Good Morning! And welcome to Chapter 2/Day two of Craftyjhawk's birthday season! Thank you so much for all the kind words and reviews! I loved each and everyone of them! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much or more than the last! Don't hesitate to drop me a little line and let me know what you think! I'd love to know!

Special thanks again to SnowyBones and Givesup for their help in reading, correcting and enduring my obsessive worrying! They deserve a metal for that alone. And to my dear friend Crafty for giving us a reason to celebrate! Happy Birthday season day 2 to you!

Chapter 2

Saturday

Stretching as she woke she felt Booth's soft couch beneath her. She remembered falling asleep in his arms, at least she thought she had. Though, now she was alone. The warm smell of coffee and pancakes filled his apartment and tempted her awake. Booth's comfortable gray sweats had become twisted around her body and legs as she slept. As she rubbed her eyes and adjusted the sweats, last night started to come back to her clearly, too clearly. She quickly squeezed her eyes shut, rolled over as she buried her face in the cushions on his couch. Pulling the blanket over her head she let out a loud groan of frustration and fear. What had she done?

Booth tugged on the blanket. "I know you're in there, Bones." There was a jovial almost taunting sound to his voice. "I know you're awake." She whimpered in response. "It's okay, Bones, we're okay." She groaned again but turned towards him keeping the blanket covering her head. He sat down on the floor by the couch, lifted the edge of the blanket and pulled it over his own head leaving the two nose to nose. Her eyes were still tightly closed. He carefully moved the hair from over her face. "Open your eyes, Bones." Tentatively she blinked and put on her strong assertive face, complete with pursed lips.

His heart raced at the intimacy of the moment. It was silly to him that this would cause such a reaction but being near her like this was almost overpowering. "To answer your questions," he started slowly. "Yes, I do remember last night when you showed up sopping wet just to let me know I was wrong." She started to interrupt, he stopped her by placing his finger on her lips. "Yes, you made your point very clear. I was wrong or at least need to prove to you the difference between crappy sex and making love. Yes, we did agree to an experiment devised for you to determine the difference. Yes, you did fall asleep in my arms."

Almost absently his finger had been rubbing gently across her lips. Her mouth now relaxed, softened as her breath fell heavy on his fingers. Just moments earlier she'd been eager to jump in and defend her position. Right now she was transfixed by his touch. "So, why don't you get up and come into the kitchen where there is some hot coffee and pancakes and fruit waiting just for you." She nodded but didn't move. He slid out from underneath the blanket leaving her still covered and headed back into the kitchen.

It didn't take her long to pull herself together and make her way to the coffee. She needed it, needed to clear her head. "Hey, you're up!" He looked cheerful. His smile warm and calming. She needed that, suddenly feeling the weight of what she'd proposed last night. The urge to run had settled deep in her being.

She sat across him at this small kitchen table. Pulling the steaming cup of coffee up to her mouth first. She blew across it. "Thank you, Booth." It was awkward at first but then habit took over. They argued over sections of the newspaper as they sipped at their coffee, traded and read sections of the paper and nibbled at breakfast. She didn't miss the fact that he checked her often as he measured her mood.

Finally, she cleared her throat, wiggled in her seat as she sat up straighter and squared her shoulders. "So, what happens next?" Booth looked up from his deep examination of the sports section. His eyes darted across her face. She thought she would faint from holding her breath before he answered. But she didn't.

"Well, Bones, in about two hours I have to meet Parker at the little league field for a t-ball game. I figured you could come with me, if you'd like. And I was hoping that tonight you would do me the honor of going on a date."

"As part of the experiment?" Her breathing showed her discomfort. Maybe she thought she would waltz in here cold and wet last night and Booth would take advantage of her offer right then and there. She would be done with it and by this morning be home having satisfied more than one scientific inquiry. No strings attached. But that wasn't how it played out. It wasn't necessarily that Booth was demanding but he had made it clear that for the experiment to be valid there were certain standards that had to be met. That was where her discomfort rested.

"Well, yeah." His voice was soft and warm, reassuring. It balanced her fretful look of complete and utter panic.

"What would the date entail?" She couldn't stay still in her chair. She made small, seemingly minor but constant adjustments as she tried to feign confidence.

Booth knew better but didn't point it out. "I don't know exactly yet, still kind of working it out in my head but I can guarantee there will be dinner involved." He smiled.

