A/N: YAY exams are over ! So I have time for you guys :D As Always let me know what you think :) R&R

Chapter 18: Leading each other

I awoke slowly, letting my fogged mind take a moment to adjust.

My eyes shot open in shock as I felt a body pressed up against mine and my eyes carefully drifted towards the clock, which showed the hour in burning red digits. 6.58. Patrick's Coffee!
I shot upright, fumbling with the sheets before getting out of the bed.
Ready to run towards the kitchen, I was startled when his hand suddenly grabbed my wrist, halting me.
"Bones," I hear him mumble and it made me realize Booth was the one that had slept next to me not Patrick. "Come back, it's still early"
"I'm up now," I argued, "I might as well shower and get us some breakfast"
"Bull," Booth said, tugging my hand which he had still firmly in his gasp, causing me to fall next to him, our faces only inches apart. "We'll get breakfast on our way to work. Now just relax some more."

Slowly I did as he told me and leaned in closing the gap between us and sealing our lips in a tender and soft good morning kiss.
"OK." I whispered against his lips as I pulled away, not giving Booth the chance nor the time to deepen the kiss. I saw him smile triumphantly before pulling me on top of him, tangling his hand in my hair and crashing our lips together again, this time more passionate and urgent.
As his hand slid down my cheek and jaw, mine made it to his spiky brown strands, sticking every possible way and I enjoyed running my fingers through them.
I enjoyed and savored the sensation Booth was creating until…
Gasping and shocked I pulled away as soon as I became aware his fingers had wandered off under the hem of my dress and had just brushed the undersides of my breast.

Shaking my head slightly I pulled away from him, breaking all the physical contact as I scrambled out of the bed.
"I'm going to take a shower." I mumbled softly.
"Bones, wait." I could hear him rumble with the sheets as well, before following me. "Temperance. "
Hearing the rare use of my given name caused me to look up at him and I could see the regret clouding in his eyes."I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." He said, brushing his fingers tenderly across my cheek. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.

"Just forget it, ok?" I asked trying my best to avoid his eyes and he seemed to have noticed that because moments later he was standing in front of me again.
"Bones, look at me. Please?"
Unable to ignore his plea I looked up, our eyes meeting.
"You can't do that, ok?" He said stroking my hair and cheek. "You can't just ask me to drop the whole thing. I caused you to freak out, and…I don't see how I'm any better than him because of that."
"Booth," I whispered his name in mixture of awe and defeat. How could he blame himself for this?
"How can you possibly think that?" I voiced one of the questions running through my head, gathering my hand in his and running my thumb worried over his knuckles.
"You. Are. Not. Him." I said, puncturing each word with a press of my finger against his chest. "I'm not afraid of YOU, Booth. It's just -" I sighed before I continued softly, "It's a lot to deal with."
His eyes fixed to the ground, he nodded.
"And you think you need to do that alone." He said, obviously not a question but a statement.
"Yes." I replied. "If that doesn't bother you."
I heard him sigh heavily and it made clear he wasn't all to happy with that decision but he didn't seem to mingle. Instead I watched how he took a step backwards, moving out of my personal space and walking towards the door. I could see the pain flicker in his eyes, eating him up from the inside because he still blamed himself.
"I'm gonna freshen up at my place. I'll bring you some one of those sour cream beagles on my way back, ok."

It was close to noon when I was sitting on the couch in the lounge, a cup of steaming coffee set in front of me as I stirred it absentminded with the plastic spoon. I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation my two friends were having and was quite startled when I felt Cam's hand cover mine.
"Are you ok, Dr. Brennan?" She asked, her voice showing concern.
As I raised my gaze from the cup to her, I noticed also Angela looking at me with the same expression of worryness showing on her face.
"Yes." I replied firmly. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because," Angela dragged out. " It's almost noon, Booth should have been here by now. Dragging you out of that lab coat and of to lunch."
"Not today, Angela." I murmured quietly. I hoped they would just drop the subject, but I wasn't that lucky. Angela sat down next to her and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders,
"Is this about what happened yesterday?" Before I had a chance to respond, Angela spoke up, "Sweetie, I know that usually I wouldn't let this slip, but in this case, I think it would help if you'd just talk to Booth. Did you talk to him about it yesterday?"
"Yes I talked to him, Angela." I answered, my gaze still fixed onto the floor. "But this morning…I think I ruined everything we had so far together. If I had only-"
"Ruined how?" My best friend asked carefully.
"I- I flinched." I sighed deeply. "Booth, he just wanted to be gentle, I guess, but his touch scared me. It felt …"
"Too intimate." Cam said, filing in what I couldn't and she gently squeezed my hand, "I know Seeley can be a little ... much to deal with. But he just cares about you, Dr. Brennan. I know he wants nothing more than to talk to you."
He just wants to talk. Cam's words spooked through my mind and as much as I wanted to believe that my rational mind screamed back, telling me that this morning had been a little more than 'talking'. And despite that, I knew I couldn't keep running from that. Sexual intercourse was a natural part of life, or at least it should be.

"Brennan?" Angela's voice shook me back to reality and I looked at her. "Let him see you care about him, sweetie. Despite that argument, don't do it alone, ok? Let him guide you."
And all of the sudden my mind started processing all the information I had gathered.
Let Booth guide me…To be honest I hadn't even considered that as an option and all of the sudden his actions didn't seem so dark anymore now I knew I didn't need to go through this alone.
Angela was right, I had him to lean on.
A smile appeared on my face and I excused myself and walked a little further to the balcony, having a quick look over the lab before I rested against the railing and retrieved my cell phone from the pocket of my jeans.
"Booth?" I asked tentatively once he had answered his phone. " Is it too late to meet me at the diner? I need to talk to you, please."

(-End Chapter 18-)