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Chapter 12

The next morning Lance woke up starving. The hamburger that he'd played with rather than actually eaten was a distant memory for him but his tummy was protesting loudly. He went to the bathroom and then padded downstairs to find some food. The bowl of cereal he was going to make do with wouldn't be necessary. Booth was in the kitchen about to start.

"Hey. Morning." Lance said. "I'm starving."

"Well your in luck...so am I." Booth replied with smile.

Lance plonked himself down on the sofa and flicked the TV on. He went from channel to channel each show seemingly louder than the other. Booth winced as he poured eggs into a pan.

Turn that down buddy will ya?" Lance reduced the volume slightly but kept flicking. He finally settled on something and turned the volume back up again.

"Lance...did you just turn that back up?" Booth asked.

"I can't hear it."

"I can hear it and I'm all the way over here."Booth said loudly to get over the sound of the television. "Turn it down."

"Ok. Geez... ya don't have to shout."

After a little while Booth settled next to him and passed him a plate of eggs and bacon. He put a plate of toast on the coffee table in front of them to share.

"Oooh. Thanks." Lance said immediately snagging two pieces of toast and plonking them on his plate.

Booth frowned at the TV screen. "You like this stuff?"

"I guess." Lance said.

"Good enough reason ...I guess." he said. Lance didn't laugh at his lame joke or bother to tell him it was lame... "So...any plans for today?"

"Dunno prolly just play my games again." Lance said carefully. He didn't wanna tell Booth he was going to the park...or that he was meeting anyone...he didn't wanna answer any questions or talk about what he actually did yesterday but he guessed that if he said he was planning on staying inside again that Booth would actually send him there...he was right.

"You know Lance...you should go get some fresh air again...you had some fun yesterday didn't you?"

"Some." Lance said. Inside he was smiling but on the outside he didn't wanna look too keen.

"Ya think your friend'll be there?"

"Joel's away."

"No Lance.." Booth said with increasing frustration. "The friend you met at the park."

"Oh..."

"You did meet someone at the park?"

"Um...yeah..I did."

"Well good Lance...you should go have some fun with him... or her..." Booth continued to pump but was getting nowhere but Bones was up now and after making some tea she wandered in."
"Booth thinks you have a girlfriend Lance." she said bluntly. Booth choked a little on his coffee and glared.

"Way to be subtle Bones." he said.

"What?...You do..." she said. Lance's face flushed with embarrassment but he had to chuckle at their bickering. They always did this...then they got right off track...he took advantage and made his escape.

"Gonna have a shower..." he said as he disappeared up the stairs.

"Without anyone telling him to?" Booth said.

"And in the morning on a Sunday..." Bones added.

"Oh yeah...there's a girl here somewhere."

Lance dressed carefully, he tried to find something that didn't have pockets but he didn't have anything. Everything he owned had pockets. He sighed.

"Well today I'm gonna be alert..." he said to himself out loud.

Finally Skye and her parents arrived home from church.

As usual, they'd been there all day...her Dad had practised his sermon while her Mom had opened the hall and set up the refreshments for after the service and so on and so on...all the while she was expected to smile dutifully in her Sunday best...always a dress...and not just any dress...a dress that looked like it should be on a six year old... but now it was over and she was free...she hoped.

"Mom can I go to the park?" she asked.

"After lunch ." her Mom answered.

"But Moomm, I'm not hungry."

"I said after lunch."

"Can I at least take off this dress?"

"Yes you can get changed." Her Mom said with a smile. "That way you'll be ready to go and play when you're finished eating."

Lance took a bite of the sandwich Booth had made him and then a slurp of his milk.

"So Lance...you off to the park this afternoon?" Booth asked.

"Yeah prolly." Lance said. Booth nodded.

"Do you have any homework to finish Lance?" Bones asked.

"Nope. All done." Lance said taking another huge bite. "Can we have spaghetti tonight?"

"Sure can." Booth said. He loved to make spaghetti, taking his time as he slowly cooked the sauce to perfection would be a perfect way to spend the afternoon.