"We do dinner all the time, Booth, how would this be different?" In all her moving around the neck of the big gray sweatshirt she was wearing slipped leaving her shoulder bare. She didn't move to fix it, too wrapped up in her own anxiety.

"I suppose that you'll have to accept my offer to find out." He stood, about to clear his plate. Came to stand close and pulled the sweatshirt back up onto her shoulder, his knuckles ran across the tender skin of her shoulder and neck as he did. She looked up at him. She felt bare, like her shoulder had been. This was hard for her. He knew it, and as tenderly as he pulled back up the cloth to cover her he seemed to be making every effort to ease her insecurities and fears.

"And t-ball, with Parker, is that part of the experiment too?" His hand still rested on her shoulder. "I'm just trying to understand." She took in a halted breath. "The parameters."

He thought about it for a minute. Really he'd invited her because he wanted to spend the day with her. He wanted to show her that when you love someone you share your life with them. It was part of making love, being connected, not just by the physical act of sex but connecting to the person, to their life, whatever that may be.

"Yeah, Bones, yeah it is part of the experiment. It's a part of me and my life that I'm sharing with you. And you should pick a part of your life that you can share with me."

This was an excellent distraction, her mind immediately searching for something, some part of her life she could share with Booth. She didn't have a Parker but she could deduce that it should be something she loved, something she devoted time to, would make sacrifices for. The problem, as she quickly discovered, was that she kept coming back to work. Were her ideas personal enough? She would prefer it not be too personal but knew that Booth would insist on it.

Her thoughts played out on her face. Booth stood captivated by the flow of expressions.

"Earth to Bones." She shook her head slight as she brought her attention back to Booth. "Come on, Bones, we have to get going if we're going to get to Parker's game in time."

A quick shower and shave and he was ready to go. They buzzed by her place for her to do the same and then it was off to the ball park. They'd just parked and she started to get out when he stopped her and pulled her back to talk.

"Okay, Bones, we need to talk about some ground rules here. You know what we're talking about, right?" There was no mistaking the importance of what they were about to discuss, his tone was serious and deliberate.

"I understand."

"Over the next week I'm going to do somethings I don't normally do while we're working on this experiment, like hold your hand or give you a hug or a kiss." She was a genius, a certified genius, but sometimes the looks she gave him were so innocent and naïve, like a young girl. "But some places have to be off limits. None of that around my kid, okay? It would be too confusing for him. None of it at work or at crime scenes or places where we would see people from work. They already think we're more than partners, we don't know need to feed that fire." He caught her look of confusion. "We don't need to make things worse."

She nodded her agreement. "Oh, Okay."

"But when we're alone." His voice softened, lowered to a deep warm tone.

"Like now?" It was almost a whisper, a hopeful whisper as she found her desire for him to touch her overwhelming.

"Or when we're out somewhere just us." He reached for her hand playing with her fingers for a moment before he continued. "That's different, you know?"

His touch was mesmerizing, she couldn't think of a time when any man's touch made her heart race like this, made breathing hard, focusing impossible. Speechless, she nodded her understanding.

A loud banging on Booth's truck door snapped them almost brutally back to reality. Booth turned to see Rebecca staring at them through the drivers side window. Impatience ruled her demeanor. Down below young Parker Booth was still trying to get his dad's attention by banging on the side of the truck.

"Parker!" Tossing the small uniformed boy in the air as he greeted him. "You ready to play some ball?" He nodded vigorously, his blond curls bounced in agreement. They were almost to their assigned playing field when Booth bent down, gave him a pep talk, and offered up his knuckles for a fist pound to seal the deal.

She sat on the cold metal bleachers taking in the sights and sounds of Saturday morning little league. It was fascinating, though she didn't really understand the game the culture of it was interesting to watch. The hierarchy of parents, and children for that matter, divided by roles and skill sets. There was clearly hard fast rules and traditions. From the parent cliques and conversations to the bench placement and batting orders. It captured her. Booth sat behind her, he leaned forward to point and explain quietly in her ear as she asked question after question, only a few actually related to baseball.

When Parker's team came up to bat he would go out to the field as a base coach. Encouraging the young boys and giving direction until they moved onto the next base. Parker was quite skilled, she imagined a young Booth was similarly adept at sports. The time went much faster than she'd anticipated but then she'd enjoyed it much more than she thought she would. By the end of the game she found herself cheering with the other parents and family.

