Be With Me (B/B smangstmance--rated M) - By Sweetjaimelee Posted 29/09/2007 05:14:17 PM

Posted 03/03/2008 08:01:39 AM

PART I

A/N: Kissies to all of you at the ABY! You rock. That's basically all I have to say about that:-)
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Seeley Booth did his best to forget the regrets he had about his life and concentrate on the tasks in front of him. He recognized that mistakes were only as useful as what one learned from them, and he tried to take those lessons for what they were and move on. But this one: It was getting exceedingly hard not to get down on himself. One tiny, thoughtless error, and everything had changed. He had lost weeks of his life. And even though he was getting stronger every day, it was difficult to celebrate the small victories. He wanted to be back at his home. He wanted to be back on his job. He wanted to play with Parker. He wanted to be back in bed with Bones. And those things were so far on the other side of the mountain he was climbing, that he couldn’t even see them right now. He felt useless. Seeley Booth hated feeling useless.

There was part of him that just wished he could shut himself up here and be all by himself until he got totally better. Then he wouldn’t have to see the worried, pitying gazes of his friends and family. Bones, in particular, broke his heart. She was consistently pleasant and upbeat on her visits to him, but he could see the residual dark circles under her beautiful eyes that were etched there by weeks of fear. It was his job to protect her when she was scared. This time, he had been the cause of that fear, and it tore him apart. There’s no way he could be apart from her now. They needed each other. But he hated her having to see him like this.

“How was physical therapy today, Seeley?” his favorite nurse Grace asked as she checked his bandages. She looked concerned too, apparently noticing he wasn’t as talkative today as usual.

“Not bad,” he lied. “We practiced moving me from the bed to the wheelchair a couple times.” And each time had been torture, every healing bruised and broken part of his body screaming in protest at the movement, sweat pouring off of him with the sheer effort it took just to withstand the jarring sensation of dropping, however lightly, into the chair. He had done it, though. He wouldn’t stop until he did.

“That’s terrific!” she said cheerfully. “You know what that means? Things can get back closer to normal. You can go along for walks outside, and you can get real showers instead of sponge baths.”

Great, he thought a little bitterly. Throw in chasing down criminals, playing soccer with my son, and making mad, passionate love to my partner, and maybe I’ll seem a little more thrilled, ‘kay? “When do you suppose I’ll get out of here, Gracie?”

“That anxious to leave us, huh?” She smiled understandingly. “Just a few more weeks. You’ll be more mobile, and will only need part-time care.”

What he heard was, “You’ll only be about half an invalid, Seeley. Isn’t that great?!”

“Will your girlfriend be able to take some time off work to help you out?”

He looked at her, horrified. He hadn’t even considered that possibility. “I don’t want Bones to have to do that.”

“I’m sure she would. She’s a firecracker, that one.”

Before he could respond, said firecracker came into room. Looking tired, as per usual. His heart thrilled at the sight of her, before he remembered just what a mess he must look like right now. He hadn’t even got cleaned off after that grueling episode of physical therapy. “What are you doing here so early?”

“It’s good to see you too,” she said, moving in to kiss his forehead. He did his best to shrink back into the pillows.

“Don’t. I’m all sweaty still. It’s gross.”

Her eyes rolled. “I work with dead bodies all day. This isn’t gross.” Taking advantage of the fact that he couldn’t get away from her, she kissed him. He sighed frustratedly.

“We were just taking about all the process Seeley’s been making,” Grace opened her big mouth and told her.

“Really? Something new?”

“He can get into the wheelchair with help.”

“Booth, that’s great.”

He just couldn’t understand her enthusiasm. It was nothing, in the large scope of things. Nothing. He hated the pity that must come along with being excited about his ability to pull a rubber band tight, and get in a chair by himself. She had to pity him.

After all, she had asked him to marry her.

Jared had come to visit a few days ago. The first thing he said to Booth was, “I’d call you a freaking idiot if I didn’t already know you had a hole in your head.” At that second, Booth knew without asking that Jared was privy to Bones’ impromptu proposal…and his subsequent rejection of it. He didn’t argue with Jared’s assessment, but that didn’t change his belief that he had done the right thing.

“Yeah. I’m in my first wheelchair rugby tournament tomorrow,” he told her. “Gonna be murderballing the crap out of people.” She narrowed her eyes at him, and then looked at Grace.

“He’s kidding, isn’t he?”

Grace laughed. “I hope. But maybe, if he’s feeling up to it and it’s nice out, you can take a tour of the courtyard tomorrow.”

“That would be nice.” Brennan rubbed his shoulder encouragingly.

You know what would be nice, Bones? Being able to get out of this damn bed and pushing you against the wall and kissing you until you don’t remember your own name. How’s that for nice? And how’s that for impossible? he thought, dejectedly. He verbalized his next thought. “Bones, why don’t you run back to work for awhile while I get cleaned up here? You can bring back case stuff and I can help you with it.”

“I don’t want you to have to worry about work right now.”

“I want to worry about work. It’s better than worrying about this damn ringing in my ears.” And better than worrying about whether I’ll ever be able to make love to you the way I want again.

“We can talk about case stuff if you want. I don’t need the paperwork. It’s all up here.” She tapped her head.

“Well it’s going to take awhile to do the shower thing.”

Brennan glanced at Grace. “Is there any reason why I can’t help with that?”

“I don’t see why not,” Grace told her. “You have anything to change into? We don’t want you getting all wet.”

“I have my gym clothes.”

“Well fine then, let me go get the plastic covers for his bandages.” The nurse hurried out of the room.

What? They were talking about him as if he wasn’t even there. “Bones, no. I don’t want your help. That’s what these people are paid for, to do things like that.”

“Booth, I want to help. You’d rather have a stranger do this?”

“Yes.” She looked taken aback and just a little hurt by his forcefulness, but he couldn’t help himself. For some reason, he was experiencing something right now that felt suspiciously like panic.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you trying to get rid of me?”

His jaw clenched so hard it made his head hurt, and the ringing in his ears ascended to a maddening level. He didn’t want Bones to see how hard it was for him to get into that chair. He didn’t want her to see his body the way it was right now. Someday, when he looked and functioned the way she remembered, then she could see. But right now? It was unimaginable.

“Just let me get strong first,” he said, quietly, his shamed eyes cast downwards.

He could feel her blue-gray gaze piercing him for a long moment before she spoke. When he glanced up, he was surprised to find her right in his face. Her voice was soft, but powerful. “Seeley Booth. I spent weeks not knowing whether you were going to live or die. I wasn’t allowed to see you, or talk to you, and even if I had been there was no way of knowing if it would have helped anything. Every day, I had to contemplate what it was going to be like if I never had you in my life again, and I prayed just in case there was a God that we would be given another chance. And, because of doctors or God or luck we have been given that chance. So don’t lie there and tell me that the proper response is to leave you alone until you’re all better. Don’t tell me that I can’t help you this time. I can, and I will. And you are going to let me be the strong one this time. Because, sometimes, when you love someone, that’s what you do. You taught me that.”

Her eyes were so full of pain at that moment that his heart nearly joined the rest of his body in being broken. For a second, he was sucked into her world…the world where the people who loved her most always left her, always abandoned her, and she had so recently had to face that possibility again. Let me be the strong one, she said. She always was, though. He just forgot sometimes. He couldn’t think of anything to say in the face of her pain right now, so the only word that escaped from his dry throat was, “Okay.” She looked vaguely surprised that he agreed so quickly, but began to nod slowly.

“Thank you, Booth.” Before he had to respond, Grace came bustling back into the room.

“Alright, Seeley. Let’s get you into the chair and into the shower. Once we get you situated, I’m sure Dr. Brennan can take it from there.” She winked at him, and he smiled at her weakly, mentally steeling himself for the ordeal that was moving from one spot to another.

It took about 10 minutes, Booth grunting with the effort as the two woman struggled to move him from the bed without disturbing any of his bandages or broken bones. He tried to remember what his physical therapist told him…to relax, not fight the people helping him, let them support weight. But God, it was hard. By the time he was wheeled to the large shower room, he still didn’t feel quite ready to move from the bench, but he told them he was anyway, just to get it over with. By the time he was settled, his body was throbbing.

“You think you can take care of the dressings and such?” Grace asked Brennan.

“Sure,” she said amiably, a little out-of-breath herself.

“Just make sure all the bandages are covered by the plastic. We don’t want any moisture getting in. And be careful around the stitches in his head.”

“Will do.”

“Enjoy, Seeley,” Grace told him, giving him a smile before she left the room. “Just buzz me if you need any help.”

He was left alone with his partner, and he looked at her warily. She was wearing the tiny shorts and tank top that made up her gym outfit. Under other circumstances, he would have been drooling over her, being barely clothed as she was. But all he could think about was how exposed he was about to become. “You sure you wanna do this?”

“Take off all your clothes and spray you down? Absolutely.” She winked at him as she went about disrobing him.

“It’s not funny, Bones,” he murmured, doing his best to shift his body to help her. “If this were you, you wouldn’t be happy about it, either.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, Booth.”

“Not in this context.”

“What do I care, in what context? It’s still you.”

“I’m not the man I want to be right now.”

She paused in her bandage-covering, and sat briefly on the bench beside him. “You are the man I fell in love with. Nothing more, and nothing less.” Leaning over, she kissed him quickly and softly. “I know this is difficult. In more ways than one.” She left it at that. There were no other reassurances she could give him. Just that she knew, and wanted to help anyway. He sighed in resignation.

Despite his reservations, the first spray of water on his shoulders, carefully tested on her hand first for temperature, made a groan of pleasure leave his lips…his first real shower in over a month.

Brennan looked a little alarmed. “That okay?”

“Yeah. It feels great.” Relieved, she brought the spray up over his head, letting it drizzle through his hair. The place where his stitches were healing burned just a little, but for the most part the sensations were amazing. He dropped his head back to the wall of the shower.

“So I think you are going to get an invitation soon,” Brennan said conversationally, carefully lathering up the hospital’s antibacterial shampoo in one hand while working her magic with the shower with the other.

“To the invalids’ ball?”

“Not funny. Jared told me your parents were going to ask you to move in with them for a month or two after you leave the hospital. Until you’re well enough to work again, at least on a part-time basis.”

One of his eyes fell open warily and regarded her. “I think I’d rather be in a coma again.”

“Not funny. But I figured you’d say something like that. And I think Jared knows that, too.” Her fingers soothed through his scalp with the utmost gentleness. His eyes fell shut again.

“All I want to do is be home again, Bones. Our home.”

“I want that, too.”

“And to be able to take care of myself.”

“Well.” She finished rinsing the last of the shampoo through his hair then, grabbing the washcloth, sank to her knees between his legs to begin washing his feet and calves. “We’ll take our time and do what we need to do. You’ll heal at your own pace. Until then…we’ll deal with it.”

