A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this next chapter. I was at the hospital nearly all day Friday with my grandma and today I went on a road trip to my state capital, to see my sister's new apartment. I've been gone all day, and literally just walked in the door.
Dedicated to the One I Love
Chapter 4
The night carried on, Brennan laughing and talking with the people who had started out as coworkers, then friends, and were now her family. When they finally said goodnight, Brennan took a cab to her quiet apartment still in a good mood from her night out.
She went to bed, and for the first time in weeks, fell asleep without first agonizing over the pain of her own making in her everyday life. But the next morning, without the cloud of alcohol and friendship dulling her thoughts, Brennan was once again assaulted with the consequence of her actions.
She had tried so hard since returning from Maluku to compartmentalize her emotions surrounding Booth. But it seemed she had used all of her available space for permanent storage. As she was only able to mask those feelings when Booth was around, leaving the rest of her time vulnerable to assault. Which was exactly what it felt like.
She paused in her morning preparations for work and sat heavily on her unmade bed. She spied her phone on the nightstand and suddenly desperately needed to tell her best friend what she was feeling at that moment.
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Booth sat across the table from Hannah while they ate their breakfast. His phone, like hers, lay on the table beside their plates as they ate; forgotten. He finished his last bite of food and stood to take his plate into the kitchen.
He stood at the sink, rinsing all evidence of food from the plate when he heard Hannah call from the other room. "Seeley, your phone is beeping. It says you have a text from Bones. Do you want me to read it to you?"
"Sure," he told her, not thinking it would be anything other than work related so early in the morning. He walked back into the room just as she was pressing the button.
"I've been a bad, bad girl
I've been careless with a delicate man
And it's a sad, sad world
When a girl will break a boy
Just because she can
Don't you tell me to deny it
I've done wrong and I want to
Suffer for my sins
I've come to you 'cause I need
Guidance to be true
And I just don't know where I can begin
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
Heaven help me for the way I am
Save me from these evil deeds
Before I get them done
I know tomorrow brings the consequence
At hand
But I keep livin' this day like
The next will never come
Oh help me but don't tell me
To deny it
I've got to cleanse myself
Of all these lies till I'm good
Enough for him
I've got a lot to lose and I'm
Bettin' high
So I'm beggin' you before it ends
Just tell me where to begin
What I need is a good defense
'Cause I'm feelin' like a criminal
And I need to redeemed
To the one I've sinned against
Because he's all I ever knew of love
Let me know the way
Before there's hell to pay
Give me room to lay the law and let me go
I've got to make a play
To make my lover stay
So what would an angel say
The devil wants to know"
Booth took the phone from Hannah and ended the transmission. He stared at the phone for several seconds before looking up to Hannah. She stared at the phone in his hand with sadness in her eyes. "Poor Dr. Brennan," she said. "It sounds like she needs a friend. Messy break ups are never easy."
A/N: The song in this chapter is "Criminal" by Fiona Apple