**This chapter is a bit longer...yaaay! :) Brennan's walls are falling slowly but surely. The next question is how much will she be willing to open up about and discuss with Booth...hmmm...

Oh...I LOVED all the reviews! OMG! They make me super happy and make me smile :) Keep it up!

Yet again, I don't own them.

Climbing the steps to her temporary home, Temperance let out a sigh before she reached for the door. She knew what waited for her inside was anything but what she really wanted to be waiting on her. She turned the doorknob and gently pushed it open, taking a step inside. She softly dropped her backpack by the door in hopes of not drawing any attention to herself. "Temperance? Is that you?" her foster-mother called from the kitchen.

Crap, she thought. "Yes, Maggie, it's me." She took a few steps and propped herself in the doorway to the kitchen.

"How was school, sweetie?" the thin woman was sitting at the table with a magazine and a glass filled with a golden-colored liquid, a smoke halo circling her head.

Taking a deep breath, Temperance attempted to smile. "It was good. Hey, uh, can I go out with a friend for a little while this evening?" she asked with a nervous pulse in her stomach.

Looking up from her "Learn These New Sex Moves!" article, Maggie's green eyes widened as her lips curved upwards. "Does Miss Temperance have a date?" she teased.

"I'm just going to dinner with a…friend…" A shiver ran up Temperance's spine.

"Well, who am I to stand in the way of young love…" Maggie hummed, her ruby lips meeting the edge of her glass again. Temperance rolled her eyes as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Of course you can go, sweetie!"

"He won't be here until six, so I think I'm going to lay down for a bit," she told her foster-mom. "Can you make sure I'm up by five?"

"Mhmm," Maggie nodded, returning to her magazine.

Temperance left the kitchen, climbing the stairs up to her bedroom. At the time, she was the only kid in the house, so she had her own bedroom. Shutting the door behind her, she climbed into her bed, shoes still on her feet. She aimlessly reached out, feeling around for a particular texture that was oh-so-familiar. "Ah ha," she whispered, grabbing onto her target.

She pulled the stuffed bear to her chest and curled herself around it. As she laid there, all of the past two days ran through her head, particularly the memories with him in them. A tear silently slid down her ivory cheek and landed on the stuffed animal. "I don't want to be hurt again, Rupert," she whispered, her lips brushing against the soft brown material.

And with that being said, Temperance's eyes finally fluttered shut. Her fingers traced along the bear's arm and back as she dozed off.

Rolling over in her bed, Temperance opened her eyes. Darting them across the room, she finally found the clock on her wall. Five-thirty-seven. Shit, shit, shit! she thought, almost literally jumping out of the bed. "Man! Why didn't she get me up?" she huffed, immediately running to her closet.

She didn't have many nice things to wear, so the choice should've been fairly simple, but for some reason she was having problems picking an outfit. Moving clothes left to right and right to left, the screeching of the hangers against the bars never fazed her.

"Temperance?" Maggie called out, lightly rapping on the door before pushing it open.

"Yeah?" Temperance nearly snapped, still racking her brain for which shirt would work best for her that night.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you up, honey! I completely lost track of time!" Maggie took a few steps across the room and sat down on the corner of Temperance's bed.

Tequila will do that to you, Temperance thought, eventually pulling three shirts out of the closet. "Which one?" she asked hastily, holding two up with her hands and one up with her mouth.

"Hmm…" Maggie thought, taking a drag on her cigarette. Temperance hated the smoke smell that always encompassed her room, but she didn't feel she was in any place to be demanding things. "How about the dark blue one? It'll bring out your amazing eyes," she told her foster-daughter.

Thinking over the decision for a slight moment, Temperance threw the other two shirts onto the closet floor, pulled her current button-up shirt off, and stood in front of her dresser in the tank top she had on underneath. She pulled on the dark blue shirt, buttoning all the buttons, and adjusted it on herself. She gave herself a once-over in the mirror and began to tease and pull at her hair.

"Let me help," Maggie insisted, walking towards the teenage girl. She began to twirl strands of hair gently, pushing and pulling until they were where she wanted them. Temperance occasionally flinched as her hair was pulled, but she decided just to let Maggie have at it. After she was finished, Maggie lightly sprayed Temperance's hair with hairspray.