“Since when have you become so Zen?” She had the hands of an angel. He always knew that, but right now…he felt more relaxed than he had been in months.

She shrugged. “It was a necessity for getting through the last few weeks.”

He looked at her earnestly for a second before shutting his eyes again. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” Her soapy hands worked their way up his knees to his thighs and hips.

To his surprise, he felt a stirring that felt almost unfamiliar, after so much time. This time, when his eyes opened, they stayed that way, studying her intently in a position that would have been provocative under any other circumstances. That was becoming provocative as they spoke. But she didn’t seem to notice.

“Angela and Hodgins are pestering me about when they can come see you,” she told him, changing the subject, scrubbing up and over his chest with the washcloth.

“Not yet,” he said. His nether regions were beginning to visibly respond to her touch. He was half thrilled by this, and half concerned that his partner appeared to be completely ignoring it. Curious to how long she would continue pretending not to notice, he continued. “I want to be at least walking by the time I see them. Lest Jack thinks he has a leg up on me or anything.”

“They miss you.”

PART II

He missed them, too, but right now he wasn’t thinking about his friends.

“Well then I can expect them to be overly appreciative of me when I get back to work.”

“Can you turn to the side, just a little, so I can get your back?”

He did as she requested, grunting a little bit at having to move. She had to lean around him to reach the places she wanted, and her leg brushed him in the place that was growing harder by the second. There was no way she wasn’t noticing. A twinge of frustration hit him. Before the accident, she would have all over this, no pun intended. Their love was infused with a heady sensuality that couldn’t be ignored. But that’s exactly what she was doing right now.

“If you really want, I can bring over that case stuff that you’ve wanted to see. You shouldn’t feel pressured to work yet, though.”

“It would give me something productive to do. Even though it might be hard in my current condition.” He emphasized the word, hoping she would get the hint.

She didn’t respond. The woman was giving him a complex, along with his hard-on.

Finally, unable to keep his mouth shut anymore. “Bones…do you not want me anymore?”

Her voice stayed even and measured as she sprayed the soap suds down his back.

“Don’t be silly. You’ve been in a major accident. Your faculties are limited right now.”

“Apparently not one of them.”

She flushed, and he could barely stand her self-consciousness. It made him self-conscious. This was the part that had always come the most naturally, even when all the rest didn’t.

“Was the other day, in the hospital bed, just a show, Bones? Were you pretending to be aroused just to make me feel better?”

“What?!” she exclaimed, finally showing a little emotion. “Booth, I…I just don’t want to rush anything. Don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything other than recover right now. Nothing I do for you is a show.” She seemed angry at the implication, and he felt bad for jumping too conclusions. But her treating him like a patient, instead of a lover…it was driving him insane.

“I just want to know the truth now,” he said softly. “If things aren’t going to be normal…I want to know.”

“You want to know the truth?” The spray was dangling at her side now, water swirling uselessly from the nozzle to the drain on the floor. “I’ll tell you the truth. The truth is, the little fantasy you created about us meeting for the first time…it hardly did anything for me.”

She might as well have re-broken his bones at that moment. It would have had the same effect. “Yeah?” he asked, his voice hoarse now.

“Yes. By the middle, I wasn’t even listening anymore. The words you were saying didn’t matter. Not one bit.”

Now she was obviously trying to kill him. He wanted desperately to tell her that he didn’t want to know the truth anymore. Lie to me, Bones. Please. This is the worst kind of torture.

“Because…” She took the hand that wasn’t holding the shower nozzle and gently held his chin her hand. “Because, all I could feel was you. All I could think was how grateful I was to have you back, holding me. And how amazing your voice sounded, and how perfect your skin felt, and how much I…how much I loved you. And that feeling…it affected me more than any fantasy ever could. That’s what made me come, Booth. You. Just you.”

There was no way she could generate that much emotion without honestly behind it. He let out a trembling breath. How could he make her understand the turmoil inside of him right now? The joy at being back with her along with the paralyzing fear of not being man she remembered?

“Temperance,” he said, his voice choked. “I need you to treat me…I need you to make me feel like a man again.”

Her eyes darkened, and she looked as if she were considering this…trying to decide what he needed most right now.

“You know you’ll always be a man to me. Even if we never had sex again.”

“I don’t want sex. I want to know you want me.”

A clattering sound startled him; glancing down, he saw that the shower had fallen from her head to the tile floor. The water pooled around their feet. She kneeled before him.

“Seeley Booth,” she whispered. “I want you. All. The. Time.” Her arms were wrapped around his waist, head pressed against his stomach, mindless of getting wet now. Her tank top was soaked, and her hair beginning to dampen. She looked gorgeous, and he wished beyond reason that he could tangle his fingers in those wet locks and pull her lips to his.

But he remembered what she had said. Right now, he needed to let her be the strong one. So he waited with the utmost patience until she carefully kissed her way up his chest, mindful of the healing cuts there, running her tongue delicately up his throat and jaw until it reached his mouth. Sighing with relief, he opened his mouth to hers in a lover’s kiss—their first kiss like this since his accident. She braced herself against the bench between his legs and hovered against his mouth. He heard the tiny sigh leave her lips, the one she always made when their kisses began to get heated, and triumph filled him. She wasn’t faking this. Couldn’t be. He knew her too well.

“You are…the best nurse in this place,” he murmured.

“Do I need to be more jealous of Grace than I thought?” she said huskily, running one wet finger down his chest…to his belly…his cock, which had softened a bit when she scared the crap out of him earlier, stiffened again at the brush of her palm. Yes…he remembered this. Vividly.

“Wouldn’t know. All I’ve been thinking about is you.”

She seemed pleased with his answer. Picking up the nozzle to the shower once more, she let the water drizzle down his stomach and over the place where her hand touched him, beginning a slow, maddening stroke under the pretenses of cleaning him. “I can promise that no one will be as thorough as me.”

The pain in his body seeped from his consciousness, and what was left was a deeper, more pleasurable ache…one that told him his body was remembering how to function like this again. She brushed her knuckles against the sensitive skin of his balls and he gasped. Immediately, her hand pulled back.

“Did I hurt you?”

He almost groaned in frustration. “The only thing that will hurt me is if you stop right now.” He saw the unsure look on her face. “I mean it, Temperance.”

Her hand returned, tentatively. “You’d tell me if anything hurt, wouldn’t you?”

“Bones. I love you like crazy. But if you don’t touch me like you mean it, I swear I might scream.”

Taking the hint, she gripped him firmly. “No screaming,” she scolded softly. “I wouldn’t want anyone to walk in on us when I’m about to do what I’m about to do.”

“Which is?”

“Swallow you whole.” She said it in the same matter-of-fact tone that she used to describe tests she ran on bones in her lab. Somehow, that made it more erotic.

“You are the fucking sexiest thing alive, you know.”

“No, baby.” The sound of the endearment leaving her lips somehow gave him more hope for normalcy than anything else that had transpired thus far. “This is.” Her arms wrapped around his hips and grabbed his ass lightly. Despite what she had said earlier, she didn’t swallow him whole straight away. Her lips delicately surrounded the tip of him and suckled, tongue darting out to drink the shower water from him.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured, watching her, wishing he could more easily thrust up to meet the delicious sensations she was creating with her swirling tongue. But he supposed he could be as easily content just relaxing, letting her pull the feelings from him, pretending for just a few minutes that when it was over he could sit her down and return the favor. With a sexy little sigh, she sank down on him, taking him deep. He never could figure out where she fit all of him. But he was glad she did. He felt the muscles in her throat pulling at him, milking him. His balls tingled. “God, I’ve missed…everything…”

At that moment, there was a sharp rap on the door. Brennan flew backwards in surprise. Her bare foot caught on the water that had pooled from the abandoned shower nozzle of the floor, and her legs went flying out beneath her. She fell onto her ass hard and bit back a squeal.

“Everything okay in there?” Grace’s voice wafted in pleasantly. “You need any help?”

“NO,” both of them replied emphatically. Brennan frantically tried to regain her footing on the slippery tile, and was partway up before she fell again. Booth was caught between groaning and laughing.

“Okay, well let me know! We did to get the shower ready for our next patient.”

They looked at each other guiltily. “Okay,” Booth managed to get out. “I’ll be done soon.”

They heard her footsteps trail away. “She is not my favorite anymore,” he told his partner dryly, while she struggled up off the floor, the bottom of her shorts soaked.

She was rubbing her bottom with an irritated look on her face. Now, he couldn’t help but laugh, even though it hurt a little. “Did you hurt your cute little ass?”

“It’s not funny,” she complained, not for the first time that day, and he chuckled softly. “More embarrassed than anything,” she admitted. “I feel like we almost got caught by the babysitter or something.”

He sort of felt that way, too. But surprisingly (especially given that he had been interrupted at a critical moment), it didn’t feel bad. It felt mischievous. Naughty. Normal.

“We have to get dried off,” she said apologetically.

He feigned outrage.

“I’m sorry,” she said, with feeling.

“It’s okay, hot stuff.” He motioned with his head to come over and give him a kiss, and she did, resting her arms on his wet shoulders. “You made me a happy man today.”

She paused in her kiss…then she chuckled, too.

“What?” he asked incredulously.

“Nothing. It’s just that…that was the response I expected when I proposed to you. Not the response I expected when a nurse interrupted fellatio.”

He couldn’t help the burst of laughter from his belly. And it hurt. Badly. “Ow ow ow…”

“I’m sorry.” She struggled to control her own giggles.

“In the words of the smartest person I know…stop apologizing. I don’t want you to stop trying to make me laugh. I don’t want you to stop trying to make me…you know.”

Her blush wasn’t quite as deep as when they first started talking sex, or when they were so rudely interrupted. But it was still there. In so many ways, this was new territory for them. But he had to trust her. Trust her to be the strong one.

Turning, she grabbed a towel from the hook on the door and wrapped it around his shoulders. “Make it up to you later?”

He nodded, gave her a smile. But it didn’t stop his immediate thought. No, Bones. I’m going to make it up to you. All the worries, all the fears, all the sleepless nights that you had because of me. And when this thing is all over, and I’m the man you deserve again, I’ll make sure that this wasn’t just a mistake.

Never had it been harder to hold onto the belief that everything happened for a reason.

CheeseBK

Posted 03/03/2008 09:27:23 AM


wowwww very intense!

ToZiKa

Posted 04/03/2008 12:44:40 AM


She is no longer my favourite either...
She could have waited a few moments longer.

