One week before Christmas of senior year
"Booth! Have you seen my scarf?"
"No, did you check the disaster zone?" he shouted back from the kitchen. Booth was getting two travel mugs ready with hot chocolate. Sweat was rolling down his face.
Booth was already dressed to go outside, bundled up but still making them hot chocolate.
Brennan opened the closet door but it only went half way. The piles of shoes, jeans and shirts on the floor of the closet prevented it from opening completely. She tore things out and threw them on the floor behind her.
"Booth! I need my scarf! I'm not going outside without it! My nose will fall off!" Brennan yelled. Booth appeared in the doorway and laughed at the mess.
"Babe, it was stuck between the couch cushions. Plus, you of all people should know you're your nose won't fall off. You're gonna clean that up when we get back, right?" Booth joked, holding her scarf. Brennan got up and snatched the scarf from him.
"Where are we going anyway?" she asked, pulling the scarf around her neck.
"I can't tell you. It's a surprise. Here," Booth said, handing her the tall mug of hot chocolate, "We have a long walk in the snow."
"What? Where are we going, Seeley?" Brennan was getting frustrated and a little mad that he was being so secretive.
"Well, first, we have to walk to Adam's. He's going to let us borrow his car, but that's as much as I'm telling you."
She grumbled and wrapped the scarf around her mouth and nose. The walk to Adam's apartment was normally a decent walk but the blowing snow not only made the sidewalks slippery, but also made them hard to see. They knocked on Adam's door and the wide receiver handed Booth the keys as soon as he opened the door.
"There's one thing though," Adam said before Booth took off, "The heater broke last night. I can't get it into the shop until after the holidays."
"No worries. Are you still okay with us taking it for the day?"
Adam nodded and said, "I don't need it today. I'm tired as hell, man. I'm sleeping today."
Booth shouted his thanks as he ran to the car. Brennan was not too happy that he was easily excitable today, especially since she knew they were going to spend most of their time in the cold.
"I'm out of hot chocolate," Brennan whined. They had been in the car for almost two hours and it was only slightly warmer inside the car than out.
"We're almost there. I'll get you more hot chocolate as soon as we get there," Booth promised.
"Get to where? We're in the middle of nowhere!" Brennan shouted at him.
Booth just laughed. "Just a few more minutes, babe. We'll be there in no time."
She rolled her eyes and turned up the radio. Every station was playing Christmas music and there was no way to escape it. Brennan normally hated music like that. It was just a reminder of what Christmastime usually meant but this time, she just wanted to drown out the howling wind outside.
Like Booth had said, no more than three minutes later, Booth turned the car down a long, winding driveway lined with pine trees on each side.
"Where are we?" Brennan shouted over the music.
Booth reached to the dashboard and turned off the music.
"We're here," he said simply.
"Where is here?"
Booth laughed. "We're at a tree farm, genius. We're gonna get rid of that nasty fake tree and get a real one."
"Oh. That's your big secret?"
Booth nodded and pulled into the gravel parking lot. There were a few other cars but the farm seemed mostly empty. A young man bundled like they were came out to greet them.
"Hey guys, you coming to pick up a tree?" he asked.
"Well, we gotta pick one out first," Booth told him. The kid nodded.
"Okay. The ones that are ready are way out back. You'll have to wait until my dad gets back with the last group if you want a carriage ride out there. I'm sure you guys don't want to walk. It's quite a ways out," the kid informed them.
"We'll wait. Is there a place we can warm up? My girl here is freezing."
"Follow me." The kid led the way to a large barn. Brennan scoffed at it. To her, it looked like the wind could blow it right over.
Walking into the barn, Brennan was warmed up immediately. There was no way she was going to take off her coat but it was warmer than she had been all day, which was definitely a relief. Booth took her mug to the concession stand as she took a look around.
There was a corner for a small petting zoo with goats and lambs and another corner where a man dressed as Santa sat, talking to a small girl.
Booth stood at the concession stand, waiting for the young girl behind it to fill their mugs with fresh hot chocolate. Glancing over to Brennan, he noticed she was occupied with the assortment of wreaths and Christmas decorations. He shoved his hand into his pocket where he was keeping the ring.
Shit, did I leave it at home? He thought, Shit. It's on the bathroom counter. Shit. There goes that plan. Guess I should've thought of a proposal back up.
He was disappointed but realizing there was no way either of them were going to be willing to take off their gloves in this weather, maybe it was better that he put it off.
The girl handed Booth their mugs and Booth paid.
"Give me mine," Brennan demanded. She scared him, not knowing she had snuck up behind him.
Booth smiled at her and looked out the open barn door. The wind had slowed dramatically and it was now only snowing lightly.
"See," Booth told her, "We came at just the right time. It's not as cold anymore."
Brennan rolled her eyes and smiled. The horse-drawn carriage pulled up to the barn and the old famer, after helping the family off the cart, pulled a tree off the back and rolled it to their car. The farmer helped the other man strap the tree to their car and the family took off, the two children in the back seat singing carols.
It reminded Brennan of her childhood, which she now looked back on with fondness rather than revulsion. Booth had helped her move past the animosity of the fact that she was abandoned. He believed things happened for a reason. Had her parents not left, who know where she'd be. She could've gone to some other college and they wouldn't have met, which is something Booth practically refuses to talk about.
"It is very pleasant out now," Brennan commented.
"Okay, you folks lookin' for a tree?" The farmer stood behind them, waiting for them to load the carriage.
"Yes, sir," Booth told him and followed him to the carriage, guiding Brennan along with him.
Booth offered her a hand up, but she swatted it away.
"I can get up on the cart on my own, Booth."
He rolled his eyes and gave up. "I know you can. I was just trying to be a gentleman."
The farmer, who didn't hear their exchange, offered his hand to Brennan, who was struggling to reach the first step. She took his hand and hoisted herself up. "Thank you," she told him.
Booth sat down next to her and muttered, "I thought you could get up on your own."
She elbowed him but he barely felt it though all of the layers he was wearing.
"It's a bit of a ride out to the field. There's a few blankets under the bench if you two need a few more layers," the farmer said over his shoulder.
Booth did just that and spread out a thick wool blanket over her legs. She smiled up at him and shared the extra layer with him.
"You know, Pops, Jared and I used to do this all the time."
She looked confused. "Ride horse-drawn carriages?"
Booth laughed. "Well, sort of. Before Pops' car, he had this big pick up, and we would go out to a tree farm outside of Philly and get a tree."
"Did you guys quit going to get trees?" Brennan asked.
He nodded. "You know how little Pops' car is. It's too small to hold a car on top. Adam's car is kinda pushin' it, but we should be fine to get it back."
"Okay. This is nice, Booth. Thanks for bringing me here." She moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
As Booth wrapped his arm around her waist, he knew in the back of his mind that this moment would've been perfect to give her the ring if he had brought it. But to him, right then, it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was her and the fact that she was happy.