Skye took off up the stairs and into her bedroom wasting no time in shedding the monstrosity. She hated the clothes she had to wear to church and the ones she had to wear to school weren't much better. She pulled on a T shirt. It was a plain blue with no slogans or brand names. That was the tragedy that was her life. Her Dad believed that she needed good plain clothes for 'recreation' and school and a dress for church. Her 'other' clothes were not much better than her church clothes. The only thing they had going for them was that they were a little more comfortable.

School was a problem for Skye, none of the girls or boys for that matter liked her. Well they didn't HATE her..they just ignored her for the most part or gave her weird looks. None of them trusted her...so she may have spilled that drink in Becky's lap...and she MAY have tripped over Amy when she was heading for the lunch table...but it did knock the smug look off her face for a while. They didn't understand she just wanted to be part of them. It also had something to do with the dreaded clothes. While all the other kids wore the latest in skinny jeans or tights and brand name shirts, she wore the plain T shirts with a long denim skirt. While this might be considered to be completely sucky to the average twelve year old...it was monumentally sucky to her. That Amy always called her 'The Little House On the Prairie Girl'. But that was all until Lance came along. Now she had a plan. She was gonna make Lance Sweets her boyfriend. He seemed different, he didn't seem to mind her like the others..at least he didn't show it if he did. He even smiled at her sometimes. Those girls would really take notice when she had a boyfriend.

After checking she was totally alone, Skye pulled her favourite contraband from her closet...her short denim shorts. She'd managed to rescue them from the donations at the church before they went to goodwill. She slipped them on under the skirt and smoothed it down. This was one instance where the shapeless skirt was actually a help. She just had to get to the park before Lance so she could hide the skirt in the bushes.

By the time Lance had gotten away and jogged into the park Skye was already waiting on the seat.

"Hi." she said with a smile. She had her hair out today and her soft curls tumbled over her shoulders and down her back.

"Hi." Lance said, he found himself smiling too.

"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked

"Ok." he said. "Where to?"

"Dunno...the swings?"

"Ok."

"Race ya." Skye said as the swings came into view. She took off leaving Lance staring in her wake.

"Hey hold up.." he yelled as he chased after her. He was taller and his legs were longer so he caught her in no time and passed her in fact beating her to the swings with good time.

"No fair!" Skye said with a mock pout. "You should have let me win..."

"Why?" Lance asked his swing already high in the air.

"Cos it's polite."

"Yeah right." Lance said with a chuckle assuming that she was joking. She sighed and sat on her swing.

"Will you push me please Lance?" she asked. Lance looked a little confused. She couldn't push the swing by herself...

"It's easy to do it yourself...look..." He demonstrated stretching out his legs and then pulling them in again to make the swing reach it's height. Skye gave up on that and started to push the swing herself...expertly. She was going to have to be less subtle...

"Lance?" she asked. "Have you ever had a girlfriend?" Lance swallowed hard.

"No."

"Oh."

"Do ya think you will one day?" Lance pushed his swing so hard that it felt like it might go right around...that'd be cool, he thought like a full 360...

"Lance?"

"Yeah?"

"Do ya think you'll have a girlfriend one day?" Lance shrugged.

"I guess."

"Do you wanna be my boyfriend?" Lance shook his head slowly...

"Um...I dunno about that..." he said with a nervous giggle.
"Why?"

"I dunno..."

"We're friends aren't we?"

"Well yeah.."

"And your a boy..."

"Yeah." he said with a roll of his eyes.

"So that kind of makes you my boyfriend already doesn't it?"

"Ahh...I...sort of I think..."

"Well?"

"I dunno. If I was your boyfriend what EXACTLY would that mean? Like what would I have to do?"

"Um I dunno. Carry my back pack maybe...hold hands..." Lance frowned.
"At school?" he squeaked. "Like in front of people?"

"Of course Lance.."

"I...don't really see what I get out of this..." he said.

"I'll let you kiss me..." Lance's eyes widened and he had to grip the the swing chains so he didn't fall off. He'd NEVER kissed a girl before...it wasn't unappealing though. He jumped off his swing.