But it's goo to read that Booth is getting better and better.
Although he still needs a lot of help.

magicstar

Posted 17/03/2008 04:39:56 PM


sweetjamielee i remember starting to read this while back, so decided to re-read to freshen my memory and im glad i did, it is an awesome fic. I couldn't possibly pick out one or two lines alone as my favourites. I have to admit my fav scene was the bit with the FBI film haha that was so hot, but then i read the whole shower scene and now im divided between the two and damn that Gracie!!!! I have to say though, I was quite enjoying Jared being a bastard, i dont know why, i could just feel the tension when he was thinking about hitting on her and at the hospital, I did feel a little pang of dissappointment when he started to be nice again. I guess I like a story when there is someone to hate, afterall we can't love all the characters all the time....remember S2 and cam? lol.....anyway, just my thoughts as I am trying to be more thorough in my reviews. I know you are very busy right now but will definately check in on this story again , love it! x x x

SnoopGirl

Posted 17/03/2008 06:39:39 PM


What the hell? How did I miss reading an SSJL Be with Me chapter

Loved it. I don't like Grace though.

Posted 06/04/2008 04:16:11 PM

PART I

See? I haven't completely let wedding planning ruin my writing life!:-)

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“Hey, Booth,” Hodgins said cheerfully. Booth eyed his friend morosely as he came into the room. “I just heard the good news! How excited are you? On a scale of 1 to 10?”

“I’m excited.”

“Really convincing.”

“No. It’s great. I’m getting sick of this place.”

“Then why do you sound like somebody killed your puppy?”

“See how cheerful you are after sitting in the same room for almost two months.”

“Well, for a month of that you were too comatose to complain. And…hmm. Watching tv, having a fleet of people to feed me, bathe me, take care of my every need…doesn’t sound too bad.”

“You would want to shoot yourself after a week.”

“Probably,” Jack agreed mildly, pulling up a chair. “But hey. Tomorrow. Back home. Home cooked food. Your own bed.”

It did sound good. But it just wasn’t going to be exactly the way he pictured spending his first week in his new home.

He was getting better. Moving around, although still not easy by any means, was becoming less of an ordeal. He could even walk a little bit, with the assistance of another person or holding onto a walker with his one good arm, with its newly healed fingers. Things were looking up, and he very much wanted to be able to focus on that. But.

“Did Bones tell you that my mom is going to be staying with us?”

“Yup. Why do you think I added home-cooked food to the list of perks?” Jack grinned, then smirked at the lack of smile from his friend. “Oh, c’mon. It’ll be nice, having her around. Brennan can go to work during the day and make sure all your cases stay nice and fresh for when you get back. And when she gets home at night she can actually be your girlfriend, instead of your nurse. Unless…you want her to be your nurse. In which case she can do it in the fun way.” He winked.

“Yeah. Um. That’s a problem, too.”

“Huh? Oh.” Jack clucked sympathetically. “Having trouble getting back in the saddle?”

Booth’s eyes widened at the implication. “No. Not like that. It’s…the doctor.”

“Whaaaaa? Dr. Georges? Brennan told us about him. The asshole.”

He sighed. He knew it wasn’t the doctor’s fault, but right now the man topped his shit list. He remembered sitting in his wheelchair in the doctor’s office beside Bones, while the man read down his list of conditions to go home. Which was a giant list of do-not’s.

“Of course, you will still be expected to come to physical therapy every other day, and most of your continued improvement will happen there. At home, we want you to practice the exercises, but nothing too strenuous. Keep attempts at walking down to 10 minutes. No lifting anything heavier than five pounds. No bending. No twisting. No sexual intercourse.”

Booth had stared at him uncomprehendingly. “Are you kidding me?”

Dr. Georges’ face was impassive. “No. Any intense physical exertion should be supervised by a medical professional.”

Both he and Bones opened their mouths to protest, and Dr. Georges cut them off.

“And no, Dr. Brennan’s Ph.D.’s do not qualify her as a medical professional.”

The two partners had made their way back to Booth’s soon-to-be-vacated room in silence, both of them feeling guilty about what they were thinking. Yes, they were glad that Booth was alive, and getting better. Yes, they were glad that he was getting to go home.

But.

And then, his mother had insisted on coming to stay with them. For at least 3 weeks. And when he told her it wasn’t necessary, she almost started to cry.

This whole thing was a bad, bad scene. He looked desperately up at his friend.

“You guys are the geniuses. Can’t you hook me up with a bionic arm or something?”

“Sorry, dude. Wrong kinds of geniuses. Hey…you know if there’s anything that Angela and I can do, please….don’t be a guy about it, okay?”

“It’s been sort of difficult to feel like a guy about much of anything, lately,” Booth sighed.

Hodgins looked at him with a helpless expression that he was coming to hate. “It’ll get better.”

“Not soon enough.”


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He had begged her to let his homecoming be a quiet one, and she agreed gratefully, having been tired of sharing him anyway in the past several weeks. The night before, she had barely slept, wracked with an emotion that she could not distinguish as pure excitement or pure nervousness. As she wheeled him into the living room…the one he had last seen covered in boxes right before he made love to her in a sleeping bag on the floor…she couldn’t take her eyes off his face.

“What do you think?” Her voice cracked a little, and her anxiety heightened as he looked around thoughtfully and did not answer her right away. Finally, he met her eyes and gave her a small smile.

“You did a great job, babe.”

“I didn’t do everything…there are still lots of boxes in the basement. And I haven’t touched your office. But Parker was anxious for his room to be done, and Angela offered to help with that, so I…”

“It’s okay, Temperance,” he interrupted her. “I wasn’t expecting you to put everything on hold while I was…am…out of commission.”

She wrung her hands uncertainly, before she circled him fully and forced a smile back. “I just…it’s your place, too.”

“Well then. You better start making me feel at home.”

Laughing at her own self-consciousness with this person who she had shared nearly everything with, she shook her head ruefully and leaned down, bracing her hands on either sides of his chair. “Sorry. I’m just so glad you are here.”

“Show me,” he whispered, and used the hand on his good arm to cup her cheek and draw her lips to his. The kiss was tentative at first on Brennan’s part, but now that he had the use of his hand, he was able to pull her to him more demandingly. Her full lips parted on a sigh, and he sucked the lower one into his mouth, nibbling on it gently. She sagged into him a little. There we go, Bones. His fingers twirled into her hair. Screw Dr. Georges. This was his house. He could do what he wanted.

And of course, that thought was immediately interrupted by a brisk knock and the opening of the door. As was becoming an unfortunately typical occurrence, Brennan reeled backwards guiltily.

“Hi, Mrs. Booth.”

“Welcome home, kids!” came the cheerful reply, as Mrs. Booth came bustling in pulling a mammoth suitcase behind her with one hand and carrying a casserole dish in the other. “It’s so good to see you both outside of that hospital.” She leaned over and kissed Seeley on the forehead, while handing the dish over to Brennan. “You look great, Sweetie. Temperance, can you take this to the kitchen? We can have it for dinner. I have some more things out in the car to go grab. Seeley, you just relax. Temperance and I will take care of you, okay? I’ll be right back.” She breezed out the door, with Brennan and Booth staring after her. They looked at one another, and Booth’s jaw was hanging a little slack.

“I can’t do this. I really don’t think I can handle it.”

“It’s not forever, Booth,” Brennan told him with a sigh. “Just a few weeks.”

“I’m tired of waiting, Bones. So tired.”

“Hey. No waiting.” She tipped his chin up with her finger. “Whatever this is going to be, it’s going to be okay. We’re here together. That’s what’s important.”

He smiled at her, gratefully, and she returned it, stroking a finger along the stubble of his jaw and gazing at him until his mother, unbelievably, hauled in another suitcase that was almost as large as the last one.

“This should be all. Now, no need to make up the guest room for me….I’ll stay down here with Seeley. That will just be easier if he needs anything.”

“What? Mom! I’m not staying down here.”

“Well we can’t have you going up and down the steps all the time…you know what the doctor said.”

“I think if we both help him, it should be okay,” Brennan offered softly.

“I just don’t want…”

“Mom. I’m a grown man. I’m going to sleep in my own bed. With my girlfriend,” he said through gritted teeth, feeling just a little ashamed at Brennan’s half-embarrassed, half-irritated look in his direction. Shit. He had said the “G” word.

His mother’s eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened as if to protest, then closed as if she had thought better of it.

“Mrs. Booth, why don’t you take these things into the kitchen, and then later we’ll get you set up in the upstairs room? I’m sure you’ll want at least a little bit of privacy after spending all day hanging out with this guy.”

The older woman forced a smile. “Thank you dear.”

PART II

“I’ll come in to help in a moment.”

“No, please, I can find my way around. You do enough all day. You are…”

“A doctor, I know. But I’ve picked up a few other skills along the way,” Brennan assured her. “I’ll be in in a minute.”

“Okay,” his mother said tentatively, looking between the pair before making her way into the other room. Brennan looked at him.

“Sorry about that,” he said sheepishly.

“Hey. I’m not the one that just rubbed in my Catholic mother’s face the fact that we are sleeping together.”

“Shh,” he hissed, finding the modesty that was underlying all his frustration, and she chuckled softly.

“Although she probably figured that out when you couldn’t keep from climbing into bed with me at every opportunity when we were at your house for Labor Day.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining.”

She smiled enigmatically.

“I’m not going to spend another night not touching you, Bones,” he said softly, and saw her shiver a little. She took a step closer.

“That bed and I have been waiting for you a long time, Seeley,” she said, a fingertip caressing his shoulder. As she leaned down, he anticipated the touch of her lips on his again, but they brushed his cheek. “I’m going to go help your mother in the kitchen for a minute. Do you need anything?” She straightened up, and he missed the warmth of her face near his.

“Only you,” he told her, quietly.

And he meant it.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
She was beginning to feel as if the very worst kinds of feelings were mixed ones. Just when she had started to become better at identifying her emotions, along came these strange hybrids which confused and threw her a bit. Having Booth home at all had presented myriad dilemmas that had initially been overshadowed by the pure joy of having him back with her. But the deck of cards they were dealing with were entirely different than those they had played the last time they were here.

After dinner, and getting Mrs. Booth set up in the guest room, and the somewhat-ordeal of getting Booth up and into the bedroom, Brennan had gone back downstairs to clean up a little. Instead, she found herself eyeing the phone laying on the coffee table. She only hesitated a minute before picking it up and dialing.

“Hello?” a sleepy voice answered.

“Angela…hi, it’s Brennan. Did I wake you?”

“It’s okay.”

“I worried it was too late.”

“Never too late. 4 a.m. friends, remember?”

Brennan did remember. She had been in grad school, and she had just found out she lost a scholarship to someone (a man, coincidentally…or not) who she knew was not as experienced or accomplished as was she. Angry and a little depressed, she had called her advisor-slash-lover at the time…Michael Stires. And his secretary informed her he had just left on a dinner date with another woman in the department…a real doctor, not a student who was struggling every day to prove herself in the academic and professional world. It shouldn’t have surprised her…she and Michael had agreed, no strings. But she spent the rest of the evening wallowing in misery and self-pity. It had been 11 at night before she finally got up the nerve to call Angela. Their friendship was relatively new, and she hadn’t wanted to bother her with this…but she needed someone to talk to.

