I was going to put this up last night, but the stupid computer fully froze on me and refused to work. Here you go.
Enjoy!
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Being Autumn, the weather was always up and down; one day it was as nice as anything, and the next there's so much rain that the gutters are overflowing in the streets and there's no chance of mowing the lawns anytime soon. Today had been reasonably sunny, and the birds were out of their nests, chirping away. The past week had been freezing, so today was worth taking advantage of.
"Booth, where are you taking me?" Tempe asked, taking careful steps as she had become sight-deprived after the placement of Booth's hand over her eyes.
"You'll see when we get there," he whispered light-heartedly in her ear, keeping his hand firmly in place.
Proceeding to press a kiss to her cheek, he was interrupted by the quick turn of her head and the meeting of their lips. She pulled herself closer to him, the hand that had been covering her eyes, had now entwined itself in her hair.
"I told you not to look," Booth scolded.
"I'm not," she replied truthfully, "my eyes are still closed."
"Then, I guess that's okay."
By the time they had reached their destination, the sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow in the sky. Most of the families seemed to have packed up for the day, their picnic food gone. Booth had gotten the idea to bring her here earlier that day, when he had introduced Tempe to 'The X-Files'. They'd begun watching from the Pilot, and got to episode 4, in which the case of a missing girl led Scully and Mulder to the lake where she was last seen. The lake had reminded him of a place where he, Jared and Pops had gone a few times when he was just a boy.
He smiled as he watched her face light up as she took in her surroundings. The trees in the area around them secluded them into a sense that they were the only ones in the world, that man hadn't gone and replaced nature with buildings and roads. Booth led her along the grassy bank of the lake as she continued to gaze around. The reflection of the setting sun on the water's surface made it appear as silk, like nothing or no one had every touched it.
"This is amazing," she stated; Tempe mesmerised by the beauty of the place, Booth mesmerised by the beauty of her.
"That's not even the best part," he told her, linking their hands together again as he pulled her to the pier a little way off.
At the end of the pier, the only thing in the lake disturbing it's smooth surface, floated a small row boat. Stepping into it, Booth turned to find her smiling back at him wearily.
"Are you sure that's safe, Booth? It looks a little fragile," she said, noting its faded look.
"This thing? Fragile? Now way, me, Pops and Jared used to row out in this old thing all the time." Holding his hand out to her, he said, "it's safe. Trust me."
As her hand filled his, a little shaky at first, he pulled her down onto the floor in front of him. Unhooking the rope from the pier, he pushed off and began to row slowly out into the lake. With the sun now almost completely set, the warmth in the air was decreased and a cool breeze had picked up a bit. Replacing the oars in the boat, Booth allowed them to float aimlessly in the middle of the lake.
"It really is amazing here. So serene," she said in awe. "It really does seem like we're the only ones here."
"Me and Jared used to always fight over who got to row. Then we'd have to settle for one each," Booth laughed quietly at the memory.
Tilting her head back to look at him, Tempe said, "you know, I've never been in a rowboat before. My dad gets seasick and refuses to go in boats, and Mum was never all that keen."
Shuffling back on his seat, he patted the space in front of him. "come and sit here," he said, picking up the oars again. "You're going to row. Don't worry, I'll help you."
Tempe sat between his legs and held onto the ends of the oars, Booth's hands wrapping around hers. Her hands moved the oars through the water, with a lot of direction from Booth.
After moving a reasonable distance, Booth said, releasing his hold on her hands, "okay, now you try. Without my help."
Her first attempted row resulted in flicking the oar out of the water too quickly and splashing Booth's right arm.
"Temperance! That water is freezing, as in, hypothermia worthy freezing. Your toes would fall off in that," Booth complained, disliking its coldness.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Tempe apologised, moving so she could press a tender kiss to his lips.
The kiss heated up a little and the sun had finally set, and in an attempt to get closer to him, to feel his body against hers, Tempe knocked the oars out of the boat and into the water.
Pulling back from Booth at the sound of a splash, Tempe said, "damn it!" Disentangling herself from him, she leant across to retrieve them and soon found herself falling from the boat.
When Booth had said that the water was 'hypothermia worthy' he hadn't been kidding. The water hit her like ice; daggers piercing at her now frozen skin. The cold compressed against her, which made her tries to resurface near impossible. Within only moments, a numbness had spread all throughout her body. Her movement became restricted as her limbs began to ache from the icy water.
When she didn't resurface after a few moments, Booth began to worry.
"Temperance!"
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Another cliff hanger, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Please review and let me know what you thought.
Em xXxXxxx