**Hey yall...despite my disappearance for a while, "the date" is finally here! I know it's kind of cliche and cheesy, but I like it. And I could totally see Booth being like this. Enjoy and review please!

Don't own them.**

The loud roar of a bell startled Temperance as it signaled the end of the game. Once off, she rubbed both of her temples and shook her head. "The decibels of that bell could seriously damage someone's inner ear abilities," she stated, securing her bag across her chest.

Angela chuckled. "I guess I'm used to it. It goes off at the end of every game." Guiding her new friend out of the stands, Angela stopped when they were in front of the field house. "So where is Sexy taking you?"

"Sexy?" Temperance asked, fidgeting with her ring.

"Oh, that's what I call Booth. Don't you agree that it fits?" Angela's long brown curls swayed as the wind blew across the practice field that they were waiting in.

"Well, he is quite appealing to the eye. His symmetrical masculine features along with his pheromones both increase my endorphins by a significant amount." Temperance's eyes narrowed as she saw the strange look that Angela was giving her.

"Sweetie, all you had to say was yes…"

"Oh," Temperance bit her bottom lip. "How long will we have to wait on Sexy?" She glanced down at the clock on her phone.

"Well, after the game, Coach Barnett usually talks to the guys for a few minutes. When that's over with, they all get a quick shower and then he'll be ready to roll." Angela found a small patch of grass on the mostly-dirt field and sat down.

"Why is he rolling?" Temperance asked. "Shouldn't he be driving?"

At this, Angela cracked up. "You're too dang funny, Temperance," she told her. "It just means that he'll be ready to go."

Temperance made an "oh" face as she sat next to Angela. Her heart started fluttering when she saw a couple of guys come out of the fieldhouse. She strained her neck to look and see if any of them were Booth.

"Oh, those guys aren't him, sweetie," Angela informed her. "Booth does a little more primping than the other guys," she chuckled.

"Why does he do that?"

"Well, tonight," Angela explained, "It's because he's going out with you once he's done. He has to get his hair just right. You know, typical cocky jock stuff."

Temperance's eyes pinched together as she nodded. She always assumed that guys just rolled out of bed and rushed to school. Perhaps she was wrong.

Angela watched Temperance sit nervously for a little while before she glanced over at the fieldhouse. With a grin, she told Temperance, "You know who is headed this way…"

Looking up, Temperance's eyes got wide, her heart raced, and her lips curved upward into a bashful grin. She stood up, brushed herself off, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

With a smile, Booth reached out his hand for hers as he got closer to the girls. "You ready?" he asked, finally relaxing as he felt the warmth of her small hand in his. She nodded, biting her bottom lip. "What are your plans for the night, Ange?" The group began walking towards their vehicles.

"Eh, I'll probably just go back home and watch a movie or something. I dumped Jake yesterday for being a cheating bastard," she smirked. "Let's just say his feelings aren't the only thing that hurt."

Booth cringed, knowing exactly what she meant, while Temperance remained unaware of the actual meaning behind Angela's words. "Well, why don't you grab that Hodgins kid and do something with him?" He opened the door of his SUV for Temperance and smiled as she climbed in.

"I guess I could do that…" she mumbled, digging her keys out of her car. Booth closed the passenger door with a grin.

"I'd invite you guys to go with us, but…" he explained without many words.

Angela grinned. "There's not a chance in hell that I would barge in on your date for tonight, Seeley. I know it's gonna be a good one."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, almost to the driver's side of the SUV. "What makes you say that?"

"That damn look you have smeared across your face!" she yelled, shutting her car door.

With a laugh, Booth opened the driver's side door and climbed in. He smiled over at Temperance, his brown eyes tracing her petite figure. "You look amazing," he told her, reaching over and taking her hand in his.

"You already told me that," she reminded him as his thumb stroked the back of her hand.

"And I'm pretty sure I'll be telling you again," he promised. He grinned again as he saw her cheeks redden slightly while she looked down towards her feet.

As a quick change of subject, Temperance asked, "So where are we going?"

"I already told you it's a surprise," he reminded her as he began to drive.

"And I told you that I hate surprises," she reminded him.