Angela had listened to her account of the day in silence. When Brennan had exhausted the story, the first thing her friend had said was “This is what you’ve been going through all day? And you are just calling me now?”

“I had thought it was too late,” she had replied lamely, not quite ready to fully acknowledge the massive internal battle that had taken place before giving in to the desire to lean on someone.

“Too late? Temperance Brennan. I don’t care if it’s 6 or midnight or 4 fucking a.m. You need me, you call me. You got it? 4 a.m. friends.”

And for the first time in that entire shitty day, Brennan remembered smiling.

It had unnerved her a little, how fast she and Angela had clicked.

Now, nearly nine years later, one of the things she was most grateful for was that she had found the courage to make that call.

“Booth’s home,” she told her friend. “I am officially living in a house with my partner. And his mother.”

Angela chuckled. “Have you died of bizarreness yet?”

“No. But getting there. I’m grateful she’s here, Ange. I really am. I honestly don’t think I could give up my work right now, and having Mrs. Booth here is making it so I don’t have to do that. But right now…I have to feel strange about sleeping in the same bed as the man I’m living with. While we were fixing dinner, Mrs. Booth actually made some comment about after all that happened, it might make Seeley more future-oriented and marriage-minded. She said that. As if I have been waiting around for him to commit to me or something.”

“Oh, Lordy.”

“And then…this was just a few minutes ago…I felt like I practically had to yell at her to keep her from coming in our bedroom to tuck Booth in. We need her help with the stairs, but Booth and I are perfectly capable of taking it from there. But she just wants to ‘make sure he is comfortable.’”

Angela was laughing in earnest now, and it brought a smile to Brennan’s face at the ridiculousness of the situation. “Sorry, Mrs. B.,” Angela chuckled. “You had your crack at it for 18 years. Now, Seeley Booth’s comfort is firmly in the hands of one Dr. Temperance Brennan.”

“It’s not funny,” Brennan insisted, despite the fact that she was now laughing too.

“Oh, Sweetie. This whole thing is just part of the healing process. It’s not just about the stitches and the broken bones.”

“Yes. I know that. I just don’t like feeling as if I have to assert my position as the woman in his life. Especially not now, when we have so many other things to deal with.”

“It hasn’t been about just you and Booth for a long time. You should give yourself more credit to be able to cope with these things.”

“It’s cope central, here.”

“It sure is. But I bet I know one place in that big old house where it’s all fun, and no coping. Up in that new bedroom of yours. Behind a locked door. With your man.”

Brennan smiled. “Dr. Georges has prohibited sexual intercourse.”

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell the brilliant Dr. Brennan that there is more than one way to make love.”

“True.”

“Besides, it’s your dirty mind that went straight to sex. I was just implying that it might be good for the two of you to have alone time. Away from doctors and nurses and meddling mothers. Just Booth and Bones.”

“Just Booth and Bones,” she echoed. Yes. It sounded so very nice. “Thanks, Ange.”

“Anytime, Sweetie. Go get him. And give him an extra-wet tongue kiss. For me.”

“I thought it wasn’t about sex.”

“It’s not. Just thought you would enjoy a little bonus, though.”

“Always looking out for me,” she grinned. “’Night, Ange.”

“The sweetest dreams to you.”

Stretching, she stood. Forget cleaning up. There were more important things to get accomplished in this house.


-----------------------------------------------------------------

He was propped up in bed reading Men’s Health. He looked up into her amused expression as she came into the room.

“Just so you know, neither I nor your mother are taking you to the gym any time soon. So you can forget it.”

Sighing, he dropped the magazine. “I’m losing definition in my arms and shoulders.”

“You look great. And anything you lose, you’ll get back quickly after you recover just a little more. I know you.” She began to undress, and he watched her interestedly. How long had it been since he had the privilege of seeing her take part in her end-of-the-day routine? Every one of her movements suddenly seemed worthy of his rapt attention.

“You look great.”

She smiled at him briefly over her shoulder as she tossed her top in the hamper.

“I’m sorry about this whole thing, Bones. And about my mom.”

“She loves you and wants to take care of you.”

“I hate it that she has to.”

“Yes, well. Your mother isn’t here right now, is she?”

“No. I suppose not.”

Pausing in her undressing, she crawled across the bed to him, taking a position facing him while sitting between his spread legs. She rested her forehead against his. “How are you doing?”

“Not bad, babe. Except the whole sort of feeling as if I’m living in an alternate universe right now. But other than that. This is the best I’ve felt in a while.”

“Good. I see you getting stronger each day, you know.”

“I know I’m doing better right now,” he murmured, running his large hand up her mostly bare back to cup her head. He felt her ankles cross delicately behind his back, and knew she was struggling to remember to keep her weight off of him, to treat him gently like Dr. Georges had said to. God, he hated that man right now. Pushing thoughts of that doctor away, he concentrated on the one in front of him, brushing her nose with his before kissing her thoroughly.

“You taste so good,” she told him, breathlessly, when he released her captured mouth. Briefly, he thrilled at the new-again concept that here, there were no visiting hours. He could kiss her for as long as he damned well pleased, and he planned on taking full advantage of that. “Booth,” she sighed as he placed tiny kisses behind her ear and down her neck. “You are severely testing my self-control.”

“Mission accomplished. Now. Jump me.”

She giggled delightedly as she tilted her head, inviting more of his tortuous kisses. “I’m not going to risk hurting you just because we are horny.”

“Really? I’m sort of willing to take that risk,” he groaned lightly, pinching at the clasp of her bra behind her. Good thing he had already learned how to do this one-handed before he had been put in this cast. She wiggled out of it.

“What do you suppose Dr. Georges defines as ‘sexual intercourse?’” she mused, as her fingers wormed between them and dipped into the fly of his pajama pants.

“I wasn’t going to ask him,” Booth told her, taking a sharp breath as her talented hand found what it was looking for and circled him hotly.

“Certainly…just touching…should be okay. Wouldn’t you think?”

An involuntary “Ooohhhh…” left him as her fingers slid softly, up, then down. “No. I can’t imagine…that wouldn’t be okay.”

“Booth,” she breathed against his ear. “Touch me.”

Hell, yeah. He had at least one good working hand now. And at the moment, he couldn’t think of a single better way to use it.

Joint gasps came from them as his hand cupped her through her panties for the first time in…he wasn’t going to think about how long. It would only depress him. “I think…that’s what heaven must feel like,” he groaned, absorbing the hot dampness of her into his palm. “Jesus, Temperance. I want you.”

“Yes,” she sighed, pulling him from the confines of his pants and gripping him tightly, squeezing him with her velvety little palm. And she could have explained that heaven, for her, went so far beyond the throbbing pleasure she was feeling right now in her groin at the sensation of his hand on her…it encompassed everything about having him here with her, in their room, on their bed…in their world. Angela had been right. She could cope with all the rest. As long as she had this. Always.

She leaned into his mouth, devouring it while she stroked the familiar, rock-hard contour of him, remembering everything now as he pulled her panties aside and caressed her with trembling fingers. God, those hands. He could only use one of them right now, and he could still bring her to her knees with just a touch. Her head fell back, and she leaned backwards braced on one hand while the other worked to bring him as much pleasure as he was her. Their eyes turned downward and watched intently. She loved the way he looked in her fist. She loved the way his fingers looked against her, disappearing into the molten depths of her and stroking the way only an old lover could. She loved him.

“Are you gonna come in my hand, baby?” he asked her raggedly, and she moaned softly.

“You gonna come in mine?” Their eyes met, darkened with lust, and that gaze was what it took to answer the question for them.

His eyes rolled back in his head for a second at that first orgasmic spasm. He shouldn’t have been surprised. It had been months since he had achieved a release like this. But still, it hit him with ton-of-brick force. His partner’s whimpers seemed to prolong it, and he rubbed her over and over, forcing her to fall with him, needing to see that look in her eye. Her displayed body quaked in front of him. Because of him. Yes. He was in heaven.

Their heaving gasped synchronized into shaky breaths. Their eyes met and they gazed first in amazement, then with acceptance, and they fell into breathless laughs.

“I get it. He was right.”

“What?”

“The doctor. If I would have sex with you right now…really have sex with you…I’d die. It would kill me.”

“Don’t say that,” she admonished. With one last, sweet squeeze, she released him and swung her legs from around him, grabbing a towel from the nightstand to wipe off their drenched bodies.

“Sorry,” he shrugged. “It’s how I feel. It’s just that good.”

She gave him a look. Done with the clean-up, she turned off the bed-stand light and eased back with him and into his side, pressing her lips to his chest gently. They laid silently for a few moments.

“I’m going to make all this up to you, Bones. I promise,” he told her.

She looked up to him, even though she couldn’t see in the darkness. “No,” she replied firmly. “No making up. Just living.”

“Just living, huh?”

She nodded firmly.

“I guess maybe I can do that.”

Pacified, she relaxed back into him, hoping she could take her own advice. Living, she had no doubt they could do. Living in the moment was harder, when your nature was to count cards.

magicstar

Posted 07/04/2008 08:44:03 PM


oh sweetjamie......i know you are busy, so many thank yous for that nice long chappy!

and i loved it......it was sweet and smutty all at the same time. I dont know why but this is my fave line,

"She loved the way he looked in her fist. She loved the way his fingers looked against her, disappearing into the molten depths of her and stroking the way only an old lover could. She loved him."

OMG, it made me quiver and squeel a proper angela squeel x x

loved it, thanx x x x

ToZiKa

Posted 08/04/2008 06:43:35 AM


Booth's mother is staying with them......that will cause some problems sooner or later.....especailly because she is always talking about the fact that they are not married.....and now they even have sex......how could they????
Thanks for the extra long chapter.....we all know that you're busy right now....

mereva

Posted 08/04/2008 10:26:26 AM


Just a litte add to my comment at ff.net:
Jamie, the sory is fabulous! Thank you so much for finding time to continue it!!!!!! We sooo know you are busy right now! THANKS!
(And please send Mama Booth home: parens/in-laws shouldn't interfere. Unless she'll be a catalyst for BB marriage, there is no need of her in their home!)

He slammed the car door, having hurried to turn off the car and undo his seatbelt. “Stay put,” he requested, moving stiffly but quickly around the front of the vehicle.

“Booth, if we ever had an opening-the-car-door-for-me stage of our relationship…which I’m fairly sure we didn’t…we are well past that now,” his partner argued. But she allowed it, likely understanding that his ability to perform the nicety was more important than any other meaning she may have ascribed to it. She smirked as he offered his hand to her, helping her up. “Thank you,” she said, her voice sounding slightly scolding.

