Building a Life

So I am new to this board and have posted some stories over a the other fanfic board, so i thought i would post one here and see if you like it.

So anyway, here is the first two chapters for this story, and please let me know what you think

December 1991

Temperance Brennan had grown up in a typical family. For the first fifteen year of her life she had a mother, father and a brother. They acted like a normal family would, get along most of the time, but still argue about normal family things. She and her brother had a normal relationship, she admired him and he would look out for her. Often he was one of the only people she could depend on, regardless of whether she hated him that day or not.

Her mother and father were typical parents too. Normal jobs a science teacher and a bookkeeper, and always had time to love and care for their children. Temperance knew her parents loved her and would always protect her. Her family would go out together for picnics, or out somewhere just to enjoy being together as a family. She and her mother shared a love for dolphins, which from the outside may looked unimportant, but to them was a special bond between them.

Temperance had all she could ever want, a loving family. She didn’t care that she had barely any friends at school or that people thought she was weird because she was smart and loved to read. She was able to enjoy her life just knowing that her family would always be there to love her and help her overcome any obstacle she would face. Or that’s what she thought until that day.

Starting off typically, it was a weekend so no school for her or work for her parents. Usually weekends were the times where they would do things as a family. If that morning she was told that by the end of the day, her life would have changed, she wouldn’t have it. The day started off as it normally would, she woke up, went to the kitchen and found her parents drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. They were acting like they normally would any other day. The rest of the day was uneventful, with Temperance spending most of the time reading or doing her homework.

She thought nothing of it when her parents left for the shops late in the afternoon. It was getting closer to Christmas, so she guessed they were doing last-minute shopping for then. They waved her goodbye and said they would be back later. Little did she know that this would be the last time she would ever see them again. When her parents hadn’t arrived home after several hours she thought they must have gotten caught up talking to someone they knew. When the night was turning into day and they hadn’t returned she began to panic. Hours turned into days, with still no word from them.

When Christmas rolled around, her brother Russ thought he was doing the right thing by making Christmas for his sister. His plan back-fired which saw him leave before New Years. Temperance began the New Year with a social worker picking her up from her house, telling her to pack only what she really needed or wanted. The only personal sentiments she had were her un-opened Christmas presents, a few pieces of her mother’s jewelry, as many photos as she could find and her favourite books. She was given a garbage bag to fill with those items and clothes and was then forced to leave her childhood home.

She was alone and unwanted. She was placed in a group home, where she was extremely uncomfortable, partly due to her lack of social skills and the fact that she knew that wasn’t where she wanted to be. After many weeks in the group home she was placed with a foster family, a young couple who were only in their twenties. At first she thought it would be easier to be away from the other children, but she knew she didn’t want another new environment. She had already lost her trust in everyone, she felt as if no one cared about what happened to her at all. All she was waiting for was someone she could trust, without having to analyze whether or not they cared about her.

She had been at Brett and Samantha Smith’s for a week now. The first day they were pleasant enough, she had her own room which she retreated to for most of the day. After hearing horror stores from other children at the group home, she had been wary when she had been told by a social worker that they had found a family for her. She hated that the social worker had said ‘found a family for you’ as if this was to replace her old one, as f it was that simple.

Anyway they treated her well for the first couple of days, but she noticed by the fourth day she noticed she acted like a slave for them. Brett was constantly getting her to do something around the house, and treating without any respect at all. She had learnt on that fourth day to just do as he said or she would suffer the consequences. She had received the first slap that day and she noticed his wife received the exact same treatment, when she tried to stand up to him.

The next few days passed slowly, and she hung out for the day she would start school, at least she could escape him for eight hours of the day. She had been enrolled in the local high school and surprisingly she was able to choose classes that contributed to her goal. Because her father was a science teacher she had grown up in an environment where science was a big influence on her. She had known for the last few years that her ultimate goal was to become a forensic anthropologist and she hoped given her abnormally high I.Q, that she wouldn’t have trouble aspiring to that. When she woke up the morning of her first day she was relieved that the day had finally come.

“Temperance, come on you don’t want to be late for your first day of school do you? So wake up and get ready,” she heard Brett’s voice outside her door and could imagine the smug look on his face, she did what he said because she didn’t want there to be any reasons for him to do anything.

When she arrived in the kitchen she was fully dressed and ready, so that when she had gulfed down her breakfast she could leave immediately. She saw Brett in the living room doing nothing as usual and watching TV. Samantha was cooking him breakfast like he usually ordered her to do every morning. Sam gave her a small smile, which was mainly the only acknowledgement she got from her. Temperance quickly got some cereal for breakfast and proceeded to eat it as fast as she could.

When Brett stepped into the kitchen she was thankful she had finished. She cleaned up her mess and quickly grabbed her bag to leave. When she walked past him, he discreetly banged her into the wall, just to show her who was boss. She tried not to wince, because she knew that would only provoke more. She rushed out of the house and slowly made her way to school. She was over an hour early, but knew she would take any chance to get out of that house, even if it meant her waiting around for half an hour before the school actually opened.

***************
At her old school, even though she didn’t have many friends, no one would hassle her for being a nerd or a loner, because she had her big brother Russ always looking out for her and protecting her. She now had no body. The only people she knew in the whole state were her foster parents Brett and Sam, who weren’t the nicest people you could meet. As the bell rang to indicate the start of the day she rushed inside the building to find her classes.

After her first class, she had already made more enemies then friends. She knew from her appearance and town gossip that every student knew she was a foster kid and obviously had no family. It didn’t help her at all that she loved her schoolwork and had a genius level IQ. She already knew she struggled in social situations, which made it even harder to relate to her peers.

Eventually lunch arrived and she was able to momentarily escape all her classmates and retreat to somewhere where she would be alone and away from the whispering. She found the most secluded area in the school and proceeded to eat quickly and read which was the only thing that would help her escape the world.

After a few minutes she heard footsteps approaching her table and assumed they would be more jocks and cheerleaders, there to poke fun at her. She briefly looked up and saw about five boys, who were probably seniors coming in her direction. She looked back down and decided to ignore them, if only it was that easy.

“So, why are you here? Did mommy and daddy leave you because they realised what a freak you are?” one of the boys asked.

“Or did they return to the mother ship and leave you behind,” another commented which erupted laughter amongst the group, she knew what these types of boys were like, it wasn’t that she hadn’t encountered them before, but thanks to Russ it used to be rare. She continued to ignore them as they made further insulting comments. She hadn’t realised they had stopped until she heard a new voice.

“Daniel is there a problem here?” the voice asked, Temperance looked up and noticed a new boy had joined the group. He was tall, handsome, everything a girl could want in a guy.

“No, man, just ‘introducing’ ourselves to the new girl,” the leader of the group said while the other boys snickered.

“Well, I think you’ve introduced yourself enough, maybe you could find someone
else to bother,” he said intimidating the group of guys.

“Yeah, sure, we were just leaving, right,” the leader said motioning for them to leave. After they left the boy sat down opposite her and was silent for a few minutes.

“I hope they weren’t hassling you too much,” he said speaking to her for the first time.

“No, I find ignoring them is the best,” she said looking up at him.

“So, what’s your name?” he asked.

“What’s it to you?” she asked him.

“Well, I thought it would be polite to have a name to associate to the face, instead of the beautiful, new girl,” he said flashing her a heart melting smile.

“Brennan,” she replied.

“First name or last?” he asked unsure.

“Last, I hate my first name,” she said.

“There we go we already have something in common, I hate my first name too,
name’s Booth by the way,” he said holding out his hand, she hesitantly shook it.

“Don’t I get a first name?” she asked.

“Not until you tell me yours,” he replied standing up to leave. “Well, Brennan, I hope to see you around,” he said before flashing her another charm smile and walking off. Brennan sat there frozen for a few minutes and could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She hoped she saw him again; maybe he would be one person who wouldn’t think she was a freak. But, she knew that definitely wouldn’t be the case, he was one of those guys and knew he would show no interest in her at all, friendship or otherwise.

Seeley Booth had a pretty easy life when looked in from the outside. He was the most popular senior in the school; he was a star basketballer and didn’t do too badly with the ladies. In everyone else’s opinion he had the ultimate life, if only they really saw what it was like. Booth lived in a normal suburban house with his father, mother and brother. His mother wrote jingles for local agencies and his father was a war vet, pretty standard life.

But, what the rest of the world saw was the real pain that was involved in his life. His father was an alcoholic and would come home on many occasions drunk. He became violent and took out anger on his wife and children. Seeley was older than his brother Jarred so he felt the urge to take the nightly bashings from his father. He protected his brother and as he got older tried to protect his mother as much as he could. His life was a shithole and on many occasions he saw how easy it would be to end all his suffering, luckily he always remembered what could happen to his mother and brother if he was out of the picture.