"Wanna walk over to the flea market?" he asked. Skye was off her swing in a flash. She caught up to Lance and took his hand. Lance blushed and giggled but didn't pull his hand away.

As they walked along Lance let his mind drift to school tomorrow. OH man...he may as well get the

kiss. He was gonna pay at school...He stopped suddenly and clumsily tried to plant a kiss on Skye's pink lips. She jumped back.

"Not here...out in the open..." Lance looked at her carefully. Had she meant it when she said he could kiss her...? He knew the answer to this question though when she tugged him behind a bunch of bushes where there was a bit of a clearing. "Here." Lance went to lean in like he's imagined that it was done and then jumped. If God was watching, he was showing his disapproval by poking Lance in the butt with a sharp branch.

"Ow...sorry...bush." He snapped off the offending stick and threw it on the ground. He shuddered. If Booth could see him he'd crack that across his backside. Lance was going to try again but Skye got in first. She stood on her toes and laid her lips softly on his, leaving them there for just a few seconds. Seconds that seemed like longer but weren't long enough. Funny how such a small gesture could leave him wanting more. He went to lean in again but Skye stopped him.

"Later." she said. "Weren't we going to the market?" Lance sighed.

"Yeah." This time he took her hand and they squeezed out of the bushes and back onto the path.

Booth was in his element in the kitchen. He'd never minded cooking but since they'd gotten their own home he relished it even more.

Bones was in her office where he could hear her tapping away. He had a cold beer in his hand...a game on the TV where he could see it and two different sauces simmering on the stove for their pasta. He should have told Lance to bring his friend back for dinner...

When they reached the flea market they found that they both had different stalls in mind. Lance wanted to look at the comics while Skye wanted to check out the jewellery.

"How about I look at the comics and you can look at the jewellery?" Lance offered. "Then we can meet back here."

"I want you to look WITH me." Skye said looking up at him sweetly. "Besides...they have rings..."

"Yeah rings are jewellery." Lance said sarcastically.

"It's just..if you're gonna be my boyfriend...I dunno if it's right to kiss, you know until we make it official..."

"How do we do THAT?" Lance asked not seeing the hole he was just about to fall into to.

"You could get me a ring..."

"I don't have enough money for that." Lance said. She smiled...

"Didn't say you had to pay for it..."

"No."

"Please Lancey...it'd be like a sort of initiation.."

"Like for a club?"

"Yeah...you wouldn't turn down THAT would you?" Lance felt hot. The lines were so blurred...

"Well no...but what if I get caught?"

"I'll help you...like yesterday... we didn't get caught then did we?"

"No...but that was only candy."

"We won't pick an expensive one..." She squeezed his hand. "Please..." Lance allowed himself to be pulled over to the stall in question. They walked up and down looking at all the different hand made pieces. Well Skye looked Lance tried to keep breathing, that was hard enough in itself. Skye tugged on his arm suddenly and pulled him away and he felt something in his pocket. Once again he stopped breathing...she was gonna kill him before this was over.

They were at the edge of the market and nearly back on the path when they both felt a hand on their shoulders.

"Son?" said the gruff voice. The kids turned around slowly. It was a cop.

"I'm going to have to ask you to turn out your pockets." Lance went bright red, so did Skye.

"Um.."

"Now." Lance turned out the empty pocket but baulked at the other one... "Son.. the other one too." Lance swallowed hard and turned out his pocket and shut his eyes tight when a silver ring tinkled onto the ground. Skye started to cry.

"It's mine." she tried to say.

"I'm going to need to take you both in and call your folks." Lance heart sank but Skye went white. They couldn't call her parents...they'd be so ashamed. She burst into tears and clung to Lance's hand. "I wanna go home."

"Look it wasn't her alright." Lance said bravely. "I took it."

"No son we saw her put it in your pocket. You and your girlfriend are in this together."

Lance sighed deeply. His first girlfriend, his first kiss and his first real arrest. Booth was gonna kill him stone dead.

TBC