Unable to resist, he pushed her against the warm metal of the car, placing one hand on the window beside her face. “This is a good day,” he proclaimed softly, before his lips firmly descended on hers.

“And now all the neighbors know it,” she teasingly murmured between kisses, but by her response to him, she wasn’t truly concerned about it. Her tongue swiped his lower lip, and he made an effort to capture it with his teeth. She pulled back, evading him. “Inside,” she whispered. “You think your mother would buy that we need a nap? For an hour? Or two?”

“Let her try to stop us,” he promised, pushing off the Tahoe and taking her hand, pulling her to the door of their house with the confidence of a man just cleared to go back to work (desk duty for now, but he’d take what he could get) and to make love to his partner in whatever form he felt comfortable with. Right now, he felt extremely comfortable.

She was laughing breathlessly at his exuberance, fumbling in her bag for her keys. “It’s been awhile since you’ve moved faster than I have,” she said, finally getting the key into the slot, turning, and pushing. He drew in a breathe to shout to his mother, wherever she was in the house, that they were very tired and would be down for dinner in an hour or three. He didn’t get that far.

“Surpriiiiiiiise!” The chorus of voices made his jaw drop. His eyes, flickering over, evidenced an identical expression on Bones’ face.

As the group descended on them, he whispered out of the side of his mouth to Brennan. “Did you…?”

“Had no idea,” she managed back before they were jointly pulled into a bear hug by Booth’s parents, flanked by family members he typically only saw during Christmastime.

“Wow, Mom,” he forced out. “What’s…all this?”

“I called Dr. Georges a few days ago to get an update, and he told me about the good news he was planning to give you today. I thought it was worth celebrating!” she said gaily, pulling back and giving Seeley a kiss on the forehead.

“Oh. So you decided to throw a party. In our house,” Booth said slowly, processing.

“You wouldn’t believe the finagling we had to do to get people parked where you wouldn’t see!” his father’s voice boomed. “But going back to work is a milestone in your recovery, Seel. It was worth all the planning just to see that look on your face!”

He must have been doing better than he thought. If he had to guess, the look on his face would have been mild horror and annoyance. “Jeez. Thanks…everyone.”

“Now you just go have a seat, Sweetie,” his mother said, pulling him through the crowd to the sofa. “All of these people have been dying to see you ever since you got out of the hospital, but I told them to just wait until you were back in good working order. And that time is now! Go ahead and visit. Temperance,” she called over her shoulder, “why don’t you come into the kitchen and help me with the hors d’oeurves? Seeley’s going to visit.”

He cast a helpless look over his shoulder at Brennan, who seemed to be taking a moment to mobilize. So much for their much-desired long “nap.” He then lost sight of her as his family swarmed him, patting him on the back and congratulating him for the recovery that was apparently going to take just a little while longer to fully enjoy.

--

Her eyes shot back and forth, trying to get her bearings in her own kitchen. Her kitchen, which seemed to be currently taken over by other people’s casserole dishes and pie pans.

“You grab the canapés, dear. I’ll get the drinks together.”

The canapés. Where…?

“Here, Temperance, let me help you.” A flash of yellow sundress appeared beside her to save the day.

“Thanks, Leah,” she said slowly, wondering how Jared’s girlfriend suddenly seemed more at home in this place than Brennan herself did. The well-manicured woman easily pulled a tray out of the refrigerator with one hand and a pitcher of lemonade with the other. “Sorry. I’m just feeling a little disoriented. I hadn’t been expecting to…entertain today.” Glancing through entryway into the other room, she felt a little dazed at all the bodies that had fit themselves into one spot.

“Oh, it’s not a problem. I live for events like this,” the blonde told her with a smile. “You know, why don’t you go out there and mingle? Ellen and I can handle all of this.”

Booth’s mother, who had been busily dropping ice cubes into glasses, turned and beamed at the suggestion. “Leah, sweetheart, you are an absolute Godsend. When is my son going to come to his senses and ask you to marry him?”

Leah smiled at the older woman. “You’d have to ask Jared that.”

Brennan’s head swam. “Actually…Leah, do you mind if I have a second with Mrs. Booth? Privately?”

“Oh. Sure,” the other woman said tentatively. “Here, I’ll take out the canapés.”

“Thank you.” Temperance smiled briefly until Leah disappeared out into the crowd, and then sighed as she turned to face Ellen.

“What is it dear?” the older woman said distractedly, while pouring lemonade into the glasses. “We have a whole roomful of people to take care of!”

“Um, yes. About that. Mrs. Booth, this is a really lovely gesture. But I really wish you would have told me about it. Neither Seeley nor I were prepared for all these guests.”

“Well that’s okay. I prepared,” Ellen said brightly. “Don’t you worry, I scrubbed this place from top to bottom today. Nothing to be embarrassed about.”

She was missing the point. “How long are all these people going to stay?”

“Most everybody will be going home early evening; it’s quite a drive. Except Ronald and his wife; she doesn’t drive, and he doesn’t see very well at night. They are going to stay on the pull-out couch. Can you hand me those lemon slices, please?”

Brennan chastised herself for not having anticipated this. Ellen’s stay of “at least three weeks” had drifted into four, as she insisted “the kids” could use her help for as long as Seeley was unable to work. For the past several weeks, she had been regaling them with tales of all the people at home who were dying to see their family’s favorite survivor. This was new territory for Brennan. She had never had someone so very anxious to involve herself in her life.

Ellen looked absorbed in her lemon slices now, and even Brennan wasn’t clueless enough to think that this was a good time for this discussion. It was going to have to wait until her house was not Grand Central Station. Sighing, she took the tray of drinks that was being thrust at her. What was she going to do now? Order everyone out of her house? ‘Excuse me, Booths. I understand that you want to see Seeley. But I want to fuck him more’? Somehow, she doubted that would go over very well, so instead, she carried the drinks out to the throng of people and played hostess for the day.

--

His brother was sitting to his right, his uncle to his left, and they were laughing. Everybody in here seemed to be in a good mood. Except for him.

“You’ve finally done it, Seel,” Jared was teasing him. “The accident thing, the coma thing, and now the recovery thing? You’ve finally upstaged me. Congratulations.”

“Trust me, I’d rather not have had that honor,” Booth replied dryly, snatching some sort of cracker snack off the plate proffered by Leah, who had emerged from the kitchen. He wondered where Bones was, and hoped that she hadn’t taken the opportunity away from the crowd to slip out the back door, never to be seen again. Then again, he couldn’t really blame her if she had.

“And you’ve sure been keeping Mom busy. How long are you planning on keeping her away from me and Dad?

Booth bit his tongue on that one. The truth was, he’d been encouraging his mother to go back home from the moment he was able to get out of the wheelchair. But she was the master of finding reasons that it would be better to have her stay, “just in case something happened.” He loved his mother, for sure, but he hadn’t needed this much coddling since he was 4 years old, and he was anxious to be free of it. “You’re right, Jare. This whole thing was orchestrated just so I could have a live-in maid.”

His uncle snickered. “Touchy.” He reached around and nudged Jared on the shoulder. “Give the guy a break. He’s an FBI guy. He’s used to running around and catching bad guys and shooting shit. It can’t feel good to not be able to clean your own toilet.”

Booth winced. “I can clean my toilet just fine, now, thank you,” he replied, just a little offended.

“Hey, that’s Seel’s fault,” his father interrupted, easing down behind them to perch on the back of the couch. “If he didn’t pick the fancy doctor type of woman to settle down with, he wouldn’t have to have his mother here to cook and clean.”

“Dad!” he exclaimed, horrified. His mind repeated the same mantra…Please let Bones still be in the kitchen please let Bones still be in the kitchen please let Bones…

“Anybody want a drink?” he heard a terse voice ask, and he saw his partner push through the crowd with a tray of glasses in hand.

Crap.

“I’d love one,” his uncle proclaimed, standing and relieving Temperance of several of the glasses by passing them to the surrounding guests. “We were just talking about you!” he told her.

“So I heard,” she said, giving Booth a sideways glance as she set the tray down on the coffee table and eased down on the armrest, beside Jared.

Crap crap crap.

His father appeared unabashed. “She knows that I’m not saying anything bad. I actually think it’s great that you’re such a smart cookie. It just leaves a few holes to be filled in a household, when there’s no one around to act like the woman.”

Booth shifted uncomfortably. “Can we change the subject, please?”

No such luck.

“Actually,” Brennan said, swiveling a bit to look up at his Dad, “meta-analyses have proved time and time again that there is very little difference between men and women, in terms of personality or cognition, and when there are differences, they’re insignificant. The gender differences that are more significant…throwing distance, physical aggression, amount of masturbation…have very little implication in the real world.”

Oh God. His partner did NOT just mention masturbation in front of his Catholic family.

His father looked amused. “Well, I haven’t read your scientific studies. But I don’t need them to tell me there are more differences between boys and girls than that.” He took a long swallow of lemonade.

Brennan blinked. “Any other differences are socially created. Or, are small ones that have been exaggerated so that we can feel more comfortable assigning people to categories. Human beings like categories. They make it so we don’t have to think so much.”

The din in the room had quieted a bit, and Booth could tell that this little discussion had garnered quite the interested audience. His mind worked desperately to come up with something to diffuse the situation. It didn’t work fast enough.

“If that’s true, so be it,” his father declared. “I’m proud that I raised my boys to be boys. I think we did a good job, if this is how they turned out.” He patted his sons on the back.

“Yes, you should be proud of your sons,” Brennan replied smoothly, and Booth felt an odd combination of relief that she hadn’t pushed further, and discomfort that she had given up so easily.

“We should all just feel glad that you didn’t have any daughters.”

Okay, scratch his last thought. Of course she didn’t give up. She was Temperance Brennan.

He thought maybe he heard a few soft gasps in the room, and he knew for sure that Jared’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, and his father’s mouth dropped open.

“I’m going to go in and get more drinks,” Temperance said, brushing her thighs off as she stood. “Anybody else want lemonade?” she asked brightly, and when no one responded, she cut through the crowd easily and disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving him to deal with 9 gaping family members who couldn’t understand Temperance Brennan anymore than he did, when he was first coming to know her.

--

Brennan pulled the over-sized t-shirt over her head in the dim light of their bedroom—his t-shirt, of course, she never wore her own to bed anymore, hadn’t since the accident where she had almost lost him. There was something comforting about being covered in something that was all his. Of course, she had had another (much more exotic) choice in sleepwear prepared for this night…the night after he was deemed healthy enough to pick up where they left off, before he had gotten hurt. But she also hadn’t been expecting to have so many overnight houseguests on that particular night. So. Plans changed.

She turned as Booth emerged from their adjoining bathroom, rubbing at his face and looking tired. He sat down on the edge of their bed, and contemplated her. “My family honestly isn’t full of assholes, all the time,” he told her.