His only solace was when he escaped during the night often fleeing the house at ungodly hours, roaming the streets just to escape it all. Luckily he had faith, in God, which helped him pull through most of the time. His friends had absolutely no idea of the real occurrences of his home life. They all assumed that he had it all; they thought he was the luckiest guy ever; he got all the attention, all the girls and did hardly anything to get it. Seeley often thought that if he could he would gladly swap the popularity and attention if he meant he wasn’t scared every night wondering if his father would come home that night or what he would do.

Sure he had his friends and people to admire him but he never had anyone he could talk to and let out all his problems. He had no one that would understand what he was going through or anyone who would take the time to listen. He couldn’t go to teachers because he knew as soon as they got wind of it all, the authorities would be told and after being told numerous times by his mother, he didn’t want his father put away. He knew he deserved to be punished but had promised his mother and he didn’t want to cause her anymore pain.

So now Booth was lying in a park, at two o’clock in the morning reflecting on the happenings of the day. It was the first day of the school for the New Year, so time was spent catching up with friends who had gone away over the Christmas break. A new year had officially started and he was determined that it would be better than the last. Already his grades were poor due to his family problems and knew if he wanted to do anything in life that he would have to try harder.

The day was typical; he was followed around by usual crowd, the people who had nothing better to do than be his constant shadow. Although he knew he was the most popular guy in the school he didn’t feel the need to use that to his advantage. He didn’t want to be seen as the guy who did mean things to other people and get away with it because of his popularity status. He would be happy to play basketball, which he loved and was his outlet, and not constantly be expected to bask in all the glory.

Others didn’t understand it but he always felt the need to protect or defend people from ‘bullies’. From personal experience with his own father he knew what it felt like to be victimized and preyed upon and he didn’t want anyone to go through that if he could help it. He had worked out that ‘the gang’ as they were commonly referred to would seek out the newbie’s or those who were different.

That day he had seen them harassing a new girl. She was a few years younger than him and looked like she could use a hand. What surprised him was that when he got rid of them she didn’t overly thank him, like most people did; she told him she was handling it and didn’t say anything else. He realised she was different, but in a good way. When she had looked at him he noticed her beauty. It wasn’t an over-powering, demanding beauty which he often saw on girls, but one that unless was really looked at was hidden.

He noticed her eyes, the most beautiful he had ever seen. He felt as if she was someone he could relate to, who he could talk to and not be judged. She looked broken, like traumatic had occurred and she just wanted to hide away. He was already determined he wanted to be-friend her, he knew his peers would think it was weird that he would want to talk to her, but he knew there was more to her that he desperately wanted to find out. He lay on the wet grass in the early hours of the morning and made it his goal that that day he would talk to her and show her someone wanted to know her and not hassle her. He was also determined to find out a first name to match her last, one to come before Brennan.

Temperance arrived home from school that day, feeling the happiest she had felt since moving to the Smith house. She had been hesitant about starting at a new school, mainly because it was easy for teenagers to hunt out a foster kid. Despite her best efforts to avoid the stares and the snide comments, they were present but ignoring them eventually made them stop. She had already found a secluded, private area in the school, which would guarantee her, most of the time, no interruptions.

As soon as she got home she avoided Samantha, who was watching something trashy on TV, and raced upstairs to her room. When she was away from everything she began to work on her homework, which she found relaxing and oddly therapeutic. She had already memorized the times that Brett would arrive home so she could avoid him as much as possible. She had already learned the hard way that when he did arrive home from work he was usually in a foul mood, and would take it out on the closest thing available.

She used the time of peace and quiet to her advantage and managed to finish every piece of work she had received that day. For as long as she could remember she loved school, she would always do all her homework as soon as she arrived home from school. After that she had free time to do whatever she wanted, which was often spent helping her mother or spending time with her brother. She had very few friends, all of whom were just as academically minded as her.

She had learned since her parents left that there were things you shouldn’t take for granted. She used to think, because she had limited friends that she was lower then others, but through her experiences since, she had come to realise that it was quality rather than quantity. She also used to think that her brother looking out for her constantly was a burden, but know knew that without him there always caring what was happening with her, showed that she was loved. She now craved to feel like that, to know that someone actually worried about her.

A loud ‘bang’ pulled her out of her thoughts, and she realised the sound signalled that Brett was home. Eventually he would come to find her to do something, but for know she enjoyed being alone. It wasn’t long before she heard his footsteps getting closer and closer. Soon he was right outside her door, and was knocking on the door loudly, before letting himself in. He walked over to where Temperance was sitting and grabbed her arm, pulling her up.

“What do you think you are doing in here? You should be downstairs doing the housework, did you really think we would take you in and let you sit around and do nothing?” Brett bellowed, inches away from her face. She didn’t speak; she only tried to loosen his grip on her arm and made her way out of her room. When she was approaching the stairs, he was unsatisfied at the pace she was going and pushed her down the stairs. She tumbled and landed on her back, she could already tell she would have bruises showing up at any time.

When she entered the living room, slightly limping, she noticed Samantha still on the couch, but now with a large hand mark across her face. She had already gotten use to the fact that once he had finished beating his wife, she was next and she got the full force. Quickly and as quietly as she could, Temperance completed the chores that Brett had demanded of her and chose to to wait in her room until dinner was ready. She was very tempted to skip dinner altogether, but knew if that she did that Brett would have another reason to hit her.

Dinner was pretty standard, meat and vegetables. Temperance tried to eat as quickly as she could, so she could retreat to her room as soon as possible. She noticed that Brett had started his drinking for the evening and knew it would be a long night trying to avoid him. After she had cleaned up the mess from dinner, she once again returned to her room. Her foster parents often went to bed early and she had figured out a way to escape her window without waking them.

After she had concluded that they were both sound asleep, she stared her nightly routine. Every night she would climb out of her window, very quietly and enjoy a little bit of freedom. Her nightly ventures often led her to a nearby park, where she would be able to think and take in the world around her. She found that when she escaped she felt slightly better knowing, she was away from them, even if it was for a few hours.

While walking through the park aimlessly she remembered the events of that day. She particularly thought of the only person, other than a teacher, that had spoken to her without a rude comment or remark. Although she had indicated to him that she didn’t need his help, it lifted her spirits to know that he came to help. Even though this was a nice gesture on his part, she told herself not to get excited about it, because in her experience he was one of those people, who always had a hidden agenda.

****************
Seeley Booth had been beaten twice in one night. As per usual his father had arrived home drunk and ready to hit the first person he saw. That day it had been his wife, mainly because she hadn’t had dinner ready for him but also because he knew she wouldn’t fight back. Seeley had quickly noticed his father’s intentions and had stepped in front of his mother and received the force of his fathers beating. Later that night he had taken a punch for his brother, Jared, who had angered their father by leaving a game in his way.

Now Booth was wandering the streets, clearing his head and avoiding his fathers rage. He walked for a few minutes in the same direction, when he noticed a figure in the park ahead. When he got closer he saw that it was the girl he had seen earlier at school that day. It was late and he knew the right thing to do would be to check on her and make sure everything was ok. She was lost in thought so she didn’t notice him coming up behind her, so Booth defiantly took her by surprise.

“Hi,” he said in her ear, which caused her to jump and nearly belt him. When she saw his face she lowered her hand slightly.

“What the hell did you do that for? You could have been an axe murderer? And what are you doing out here at this time of night?” she asked accusingly.

“Well, firstly if I was an axe murderer, don’t you think I would grab you without the pleasantries? And secondly I could ask you the same thing,” he said smirking.

“It’s none of your business why I am out here,” she said beginning to walk back the way she came.

“Well, I thought I would enjoy the fresh air and prey on unsuspecting girls,” he said laughing.

“That’s not funny, you know,” she stopped walking and shot him a deadly glare. She then turned around again and continued walking, hoping he would leave her alone. Unfortunately for her he followed her and wasn’t indicating that he would stop. After walking for a few minutes she was irritated and turned to him questionably.

“Why are you following me, first you think I can’t handle a few immature boys, but now I can’t walk home without you?” she asked him, he shrugged.

“I just thought you would like my company,” he told her waiting for her response.

“Well, I don’t need you, so please leave,” she said getting annoyed with him. He just smiled at her and acted innocently.

“Are you going to be in the same spot tomorrow, as you were today?” he asked hoping that tomorrow she may talk to him.

“What’s it to you?” she asked unsure of what his intentions were.

“Just a question, anyway you have made it clear that you don’t need my company, so I will see you tomorrow,” he said shooting her a charm smile and disappearing into the darkness. He was intrigued by this girl. Usually he would go for the blonde cheerleader type, but there was something about her that made him curious. He had a gut feeling that there was more to her than meets the eye and that he might have more in common with her than he thought. He planned to find her again tomorrow at school and hopefully at east learn her fist name and hopefully see if her nightly outings were a regular occurrence.