"You okay, Bones?" They were walked through the park having just said their goodbyes to Parker and Rebecca. She looked troubled.

"Just thinking." It wasn't really an answer but she was unwilling to share what she'd been thinking about. She couldn't shake the image of Booth, squatted down by his son at first base, his strong muscular hand wrapped around the young boys tummy. She'd watched as he clearly pointed her out in the stands to Parker. His little boys excitement and wonder, written so clearly across his face, as they both waved vigorously to her in the stands before turning their attention back to the game. She wished she had a picture of just that moment.

He bumped her shoulder as they walked, taking the opportunity to grab her hand.

"You know, experiment or no experiment, you can come back with me to another game." Her attention pulled to him as her eyes darted across his features. "You know, if you want to."

It was silent as they walked for just a minute, he gave her time to think, to process what he had just said. "That would be nice, Booth."

"So, if you didn't do sports what kind of things did you do? I can see you totally rocking the science fair." He chuckled a little at the thought of a young geeky Bones.

"I don't really have many childhood memories." He knew her situation but had assumed that because she was 15 years old when her parents left that she had most of her childhood memories in tact. "The ones I do have are pretty vague. I do remember competing in science fairs though. One a couple years before my parents left." She was trying to sound cheery. "I won." She cracked a faint but satisfied smile.

He stopped walking, pulled her back to him, his eyes searching hers for the sadness he knew was hidden there. She might not acknowledge it but he would. "I'm sorry, Bones." He watched as her chest rose and fell mimicking her slight fast breaths. "I'm really sorry." He had his own hidden pain and though this wasn't the time for it he knew that he'd have to bare some of that to her if he expected her to open this much to him.

The breeze was blowing her hair softly across her face, she reached to pull strands away from her mouth as she tucked them behind her ear only to have them picked up and moved back again. He carefully smoothed her hair back with his hands holding both sides of her head cradled in his palms. He wanted to kiss her. It was the only thing he could think of at the time, leaning in, he came so close but at the last minute pulled back. This was going to be harder than he thought. Originally he thought this would be a great way to teach her about love and was hopeful that it would mean more for them than a quick roll between the sheets. Now he felt himself caught in his own trap. In the end, he could see himself more hopelessly in love with her than ever while she completed the experiment unmoved. This had been more dangerous than he'd thought.

Letting his hands fall they continued their walk. "So, have you thought of something to share with me?" Pulling her lip between her teeth she hesitated.

"No, though I am not sure anything will be as enjoyable as Parker's t-ball game, that was quite fun." It was genuine, the sparkle in her eyes, her smile. He could see she'd really enjoyed it.

"It can't be sex yet, you know that right?"

"Give me some credit, Booth, I know that. I am completely aware that you control the time and place regarding the intercourse portion of the experiment."

Rolling his eyes he slumped his shoulders. "See when you put it like that, Bones, it just seems wrong." She laughed. It was funny to her.

Lunch at the diner, some shared errands, then he dropped her off at her apartment with the promise to pick her up in a couple hours for dinner.

He almost felt like a cheating husband as he planned dinner as he looked for someplace off the beaten path where no one from either of their lives would see or bump into them. In addition it would have to have a decent vegetarian menu, now that meat was off the menu. It was harder than he thought it would be but eventually he figured it out.

Still buzzing around her apartment trying to get ready she answered Booth's persistent knocking with one shoe in her hand and her dress half unzipped. Bending over to slip the shoe on her curls fell haphazardly around her face and shoulders.

"God, you're beautiful." In a court of law it might have been considered an excited utterance. Unplanned, it slipped out. She started to tip over when she looked up in answer to his comment. Catching her, she clung to his shoulder while she finished slipping on her other shoe.

"Thanks, Booth." Slightly winded, she stood before him straightening her dress as she smiled. "Can you?" She motioned to her back zipper.

"Yeah, yeah of course." Setting a bouquet of daisies down on her entry way table he closed her front door and turned his attention to her zipper. He found his hands fumbled then gently moved her hair to one side over her shoulder. Without thinking he leaned in, his lips hovered over the base of her neck. Such a beautiful tender slope. An almost imperceptible gasp had escaped her when she felt his warm breath. Quickly, he moved back and zipped up the dress. She was still standing there, frozen by the gentleness of that moment as she longed for more.