Frowning, she picked a brush off the vanity and began stroking her hair with it. “I don’t think your family members are assholes.” She thought about it for a second. “I just think they are very different from me.” It was a bit of an understatement, but it was the truth, as she understood it.

Booth was quiet for a second as he watched her. “You really gave it to Dad good, didn’t you?” he finally said, his look unreadable.

Oh, yes. That. She sighed. “I…was frustrated with the situation, I suppose. All those people here so unexpectedly, being expected to cater to them…and then, with your father talking about women that way?” In the midst of her explanation, she suddenly realized how selfish she must sound. “I’m sorry I made your party awkward, Booth.”

The unreadable look changed then into something more recognizable…a smile. “It’s okay. It’s time for my family to learn how feisty you are.” He held out his arms, and she gratefully sat next to him, dropping her head on his shoulder and allowing herself to be held by him. “My dad’s not used to people challenging him. It was kind of interesting to see.”

“Um, yes. I often end up challenging people. Whether I mean to or not.”

“It’s one of your many charms,” Booth agreed. “Hey, on the bright side, I don’t think my parents will ever spring a party on us again.”

“I don’t do well with springing,” she admitted. She glanced up at him. “We can be on our own now, don’t you think? Just be us again?”

“I can’t see one possible reason why not,” he promised her, and part of her glowed, allowing herself to believe that things might finally achieve some semblance of their old life again. Cupping his face, she met his lips with tenderness. His fingers skimmed the hem of her shirt at the top of her thigh, and she shivered a little, gripping at his bicep while he deepened the kiss. His fingers were trailing up the naked skin of her hip, reaching the bikini string of her panties, plucking at it a little to leave a pleasant sting. Then…

“Ron! Mary! Do you have enough pillows down there? Because I have extra up here!” Ellen’s voice echoed in the hall from outside their door.

“We could use some more pillows!” came the shouted reply from downstairs

“Okay! Let me toss them down!” Thump. Thump.

“Thank you!”

Booth pulled away from her, sighing, looking into her eyes.

“It’s not right, tonight. Is it?” she said regretfully.

“One more day, gorgeous,” she was promised, and she smiled a tiny smile. They had been waiting months. What was one more day?

One more day was an eternity. But for now, she contented herself with climbing under the covers with him, cuddling close, and feeling secure in the knowledge that soon, after the interminable wait, normalcy was on the horizon.

--

Booth had expected the first morning waking up early to go back to work would be difficult, but was pleasantly surprised when he woke up even before the alarm clock rang. He was ready for this. More than ready.

Giving Bones a soft kiss on the cheek so as not to disturb her into wakefulness, he rose from bed and shuffled carefully down the hall and down the stairs. It still took a slow movement and a tight grip on the railing. But it felt good to move again. He moved quietly passed the couple snoring away on the couch.

The light was on in the kitchen. “Mom, you’re awake.”

She smiled up at him from the table, wearing her pink robe and clutching a cup of steaming coffee. I wanted to have breakfast ready for you for your first day back at work.”

He couldn’t help chuckling at the sentiment. “I feel like it’s the first day of school after summer break, again.”

“I miss those days,” she said, ruefully. “You and your brother were so young and cute.”

“Well I’m still cute,” he insisted, and they laughed softly together.

“That, you are.”

He eased down in one of the wooden chairs. “Mom, I really appreciate all you’ve done. But I think…it’s okay for Temperance and me to be on our own now. We’re both working, and I’m well on my way to being completely recovered. It’s time for us to be grown-ups again.”

Her face was impassive for a second. Then…”I agree.”

“Really?” Apparently, he hadn’t been expecting such an easy battle.

“Really. You and Temperance seem to have your own thing going on here. No full-time mothers needed in-house.”

He released a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Not a problem. Besides, I think your father just might miss having me around.” She winked at him as she stood, moving over to the cupboard and beginning to pull out bowls and pans there.

“Besides, you’ll still get us on holidays,” Booth promised, feeling the need to reassure her.

“Maybe more than that.”

Wait. What?

“Huh?”

His mother opened the fridge, pulling out the carton of eggs. “Well, your father and I were talking a little bit before he left last night, about how, before the accident, you were so isolated out here. Family is important, Seeley. I know you get that, but I’m not entirely sure that Temperance does.” She paused, cracking an egg on the side of a bowl.

“And…?” His relief was quickly turning into a sinking feeling.

“And, we’ve been talking about getting a new place for awhile. Down-sizing, you know? And we were thinking…there are some really lovely suburbs right outside of Washington D.C.”

“You’re…you’re thinking about moving here.” His heart nearly stopped.

His mother took no notice, while she serenely prepared his breakfast. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful? I think it’s time we start to show the new lady in your life just how lovely the good old-fashioned life can be.”

Great chapter as usual.
And as I already told on FF site, PLEASE send the in-laws in the pampa!

hahahaaa...they want to move THERE!
LMAO!!!!!
Thanks for another amazing chapter.....I've been enjoying this story A LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

omg!
they can't do that to them!
they can't really think of moving closer to them.....they will kill each other.....I know it.....
thanks for posting a new chapter!

Whoops, I had forgotten to post this over here...sorries!

--

“Bones! Come here! Look at me! I can fly!”

Thump.

She flicked her eyes warily off her laptop screen. Whatever was going on in the room next to her office did not sound like it could possibly be good for the furniture. Or the floor.

Thump.

“Bones!!”

Sighing and gathering her patience, she left her screen open as she followed the shrieks into the family room, where Parker Booth was attempting to kill himself (or so it would seem) by launching himself off the sofa onto the floor several feet in front of him.

“Parker, please don’t do that.”

He bounced a little on the cushions. “But Bones…”

“C’mon. You’re either going to break the couch or a bone. And your father will have a fit if you do either. Get down.”

The little boy crossed his arms, a mischievous grin crossing his face that was usually cute, but now just made her want to groan. “Come geeeeeet me.”

“I’d really prefer if you just did it yourself.”

“Ready, set…”

“Parker…”

“Catch me!” He tore off the couch at full speed into the kitchen, exposing the slight dirty stains he had made with his sneakers on the couch. Great. She rubbed her head. There was no way she was going to get much writing done this afternoon.

She knew what the problem was. It used to be that Rebecca brought Parker over early on Saturday, at which point he and Booth played full tilt until the middle of the afternoon. Then, Parker would take a nap for about an hour, which gave them time to get things done that they needed to do. Like, in her case, do a little bit of writing.

But now, as well as Booth was doing, he just wasn’t yet up to the type of rough and tumble activities that typically tired his son out enough to nap. He left for his physical therapy appointment, promising to be back by the time Parker woke up. Except, of course, Parker never went to sleep. And he was in rare form today.

“Don’t run in the house!” she called after him tiredly, bending over to pick up a few toys that were scattered around the floor. Usually she’d be more adamant about making him clean up himself, but right now she’d be lucky if she got him to stay still for two minutes. Which, even if she managed it, would leave 48 minutes until Booth came back. The phone rang, and she almost cried.

She picked it up. “Brennan…Parker, put that down. That’s 246 years old!”

“Sweetie, I warned you to put all very old things and all very new things away when you had that child at your house.”

Angela had warned her of that. “I know. And I do…except the stuff in my office. He’s not supposed to go in my office.”

“Hmm. Sounds like that’s going really well.”

“I’m assuming you are being facetious. In which case, I’ll respond in kind with a resounding ‘yes’.”

“Well it sounds like I called at the perfect time then. Because I have just what the doctor ordered.”

She frowned. “What is the doctor ordering?” She covered up the receiver as Parker skidded back into the room.

“Can I go outside, Bones?”

Well, at least he had asked. “Yes. Sure. Just stay where I can see you out the kitchen window, ‘kay?”

“’Kay!” he said, cheerfully flying past her and out the kitchen door, into the backyard.

She wandered over by the sink, where she could keep an eye on him.

“Well,” Angela continued. “Jack had made us reservations at this super-nice Jacuzzi suite in the mountains for a few days this week. But turns out there is some kind of bug convention those same days that he is feeling compelled to go to. We were all set to cancel the reservations, but then I thought, what two people do I know who would really benefit from some alone-time in the middle of nowhere?”

“Ange, that’s so sweet of you. But I couldn’t possibly accept an offer to go on your vacation.” A glance out the window evidenced her partner’s son dangling upside-down from a branch of the maple tree in the yard. Her heart beating overtime, she quickly opened the window. “Stay on the ground, buddy!”

He wrinkled his nose at her and flipped back around onto the grass.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Bren. You and Booth deserve a break. I’m insisting.”

That much was true. When Booth’s mother left a week ago, she had looked forward to what she thought would be a more relaxed atmosphere. However, with Booth returning work, she hadn’t counted on how tired and frustrated he would be, having had things pile up for months, and not being physically able to do the kind of work he wanted. He had also seemed a little far away at times, as if something was on his mind, but he didn’t seem inclined to talk about it. Add to this the fact that her own work was stressful, and now they had a wound-up Parker to deal with for the weekend; a break did seem nice. Still…

“We have work.”

“Weeeeell,” Angela drew out, “I might have taken the liberty of getting the two of you a few days off of work.”

Brennan blinked. “Okay, I can see how could have possibly talked Cam into that. But how the hell do you have influence over the FBI?”

“You’d be amazed at what I have influence over,” her friend said ominously. “So anyway. Pack up. You’re going to the mountains.”

“Angela, I…” she was about to protest, when another look outside told her that Parker was halfway up the tree she has just told him not to climb on. “I’ve gotta run…I’ll call you back,” she promised, hanging up and immediately rushing outside, angry now for having been disobeyed approximately a dozen times since Booth had left…could it only have been 15 minutes ago? “Parker Booth, you get down here immediately.”

Unaccustomed to seeing her angry, especially not at him, the little boy immediately became suspicious. “No.”

Her eyes widened. Seriously? “Um. Yes. Climb down right now.”

He hugged the tree trunk. “You can’t make me.”

“Parker, it’s time to go to your room,” she said, trying to remember what Booth typically threatened him with. “If you don’t come down right now, you are going to have to stay there for the rest of the evening.”

The child’s eyes welled with tears, and she felt vaguely alarmed. She had given him an option so that that wouldn’t have to happen. “I don’t want to go to my room,” he wailed plaintively. “I’m not tired.”

“You don’t need to sleep. You just have to behave.” Reaching up, she grasped one of his ankles. “Come on. You can climb down, or get pulled down.”

Crying in earnest now, he finally gave up his hold on the tree trunk and let Brennan lift him off the branch and scoop him down to the ground, where he immediately pulled away from her grasp.

“Go to your room. Fifteen minute time-out.”

He stomped his feet, face bunched up and red. “You’re not my mother!”