She was unsure about how to take him. He looked like one of the guys who would use you and pass you off as another of his conquests. But last night when she had seen him, he seemed different. When he talked to her he looked in her eyes, instead of at her physical attributes. It also seemed as if he purely wanted to talk to her without any underlying reason. When she had woken this morning she felt slightly happier at the thoughts of possibly seeing him again. But her rational thinking put an end to that when she reminded herself he was one of those guys.

The morning proceeded as it had the day before. She went to the kitchen for breakfast and was knocked into the wall by Brett. She then quickly ate her breakfast and got out of that house as quickly as she could. Her school was about 10 minutes away from the house, so if she walked at a normal pace she would be there about 20 minutes early. When she arrived at the school she was the only one there, so she decided to sit outside and read.

Reading was an outlet for her. It pulled her out of her horrible reality and pulled her into a world of fiction, where nearly anything was possible. She would become so engrossed in the story that she would totally forget about the world around her. Nothing else would matter and she would not be worried about what was happening in her life, it was like time stopped at that moment, it was when she felt pure happiness. When she was a few chapters into her book she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Hello, again,” the voice said and she immediately identified it as Booth’s voice. She turned around and saw him standing, smiling at her.

“Are you stalking me or something, because it sure feels like that?” she said not waiting for his answer and turning her attention back to her book.

“It may seem like that, but you just happen to be there every time I look up,” he said sitting down beside her. She tried to ignore him next to her, but after a few minutes she could feel him staring at her and she became very pissed off with him.

“WHY, are you sitting here? Is it for fun? Or do you just want to annoy the hell out of me?” Brennan asked him standing up to try and get away from him.

“I was just being nice, isn’t that what people are supposed to be doing to one another,” Booth said getting agitated with this girl who apparently couldn’t accept a nice gesture from anyone. She didn’t reply to him, instead she walked off and into the building, leaving him standing there.

**********
She was rude, unappreciative and a pain in the ass, and he had only known her for two days. But regardless of what he knew, he couldn’t seem to get her off his mind. She was different; he knew that much and he hadn’t ever encountered anyone like her, which made him unsettled. The night before after parting ways in the park, all he could think about was how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. Granted it didn’t make her any less annoying or irritating, but she looked peaceful, and not as uptight as she seemed at school.

He wondered that morning in class, why she acted that way towards him. Any other girl would fall at his feet and worship the ground he walked on. He decided to find her at lunch and try to get something out of her, to gage whether she really disliked him or if she acted this way towards everyone.

When he spotted her in the same spot she was yesterday and noticed she was reading the same book he saw her with that morning. He also noticed she hadn’t eaten anything, so he decided this could be something he could ask about. As he got closer to her, he noticed she looked up for a moment and saw him approaching. A scowl appeared on her face and she looked back down at her book adamant to ignore him.

“Why are you being like that?” he asked referring to her facial expression and body language.

“Being like what?” she asked innocently.

“You are being rude and ignoring me, when I have done nothing but nice things for you,” he said getting irritated by her.

“Maybe you should take the hint and get that I don’t like you and you can just leave me alone,” she said staring at him in the eye.

“Why don’t you like me?” he asked curiously.

“Because you are just the same as every other guy, act all chivalrous towards girls, then take advantage of them and they end up being another one of your meaningless conquests,” she replied in a matter-of-factly tone.

“That’s it is it, you think just because I am a ‘jock’ and have quite a number of friends, I act the same way the others do,” he said.

“Well, yes, it is clear from many of the looks you get from the cheerleaders, that I am right in my assumption,” she told him before beginning to read again. He stood there baffled at her thoughts and wondered if this was the persona he really gave off to people. It was clear she had seen this being true and obviously thought she was correct in all cases. Before he left he leaned over the table she was sitting on and told her something,

“Well, although you may not believe it, I am not like most guys, I care about everyone and I certainly don’t treat girls like that,” he then straightened up and walked away from her table, then he added as an afterthought, “by the way you should really eat something, not all guys like girls who live off celery sticks.” He saw a puzzled look on her face and realised he had achieved what he had wanted, make her think. He then decided he was going to prove to her that not all guys were jerks and that there were exceptions to the ‘rule’.

bones_fanatic19,

It wasn't an easy sell for me to start in on this one, with Booth and Brennan being together in the same high school, but I thought "what the heck." I have to say that it's interesting. I like how Booth is already telling her she needs to eat!

Thanks for your opinion, I have four more chapters already written, so here are the next two, would love to hear your opinion on these.

For a week Booth continued to try and get information out of Brennan, but was unsuccessful. She would either get angry at him or ignore him and would stonewall every question he asked. He asked her where she lived, things about her family, what she liked to do in her free time, but she was always adamant not to give away any information. He knew she was hiding something good, or bad, he wasn’t sure, but he knew it was important.

Even though he didn’t want to give up it became clear that it was fast becoming his only option. She would sometimes let him sit with her if he was silent, but the minute he started to talk she would make him go away. His situation with her was terrible, and his home life was fast becoming worse. His father got drunk every single night which meant bruises were appearing daily. He had thought more and more lately about getting away from there, to leave and not come back, but those thoughts were always pushed aside when he remembered who he was leaving behind.

He had decided that if after today he didn’t get anything out of Brennan, he would stop trying. He didn’t want to give up but, it was obvious she wasn’t going to tell him anything and he thought it was only fair if he stopped and let her be. He went for a walk that night after not getting her to talk at school; he secretly hoped that he would see her on his walk. After about an hour he noticed her in the distance, she was sitting on a park bench, hunched over. She heard him coming and turned her head; as he got closer he noticed that she had been crying.

“Hey what’s wrong?” he asked her sounding concerned, she quickly looked away from him when he spoke.

“Nothing,” she answered quickly trying to wipe away evidence that she had cried.

“It isn’t nothing or you wouldn’t be sitting out here alone, crying,” he said as he moved to sit next to her.

“Really, it’s stupid and doesn’t matter,” she said starting to stand up to leave, but was stop by his hand pulling her down. When she was seated again he put his arm around her shoulders and noticed she flinched. But this wasn’t the usual way she flinched when he was near her; it was like she was in pain.

“Why did you flinch?” he asked trying to get to keep eye contact with her.

“Like I said it’s nothing…” she started, but stopped when he pulled the right side of her shirt and exposed her right shoulder. She knew he saw them and that he knew what they were. His eyes were filled with anger, she didn’t understand why.

“Who did this to you?” he asked softly at first. She tried hard to ignore him and hoped he wouldn’t care but she knew he wouldn’t let it go, “WHO did this to you?” he demanded. The tone of his voice had changed dramatically.

“My foster father,” she answered in a whisper, wishing she hadn’t told him. He looked at the bruises and marks in disgust.

“Is this the only one?” Booth asked his voice softening so he wouldn’t scare her. She began to nod but then shook her head; he would know she was lying. Carefully she slightly lifted up her shirt. He saw bruises all over her abdomen and back, some more recent than others.

“Why does he do this to you?” he asked. She shrugged her shoulders, because in all honesty she didn’t have an answer, “Why are you in foster care?” she remained quiet and didn’t divulge anything. He realised that he had to tell her something.

“I know what you are going thorough,” he said. She looked at him questioningly; he then showed her his back which was covered in cuts and bruises. He quickly turned back to face her and noticed she had started crying.

“Who did that to you?” she asked in between sobs.

“My father,” he answered and before she asked he told her, “He’s an alcoholic,” she nodded at his response and began to wipe her eyes again. “So again, why are you in foster care?” he asked.

Brennan told him about her parents and her brother. For some reason after he showed her his scars she felt more inclined to open up to him. Maybe he is different than the others, she thought while she told him. He sat listening without interrupting her and was beginning to understand her behaviour. When she finished there were fresh tears in her eyes, as they fell he reached up and was wiping them away with his thumb. He then hugged her carefully, as not to cause her more pain.

“I am so sorry, you shouldn’t have to be put through that,” he said sincerely, as she placed her arms around him. They sat there for a few minutes in silence, both processing what had happened. They pulled back from the hug and smiled at each other, knowing they had found a new understanding for each other.

“So after all that can you tell me your first name?” Booth asked.

“Temperance,” she replied.

“That’s a beautiful name,” he said before they parted ways for the evening.

After that night they both silently agreed not to mention it, both knowing it was painful for the other to talk about. From that day Brennan didn’t ignore Booth or reject him, she had realised that he did understand what she was going through and didn’t judge her for it. She had begun talking to him on a regular basis and was glad to finally have someone in the school that she could consider a friend. Booth still came nearly every day at lunch to sit with her even if they both sat in silence the whole time.

Booth had slowly been trying to prove to her that he was different; he had managed to convince her of that the night they really connected. They were becoming closer and closer each day that passed. Although they exchanged very few words they always felt comfortable in each others presence. They met up every night in the park, both hiding from the same thing. It was then that they were the most talkative; they were away from prying eyes and didn’t feel as if everyone was judging them.

