Zack knocked on Booth's door. It was late. He knew he shouldn't have come, but if he left it until the morning he'd have time to overthink it and back out. Booth opened the door and, for the first time in a long while, Zack's brain just stopped working. Booth was stood there in nothing but a low slung pair of light blue pyjama bottoms, hair ruffled and eyes sleepy.
"Zack?" He managed to mumble. "It's 3 in the morning, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you," Zack said quickly, his tune unsure. "Can I come in?" Booth nodded slowly, opening the door wide to let Zack in.
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Booth couldn't understand what was going on. It was three o'clock in the morning, he should be asleep. But instead, he was up, watching Zack pace a hole into his living room carpet, looking fearful and unsure and oh so fuckable. Wait. Had Booth actually just thought that? Rubbing his eyes, he shook the thought out of his head and addressed Zack.
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"You," Zack breathed, finally stopping his pacing. "And me. How you make me feel. It's wrong, I know it is, but I can't help it. I can't explain what I feel for you, and that scares me. All I know is when you're around lately my breath hitches, my chest tightens and I seem to lose the ability to think right." By the time Zack had finished, Booth was only half listening. The other half was too focused on his lips. After another moment of absent looking, his mind racing to all the good uses those lips could be put to, Booth managed to look up.
"I'm sorry," Zack whispered immediately, interpreting Booth's silence as a rejection. "I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry." He was about to turn and leave when Booth reached out and stopped him.
"Zack, wait," He said quickly. Zack turned back to look at Booth, fear shining in his eyes. "Don't… you don't have to go."
"But…" Zack started unsurely. Booth shook his head slowly, immediately silencing the younger man.
"It's ok, Zack, really. Come and sit with me. We need to talk about this." Zack looked worriedly at Booth for a moment, but his eyes reassured him and Zack nodded slowly.
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Zack looked up at Booth shyly. The older man hadn't spoken for a while. He seemed to be processing the new information, and it was taking him a while. After a while, Zack risked speaking.
"Are you sure you don't want me to leave?" He whispered. Booth shook his head, opening his eyes and smiling.
"No, it's ok. I just…" He tilted his head to the side. "When did this start?"
"I'm not sure. I just woke up one day, and it was there." Booth nodded slowly, rubbing Zack's arm gently. Zack looked down at the FBI agent's hand on his arm. It seemed to be moving higher and, when Zack looked back to Booth's face, he was wearing a lazy smile. Zack turned slightly, facing Booth fully.
"Booth," He whispered. "What… What am I supposed to do about this?" Booth continued to smile as his hand reached Zack's neck.
"Just do what feels right," He whispered, just as quietly as Zack, rubbing the younger man's neck soothingly. Zack nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on Booth.
"I… I want to kiss you," He said timidly, his voice almost disappearing as he spoke. Looking carefully, Zack scanned Booth's face for some form on permission. Booth nodded slowly, pulling Zack gently in towards him. Zack swallowed lightly before closing the gap between them and kissing Booth softly on the lips.
Zack sighed into the kiss, and Booth had to fight to restrain himself. He wanted nothing more than to grab Zack and deepen the kiss, but he held back. He didn't want to scare Zack, so he just let him explore in his own time. After a few more seconds, Zack reached up and ran a hand through Booth's hair as his tongue began to seek entrance to Booth's mouth. Booth obliged, wrapping one hand tentatively around Zack's waist. Zack moaned softly, unconsciously tugging on Booth's hair. This was the breaking point for Booth's self restraint, and he pulled Zack in close, taking control of the kiss and pushing Zack backwards onto the couch. Zack moaned again as Booth moved his kisses to the younger man's jaw line and neck.
"B-Booth?" Booth pulled away, looking at Zack as he stuttered the older man's name in a question.
"Can we… go to your room?" Zack asked timidly. Booth looked to his bedroom door and back to Zack.
"Are you sure?" He asked, seeing the lust in Zack's eyes was mixed with fear. Slowly, Zack nodded. Booth kissed him softly before getting up and putting his hand out. Zack took it, smiling at Booth, who smiled back as he led the young PhD through into his bedroom.