It amazed her that even though she had spent more time with a child in the past year than she had in her entire lifetime, she still did not feel as if she understood them any better. She was sending the kid to his room for fifteen minutes, not giving him a death sentence. “Uh, yes. That’s true. I didn’t give birth to you. But I am currently the adult responsible for you, so…I will discipline you in the way I see fit,” she said, with more confidence than she felt.

A fresh torrent of tears came from Parker’s eyes. “You’re mean. I want Daddy!” he cried, as he turned and streaked into the house and up the stairs.

Following him inside, she heard his bedroom door slam. He might hate her, but at least he had followed her directive for the first time that day.

Flopping down on the couch, she covered her face with her hands, half-angry, half-hurt, and all frustrated at the situation. And not just the situation with Parker. The return to normalcy was taking longer than expected. Work was hard, Booth had been acting weird, she was tense, and she didn’t even want to think about how long it had been since she had sex. Despite being given the go-ahead, it just hadn’t seemed right with everything that had been going on. And now, to top it all off…she had apparently, in the past quarter of an hour, been magically transformed into the Wicked Stepmother. The irony being that she wasn’t even Parker’s stepmother…because Booth had rejected her marriage proposal. How had she found herself in this life?

She tried to go back to writing, but the words weren’t coming. In fifteen minutes, she went upstairs to knock on Parker’s door and tell him he could come out now, and was promptly informed that he had no intention of coming out until his Dad came home. Perfect.

When Booth finally did come home, she had been scrubbing at Parker’s shoe-marks on the sofa. Hearing her partner enter the front door, she mentally talked to herself: “Don’t take this out on him don’t take this out on him…”

“Hey,” he greeted her, giving her a curious look at her activities, then glancing around the room. “Where’s the P-man? I thought he’d be awake by now.”

She strove to keep her voice even. “He didn’t go to sleep. He is hiding in his room because I am mean, terrible person who does not want him to kill himself falling out of a tree.”

“Ah,” Booth said, a faint smile coming to his face. “It finally happened, huh? You fell off the pedestal.” He was chuckling.

Scowling, she replied. “There is nothing funny about this, Booth. I have no idea how to discipline a child. I don’t…” She stopped herself before she said, ‘I don’t need this.’ There were a lot of things that had happened in the past several months that she did not need. But she dealt with them, because she loved Booth.

“It’s okay. I’m not criticizing,” he said soothingly, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. “It sounds like you did just fine. I know, my kid can be a handful, when he puts his mind to it.”

Pressing her cheek against his chest, she repressed the urge to expound upon Parker’s ability to turn into Mr. Hyde at a moment’s notice. Then she heard him murmur something cryptic.

“Maybe it could be a good thing…”

Pulling away, she looked at him questioningly. “Maybe what could be a good thing?”

He dropped his arms from around her, looking down evasively. “Well…”

Irritation resurged inside her. “Booth, you’ve been acting secretive all week. Dump it.”

Wincing, he sat down, carefully avoiding the wet spot where she had been scrubbing the cleaner. “It’s ‘spill it,’ Bones. And…I’m sorry. I don’t mean to keep secrets from you. It’s just, I know you’ve been stressed out, and I didn’t want to add to that…”

“Just tell me!” she said, her voice rising up an octave in her frustration.

“Well…my parents are talking about moving to D.C. And…” his voice became quicker… “I was just thinking one good thing might be that they can spend some more time with Parker, keep him from getting so riled up.”

She blinked, her mind having not processed anything after the letters “D.C.” “I obviously misheard you. I thought I heard you say your parents are moving. Here.”

He rubbed his head. “Yeah. They might. I knew you wouldn’t be happy about it.”

Her head swam, and the ‘I don’t need this’ was stirred up again, full force. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself into calmness. “How do you feel about it?”

“I can’t stop them from moving here. They’re adults,” he replied, defensively. “And they’re my parents. What am I supposed to say?”

“Booth, you know this isn’t about…location. It’s about boundaries. They want us to be like Jared and Leah.” She had a brief flash of memory about the almost-disastrous surprise party that they had thrown for Booth, just last weekend: the assumptions that it was wanted, the expectations that she drop everything and play hostess, the invasion of her home by overnight guest. Not to mention the impossibility of staying quiet about his father’s implied sexism. She pictured that, amplified…for the rest of her life. “This isn’t good.”

“I know it isn’t good.”

“So…are you going to say something?”

“Bones, I told you. I can’t. This is family politics. There are some decisions that offspring just can’t argue. We’ll just need to be…understanding, you know, and patient…”

“Patient!?” It was the wrong word for him to have said to her today, when her supply of that very virtue had been exhausted. “You know what, Booth? I have patience. I sort of need it to do my work. Remember? My work?” She picked up one of her journals off the end table and tapped it for emphasis. “And for when Parker decides it’s time to hate me. And for when my partner decides not to share important information about our lives with me. I don’t have any leftover patience to deal with…dinner parties every night of the week!” Her voice was shrill now, and he was shrinking away from her.

“Temperance, I think you’re exaggerating…”

It was too much, and she had reached her limit.

“Yes. I am exaggerating. I am exaggerating like the hormonal, unstable woman I am, right, Booth? Isn’t that what your parents taught you? So sorry to inconvenience you with it. If you’ll just excuse me, I’ll take my exaggerations outside where they won’t bother anybody.” Leaving her partner staring wide-eyed, she stalked into the kitchen and out the back door, fuming all the way.

She flopped down in the patio chair, and found she had too much angry energy to stay sitting, so she stood and paced again, staring across the expansive backyard, which was currently littered with Parker’s toys. How did she get here, indeed? One second, her world revolved around her lab, and the bones she examined. She had liked it like that. Now…everything seemed so much more complicated. She supposed that’s what happened when a person ties their life inexorably to that of another…not only do their issues become yours, but differences that had previously seemed quite manageable now seemed to be magnified, taking up a greater portion of your world. After his accident, she had been more confident than ever that she wanted to be with Booth. But hell, all these other things that apparently came with Booth…she still didn’t feel prepared for those. Not parenting, not family politics, and certainly not the possibility of having to deal with one of those two things every day of her life.

She didn’t move as she heard the door tentatively creak open behind her, or when a strong pair of arms wrapped around her middle, a conciliatory chin dropping on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re right…I should have told you right away so we could talk about that. And, even though I can’t force my parents’ decision, I can talk to them about ground rules. This is our life, Bones. Yours and mine. I don’t ever want you to feel uncomfortable in it.”

Struggling with herself to stay cool, she spoke. “I feel like we don’t even remember anymore what it’s like…just you and me. And I don’t know how we’ll ever figure it out again, when other people keep intruding.”

He listened silently to her concerns, still holding onto her.

Sighing, she turned, a sense of resignation filling her, not even believing the words that were about to come out of her mouth. “I think we might need to do something drastic.”

Booth’s eyes became round. “Like what?”

Eyes turning heavenward, she shook her head in regret. “I think…we might need to take a vacation.”

a vacation sounds good.....maybe they can talk about everything.....find a way to get his parents to stay where they are now....

He squinted a little into the dimming light of the sunset overtop the trees, which were a lovely vibrant orange and red. He’d be much more apt to enjoy the gorgeous view, if he had an idea about where the hell they were. Glancing over at his partner, who was sitting stiffly in the car next to him and staring straight ahead, his only sense of relief came from the fact that this “vacation” hadn’t been his idea. Rolling to a stop at a vee in the dirt roads, he sighed.

“You don’t have any idea which of these paths leads to Ange and Jack’s Amazing Mountain Palace of Love, do you?” he asked.

She looked at him, her arms crossed. “I told you we should have taken my car. It has a GPS system.”

He scowled. “Well who knew this place would be such a mystery? Besides, GPS needs a signal to work. And we don’t get one out here.” He gestured to his phone, lying in the center console between them. Zero bars of reception.

“Of course we don’t,” she said a little tightly. “If we did, then we could just call this place and ask them how to get there. But that would be too easy.”

Struggling not to respond to her snappiness with more of the same, he took a deep breath. Things had only been getting more and more tense between them. They kept it on a surface level, bickering about what to make for dinner, what time they got home from work…the little things. But Booth had no illusions about what was going on underneath. She was angry about his unwillingness…no, his inability to confront his parents about their impending intrusion on their lives. And he was angry at himself for the same reason. But he was also frustrated by her seeming refusal to understand just how hard this was for him. He loved his parents…they had been there through most every hard moment of his life. His mother just nursed him through a fucking coma, into almost full health. It killed him, to imagine her face if he were to tell her she wasn’t wanted.

Although, he wasn’t sure if it would kill him any quicker than Bones’ icy stare.

“Right is sounding pretty good,” he decided, veering that way down the dirt road. The sun disappeared. The sunset, clouds, or just dense foliage? He couldn’t quite tell anymore.

Bones turned her face again to look out the window. “When given two equally attractive options in two directions, most people will go the direction of their dominant hand. It’s not ‘good.’ It’s just human nature.”

He frowned, annoyed. “’Kay, Miss Know-It-All.” Hopefully this time away would be good for them. Let them relax a little bit. Or at least make them not want to hurt each other. Of course, all this was dependent on them actually finding the damn place.

They drove for approximately ten minutes before the first heavy droplets of rain hit the windshield.

“Do you suppose it’s just falling from the trees?” he asked, leaning forward and looking up. It was getting too dark to see much of anything.

Wishful thinking. Just a few seconds later, those few drops turned into a steady pattering. A long sigh emanated from the woman next to him.

“Booth. Let’s just go back. We didn’t know where we were going when it was light out. I don’t want to drive around in the dark and the rain and get more lost.”

“It might just be around the corner,” he said, ever optimistic.

“Or it might be in the opposite direction. It was stupid of me to accept Angela’s offer…we have things to do at home and at work. We shouldn’t even be here.”

He was distressed. By everything…the rain, Bones’ attitude, the whole, barely-spoken issue between them. He remembered their last Caribbean vacation…the long days spent lounging together on unspoiled beaches, paying no mind to anything except one another’s company. It had been so very easy. And he very nearly had to laugh, because in those days, he had thought it was complicated…forging their new relationship, with both of them being so very different. He should have had enough experience to know better. Beginning a new relationship was the easy part. Maintaining it? A much larger challenge.

There was no way, right now, that this vacation had the potential to be anywhere near as magical as that first one.

“Okay.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Okay?”

“Okay. Let’s go back.”

Her eyebrows stayed risen, but she made no word, either of agreement or protest.

Backing the car into a small clearing, he turned it around, the stones grinding under his tires. The new destination: same old shit. Only this time, with thunder growling ominously over the treetops.

It was another few minutes before he heard it…over the rain on the windshield, over the thunder, over the painfully loud silence between him and his partner. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“That…grinding sound.”

They were silent for a second. “I guess,” she said doubtfully. “The engine sounds a little rougher than usual.”

“That’s not good. I should take a look.”

