Okay, so right now, I am very pissed off. The other day when I was at the shops, I bought this can of soup that looked reaaally good, and I was planning on having it for dinner tonight. So I get home from dancing all excited and make my soup – and it tastes like crap! So annoyed!

Anyway, back to the story. I'd like to thank everyone for all the reviews and alerts and favourites and reviews – they mean so much. Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

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"I have a present for you," a voice said from behind her, making her flinch.

She turned around and there stood Seeley Booth, a plastic bag in one hand and a single daffodil in the other. Tilting her head sideways, Tempe smiled at him as he passed the flower to her. Inhaling the flower's sweet scent, she sat down next to him, against the trunk of the hug oak tree.

"What've you got in that bag?" Tempe questioned.

"I have," Booth smiled, untying the knot, "fish and chips."

"Ooh, thankyou. I was actually starting to think that I should've eaten before I came, but it turns out it didn't matter."

Taking out two plastic plates and the package of food, he spread it out between them; keeping it away from Murray who was sitting on Tempe's other side.

They ate in silence for the majority of the time. Booth sat watching Tempe, as she watched the birds chirping away in the trees and the ducks swimming with their ducklings in the lake. He watched her hair as it moved in and out of the sun, shimmering in different lights.

"Mmm, that was good," Booth sighed satisfactorily.

"It was," Tempe agreed, "it's been a while since I've had fish and chips."

Getting to his feet, Booth walked over to Murray and unclipped his lead from his collar. Whistling, he jogged around the park trying to find a stick. Once he found a stick sufficient enough for Murray, they began to play fetch. Running back and forth in front of her, Tempe watched the two, both clearly enjoying themselves. Throwing the stick too far for Murray to know where it was, Booth had to run a good length of the park to pick it up again. Though the time in which he was gone was short, it was enough for Murray to decide to take a run for it, chasing a bunch of wading birds.

"Murray!" Tempe called, hoping they wouldn't have to chase after him; again.

No such luck.

He turned and looked at her, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, before running in the opposite direction. Jumping up, Tempe began to run after Murray, careful not to lose sight of him. Turning around, to find both Murray and Tempe gone, Booth was momentarily bemused. It was then he noticed them a little way off in the distance.

Soon catching up with Tempe, Booth put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me get him, Temperance," he puffed."

"No," she shook her head determinedly, "I can't let you do it again. I'll get him."

"Fine, we'll both go. But the first to him wins!" Booth called as he set off with a head start a few moments before Tempe had registered what had happened.

"Not fair, Booth!"

They both ran to the extreme, as fast as they could. Dodging trees and other dogs and picnicking families. The ground in this end of the park was quite wet, as it was closer to the lake and rained more frequently.

Tempe almost lost her footing a couple of times, and Booth couldn't help but snicker at her clumsiness when she did so. At one point they were very nearing each other and Booth just suddenly halted. After noticing this, Tempe tried to stop next to his, but skidded on the muddy grass. Reaching out to prevent her from falling, Booth unintentionally brought himself down with her, sliding along the cold, brown sludge.

"Damn it," Booth muttered, though could no longer stay annoyed when he turned over to see Tempe lying in the mud next to him, laughing to herself. "What're you laughing at?" he said jokingly.

Between laughter, she managed to say, "you're all – covered in – in mud."

"Have you recently looked at yourself, Temperance?" he asked, admiring how beautiful she could look, even though she was half covered in mud and grass.

"I happen to think that I pull the 'mud look' off quite well, thank you," she said stubbornly.

"Yeah," Booth sighed, then lowered his voice almost to a whisper, "you do."

Tempe raised her eyes to look in his, as he reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand resting against her cheek.

In that moment, it was as though they weren't covered in mud in the middle of a public park. Tempe felt the breath whoosh out of her when their eyes met and she saw the desire in his. Her cheek was flushed beneath his hand, and she couldn't help but welcome their new found closeness. Her eyes fluttered a little as they unconsciously leant into each other and she felt his hot breath against her fair skin –

"Murray!" Tempe complained when the dog came between them and began licking the mud off her hand. Damned dog, Tempe thought to herself as her and Booth got to their feet.

"We're a mess," Booth laughed, looking at the two of them.

"Yeah," she nodded, "you could say that."

"Do you need to get cleaned up before you go home?" Booth enquired.

She shook her head, "nah, Mum, Dad and Russ are out 'til later tonight. You?"

"No one will care; they'll probably just think I've been out playing ball or something," Booth said.

"Well, I should probably get this one home," he said, nodding toward Murray. "I had a really great time today. Even though you made me fall in the mud."

"Hey, you were going to fall in the mud even if I hadn't tried to grab you; I would call what I did a heroic act, risking my cleanliness to make sure you didn't get covered in mud," Booth retaliated lightheartedly.

"It may have been heroic, but it still didn't work very well," Tempe pointed out.

"At least I tried," Booth resigned. "I had a great day too. We should do it again."

"We should," was all Tempe said before turning away; biting her lip, trying to hide her smile.

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I hope you liked it; I really loved writing this chapter. Please review and let me know what you thought.

Em xXxXxxx