Temperance looked into the mirror and saw the soft curls that gently framed her face. Her auburn hair was naturally wavy, but she could never seem to get it to look decent on her own. Reaching for her mascara, she dropped her jaw to apply it. After a couple of delicate layers, she placed the tube of mascara back on the dresser.

She glanced over herself, tugging at her shirt and taking a deep breath as she looked up at her own face. She bit her lips and exhaled as Maggie squeezed her hands on Temperance's shoulders. "You're beautiful, honey." About that time, the doorbell rang throughout the old house. "Ah, he must be here!" she sang out, darting out of the girl's bedroom.

Quickly applying a coat of chapstick on her lips, she pushed the tube down into her jeans pocket, grabbed her jacket and purse, and left the room. Nervously, she wobbled down the stairs. She felt the butterflies in her stomach, swarming up to her chest. Her blue eyes eventually traced up his body and to his own chocolate colored eyes. She saw a smile creep on his face as he continued small-talk with Maggie. "Ah, here she is," Maggie noticed out-loud.

"Hi," he greeted her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Nervously tucking a curl behind her ear, she quickly fake-smiled and reached for the doorknob. "Bye, Maggie," she spoke softly as she was already in the middle of their front porch.

"Bye, you guys!" Maggie smiled as the young man followed her foster-daughter to his SUV. "Be home by midnight!"

Taking a few quick steps, Booth reached out and opened the passenger side door for Temperance. With a cocked eyebrow, she stopped a couple steps before she reached the vehicle. Typically, she hated it when people tried to do things for her, but she had decided to try and be "normal" for one night. She had seen plenty of movies, read plenty of books. She knew that this was a customary action for Friday nights between two young people who were going out for dinner.

She climbed up into the SUV and placed her purse in her lap. Once he had rejoined her, he shut his door and looked over at her with a grin. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the smirk on his face. "What?" she asked pointedly as she pulled her seatbelt across her torso.

"You, uh…you look really pretty," he stuttered, starting the vehicle. Temperance felt her cheeks become flushed as he began to drive. After riding a couple of miles in silence, she finally broke the silence. "Mind telling me where you're dragging me?" She honestly didn't mean for her question to come out as badly-sounding as it did.

Booth let out a soft chuckle as his jaw tightened. "Is going out with me really that torturous for you?" She was silent. "I'll take that as a yes," he sighed.

"No…no…" she corrected her previous silence. "It's just…it's complicated," she stuttered, taking a deep breath.

"I've got time," he rebutted, glancing over at her fidgeting with her purse.

Looking over at him with weak eyes, she sighed. "Do we have to talk about this right now?" she asked, not wanting to let him in on all the deep dark secrets of Temperance Brennan just yet.

"No, of course not," he replied.

Maybe he's not as pushy as he has seemed, she thought, focusing her eyes on the road ahead of them.

"Do you like Chinese food?" he asked, reaching for the radio button.

Temperance nodded. "Yeah, it's my favorite," she admitted.

"Well, I'm taking you to a great Chinese place downtown. The owner has known my grandpa for years. It's the best food in the city." A smile slipped across her face without her realizing it. Booth, however, noticed it out of the corner of his eye. "You really are very pretty," he reassured her, glancing between her and the road.

Biting her bottom lip, she felt the butterflies getting heavier. "Thanks," she spoke softly. Compliments were definitely something she had never gotten used to.

Once he had killed the engine, Booth unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the SUV. He walked to Temperance's side and opened her door before she had a chance. "I should probably tell you," he warned her, "This place is a little different than most restaurants."

"What do you mean?" she asked, jumping slightly as she felt his hand grace the small of her back as she walked into the building.

"You'll see," he told her, looking around to see if his usual booth was open. He ushered Temperance to the back corner and allowed her to slide into the seat before he did.

"Seeley! My man!" a guy greeted them as Booth got settled next to his date.

"Sid! How's it going, man?" Booth chit-chatted as Temperance flipped open a menu that was laying on the table.

"Two entrees?" Sid asked. Booth nodded, adjusting his silverware beside the small plate in front of him. "And what to drink?"

"Water, please," Temperance ordered.

"Water, too," Booth agreed with a slight grin.

