Author's Note: I apologize for not updating sooner. I've been fighting off a nasty bug for the last month or so and it is very slowly getting better, but isn't leaving me with much energy. So I'll continue to update, but it may not happen quickly. Thanks for sticking with the story, I really appreciate it.
It wasn't like her to show up at her partner's door late at night with her arms full of Chinese takeout - that was something he usually did to her, but here Brennan was at nearly ten-thirty at night tapping softly on Booth's door. For a fraction of a second she reconsidered her decision to come unannounced, at least until he answered the door.
"Bones." He was pleasantly surprised to see her and he opened the door to let her in. He looked relaxed in a fade t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and of course his signature wild socks.
The sight of a small pair of sneakers on the floor next to the couch had Brennan once again wondering if her impromptu visit was a good idea and she looked over at Booth who had just shut the door. "Parker's here?" Not that she was exactly sure why she was there in the first place - any explanation she could come up with was completely irrational, and yet there she was.
"Yep. Rebecca had a last minute early morning meeting, so she needed me to drop him off at school, and I convinced her to let me have him for the night too." He took the bags from her and plopped them down on the coffee table. "He's asleep. You want a beer?" Booth was more than happy to have a little extra time with his son.
"Sure." A beer sounded really good right now, perhaps it would help quell her irrational feelings or maybe give her the courage to act upon them. She wasn't really sure which one she wanted, but at least a beer would lease her a little more time.
Booth returned a few moments later with a fresh beer for himself and one for Bones. He sank down onto the couch next to her and set the beer on the table, glancing over at her and wondering what had prompted her to come over so late.
She had already pulled the cartons out of the bag. "Andrew bought me a concert t-shirt." She popped a bite of veggie lo mein into her mouth as she glanced over to find him looking at her thoughtfully. "I made it clear to him that I didn't want to see him socially any longer."
He let out an amused chuckle. "Catherine bought me a shirt too. Looks like we both got the parting gifts." He also wondered if the shirts were part of some two for one special to help Hacker and Catherine feel less guilty about the fact that they'd hit it off with each other when they were supposed to be dating other people.
"I don't know what that means." She had an inkling that it had something to do with the shirts being in second place, but she wasn't sure.
"It's an expression, Bones." He couldn't help but smile at her and he was perfectly fine with just getting the t-shirt. "She broke up with me." If Catherine hadn't broken up with him, he would have had to break up with her - it just wasn't going anywhere.
"Oh." Brennan offered a soft smile. "It appears that the parting gifts were the better end of the deal." She didn't want Andrew and she knew that Booth didn't want Catherine. That of course didn't answer her inner nagging question which had brought her to his door in the first place.
"At least her and Hacker hit it off." That meant that there was one less man out there that Booth needed to worry about going after Bones. They ate in silence for a few moments and from the occasional glance over at her, he could tell that she had something on her mind.
She didn't leave him wondering for long. Her words came out in a rush as she looked at Booth with wide eyes. "Andrew said that if the only reason you and I weren't seeing each other was because of the prohibitions on agents fraternizing with consultants that there were ways around it."
The bite that Booth had been about to take stopped midway to his mouth and then slowly dropped back into the carton. He wasn't sure if he was hearing her correctly, but he didn't stop looking at her.
Another rush of words came tumbling out of her mouth. "It's certainly possible that you've moved on, you said that you needed to, and I wouldn't hold it against you if you have." Brennan blinked at him. The swirling emotions she felt just then were overwhelming her and she thought that maybe she'd made a mistake coming her like this. She hadn't exactly been clear to him about what she wanted.
Booth found his voice. "Are you saying that you've changed your mind?" He didn't want to sound too hopeful, maybe this was all just a dream that he was having after falling asleep on his couch. He didn't want to assume he'd heard what he hoped he heard.
She continued, looking at him and hoping for a sign that she wasn't being a complete fool. "As irrational as it sounds, I believe I have. That is, if you haven't moved on." She felt an inner panic that her heart was about to be crushed.
A smile pulled the corners of his lips upward and he couldn't believe how controlled he felt just then. "I can't move on, Bones. I'm not sure why I even thought I could."
There was a slight waver to her voice as his words sunk in. "So we can try us?" She felt like she was holding not just her breath, but her heartbeat as well.
"Oh, yes." All restraint he'd had burst and he pulled her too him and pressed his lips against hers. The food was completely forgotten.
Her heart was beating furiously in her chest as she eagerly returned Booth's kiss. Why had she settled for second best with Andrew when she could have had Booth to begin with? Her fingers tugged at the front of his t-shirt as she leaned back into the couch - she wanted more of him, more of this. There was so much lost time to make up for.
It wasn't until his t-shirt had been wrestled off and he'd gotten her blouse mostly unbuttoned and they were still kissing madly and groping each other that he happened to catch Parker's shoe out of the corner of his eye. He inwardly cursed himself a few times before one of the words escape. "Shit."
"What?" That was certainly not what Brennan wanted to hear when she was hoping that he was going to show her that the laws of physics could in fact be broken. Her fingers pulled insistently at the nape of his neck to try and bring his lips back to hers. What could he possibly be thinking about to stop now?
Booth was breathing heavily as he kissed her deeply and then pulled back once more. "Parker's here." It made a difference to him. As much as he wanted Bones right now, he didn't want to have to explain to him why Bones was in Daddy's bed and what that all meant. No, he wanted spend the night with her for the first time when he didn't have to worry about midnight glasses of water or bad dreams that needed comforting.
"Oh. Yes. I forgot." She wasn't sure what the rules were about having intercourse with a child in the next room, but if married couples managed it, she was sure that it was okay under some circumstances. She looked at Booth expectantly.
He wasn't sure she really understood. "I don't want our first time together to be interrupted because we've woken Parker up." He didn't care if they woke up the neighbors, in fact he hoped they woke up the neighbors if it meant that the whole world would know that he and Bones were finally together. Unfortunately, that just wasn't going to be tonight.
A conspiratorial smile flickered across her face as she began to button up her blouse. "And we certainly wouldn't want any interruptions." This was probably for the best because she was sure that once she and Booth found their way into bed, they weren't going to be getting out of it for a while.
"No, we wouldn't." He smiled at her and resisted kissing her again.
"I should go then." If she stayed there was no way that they weren't ending up in bed. She could wait, it had taken her this long to figure out that she really did want to be with him, a little more time wouldn't hurt. She pulled herself off of the couch and smoothed her blouse down.
"I'll see you tomorrow." As she opened the door to leave Booth couldn't resist pulling her against him again and giving her one more kiss before she left.
"Tomorrow." Brennan couldn't wipe the smile off of her face as she turned to leave. She couldn't wait until tomorrow.