A couple of weeks after the confessions, Temperance was quietly sneaking out of her window to meet at the park. She loved that they had a routine and they had yet to be caught out. That particular night it was rather windy outside. When she opened her window a sudden gust of wind came and slammed the window shut. The noise was loud enough to wake the whole house. It only took a few minutes for Brett to arrive at her room; he nearly broke down the door entering.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded striding over to where she was standing near the window.

“No…nothing,” she stammered out, her heat was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t remember ever being more terrified.

“Don’t pull out that ‘nothing’ crap on me, I know exactly what you were doing,” he partially yelled. By this point Brett was towering over her, trying to be as intimidating as possible. Before she could react Brett had lifted his hand and slapped her across the face. The first hit was open-handed, but apparently that wasn’t enough for him and he came back with a fist and punched her in the eye. He then pushed her into the wall and kicked her a few times to scare her, and then he left without a word.

When Temperance was sure he was gone she slowly slid down the wall and tears came flowing. This was the worse pain he had inflicted on her so far, it made her fear what he may do to her in the future. She knew it was too late to meet Booth now, especially now. She could feel her eye stinging and knew by morning it would be black. It also appeared Brett had kicked her hard enough to bruise her ribs, which were causing her a significant amount of pain.

She managed to pull herself onto her bed without too much pain, but didn’t have enough energy to change out of her clothes. She softly lay down on her bed and once again the tears came freely. This was the first night in weeks that she hadn’t seen Booth and something about that unnerved her. She wished for the hundredth time that her parents would be found and she could leave that horrible place. The only downside to that would be loosing Booth, one of the only friends she had ever had.

******************

When Booth arrived at school the next morning he hoped to find Brennan and find out where she was the night before. After she had failed to show he tried to convince himself that it wasn’t a big deal and that she may have been too busy. He knew that her studies were important to her and wouldn’t be surprised if she had fallen asleep studying.

He didn’t begin to think that something was off until she didn’t show up for school. In the month or so he had known her; she had never missed a day of school. She had come with the flu a few weeks ago, but refused to stay at home. This realisation caused him to worry. Something had to be seriously wrong for her not to show up. He decided to wait and see if she showed up that night before he completely worried about her. He silently prayed that she was just very, very late, but his gut told him that was not the case.

She once again failed to show that night. He waited for what seemed like forever, hoping for the second time that day that she was just running late. Where are you Temperance? he asked himself after a couple of hours. He was freezing his bum off, but was determined to wait as long as possible, just in case. He eventually gave up and promised himself that in the morning he would track her down, because something was definitely not right.

Ah, my secret shame is revealed - I actually love B&B HighSchool stories. They go against all logic. You have to change the age difference from 5 years to 2 or 3 at the most for them to work. They pretty much require you to completely forget what you know about the show to some degree and yet, damn they are entertaining. This one is good, really good, can't wait to read more of it!

RM

Thanks for the review Here are the rest of the chapters I have already written, I hope to have a new one up soon

Booth went to school for about ten minutes the next day after he found once again that she was not there. He skipped the rest of the day, knowing Temperance was now a major part of the reason he bothered showing up anymore. He didn’t know where she lived but was determined to find out. He decided if he wasn’t going to school that day he may as well do something productive. He also knew that his father would be home during the day and would belt him if he realised he was skipping school.

After a few hours it was proving to be difficult for Booth to figure out where she lived. He tried as hard as he could to remember which direction she would come from when they met each other at night, but of course his memory was failing him when he needed to remember the most. He still had an uneasy feeling in his gut that something was terribly wrong and that she may need him. After another couple of hours of searching he had begun wandering aimlessly around the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

Before he knew it day had turned into night and the streets were practically deserted. He knew that his school were very strict on seniors attending school and had no doubt that the school would have called his house sometime that day. Booth knew his dad would be fuming and would be ready to inflict pain on him as soon as he walked in the door. He decided that he wouldn’t return back to his house for the rest of the night and prayed that nothing would happen while he wasn’t there. Slowly he made his way to the park and hoped she would be there waiting for him.

As he was getting closer to the park he was getting more anxious. He had been worried sick the past two days and as more time passed he worried more and more about her safety. When he arrived at the park he quickly scanned the area, but didn’t see her. The second time he searched he paid more attention and noticed her buried deep inside the park, sitting under a large tree. He silently thanked god that she was there and proceeded to walk towards her.

*********

Temperance had woken up in complete pain two days after she had been caught by Brett. The previous day she didn’t have the energy to go to school and she doubted she would that day. She hadn’t left the room since Brett had caught her sneaking out, with the exceptions of the bathroom. Her eye was severely swollen and black and blue and there were matching bruises around her ribs. It caused her excruciating pain to move, even something as simple as coughing had become a challenge.

She had decided to skip school again that day, as much as she hated too, but she knew she would feel self-conscious the whole day regarding her eye and feel incredibly uncomfortable. The only thought running through her mind that nearly changed her mind was the prospect of seeing Booth. This was the longest she had gone without seeing him and that made her feel uneasy. In the end after contemplating it she decided to miss school again and save herself from humiliation.

That day only Samantha was home which made her relax slightly. Brett was at work until very late so she knew she would be able to sneak out before he returned. Neither of her foster parents really cared about whether she was at school or not, with both of them purely interested in the extra money they received for housing her. They pretty much kept her there to pick up after them and for Brett to have a second human punching bag to let out his anger on.

She slept for most of the day because she really had nothing else to do. Any time she was awake she would read. When she was put into foster care she took very few things, but had managed to bring some of her favourite books. Despite reading them all many times, she found that by re-reading them she felt like she was normal again, feeling the way she felt when she was back at her house with her family.

Late in the afternoon she managed to pull herself from her bed and get dressed. Her foster mom was in the living room watching mindless television programs, so she would have no trouble sneaking out without being noticed. She quietly grabbed some edible food from the fridge and then walked out of the front door without being noticed. She slowly made her way towards the park, knowing she didn’t want to go much longer without seeing him. She had decided to wear jeans and a long sleeve top, which hid some of her old bruises and she wore her hair down in an attempt to cover the damage to her eye.

When she did get there it was still early for him to arrive so she found a place to sit and began to eat the food she had taken. She waited for a couple of hours, in which time it became darker and darker. It seemed like forever but eventually he did show up. When he first got there she could tell he was searching for her, but didn’t see her the first time around. However he did notice her the second time, when he did see her he had a look of relief on his face and it wasn’t long before he began to approach her.

**********

“Where have you been, I have been worried sick?” Booth asked when he got within earshot of her. She shrugged her shoulders, not really wanting to talk about it. Booth came and sat next to her under the tree and immediately he saw something was different and wrong. He noticed that she was sitting differently, which could be due to an injury and that her hair was down, which was a rare occurrence. Quickly before she could stop him he pushed back her hair, revealing her black eye.

“What happened?” he asked her calmly, even though he had anger running through his veins.

“He hit me, no big deal,” she replied quietly.

“It is a big deal, look at you,” he said referring to the swollen and bruised eye, “Is that all he did to you?” he asked. She refused to reply which lead him to believe that this was not all he did. He looked at her in the eye, almost pleading for her to tell him what else had happened. After a minute Brennan reluctantly pulled up her shirt so he could see the bruises around her ribs.

“When did he do it?” he asked.

“Two nights ago,” she said the seventh word for the evening. He shook his head in anger and then scooted closer to her and put his arms around her shoulders. She leaned into him ad put her head on his chest. It wasn’t long until he heard her crying and felt tears on his shirt. He held her tighter and comforted her in the best way he could. He let her cry and let it out for a few minutes before he asked her another question.

“Why didn’t you come to school the past two days?” he asked her whispering.

“Because I didn’t want people to see this,” she said pointing to her eye, “I’m already ridiculed and embarrassed enough every day because they all know I’m a pathetic foster child. I don’t need to be adding to it. Besides I didn’t feel like going anyway. I don’t fit in there, I am a freak, I’m ugly and everybody hates me.” She stopped talking a waited for him to agree with her, she was sure sooner or later he would realise all this and would decide she wasn’t worth his time. She stared at the ground too embarrassed to look at him.

“Hey, look at me,” Booth said pushing her chin up to look at him, “You are definitely not a freak, you are unique. You are so incredibly smart and beautiful; you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. And not everybody hates you, because I most certainly don’t hate you,” he said not breaking eye contact with her. She didn’t speak while she thought about what he had just said. When she opened her mouth to speak, she found herself speechless; she was unable to say anything.

“Now, I have another question for you. Why haven’t you told anyone about what he’s doing?” he asked.

“Because no one would believe me, to them all I am is a difficult teenager who lashes out and tries to annoy people. And even on the odd chance that they believed me it would mean I would be moved and I would be … taken away from you,” she replied whispering the last part. It was now he who was speechless; he couldn’t believe what she had just told him.

“Why do I matter?” he asked after he had recovered.

“Because you are the only one who cares, even just a little bit,” she said feeling slightly embarrassed now that he knew how she saw him.