Sid chuckled and tucked his pen behind his ear. "Your food will be out shortly," he assured them as he walked away.

"Um, we didn't order," Temperance objected, her eyes pinched together.

Chuckling, Booth nodded. "That's what's different about this place. Sid just knows what you want to eat. It's amazing. Just wait and see."

"I'm a vegetarian, Booth. I assume that most people that come here are not vegetarians, and that could be a problem for my food."

"Just wait and see," Booth assured her with a smile. "Sid is amazing."

Temperance folded her napkin and placed it across her lap, laying her hands on top of it. "So your name is Seeley?" she asked, not meaning any sort of judgment at all.

"Don't remind me," Booth huffed.

"I like it," she admitted timidly, looking down at her hands. Curls fell in her face as her cheeks became flushed again.

"I like Temperance, too," he spoke softly.

"Ugh," she groaned. "I don't."

Booth chuckled. "Well, maybe we can find something else to call you. And you can just stick to calling me Booth."

"Deal," she agreed, looking him in the eyes for the first time that since they left the house. He saw hope in her, and uncertainty. He knew that by how she was acting, she had major trust issues with anything that had a pulse and that he was going to have to try harder than ever to win her over. However, he was okay with that. Being a Booth, he liked a challenge.

After what seemed like only a couple of minutes, Sid brought a tray full of food to their table. "Your usual," he handed Booth his plate. "And for you, young lady, some vegetarian lo mein." He slid her plate to her with a smile as he saw her eyes widen. "Oh, and vegetarian eggrolls on the house," he added, placing a basket full of steaming eggrolls between them.

"Thanks, man," Booth replied with a smile. Sid left their table as Booth looked over at Temperance.

"This is amazing," she spoke softly, elegantly using chopsticks to twirl her noodles around her plate.

"What's amazing is that you know how to use those things," he pointed with the end of his fork.

Temperance's eyebrows pinched together. "It's really not that complicated," she informed him, bring another mouthful of noodles to her lips. She carefully blew on them to cool them off before she took another bite.

"Whatever you say," he chuckled.

Putting her chopsticks down, she picked up the other pair. She took his fork out of his hand, put it on the table, and placed her hand on the outside of his. Carefully placing his fingers where they needed to be, she smiled at him. "Now, just move this stick this way, and the other stick that way," she demonstrated with her hand still on his.

Booth smiled back, his hand on fire where her skin had touched his. He shook his head out of the daze he was in and carefully picked up a couple of noodles off his plate. After successfully putting the food in his mouth, he grinned again. "You learn something new every day, I guess."

After eating their entrees, Sid brought out a couple of fortune cookies. "These are actually homemade," Booth told her as he offered her first pick. "Sid has someone write out fortunes and they bake their own cookies." Nodding with a smile, Temperance seemed impressed. She picked the cookie closest to her and cracked it open over her empty plate. Booth did the same with his cookie. "What's yours say?" he asked.

"It's right in front of you, all you have to do is let go," she read out loud. The message instantly had a meaning to her, but she preferred to keep that to herself. "What about yours?"

"Handle with care, if not, you'll lose it forever," he read with a confused look. "I never understand these things," he told her with a chuckle.

She smiled and placed her napkin from her lap back onto the table. "They're all just made up," she stated as they both climbed out of their Booth.

With a smile, Booth guided her out of the restaurant door. "Ready for the next part of the night?" he asked, his hand gently landing on the small of her back again.

"What? I thought this was just dinner?" she asked, confused.

He stopped and gently pulled on her wrist to stop her from walking. She turned around and looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "If you can honestly tell me right now that you don't want to do anything else and you want to go home, I'll take you back home," he told her. Her silence answered his question. "That's what I thought," he replied with a cocky tone and a grin.

Temperance rolled her eyes. I walked right into that one, she thought. "So what's next, then?"

"It's a surprise," he told her with a grin, opening the SUV door for her yet again. "You're all into nature and science-y stuff, right?" he asked before he shut her door.

"Yeah, I guess," she responded, her eyebrows pinched together as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"Good," he replied with another grin on his face before he shut her door. He had never been one for the glitz and glam of hanging out at fancy places. But then again, he never really had the money to do such things. He was glad she was proving to be as simple as he was.