It had been a month since the trial, and Brennan was largely back to her old self, apart from the odd slip. It had taken a while for the realisation to slip in that Steve was firmly behind bars, where he couldn't hurt her anymore, and that it wasn't going to change. Back at work, she had happily thrown herself into everything again, although unaware that Booth had been keeping cases that were light.
Booth. He had been amazing, refusing to leave her side. So much so, that she was seriously considering selling her apartment since she was never there these days. She sipped her coffee, staring out into the pool in front of her. How had things gone from being great, to awful, to amazing in such a short space of time? With only Booth as her constant?
"Thought I'd find you here," came that familiar voice, and she spun her head instantly, rewarding him with a huge smile as she patted the bench next to her. He smiled back, sitting down and wrapping his arm around her on instinct when she settled her head on his shoulder. "You're very thoughtful today."
She nodded. "I know."
He tried to push down the worry, but was failing miserably. Clearing his throat in an effort to keep the wobble from his voice, he kissed her forehead tenderly. "Anything I can help with?"
His suspicions were confirmed when she pushed away from him to sit with a sigh, looking down at the coffee cup in her hands. Eventually, she looked back up to see him watching her carefully, and smiled softly.
"No, Booth. I'm just...regrouping I guess is the term."
"Well, you know Bones, regrouping is a whole lot easier when you have someone to help. Come on, you can tell me anything, you know that."
She nodded. "I know." There was a silence as she thought for a moment, before turning back to him. "It's just been so much change, Booth. I'm not good with change, and I...sometimes I just have to sit still for a moment and let myself catch up."
He dropped his eyes, a frown on his face for a moment. "I know, Temperance, you've been through so much."
"Hey!" she said suddenly, making his sad eyes shoot to hers in confusion. "I don't mean you, Booth! I...I mean, you're the only thing that hasn't changed. Well, it has, I just...this is hard to say..."
He smiled, a little hope renewed. "Take your time, we have literally all day."
Gulping, she looked down for a moment. "We have changed, Booth, but in a way, we haven't. I think...I think I always loved you, I just couldn't bring myself to say it, or didn't realise it, or I don't know! But you've been the one constant thing through all of this mess that I brought on us, and...I just don't know how I could ever thank you for that."
"Hey," he replied, brushing some hair gently from her face and cupping her chin so that she was looking at him. "Bones, you didn't bring this on us, this was just some absolutely horrible thing that happened, OK? And you have nothing to thank me for. I wanted to be here with you, and it's me that should thank you for giving me everything that I ever wanted. So don't think too hard about me, because you know I'm here for the long run, and I love you so completely."
"How can you ask me not to think about you, when I know that you're constantly worried about me wanting to leave you?" she asked, cocking her head as she thought. Booth let out a breath, and laughed at being caught.
"You're far too smart for me, Bones, you know that?"
"I'm just smart enough," she replied, leaning in and giving him a lingering kiss.
They lapsed into silence, Booth content when she settled back against him to rub the top of her arm gently, watching the world go by with her in the pretty park. A few moments later, he felt something drop on his hand, and looked down to see tears running down her face.
"Hey, Bones, hey!" he said, seeing her look up in surprise. "What's all this? I thought you'd said what you were thinking? Why are you crying?"
She sighed. "Oh, Booth, that's not everything," she said, sniffing. "I'm so sorry, I didn't want to let you know this."
"What?" he asked, genuinely worried.
"I know that you asked me not to worry, and not to doubt you, but Booth, I...I can't stop thinking about what...what...Steve said when he was being taken away."
"About him coming back you mean?" he asked, seeing her nod. "Oh, Bones!" Reaching forwards, he rubbed the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. "He'll never get to you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. You're with me now, and we just established that I'm not going anywhere. I won't let him get to you, not now that I know everything, and not since you've told me that you love me. Please, don't worry about that anymore, and if you do, then tell me so that I can make you feel better."
She sighed. "But what if he does something to you, Booth. I don't think I could live through that."
"He won't, Bones. I have a gun, and sniper senses. What can he possibly do to me?"
She nodded, sighing again. "I want to believe you, I really do."
Cuddling her again, he kissed her head. "It comes with time. Just, give it a bit of time. I'll prove to you that you're safe, I promise."
"I know," she replied, feeling a little lighter now that Booth had once again lifted the load from her chest. Sneaking a glance up at his handsome face, she wondered for the millionth time what she had done to deserve him, but decided that she would be content trying to spend her life making it worth it for him too.
A week later, Booth drove home slightly confused and upset. Bones hadn't waited for him, and had instead got a taxi home from work, leaving him a cryptic message. He was sure there was something wrong, and it had him thinking all afternoon, especially when he was kept too busy to visit and find out for himself. She wasn't going to leave him, was she? She kept telling him no when he gathered the courage to ask, but he just couldn't understand why someone as beautiful and smart as her would want to be with just him.
Opening his door much too quickly, he almost fell through in his hurry to get to her. "Bones?" he shouted, almost running through before his nose took in the smell coming through the apartment.
"In the living room, Booth!" she shouted back, a light note to her voice that he hadn't heard in a long time.