The annoyance in her voice wasn’t even disguised anymore. “Look at it when we get home, Booth. The rain’s only going to get heavier, and we should get off the mountain before it pours.”

“It’ll just take a second,” he said, pulling off to the side of the path, ears pricked and trying to identify that particular rumbling sound.

“I’m tired. Can’t we just wait?”

His patience had run just as thin as hers apparently had. “Just a minute, dammit. I don’t want to drive home with a bad engine.”

“You’re going to get soaked,” she protested, but he was already halfway out the door.

Jesus, he thought as he zipped up his jacket and popped the hood of the SUV. This trip had been her suggestion. And now all she could do was complain and make him feel stupid. Sure, things hadn’t been great lately. Sure, she probably actually had good reason to be annoyed with him. But that didn’t give her permission to act like a passive-aggressive bit…

His attention was pulled again by the anomalous noise coming from the now-exposed engine. He fiddled with a few of the surrounding wires. “Okay,” he shouted. Bones put down the window an inch to hear. “Turn off the engine, and turn it back on again.”

He was glad he couldn’t see her annoyed facial expression through the rain-spattered windshield. In a second, the car turned off. Then…nothing. “Turn it back on!” he shouted, irritated about having to be in the increasingly abundant rainfall any longer than necessary.

“I’m trying!” came back an equally-irritated scream. “Nothing’s happening.”

Pausing, he prayed he hadn’t heard her right. He did another quick rewiring job. “Try again.”

Nothing. The thunder rumbled again, louder this time. The flash of lightening filtered through the trees. He tipped his head back and laughed.

God hated him.

--

Brennan sat in the back of the SUV, having lowered the back seats and tossed some of the luggage into the front. She twisted and lifted herself to pull off her jeans and pull on her yoga pants; as she shifted up, she promptly banged her head on the roof. She cursed, not softly.

Booth glanced back from his position in the driver’s seat, from which he hadn’t moved in the past 15 minutes. “You okay?”

“Just great,” she fumed, sitting back down and redirecting the flashlight so that she could see what she was doing. This was the worst idea she had ever had. They didn’t need more time together. They probably would do better with some more time apart. Because as it was, all she could think about was the fact that it was his baggage that had made her consider this trip to the wilderness, his fault that they had gotten lost, and his fault for turning off the car (when she had asked him to just keep driving), leaving them stranded in this Godforsaken place. They had jointly decided that (after Booth had over-exhausted his effort to get the engine working again) that it made the most sense to wait until morning, when it was light and dry enough to find their way back to the highway, where their cell phones would work and they could call AAA. But that meant approximately 10 hours of being in this cold, dark, place with someone she sort of wanted to scream at right now.

He hadn’t had his promised talk with his parents about boundaries; she knew it. And with every passing day, she was growing more tired of feeling like a nagging shrew, and tenser with every contact with Booth’s parents (‘We’re coming down next weekend to look at places! Can we stay with you?’). It wasn’t conducive to her work…even Zack had noticed that she seemed more uptight than usual, and he rarely noticed anything about his friends’ emotional states…and it definitely wasn’t conducive to their stunted love life. Hence agreeing to this trip being the worst mistake she had ever made.

A huge groan left her partner, as he finally pushed himself from his seat and through the narrow space to the back of the SUV. “Stop it.”

Her hands were fumbling behind her back, under her shirt, trying to unhook her bra. Now, she looked at him. “What?” she snapped, finally undoing the garment and pulling it out through the sleeve of her t-shirt.

“I can feel you judging me,” he groused, struggling to find a spot in the limited space to stretch his legs and pull off his shoes. “It’s seeping from your pores.”

“Judging is a mental process. It doesn’t come from your pores. It comes from your brain.”

“God, Bones, I know that…” he said, frustratedly. He pulled his belt from its loops and whipped it to the front of the car. “It’s not my fault that the damn car broke, okay?”

“Fine. Can we just get some sleep?” She wrestled the spare blanket from the corner.

“It’s ten o’clock.”

“What else do you suggest we do? Play checkers? We are stuck. In a car. In the rain. In the dark. Overnight.” She flipped to her side, away from him, cocooning herself in one corner of the blanket. The material of the floor below her was rough, not meant for sleeping on. She couldn’t extend her legs the whole way. As Angela would say…this sucked. She heard him cursing as he fumbled with his clothes. “You’re going to get cold.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, my clothes are wet. I’m going to get colder if I wear them.”

She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “I wonder why,” she murmured, a little more loudly than she intended. Suddenly, the car was plunged into darkness as he snapped off the flashlight and flopped down beside her. His body was icy where it touched hers, and his breath was warm.

“At least I won’t be the coldest thing in this car,” he grumbled, and she caught his meaning immediately. It took everything in her not to flip around, turn back on the flashlight, and tell him off. She forced herself to lie still and face straight ahead.

“We wouldn’t even be out here if you would have just handled the situation with your parents from the get-go,” she hissed in a whisper. “We wouldn’t have had to get away, because there would have been nothing to get away from.”

His voice was similar hushed, yet filled with venom. “Yeah, Bones. It’s my parents’ fault that we got lost. They probably made it rain, too.”

“That’s not what I was implying, or the point.” Her body was being to feel warm, despite the fall night chilliness in the car…a physical manifestation of her anger. “You’ve let them become more of a force in your life than anything else. You said that our lives are the most important, but you haven’t been acting like it.”

He had move a little closer to be heard as the pinging of the rain began beating down especially hard on the car’s roof. “Give me a fucking break, Bones. It wasn’t that long ago that I came out of a coma. Sorry I can’t jump right back into being the man you want me to be.”

“How about being a man, period? You can’t use the coma excuse forever, Booth.” She felt him stiffen behind her, and knew she had touched a nerve. And she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about it.

“You are seriously attacking my manhood right now?” he asked. His voice held an odd combination of incredulousness and a healthy dose of being pissed.

She fought to stay composed. “Take it whatever way you want,” she whispered.

There was a second of silence from him, and in it, she almost felt bad about hurting his feelings. Then he grabbed her. Grabbed her by the hip, and pulled her lower body to him, hard.

“Say what you want, baby. But I’m always a man.” It was sneered more than anything. But she barely heard.

Oh. Oh. Oh, fuck. He was hard.

There was part of her…a big part…that wanted to shove him away disgustedly. They were fighting, for God’s sake. She wanted to yell at him, scream at him…she certainly didn’t want to have sex with him right now, or let him touch her like this. But yet…

It had been so very long. Her angry mind didn’t care. But her body…Jesus. At that one touch, it ached. Instinctively, her bottom arched against him.

“I think she likes it,” he mocked, softly, hand kneading her hip and his breath tickling the back of her ear. But she didn’t miss the tremble in his voice.

They had been intimate a few times, since they were given the go-ahead. They had given each other pleasure with their fingers and their lips and the sheer joy of being close. But God help her, she missed being penetrated…the slide and the stretch and the feeling of fullness when he was inside of her, squeezing hard around him and tempting him to thrust into her, forcefully, the whole time grunting into her ear and making that tension in her belly rise to its shattering point…thinking about it was the wrong move. She was wet instantly, embarrassingly so, and everything in her throbbed with desire. Reaching back, she squeezed him through the material of his sweatpants. “Are you just going to talk about it, or are you going to fuck me?” she asked, with a cockiness she wasn’t truly feeling anymore.

For the first time since they began their sniping session, he didn’t sound so confident. “Temperance…”

“Booth,” she said, more harshly than she meant. “I need you. I’ve been needing you. Please.”

It was the most honest thing she could say right now, and it worked. Trembling fingers worked their way under the elastic of her pants, easing the down so they rested right under her ass…a brief struggle while he similarly attended to his own sweats…then he was there, pressing against her in the way she would never forget, and her eyes fluttered shut, her strangled moan almost lost in the sound of the beating rain.

--

He couldn’t believe this.

Since the moment he had been well enough to have the thought, he had contemplated what he wanted this second “first” time to be like. Their real first time had been unplanned, and he imagined something much more deliberate…soft music, candlelight. He’d seduce her with soft kisses and whispered endearments, teasing her until she was begging for him to take her to bed. Once there, filled with renewed appreciation for one another (after they had almost lost one another), they would spend long hours exploring each other’s body, prolonging the encounter until neither of them could stand being separate anymore. They would make love slow, and then fast, relearning and reveling in the pleasure they could give to one another…for one another. It was the only acceptable way of reinitiating their sexual lives together…which is why it hadn’t happened yet. There never seemed to be enough time or energy, the circumstances never seemed perfect. And he wanted it to be perfect.

But instead…here they were, in the cargo space of his car, in the middle of fucking stormy nowhere. There were no kisses, no words of love. All there was was raw need…he heard it in her voice, felt it in his own loins, and he was helpless against it. He had almost forgotten how badly he yearned for her. Now it came back, huge and blazing and unmistakable. He thrust into her, harder and quicker than he had intended, and was startled by her groan. Had he hurt her? But then she shoved her hips back into his, reached back and grabbed his ass, forcing him inside of her even deeper and faster than before, and he realized he wasn’t hurting her. He was making her come.

He growled, a primal sound, and gave into any remaining lust that was still pent up inside of him, pistoning into her with force while she moaned her assent. Yes. Be a man, period, she had said. He was going to fucking be her man. Only a real man would make her scream this loud. Roughly, he pushed his hand to the front of her, to where they were joined, then higher. Finding her clit, he rolled his wet thumb around it before beginning pinching it in time with his thrusts.

“Fuck,” she squealed, jerking against his hand, then back again against his hips, and the pure sexuality behind her vocalization shot straight through his body and into his balls. She felt tighter and wetter than he had ever remembered, and he felt a burst of emotions…satisfaction in making her want him this way. Grief at it not being the way he wanted. Anger at how she provoked him…always, ever since they had met. Love. Always, that fucking love.

She was coming, sweat dampening her hair that was sure to be cold once this was over, twitching against his cock and his hand, and the milking of her around him was too much for his overtaxed body to bear. His climax hit him with a force that was almost painful, forcing the air from his lungs, and his strangled cry joined hers and the sound of the rain and thunder. He shuddered for what seemed like hours, burying his face in the back of her neck and hoping desperately that the wetness he felt on his forearm was sweat, and not her tears.

It got cold fast. He pulled her to him tightly before tucking the blanket around them. The rain seemed to be falling more softly now. He prayed it would be dry again in the morning.

“Bones…”

“Shh,” she whispered, her voice mumbly and spent. “I needed it.”

Is that what they needed? He couldn’t tell right now. He felt like he didn’t know anything, couldn’t control anything.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep waiting for the rain to stop.

They seem to have more problems than ever before now.....and the vaccation wasn't really a good idea......
maybe they can talk about their problems now?
try to find a solution?

Can't wait for more!

(Y) I loved the new chapters
Keep on going.