“Brennan, I care way more than a little bit,” he said smiling. Booth stood up and held his hand out to her, “Come on, I’ll walk you home.” Surprisingly she took his hand and guided him in the direction of her house. Her house was only a few minutes away from the park and Booth was now glad he knew where she lived if he ever needed to find her.

“Soooo, are you going to school tomorrow then?” he asked.

“I don’t know, what about this?” she pointed to her eye “I don’t think I want to be subjected to their gossip,” she said sighing slightly.

“Please come, I promise I will be like your bodyguard, if anyone says anything I’ll kick their ass,” he said, when she laughed he was pleased he got the reaction he was hoping for.

“I guess I could come and take you up on that offer,” she replied smiling, it was then she noticed for the first time that they were holding hands. Just when she thought it couldn’t get any better Booth leaned down and kissed her and then ran away before she could say anything. She felt a warm feeling, unlike any other she had ever felt. Before he was out of earshot she heard him say something.

“Good night Temperance Brennan, see you tomorrow.” She could see him flash her one of his charm smiles as he rounded the corner quickly. Brennan quietly snuck into her room, careful not to wake Brett and got into her bed. And for the first time since her parents disappeared she went to sleep feeling happy and loved.

Booth patiently waited outside the school, waiting for her to show up. He hoped he that last night was enough to convince her to attend school that day. Just when he loosing hope he saw her walking towards him and he smiled. He noticed she was wearing long sleeves, to cover her bruises and was again wearing her hair down to strategically cover her eye. He noticed she was walking very carefully, probably due to her ribs and noticed she was looking rather pale.

“Hey, I was starting to think you weren’t going to come,” he said to her when she came to stand next to him.

“Well, I was getting bored sitting in that house all day and the thought of you playing bodyguard seemed to good to miss,” she said with a faint smile on her face.

“I meant what I said, any bad word they will be flat in their back in a second,” he said smiling to her and guiding her into the school before they were late. They walked quickly into the school building with Booth’s hand placed on the small of her back. It didn’t take her long to notice it was there and once again she felt what she had the night before when he had kissed her. When they had walked halfway down the hallway the school bell rang to indicate classes starting. Booth knew they would have to separate, a act he wasn’t looking forward to. He reluctantly removed his hand from the place on her back and stepped back.

“Well, I better go, I have already missed one day, I don’t think they will be pleased of I am late,” he said smirking because he really didn’t care if he was late but he knew if he was it would be another phone call to his parents and he didn’t want to aggravate his father’s actions more than he had to.

“Yeah, I guess that would be a bad thing, I also need to find a way to explain why I have been missing,” she said.

“Ok, then I will see you later,” he said throwing her a heart-melting smile and quickly kissing her in the cheek and rushing to his classroom. She couldn’t figure out why she continued to feel a kind of warm feeling whenever he touched her or was even in close proximity to her. But, she knew she wasn’t going to force it away, because it was the one thing she had begun to look forward to each day. Slowly she sauntered of to her first class, already counting down the hours since she saw him again.

***********

When Booth’s last class before lunch was finally let out, he was the first one out the door. He shoved all his books into his locker and walked through the crowded hallway to the doors that led outside. When he was out in the open he made his way towards the most secluded part of the school, where she usually spent her time. When he got there he noticed she was already there, with untouched food and reading what looked like a complicated book.

“Hey, Brennan, how has your day been so far?” he asked as he sat down opposite her. When she heard his voice she placed her book down to look at him.

“It’s been ok, I guess, nothing real exciting,” she said.

“Same here, I have been counting down til school ends for the day,” Booth said picking at some of her food. They sat there in their usual comfortable silence, like they usually did. Brennan reading her book and Booth looking at her when he thought she wasn’t looking, it was the usual lunch for them and it had been working. They remained like this for god knows how long until they heard someone call from behind them.

“Hey, Seeley,” a boy’s voice said which made Booth turn around. He saw Cameron, a boy in his year, and one of his teammates walking towards him.

“Hi Cameron. What’s up?” Booth asked unsure of what he could possibly want.

“Not much. Listen, I was wondering where you were yesterday, you weren’t here for school and we missed you at practice,” he said. Booth noticed Cameron had a group of girls trailing after him, which wasn’t unusual for him.

“I didn’t feel like coming, is that a crime,” Booth said noticing that Brennan was becoming uncomfortable with so many people around, and that she was becoming extremely self-conscious.

“Well, yeah when everybody else shows up and you fail to just because you don’t feel like it,” Cameron said stepping closer towards Booth. Booth heard giggling from the girls behind Cameron and realised what they were laughing about when he heard them whispering her name. He looked towards Brennan and realised she had noticed too and was now hiding her face completely behind her book.

“Sorry about that, but right now I don’t really care, so if you could go please,” Booth said wanting to get rid of them so he could talk to Brennan.

“Whatever, just make sure you’re there next week,” with that Cameron and the girls had left, but not before the girls caught a last glimpse of Brennan, an whispered and pointed as if she was an attraction at the circus. When they were out of sight Booth went around to the other side of the table and saw that she was concentrating very hard on not crying. He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her towards him and as if this was permission, she let her tears fall. She buried her head in his chest as she cried uncontrollably, this was why she had not shown up and school the past two days, to avoid those situations.

“Hey, hey, shhh, it’s ok,” Booth said trying to calm her down. After a few minutes she was trying to regain composure and wiped tears away from her face.

“Sorry, about your shirt,” she said when she saw wet blotches.

“Don’t worry about it, but if you really feel bad, come to the movies with me after school,” he said hoping she would accept his offer.

“What… you mean… like a … date?” she asked hesitantly, worrying she had misunderstood. He grinned at her and then said.

“Yeah, like a date.”

“Are you sure, I mean I am not the most fun person to be around,” she said.

“Of course I am sure, so is that a yes,” he asked hoping she would agree.

“Yes,” she said smiling for the first time since that morning. The bell rang to signal the end of lunch and the two slowly made there way back to the building. Booth told her to meet him outside the school at the end of the day and kissed her cheek for the second time that day. The two had smiles plastered on their faces for the remainder of the school day, both anxiously waiting for the final bell to ring.

After the final bell had rung Booth had practically sprinted out of his classroom and was quickly outside the school, making sure she couldn’t back out. He positioned himself out the front so that as soon as she came out he could catch her and they could go on their date. He had been waiting anxiously for the remainder of the day, worried that if she had the opportunity that she would change her mind. Usually he didn’t dwell too much on rejection, but if she was to reject him, he knew it would hurt more than ever.

It didn’t take long until he saw her walking out of the building. He quickly waved to get her attention and began walking closer to her. He noticed that when she saw him a smile was instantly on her face, which made him smile. She was just as excited and anxious as he was. She was desperately hoping that he wouldn’t suddenly realise she wasn’t worth and ditch her. But, when she saw him waiting there for her, she wouldn’t have a thing to worry about.

“You ready to go?” he asked when he reached her.

“I am if you are,” she simply replied. Brennan was unsure the way to act on a date, as she hadn’t really ever been on one before, which added to her nervousness.

“Do you want to drop your stuff off at your house or anything?” he asked unsure of what to say.

“Not really, he is home at this time,” she said knowing he would know what she meant. Booth nodded and began to point her in the direction of the cinemas. At first there was an awkward silence between them, because in some way this was new territory for both of them. Booth had been on many dates with girls, but this was different because he knew he felt something for her, that he hadn’t felt for anyone else. It took a little while before Booth thought of something to say.

“So, since this is a date, we should find out more stuff about each other. So what do you want to be when you are older?” he asked trying to spark a conversation.

“Well, for a few years now I have wanted to be a forensic anthropologist,” she answered him as she quickened her pace to stay in time with him.

“What’s that?”

“It is identifying the remains of humans, whose bodies are so decomposed or mutilated that they are otherwise unrecognisable and unidentifiable. Usually forensic anthropologists work with the human skeleton to determine race, sex, age and cause of death, along with many other things. They often help identify murder victims and give people back their identities,” she replied. Booth could tell by the way she spoke about it that this was something she was passionate about and he knew this was something she was obviously working towards.

“Wow, that’s impressive, I can totally see you doing that,” he said smiling at her.

“What about you? What do you want to do when you leave school?” she asked curiously.

“Well, I am not entirely sure, like you are, but I have been giving thought to the Army. I’ve always liked the idea of serving and protecting my country. If not that maybe something to do with law enforcement,” he replied. Brennan smiled and he could tell she liked his ideas.

“I think that would be a perfect choice for you,” she said. The rest of the walk was now in a comfortable silence, every now and then one of the bringing up a random topic, inspired by things they saw along the way. By the time they reached the cinemas they noticed that somewhere along the way, their hands had joined. When they both noticed this they felt slightly embarrassed, but were both so comfortable they didn’t do anything or say anything about it.