Dashing through, he stopped short in the doorway, all concern fading as his face split into a huge smile. There, sitting at a perfect, candle-lit table was Brennan, her hair tied back and curled so that it fell beautifully at the sides of her face, a stunning red dress on. She stood as she saw him, and walked slowly up.
"Do you like it?" she asked nervously, a cute blush spreading across her cheeks.
"Oh my...do I like it? Bones, God, this is amazing! You're amazing! I can't think of anything better!" he exclaimed, picking her up and spinning her around in his arms, enjoying her laugh, before he placed her gently down and kissing her tenderly. "I can't believe you did all this for me."
"Well, this isn't everything, but I want to keep it a surprise. Go, get changed and I ran you a bath while I finish up cooking," she told him, loosening herself from his grip as she fetched him a glass of wine to take through. "You have plenty of time yet, just have a good long soak."
"Are you joining me?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her and then cursing that he hadn't thought that through. They still hadn't gone further than kissing, and he mentally berated himself for scaring her. Yet instead, she just chuckled, and told him that she had to finish their dinner, wafting him out of the kitchen.
The bath was amazing, just the right temperature and filled with his favourite bubble bath. He groaned, enjoying the hot water working out all of his kinks. As soon as the water started to go cold and he had finished his wine, he got out and padded through to the bedroom, a grin on his face. If she'd made such an effort with him, he'd do the same, picking out the deep blue shirt that he knew was her favourite and his best suit, and finishing off by doing his hair properly and squirting on her favourite aftershave.
When he headed out, he found her in the kitchen again, just stirring something amazing smelling on the stove. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her firmly as he kissed her neck, noticing that she fell against him and groaned, his ego taking a giant boost. She turned in his arms, kissing him lovingly before pulling back to look at him.
"You look, so great," she told him, smiling widely at him. He grinned, stealing another kiss.
"Not as great as you do. Thank you for my bath."
"You're welcome. Now, go and sit, you timed it perfectly."
Dinner went amazingly, the best he could remember. She'd cooked a full three course meal for him, and he had no idea that she could cook like that. Throughout their light conversation, he couldn't remember her ever looking at him like that before, in fact he couldn't remember any woman ever looking at him like that before, as if her whole heart belonged to him, and she would do anything for him. And judging by the blush that spread up her neck from time to time, he was pretty sure that he had a similar expression on his face.
Once dinner was finished, Booth plonked himself on the couch, patting the seat next to him for Brennan. She sat daintily down, laughing with a slight squeal when he pulled her to him and kissed her happily.
"Thank you, Temperance. I don't think anyone's ever done anything that nice for me before, it was perfect."
"You're welcome, Booth. I wanted you to have a good night, after everything you've done for me, it was time to show you how much that meant."
"Well, you sure did, Bones. I couldn't have planned it better myself."
She blushed, looking down at her hands. "That's not everything, Booth. Go into the bedroom."
He frowned, wondering what she'd had time to do since he'd been out of the bath, but humoured her and walked through to his bedroom. There on the bed was a little box, beautifully wrapped. He turned around to frown suspiciously at her.
"What's this?"
"Just open it!" she told him impatiently. "It would be much more prudent than asking me."
He laughed, enjoying seeing the old Bones back again. Opening it up, his eyes lit up as he pulled out a Flyer's season ticket. He looked up at her aghast, reminding Brennan of how her brother used to look on Christmas day.
"You bought me Flyer's tickets?" he asked, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around again. "Bones, that's awesome!"
"Not just you," she told him, pulling two more sets from behind her back. "I thought you could teach me how the game works, and that we could take Parker."
"Oh my God, you are officially the most amazing, perfect woman...I don't know how I deserve you, Bones, I just don't," he told her, brushing some hair from her face.
"Well, I don't know anything about the game, so you'll have your work cut out for you."
"Nobody I'd rather share it with," he told her, leaning down and kissing her sweetly, folding her in his arms as she ran her hands up and down his spine, sending tingles through to his feet.
"There's still one more thing," she told him, seeing his eyes bulge.
"How can there possibly be anything else, Bones? Those tickets must have cost a fortune, and the meal was perfect!"
She blushed. "Well, this was a little cheaper..."
He frowned, before his jaw dropped as she slipped out of her dress, letting it pool sexily on the floor at her feet, leaving her just in her heels and a red and black matching lacy underwear set.
"I want to be able to show you how much you mean to me, Booth. Not just sex, like I thought before, but the defying physics that you talked about."
"This is not cheaper, Bones. This is priceless," he told her seriously, stepping towards her. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, noticing the blush spreading up her face as she looked down at her feet.
Looking up, she saw how much he loved her in his eyes, and nodded, running her hand down his cheek to rest on his chest over his heart. "You might have to go slow with me, Booth, but I've never been more sure of anything. You already have my heart, now I want you to have everything."
He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers, just standing with her in his arms for a moment, breathing in her scent. Smiling, he leant down and captured her lips again, kissing her gently as he walked them backwards, landing so that she was on top of him.
"I love you so much, Temperance Brennan."
She smiled, smoothing her hands around his face. "Not as much as I love you, Booth."
So if you made it to the end, well thank you so much for taking the time to read, and I'm really sorry for wasting your time with a naff story. But yeah, thanks anyway.