"I'll give you a hint," he offered. "There won't be any polka music, cats, or broccoli."

As her eyebrows pinched together, Temperance rolled her eyes. "You're impossible," she bluntly told him, earning a grin from the driver's seat.

"We're here," Booth announced, putting the SUV in park.

"Where is 'here'?" Temperance asked, undoing her seatbelt.

"This is where I live," he told her with a grin. "I figured that it was time to show you more of me before I asked you anymore about you."

Temperance immediately understood the meaning behind his statement. With that said, she could literally feel her body relax more than before. There was just something so sincere and honest about his words.

He helped her out of the SUV like the gentleman that he was, and then guided her inside the house. Once the lights were on, Temperance looked around at the old log-cabin-type house. It had a massive open area downstairs, it seemed the kitchen and living room were connected, and the den only separated by the three steps leading down to it. She also noticed the broad stairs that lead to a second floor.

"Well, this is it…" he held his arms out, showcasing the place as she smiled.

"I like it," she told him, looking around at the pictures on the walls and the fireplace mantle.

"And I," he told her, guiding her towards the kitchen, "Am going to cook you dinner. So have a seat," he pulled out a barstool at the kitchen island, "and watch me work." A grin spread across his face as he heard Temperance laugh.

She sat on the barstool and smiled over at Booth. "What are you gonna try to cook?" she asked, propping her chin on her hands while her elbows rested on the countertop.

"Try? TRY?" he asked with wide eyes as he walked to her. Cupping her cheek, he smiled. "I don't try to do anything. I actually do it." He looked down into her blue eyes as they both grinned. He pressed his lips to her forehead and smiled even bigger before he stepped back towards the sink. "You up for some spaghetti?" he asked, washing his hands.

"Sounds good, Chef Booth," she mocked him with a smirk. He rolled his eyes as he pulled out a pot for the sauce. "Where are your grandpa and brother?" she asked him.

"Well, first of all, when Pop meets you, he'll insist that you call him "Pop," and not "Grandpa," he told her with a chuckle. "Second of all, Pop took Jared to see some sci-fi movie that Jared's been dying to see. He said they'd be back around ten."

"So, he trusts you here…alone with a girl?" she wondered, crossing her legs and bouncing her foot.

With a smirk, Booth shrugged. "You trust me to be alone with you, don't you?"

"Yeah…" She cocked her eyebrow. "What's that have to do with anything?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a good guy," he informed her, matter-of-factly.

"Good guys can have bad intentions, too," she reminded him as he approached her again.

He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and smiled genuinely. "I have the best intentions of anybody you'll ever meet," he promised. "I mean, I haven't even tried to kiss you yet, have I?" he asked, getting closer to her face.

Temperance gulped as her heart jumped up in her throat. "What's stopping you?" she whispered, his lips only a couple of inches from hers. Her eyes fluttered open and shut as she noticed herself involuntarily leaning closer and closer to him, begging for more.

With a grin, Booth bit his lip and leaned back. "Maybe later," he winked at her, returning to the cooking.

She wanted to let out a groan, but decided that that wouldn't be best. One of her foster-mothers had taught her to never appear frustrated or desperate. She told Temperance "The more frustrated and desperate that you seem, the more he gets his way."

She ran her tongue across her now-dry lips as she tried to settle her stomach and her heart back down. For now, she would just have to silently suffer.

After dinner was over, Temperance walked around the bottom level of the house looking at each photograph. When she spotted a picture with Booth in it, she would stare longer at that picture than the ones before or after it; she tried to figure out his life. She saw a picture of him when he was probably seven or eight in a hockey uniform with a grin smeared across his face. There were a couple of pictures of him with other girls, like the pictures that are taken at dances and proms. The smile that she had fallen for wasn't in those pictures. At this, she wrinkled her eyebrows and moved on to the next picture.

"Having fun?" Booth asked, approaching her once all of the dishes were done. She had volunteered to help, but he refused to let her pitch in.

With a smile, she nodded. "How long have you lived here?"

"Um…I'm seventeen now…I moved here when I was nine. So eight years." His arms slipped around her shoulders as she pressed into his chest.