After a lot of persuading and arguing, Booth paid for both of the tickets and food and drinks. When they entered the theatre they noticed that it was full of familiar faces, people from their school. After the events that had occurred earlier that day they managed to get a seat in the back, secluded from everyone else. Brennan was grateful that it would be dark during the movie so she wouldn’t have to worry about covering up her eye.

****************

When the movie had ended, it was early in the evening. Brennan knew she should get home soon, before Brett noticed she was not there. Booth also needed to return home, because it wouldn’t be long until his father returned home, drunk and ready to strike. The two of them slowly made their way outside and began walking back towards where they lived. They were once again holding hands and savouring the moment before they had to separate and both face the nightmare of their homes.

“I had a really nice time tonight. One of the best in ages,” Brennan said when they were standing outside her house.

“Me too, I’m glad you feel the same way,” Booth said grinning at her. For a few moments they stood there not wanting the night to end. Brennan noticed that Booth was string at her oddly, like he wanted to say something, but was unsure how to. It didn’t take long until Booth had moved closer to her and bent his head down. Just as she realised what was happening, his lips touched hers. Unlike the previous time he had kissed her lips, this time she could enjoy the softness of his lips and she could savour the moment. She almost immediately began to kiss him back, trying to prolong it.

When they parted Booth was wearing a silly grin and she was wearing one almost identical. They both knew that if they didn’t know before, they knew now that this wasn’t something that would be short-lived. They stood there for a few more minutes just smiling at each other before Brennan spoke.

“Well, I have to go, before he comes out looking.”

Yeah, I should probably get back too….Are you going to sneak out tonight?” he asked wanting to continue their ritual of meeting in the park in the middle of the night after their latest round of abuse.

“I will, if you will,” she said smiling.

“Well, I will see you later then,” he said leaning down again and kissing her once more before reluctantly letting go of her hand to let her walk inside. When she reached the front door she turned her head slightly and saw him watching her, as if to see she got in safely. She gave him a small wave goodbye and one of the biggest smiles he had ever gotten from her. After she closed the door behind her Booth began to walk into the darkness, anticipating what was waiting for him when he walked through his door.

It's really kind of sad that what's bringing them together is their abysmal home life, but it is nice that they found each other so they can have some way to make it through all of this. Booth's smile getting to her, his looking out for her, their quiet times are all very sweet.

As far as a bit of a shock, to me anyways, was Brennan already having her mind made up what she wants to be. For some reason I'd reckoned that that was something that had come to her later on. Don't know why really, other than maybe it's such an unusual thing to pick in the first place. Booth on the other hand, I can see him banking on going in the army, if only to get him outta there.

Thanks for the updates!

Here's the next chapter, I have tried to keep some things similar to as they happened on the show. But in upcoming chapters they will be slightly changed, so try to just go with the flow and not think too much about what actually happened on the show. Please let me know what you think

Booth was walking home feeling the happiest he had all week. He had just had the best time with his… what could he call her… friend…girlfriend…Bones, that’s who she was, Bones. Although he hadn’t yet called her that he now associated that name with her. She was unlike anyone he had ever been around, despite all her hardships, he could still find small bursts of happiness and silliness. He couldn’t wait til that night when he could see her again, she was like a drug that he had to have all the time.

When he returned home, he immediately knew something was wrong. Usually his mom’s car would be parked outside his house, his dad’s was never there it was usually still at the last place he got drunk. But today there was no car and it looked as if there hadn’t been one there for quite a number of hours. Booth quickly ran the rest of the way to his house and rushed to the front door. When he let himself inside the house at first it looked like no one was home. It was then he heard a noise which indicated movement. It was coming from his brother’s room.

Booth took the stairs two at a time and quickly went to find out what his brother was doing. Jared was only three years younger than Seeley, but sometimes his maturity could indicate a larger age difference. When he got to Jared’s room, he saw his younger brother throwing a basketball at the wall as hard as he could.

“Hey, stop that, if dad comes home and sees you doing that, he’ll go off,” Booth yelled trying to get the ball out of his brother’s hands. When Jared let him take it without a fight, he knew something was up. He then saw the look on Jared’s face and his suspicions were confirmed.

“Jared what’s going on?” Seeley asked concerned. It took a few minutes for Jared to respond but when he did Booth thought his heart had stopped.

“Mom left.” Two simple words, two words that changed his mood entirely. He wasn’t sure whether to be angry, sad or scared. Then he realised that they were left alone with their father, who knew what could happen then.

“What do you mean Mom left? Where did she go?” he asked his brother, to make sure this wasn’t some sick joke.

“I mean she’s gone. I came home from school and she was packing all her things. When I asked her what was going on she said she couldn’t handle it anymore. That she had to leave or she would go crazy. I asked her about what we would do and she didn’t answer, she just continued packing and a few minutes later she had left,” Jared retold what had happened trying not to let unmanly tears get the better of him.

Booth thought he was going to be sick. His mother had left them in the care of their drunk, abusive father. He knew what his father did to her, but now with her gone all of that would be taken out on the two of them. He had never been so terrified in his life. He was speechless; he had no idea how to respond to what his brother had told him. It wasn’t for about an hour until he thought of someone he could ask for help. He quickly grabbed the phone and dialled a familiar number.

“Hello,” the voice said on the other end.

“Pops, its Seeley,” Booth said.

“Shrimp how are you? I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” the infectiously happy voice said.

“Pops, I really need you to come over. Please,” Booth said to his grandfather pleading. Hank heard the desperation in his grandson’s voice and he knew something was up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Hank replied hanging up before Booth could respond.

***********
An hour later Booth and Jared were in their grandfather’s car with all of their belongings stacked in the trunk and around them. When Hank had arrived they had informed him of what had happened, which made Hank act instantly. He told the boys to pack up everything they would need for the next few days, and told them they could get the rest later. He then piled the two boys into his car and began driving off. When they were a few blocks away Hank told the boys that they were going to live with him.

Booth was apprehensive at first; he wasn’t sure what his father’s reaction would be when he returned to an empty house. He knew his father’s temper wasn’t great at the best of times, so seeing something like that would only provoke it. After driving for a few minutes he began to relax and realised that with his grandfather he would be safe and wouldn’t have to constantly be on edge. They quickly stopped off at the grocery store to pick up some food and then they were at Hank’s house. Booth was glad his Pops house was only five minutes away from his which meant, he could still leave during the night and meet Brennan.

He quickly found the room he had dubbed as his over the years and began to unpack some of his things. His grandmother had died a few years earlier, so he knew that with them living there they could offer his grandfather some much needed company. It wasn’t long until he was called down for dinner and when down to eat with Jared and Hank. He couldn’t wait until his brother and his Pops went to bed, because then he could leave and see her. He knew that she would understand what he was going through; just knowing that was comfort in itself.

not usually one for stories that have Booth and Brennan meet before the show has them- but I am finding this one really intriguing. Their sistuations are so sad, but it is what makes them such strong people.

Booth snuck out of his grandfather's house earlier than he normally would that night. He knew his Pops and his brother would be sound asleep and after the emotional turmoil he had been through in the last few hours, all he wanted to do was see her. He knew she would be able to comfort him with a simple smile and make him feel 100% better, without even realising it. He still wasn't sure what she was to him yet, but just the anticipation of seeing her made him feel better than he had since going home that day.

He knew for his day to go so well with her, there would have to have been something dark lurking, waiting until he was completely happy. It didn't take him long to walk from his Pops house to the park, so he was there in a matter of minutes. He noticed she was already there, patiently waiting for him to arrive. She looked calm and peaceful, the happiest he had seen her in a while, and he guessed their day had had the same affect on her as it had on him.

When he came closer to her he slowed his pace, wanting to surprise her because her back was facing away from him. He quietly came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. She managed to turn around to face him and he saw a huge smile on her face as she did. She looked so beautiful at that moment that he couldn't resist kissing her lips quickly, hoping to preserve her happiness, which fortunately for him it did.

"Hey, you're early," she said finally after a few minutes.

"Yeah, well a lot happened today after we went home," he said wanting to inform her of his hardship.

"What happened?" she asked in a low tone, already sensing something wasn't right.

"Well, when I got home, Jared was there and he was making a lot of noise. I went up and found him in his room throwing a ball at the wall. When I asked him what was wrong he told me that Mom had left," he told her. He saw her expression change, sadness, sadness for him.

"Oh, Booth," was all she managed to say as she moved closer to him to try and comfort him.

"Yeah, well apparently she couldn't deal with everything anymore, and felt the need to leave. She packed all her things and left and left us behind too," he said his voice becoming shaky. Brennan did something totally unlike her and she hugged him. She couldn't remember ever hugging someone like this other than her family, but it felt like the right thing to do. She knew she had done the right thing when Booth hugged her back and seemed to relax.

"What are you going to do now, you can't stay with your dad," she said worried about his wellbeing if the two boys were left in the care of their father.

"Don't worry, I called my Pops and we are going to live with him now," he told her and she just nodded in response.

"You're lucky, you know, having someone, to care for you like that, really lucky," she said.