He cleared his throat and pretended nothing had happened. "You look beautiful Bones. Let's hit the road."

"Where are we going?" Booth explained his thought process and long search for the perfect place as they made their way through the streets of DC. "At first I was looking for something a little out of the city but you know I figured what are the odds anyone we know will be at Bohemian Caverns tonight, right? Jazz seemed perfect."

"I love jazz." Her excitement was evident.

"I know." He whispered softly then added with enthusiasm. "No diner tonight, Bones."

She laughed. As it turned out going on a date with Booth would be different in many ways she hadn't expected. It wasn't at all like their casual dinners at the diner. Bohemian Caverns was sultry and so dimly lit it was almost dark. The music was low and smooth. When they finished eating Booth moved his chair close to hers so they could watch the stage together. His arm hung casually behind her on the chair. Every once in awhile she'd feel his fingers trace slight circles on her shoulder or fiddle with the hem of her capped sleeve. If he wanted to wait to actually fulfill the requirements of the experiment this seemed like the wrong place to come. Everything about this night seemed like foreplay.

Without asking he took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor, joining a few other couples as they swayed, losing themselves in the music. She felt herself melting into him, his arms adjusted holding her closer and more carefully.

Breaking the silence, she let her index finger tap his chest as she tried to get his attention. "You know, more data is always better when conducting a scientific experiment." She was speaking directly against his skin. Her whispers made her lips brush the sensitive skin of his ear and neck. "If we run our experiment tonight we could conceivably rerun the experiment multiple times before the week is up. It would make our findings solid." Pushing her hips against his she punctuated the end of her thought. He groaned as he let his hand trace the curve of her waist and hips.

"You're evil."

She smiled.

"The answer's still, no."

"Booth." She was exasperated. He couldn't help laughing at the speed at which she changed from seductress to perturbed.

"Booth, this is not funny." Whacking his arm out of frustration she reprimanded him.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his arm dramatically.

She was quiet on the ride home. It seemed like every conversation he started died out quickly with one word answers and long pauses. Until finally she let out a long heavy sigh. "Booth, I don't have a Parker."

"What?"

Adjusting herself awkwardly in her seat she turned to face him. "I don't have a Parker to share with you like you shared Parker with me today."

"It doesn't have to be a person, Bones." Nodding she turned back to look thoughtfully out the passenger window at the blurred city lights.

"I know." But she was still upset. "I have my work and you, you're a part of my work. You already know that. We already share that."

"You're thinking too hard, Bones, just something that's special to you or something you like doing. I don't know, but I know you'll think of something."As if it were at all possible, things seemed to get even quieter between them.

"Okay, I will." She turned back to him. "What time are you free tomorrow?"

"About 3:00ish. I take Parker to mass on Sundays and then we go to the diner for brunch and then I take him back to Rebecca's."

"Oh, okay." She sounded hurt. Though she would never mention it to Booth she was afraid she had done something wrong today that made him not want to share this with her also. Splitting his attention between her and the road he looked frantically back and forth trying to understand what was going on with her.

"You can come if you want I just figured-"

"No, no that's you're special time with him."

"I really don't mind sharing it with you Bones. In fact, I would love to share it with you. I just figured that religion wasn't really your thing. I didn't want to pressure you."

"No, it's okay, really. I would rather use the time to prepare...Why don't I make you dinner?" He wasn't sure at all it was as okay as she was trying to play it off as.

"That's a perfect thing to share, Bones." he sounded excited. "So you're house then?"

"Maybe, I'll let you know."

He walked her up to her apartment and followed her in at her request. She told him what a wonderful time she'd had. He told her again how beautiful she looked, how much he enjoyed her company. They fumbled at goodbyes caught in the awkwardness of being partners, friends, and toying with the idea of lovers, if only for the sake of science, of course. He was about to leave when she asked him to help her with her zipper before he went. He smiled and winked.

"Evil."

But he turned her around and reversed the process of it all. The long fluid sound followed his hand down the length of her back. He hadn't really planned on kissing her good night but at the moment it seemed like something he had to do. Turning her again in his arms, his hands slipped in around her tiny bare waist. Pulling her sharply to him he took her lips as he covered them with his own. Her long smooth moan vibrated in his mouth as he kissed her. Finally, tearing himself away he backed out the door.

"Tomorrow, 3:00, let me know where." And he was gone.