"I miss my home," she confided in him, letting out a sigh against him. He ran a hand across her back as he inhaled the scent of her hair. "But I'll find out what happened one day. I'll figure it out," she vowed, more to herself than him.

Raising his head up from resting on top of hers, Booth parted from her. "Pop and Jared are home," he told her, taking her hand and smiling at her.

"What? How do you know?" She didn't hear anything to make one even assume that someone was home.

"I heard the gravel of the driveway. Nobody else comes way out here," he assured her, putting his arm around her shoulder and smiling at her. "Oh…and a warning…" he swallowed hard, "He calls me Shrimp."

With a smirk, Temperance twisted her body to look up at his face. "Why does he call you Shrimp?"

"Let's just say, until I hit my growth spurt a couple years ago, I was rather small," he admitted with a rosy color crossing his cheeks.

"I never would've guessed that," she told him with a grin, reaching up and placing her hand on the side of his face.

With that being said, a younger version of Booth sprinted through the door, jumping around. "That was the greatest movie EVER!" the kid yelled, not being able to contain himself. Booth rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Dang kids these days," Pop mumbled, shutting the door behind himself. "Well well well!" he perked up as he turned his head and saw Temperance. "Who is this lovely young lady, Shrimp?" he asked, making his way to the couch.

"Pop, this is Temperance…Temperance, this is Pop…" Booth introduced the two.

With a smile, Temperance reached out a hand in an attempt to shake the older man's hand. He chuckled. "Nonsense. In this house, we hug," he insisted.

With a strange look, Temperance gave in to the strange man's embrace. Despite being leery of this hug, Temperance noticed the same secure feeling she felt when hugging Booth. "So, has Seeley here been showing you a good time?" Pop asked, taking a few steps over and plopping down in a big chair.

Booth guided Temperance over to the couch next to the chair and sat down. "Yes sir," she answered with a smile up towards Booth. "He's been a complete gentleman."

With a chuckle, Booth rolled his eyes. He knew she was mocking him.

"He better be a gentleman," Pop chimed in with a laugh. "I may be old but I'm still young enough to beat his butt if he doesn't act like I taught him to."

With a smirk, Temperance looked back at Booth with a raised eyebrow. "I think he could take you," she told him with a shrug.

"There's no doubt about it," he agreed, making Pop laugh. "I wouldn't even dare him to try because I know he would."

"Well, Shrimp," Pop said as he got out of the chair, "I'm heading to bed. Jared's going to bed, too. Make sure and get this pretty lady home on time, huh?"

"I will, Pop," Booth assured him.

Once he was out of the room, Booth smiled down at Temperance. "So, what now?" she asked, her stomach knotting up again.

"Well, what time do you have to be home?"

"Around midnight is what Maggie told me. And I know she's already passed out from her excessive tequila obsession, but I still don't want to risk it," she told him.

With a nod and a smile, Booth never complained. He simply stared into her eyes, reading everything she wasn't verbally telling him. He reached up, running his hand through her soft hair. "It's driving me crazy that I can't figure out why you're different," he admitted.

"I'm different?" she asked. "What do you mean?" Her eyebrows pinched together.

He smiled at her confusion. "It just feels so natural with you. I haven't had to force anything to work out like I've had to in the past," he confessed.

"Yeah, that's pretty terrifying for me," Temperance told him, looking down at her hand in his.

With his free hand, Booth lifted her chin up towards him as his lips slightly curved upward. "You need to know that I'd never do anything to hurt you…in any way…even if this doesn't work out," he promised. "And I know that trusting people is hard for you, but I'm okay with that. I'm okay with going slow, and making sure you're comfortable with everything that's going on, okay?"

With her heart back in her throat, she nodded with a smile. "Since my parents left, I've never had someone be so caring towards me," she told him. "Someone that wanted me."

"You have me now, Tempe," he promised, slowly leaning towards her. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and shut. "And I won't let anything happen to you," he whispered only mere seconds before his lips collided with hers.

She trusted him. For once in her life, Temperance Brennan trusted someone other than herself. And somehow…somehow, she knew he wouldn't break his promise.