"Well, you may not have many, but you do have me, don't you worry about that," he said smiling and hugging her again. He knew he had made the right decision, telling her everything, he knew he wouldn't have to carry this alone; he would have her to support him.

"You should meet my Pops, he would love you," Booth said after minutes of silence.

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

"Yep, definitely," he replied.

"Booth, what are we I mean… like what are we to each other?" Brennan asked hesitantly, almost as if her question was dangerous.

"We are what ever you want us to be. Like in my opinion I would love to call you my girlfriend, but as I said it's up to you," Booth said, hoping to put her mind at ease.

"I would like you to be my boyfriend and I would love to be your girlfriend," she said softly.

"Good, that's settled then," Booth answered her smiling and pulling her against his chest and kissing her forehead. They remained there for an hour or two, sometimes discussing random topics that came to mind, other times in silence, enjoying each other's presence, then they both reluctantly returned home, both feeling how they felt when they parted earlier that day.

Finally, boyfriend and girlfriend. Life is good!

Here’s a new chapter, it basically wrote itself. It’s my birthday in 3 days, so review and give me an early birthday present Hope you enjoy this and I hope to update again soon.

For the next few months life was mostly easy for the two. Booth was now in a stable, safe home. He couldn’t be happier. Brennan on the other hand was having a lot of trouble, which she was keeping from Booth. Her foster father had become more and more in the recent weeks. He would hit her more and more, a majority of his punches were aimed at her face, but when he got tired of that she often received blows to her abdomen and had suffered many broken ribs, which sometimes mad her days unbearable. To add insult to injury she was also receiving many insults at school, many of them concerning her relationship with Booth, many of them were results of jealousy. But, they always enjoy rubbing it in her face about her foster situation.

Booth knew that something was wrong with her, but any time he tried to bring it up she quickly changed the subject. He even began to become more suspicious when she wouldn’t show up at school for days at a time, and whenever she did return to school, he could see faint bruises on her face. He was extremely worried about her, but he knew if he tried to intervene, she may take it the wrong way. He hadn’t yet told his concerns to anyone else, but was very close to telling his grandfather, hoping that would help. She had already told him her foster father abused her, but he could tell it was becoming worse. There was one night when they had met up in the park when Booth noticed her extreme aversion to him touching her. When he had moved to hug her she had quickly jumped away as if he was a disease.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing, I’m fine,” she tried to cover it all up with a forced smile.

“I know there is something wrong. You have been missing school, and you think I haven’t noticed the fading bruises? And now you won’t even let me hug you,” he said getting slightly irritated that she was keeping things from him.

“It’s no big deal, really,” she said. Booth saw her wince when she took a breath to strongly. He was at her side in a second and surprisingly she didn’t protest when he lifted her shirt slightly and exposed fresh bruises around her ribs.

“God, Temperance. These look like there are bruises on top of bruises,” he said feeling slightly sick at the look of them.

“Just leave it alone, it doesn’t matter,” she said shoving her shirt back down.

“Why haven’t you told anyone about this? Or seen a doctor? Or something?” he said as loudly as he could given the time of night.

“I told you before, no one will believe me. And if I go to a hospital they will take me away, and I can’t leave you,” she said beginning to cry. Her tears fell at a rapid rate after the first. Booth gently put his arms around her and hugged her and this time she let him. She felt safe when she was in his arms, like nothing in the world was wrong and she was able to escape the horrors of reality, just for a moment.

“Hey, you need to tell someone, please, I can’t stand seeing you hurt,” he said pleading with her.

“If I see a doctor, will that be enough?” she asked knowing he wanted her to actually talk to her social worker.

“No, but it’s a start and I guess it will have to do for now,” he said smiling at her. She managed to give him a smile which made him even happier. Wanting to savour the moment he leant down and kissed her softly. It still amazed him that even after being able to kiss her for a while now, he still felt incredibly happy whenever he did.

“Will you come with me to the doctor’s office, I don’t really want to be alone, you don’t have to come in or anything, but I don’t really like the waiting rooms…” she was babbling on and he kissed her again, he had already found this to be an effective way of getting her to stop talking.

“As long as we go tomorrow straight after school,” he told her. She rolled her eyes and mumbled a ‘fine’ and then kissed him in thanks. They spent the rest of the night as they usually did, enjoying each other’s company.

Great story I can't wait to read more about it! I love AU fanfics because they are so unique and unpredictable. keep up the great work.

Here's the next chapter, enjoy

“Hey, are you ready to go?” Booth asked Brennan the next day after school.

“No, really don’t want to go,” she told him.

“If you won’t go to the hospital I am not letting you get out of going to the doctors. You could be seriously injured, Pops has let me use his car so we can drive there, and if you begin to protest I will take you to hospital, your choice,” he told her firmly.

“Fine, let’s go,” she said as she let him lead the way to his grandfather’s car. He was being chivalrous as his grandfather had told him and went to open the door for her, and because her ribs hurt so much she didn’t even try to protest. She quickly got into the car and got settled and tried to shut the door but was stopped when Booth leaned down and kissed her, trying to reassure her to tell her that everything would be ok. After he closed the door and went and got into the car himself they were off.

When they were on the road for a few minutes Brennan began to become anxious. She was worried that the doctor would ask how she got an injury this bad, because a doctor would surely notice that the bruises were ones on top of the other. Booth noticed her begin to fidget and asked her what was wrong.

“What if they ask what happened? What am I supposed to tell them? They will find out, and then if they believe me they will tell social services and I will be moved,” she said with nervousness in her voice. Booth pulled over the car and turned around in his seat to face her.

“Calm down, if you are so worried tell them you fell out of a tree or something like that, and anyway what would be so bad about somebody knowing what is happening to you. If you were moved you would be safe and they wouldn’t be able to hurt you anymore,” he said with pain for her evident in his voice.

“I have told you if they move me it could be to anywhere and I could be miles away from you and I don’t want that to happen. And in another home worse things could happen to me,” she said quietly.

“I just want you to be safe, why didn’t you tell me it had gotten this bad earlier?” he asked. She turned her face away from him and mumbled something. “What was that?” he asked not hearing what she said.

“I said, you just got away from all this stuff and I didn’t need you to have to worry about it all again,” she told him, referring to him finally being away from his father’s abuse. He gently placed his finger under her chin and pulled her to face him; he saw tears pricking at the side of her eyes.

“Hey, even though I am away from it myself, it still hurts just as much knowing you are still dealing with it. I just want you safe and happy, ok. I love you and I hate seeing you hurt like this,” he said, realising he had never told a girl he loved her.

“Really, you love me,” she asked as if he was going to take it back when he realised what he said.

“Yes, I really do, and just so you know you are the first and hopefully the last person I say that to,” he said trying to remove the look of fear from her face. Slowly the look disappeared from her face and was replaced with a radiant smile.

“I love you too, Booth,” she said hesitantly. He grinned at her and kissed her hard and then told her they should continue on to the doctors. Brennan sat back a little less worried, because she felt more loved and happy than she ever had.

************
After her visit to the doctors Booth tried to persuade her to come to his house for dinner. She was reluctant at first because she knew that Brett could often get more violent when she was late home but after calling home and speaking to her foster mom, he managed to convince her. All the way home Booth excitedly told her about his grandfather and how much he had wanted to meet her. She was glad that he finally had a good thing to say about the place he called home.

They pulled up in front of a suburban two storey house in a quiet neighbourhood and Brennan was reminded of what life was like months before when her parents and brother were still around. While she was remembering Booth had gone around and begun to open the door for her.

“You know I am capable of opening a door by myself,” she said.

“Yeah, I know I am I am being a gentleman,” he said giving her a charm smile which in turn made her smile. He quickly closed the door and locked the car and grabbed her hand, steering her towards the front door of the house. He pulled out his key and let them inside. When they got inside she saw that the house was most definitely by definition a home. There were pictures everywhere she looked and she knew this was a place anyone could feel welcome.

“Shrimp is that you?” Brennan heard a voice calling from upstairs.

“Yeah, Pops it’s me, I brought a friend over, you know the one you wanted to meet,” Booth called back to the voice.

“Shrimp?” Brennan asked with a amused look on her face.

“Yeah, it’s a nickname my Pops has for me. Why have you never had a nickname?” he asked her. She shook her head.

“Nope, never.”

“Well, I thought of one for you a while ago, but I never told you,” he said smiling.

“Yeah, what’s that?” she asked.

“Bones.”

“Why, Bones?”

“Because you want to be a forensic anthropologist and they work with bones, you know it’s sort of self explanatory,” he replied.

“It’s very juvenile,” she said.

“Well technically you are still a juvenile, so I think it fits perfectly,” he said laughing at the annoyed look on her face.

“I think it’s stupid,” she said crossing her arms in front of her chest.

“Whatever you say Bones,” he replied as he heard his grandfather coming down the stairs.

