lance said. Part of him had expected everything to return to normal when the team reunited, but he realized nothing would ever be the same. He certainly was not the same man they had left.
Dr. Brennan said, "Sweets, you look older." Everyone agreed. He felt like their collective child for a moment as they all surveyed his appearance, which was not unpleasant. He shook Dr. Brennan's hand heartily, though he wanted to hug her.
"Dr. Brennan! It's great to see you again in person!" With that Dr. Brennan actually pulled Lance into a brief hug. He couldn't believe his good fortune. Booth was smiling at them from across the table.
"That's a pretty wimpy celebratory libation, Sweets!" Booth said pointing at Lance's beer. Everyone else was drinking tequila, save Angela.
"Err…I didn't have much to eat." Come to think of it, where was Daisy? he wondered. A few of the other interns were there—Vincent and Wendell—making merry. Then she appeared from the restroom. She was petite and perky as ever, but she was wearing her hair differently. It was down and wavy, very pretty.
"Lance!" she said and threw her arms around him. It felt so good to hug her that he kissed her cheek. He reddened. He was not sure how to proceed. But his friends took care of that, raising a glass to being reunited.
After an hour of revelry, Daisy neared Lance.
"Lance, can I talk to you alone outside?" she asked hopefully. She had pinned him away from the group, and there was no escape but to answer.
"Uh, sure," he said with reluctance.
The pair exited the Founding Fathers into the thunderstorm outside.