Wow! Thanks for all of the reassuring reviews! You guys mean so much to me. :) I'm really glad the majority of you are enjoying this so much. I have put a lot of effort into it, and I'm glad you noticed. :D Yay!
For that, you deserve answers! (We'll ignore the fact that the timing was completely coincidental, and this was the next chapter anyway, right? ;D )
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Therapy was such bull. Honestly, who would elect to sit through that? Let alone pay thousands of dollars for it…
It had been one of the most uncomfortable nights he could remember. He and Bones had avoided eye contact until Sweets forced them to face each other. If only my badge and partnership weren't dependant on this little twerp, he thought. It was hard to look at her and not crumble, but he was determined.
He'd never stayed mad at Bones this long. It was clear she was surprised that he hadn't cleaned up their mess yet. Sweets missed the whole point entirely. His feeble attempts to get them to work through their "issues" had resulted in quite a few harsh words from both of them, plus a few threats from him to Sweets. It was very obvious to Booth that Brennan wanted to put this behind them, but didn't really know how. He shook his head at her ignorance. Why couldn't she understand the problem?
He didn't want to try. He could, he knew that. It would be so easy to pick up the phone, speak a few words, fix it just like that. But he didn't want to. His belligerence in therapy was very purposeful, and he felt a little bad about that. He was supposed to be the fixer, after all. The protector, the one that made things right.
And he wanted things to be right again, he really did. But he was so tired of always catering to her, of being the bad guy, of apologizing even when things weren't entirely his fault. If she would just initiate, he'd be fine. But it seemed very important for him to stand his ground in this situation. He didn't want to follow the precedent he had already set. He needed her to make an effort.
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Brennan was pacing through her house restlessly. She was past anger. She missed Booth so much- it was like part of had been taken away without her permission. Yes, this was cliché, but she needed him to be a real part of her life again. Their session with Sweets had brought a lot of things to the surface, but nothing had been resolved. She generally like Dr. Sweets- sure, he was a bit pompous and reminded her a little of an adoring puppy, but he was smart. She wished that she had tried harder to fix things. It was obvious from Booth's attitude that he had walked in there not willing to compromise or try to solve anything, and she should've put more effort into making up for his apathy.
Sweets had suggested that they write things down about each other that they admired. He said that if they made a habit of noticing the good things about their partner, they would "sail through rough patches like these, no sweat." He also mentioned how healthy it would be to go back and read past observations if they were feeling angry or upset with one another. Booth had scoffed and immediately made a rude comment about not knowing Sweets was actually a marriage counselor. At the time, this seemed a valid point, Brennan had thought. Wasn't writing affirmations something married couples do? But Sweets had told them that these weren't affirmations; they would keep them to themselves, to remind each of them of how much they cared for the other.
She eyed the yellow legal pad on her desk.
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Well, to be honest, for the first time I'm not sure quite where this story is going next. I have the bulk of it already written, I just haven't decided on the order quite yet. Stay tuned!