“Ah, you must be Temperance, I have heard a lot about you from Seeley,” Hank said when he got to where the two were standing.

“It’s very nice to meet you Mr. Booth,” Brennan replied very politely.

“Please, call me Hank, anyway come and sit down you don’t need to be standing here in the doorway all night,” Hank said and lead the way into the living room.

“Let’s go Bones,” Booth said grabbing her hand and guiding her.

“Don’t call me Bones,” she said before giving him a smile.

they are so cute!!

“So shrimp tells me you’re new to the area,” Hank said after finding a seat on an armchair. He watched as the two teenagers sat down on the couch opposite him and awkwardly kept a distance.

“Umm, yeah, I guess,” Brennan answered hesitantly unsure of what Booth had told Hank of her situation.

“Don’t look so worried, Seeley has told me what you have been going through, and I am very sorry for that,” Hank replied genuinely. She was unsure how to answer that so she just smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. Booth noticed that Brennan was slightly uncomfortable so he tried to make things easier.

“Hey Pops is Jared home?” he asked hoping the focus would be drawn away from her.

“Yes, he should be upstairs. I need to go check on dinner so you two can stay in here if you want,” Hank said leaving the room for the kitchen. When he had left Booth spoke.

“So that’s my Pops,” Booth said turning to face her.

“He seems nice, you are very lucky to have him,” she said smiling at him.

“Do you have any grandparents?” he asked her realising he had never really found out.

“Nope, if I did maybe I wouldn’t be in the system,” she replied looking down at her lap.

“Well, then that worked out, then otherwise we would never have met,” he said pulling out his charm smile to lighten the mood. She saw his attempt and smiled back at him.

“Yeah, and that would have been a shame, wouldn’t it,” she replied sarcastically her spirits seemingly lifted. The moment was broken when they heard Booth’s grandfather call out that dinner was ready, so the two pulled themselves from the couch and made their way to the table. When they entered the room Booth grabbed her hand and pulled her to the two seats on one side of the table to ensure they were sitting next to each other. Jared sat opposite them while Hank sat at the head of the table.

“So Temperance do you know Jared? Are you in any of the same classes?” Hank asked when they began eating.

“Umm, yes just English,” she replied.

“Yeah, that’s because she’s in all the advanced classes and Jared’s not,” Booth said smirking at his brother.

“Shut up, Seeley,” Jared said kicking his brother under the table. Hank gave the two a warning look and Brennan smirked at the look on Booth’s face when he was essentially told off.

“Anyway, I have been meaning to ask, how did you exactly meet Temperance, Seeley? Considering you are three years older?” Hank asked curiously.

“Well, some boys were giving her a hard time, so I came and tried to help her out,” he answered.

“I didn’t need your help,” Brennan murmured.

“Yeah, cause you were doing so well by yourself,” he said grinning at her.

“Whatever, I still could have taken care of myself,” she said smiling at him unable to resist the look on his face. Hank watched their exchange and realised he had never seen his grandson so happy. The night continued smoothly, with Booth driving Brennan home at about 8 o’clock. She told him she couldn’t meet him that night because she had studying to do and sleep to catch up on, which disappointed him. He kissed her goodnight and tried to keep her there for as long as possible to make up for not seeing her later. She eventually left the car with a smile on her face, hoping that she wouldn’t be confronted by her stepfather when she got inside.

*********
The next morning Booth waited outside the school like usual for her to show up. He noticed that she was later than normal, but guessed that she may have just slept in. When she finally showed up he noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, showing that she had been crying and that there were dark rings under her eyes, indicating lack of sleep.

“Hey, Bones. What’s wrong?” he asked her, she didn’t even comment on the nickname but pulled him away to a more private area so they wouldn’t be overheard.

“Umm, social services showed up last night,” she started sniffing, “They said they received a call, from one of the neighbours, who were suspicious of abuse. They checked around with hospitals and doctors in the area and pulled the file from the clinic we went to the other day. In the file, the doctor wrote that they suspected some form of domestic abuse. Anyway, they came around last night and told me that they have decided to take the suspicions seriously and are moving me to a new home,” she said crying.

“Why are you crying that’s good right, that means you are away from them,” he said pulling her into a hug to comfort her.

“Yeah, but that means I have to move away from you and change schools again, and I really don’t want to do that,” she said tears still running down her face.

“Where are you moving to?” he asked her.

“Somewhere about twenty minutes from here,” she replied rubbing her eyes.

“Well, that’s good I can still come and visit you, it’s not too far away. Don’t worry, we will still see each other, and if you are safe, that’s even better,” he told her kissing her forehead.

“Maybe,” she replied simply.

“We will work it out. When do you have to leave?” he asked.

“Tomorrow, they have arrested Brett and took a look at me and maybe he will be charged but who knows. I have to pack my stuff tonight and then they will come in the morning to get me,” she said feeling slightly better.

“I will come around in the morning and find out where you will be, then I will visit you after school, ok,” he said.

“Ok,” she said managing to smile.

“Good, now let’s get inside before we get in trouble for being late,” he hugged her and kissed her forehead again and then they made there way inside to get thorough what would be a difficult day.

Finally Bren can get out of that house and she can still see Booth, the best of both worlds.

It was the day she had been dreading. She was being moved away, she had finally outlived her first foster home, she guessed it was like an honour, no one stayed in only one place and it was inevitable that you would have to start fresh eventually. Brennan was reminded by one of the boys she had met before being moved to the Smith house, everyone makes a list, a list of foster homes that didn't work out. Brenna quickly tried to find something to write on before she forgot and when she came up with nothing, she settled on the bottom on a shoe, it didn't matter where it was, as long as there was one.

Booth had told her the night before that he was going to show up early in the morning at follow them to her new home. She was glad that at least someone she cared about would know where to look for her, not that many people cared where she was. She heard a car pull up outside the house and she saw that it was her social workers, she quickly stuffed the rest of her few belongings into the garbage bags she had generously been given and hurried down stairs.

When she arrived downstairs she saw the social worker waiting near the door politely talking to Samantha, who was obviously trying to stay in their good books and be allowed to continue to foster children despite her husband's actions. Brennan quickly walked over to the man standing near the door, wanting to leave the house as soon as she could. It wasn't long before they were outside, walking towards the workers car. Brennan looked around and noticed Booth's grandfathers car parked a little up the street, she smiled and got into the car and waited to be taken to her new home.

**********

After getting through the peak hour traffic it took about 40 minutes to arrive at her new home. She noticed immediately that the area they had entered was extremely rich and up-market. Many of the houses, if you could call them that, were absolutely huge and could be worth millions of dollars. Brennan was completely puzzled by who, someone who had this kind of cash, would want to take in a broken, worthless foster child.

They weaved in and out of streets and Brennan looked through the side mirror and was relieved to see Booth behind him, she would have loved right then to see the look on his face when passing these houses. Not long later they pulled up in front of one of the smaller 'mansions', it had a considerably long driveway and looked to be two stories with a swimming pool and tennis court close together. It was double story with two balconies on what she presumed were bedrooms on the second floor.

"Well Temperance, this is your new home," her social worker announced as they were let in the driveway. She had never taken the time to learn this man's name, he didn't mean anything to her, he was simply the one who carted her from place to place, whether she liked it or not.

"It's ok, I guess," she mumbled not wanting to give much else on the subject. As she got out of the car she turned and saw Booth was still at the end of the driveway and she motioned to him that she would be fine and that he should be going to school now. He looked reluctant to leave, but eventually did after motioning for her to call her later after he had gotten out of school to tell him how everything went. She noticed that her social worker had started to walk towards what looked like the front door and was starting to look around to find her.

Brennan quickly made her way up to the door in time for it to be answered by a blonde woman who looked to be in her late thirties. Her social worker began conversing with the woman and seemed to be introducing them, but Brennan was totally in another world.

"Temperance," she jumped when he almost barked at her. She turned abruptly and faced him and the woman at the door, who she presumed was her new foster mother. "This is Tess Sanders, Tess this is Temperance Brennan. Tess and her husband, Aaron, are you're new foster parents," he said directing the last part towards Brennan.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Temperance, please won't you come inside," Tess said enthusiastically pulling Brennan's hand and ushering her inside the house. Brennan had never seen a house that looked so fancy and expensive. All the houses she had ever lived in had been ones which had the necessities and weren't overly decorated or furnished. She was shown upstairs to her room, which was rather large and spacious, it housed a large bed and surprisingly a television, which was the last thing Brennan had expected to be in there.

Brennan was told that she was the first foster child they had taken in and they had done so after being unsuccessful in having a baby and wanting to share their love and life with someone. Brennan spent the rest of the day in her room after her social worker left and had been told by Tess to get settled in. She was anxiously waiting for the time to pass for when she could call Booth and hopefully meet up with him and talk with him. After having nothing else to do she ventured downstairs and found her foster mother and asked about school and things like that, finding anything to pass the time.

I hope this home isn't to good to be true, Booth is so sweet!