Bones Fanfic: Stuck In A Moment (14/27)
Title: Stuck In A Moment
Author: biba79
Disclaimer: Characters aren’t mine, they belong to Hart Hanson.
Pairings/Characters: Booth/Brennan
Rating: T
Summary: An event tests Booth and Brennan's relationship. Booth kept telling himself that it would take time, and he needed to be patient. Will they be able to get through it? Future Fic! B/B!
Word Count: 2,129
Spoiler: None
Preview Chapters: One - Two - Three - Four - Five - Six - Seven - Eight - Nine - Ten - Eleven - Twelve - Thirteen
A/N:
Song “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter
Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on
Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
Chapter 14
It had been six months since Booth and Brennan had been separated, and only a month since he started seeking help from Emma.
Booth felt drawn to Emma. He felt he could speak without being judged, and God knew that he needed someone to talk to. He was incredibly lonely and lost. Everyone tried to help, but they couldn’t know how he felt, and they couldn’t begin to understand. Emma knew, and he needed to able to express himself to someone who was impartial, who would say whatever they believed to be true... someone who didn’t know and expect a certain behavior from him or Brennan. Because neither he nor Brennan were the same anymore, and they would never be the same again.
He missed Brennan and her calm manner that had always brought him quiet consolation. Emma had that persona too, and he found himself calling her at first once a week, then twice, and sometimes he stopped himself from bothering her a third or fourth time. He learned she had a multi-faceted personality, a great sense of humor, and an effervescent quality he found was a great lift to his desolate nights.
Tonight they planned to meet for a drink. He found himself twenty minutes late and stuck with a damn flat tire. He cursed fiercely and called her to cancel, though he wasn’t about to admit that one of the reasons he was most upset was that he wouldn’t get to see her tonight.
He picked up his cell phone to call her.
“Hey… it’s Seeley. I’m sorry, but I was running late and then I got this damn flat tire. I guess we should cancel… it’s going to take at least an hour for the tow truck, and then I’ve got to have the tire fixed.”
“Well, why don’t we just move the drink to you? I will bring the soda; just tell me where you are?” Emma heard the total aggravation in his tone. She didn’t want to miss seeing him; she had grown to enjoy their twice-weekly meetings. He wasn’t talking all that much yet about the things that mattered, but she sensed he needed the company.
“Are you sure?” Booth sounded a little relieved.
“Of course I’m sure. Please, just tell me your location.”
He gave her the information she needed. “I will call the tow truck and if you don’t mind waiting…”
“I don’t mind at all, Nick is being looked after by a neighbor, and she’s very dependable. I will give her a call, and I will be there in less than half hour.”
“Emma…” Booth was going to thank her, but she had already hung up.
He sat waiting and glancing at his watch. His mood had not improved; there was a huge traffic accident on the other end of the freeway, meaning his car wouldn’t be towed for over two hours. He never should have agreed to Emma coming to stay with him. Now her whole evening would be screwed up too. He felt like kicking something.
He heard a light tapping on his window, and he looked up, wishing he had never agreed to this damn idea. What was he doing? Why were a few hours with her the highlight of his week? He was married, and seeing her like this, in those jeans and a horrendous Pittsburgh Penguins jersey was just wrong. This wasn’t helping his resolve to stay distant. He should never had told her to come. He probably needed to stop seeing her altogether.
He opened the door, and a part of him wanted to shoo her away. He knew he better do it soon, before he forgot that he needed to at all.
“What the hell are you wearing that shirt for?” he barked angrily.
She jumped back, startled by his obnoxious attitude. “Not your team?” She guessed sagely.
“You got that right.” He puffed trying hard to stay angry. Why didn’t she yell at him? He was being a total ass, and he knew it.
“Well, you will have to give me a list of proper T-shirt etiquette,” she teased. “I mean really, what would happen if I wore one you actually liked?” Her brown eyes cajoled him to stop the stupidity already.
“I’m having a shitty day.” He exclaimed too pissed to appreciate her sarcastic teasing, or thank her for the out-of-the-way sacrifice.
He was ready to ditch his car and have the tow truck come the next day. One of the cases he was overseeing didn’t go as he planned, and he had lost his cool with one of the agents earlier today, and now he felt like his shirt was wearing him, and on top of all of that, his back was killing him.
He wished she had just stayed home and let him cancel. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to her. His life was a holy mess. He didn’t need more complications, and he also knew that she didn’t either.
“So, you want to punch me out?” Emma asked, feisty as ever. She stood there, the traffic whizzed by her. Her pretty brown eyes slightly amused by his belligerent attitude. She dodged to and from as if she was waiting for a good left hook. “Come on Seeley Booth; give me your best shot.” Her eyebrows rose challenging him. “I know you want to.”
He stood there staring at her, trying hard to keep his resolve to be a brute to her; he wished he could send her away for her own good. But she was right in front of him dancing around like such a silly nut, dodging his imaginary punches, and he couldn’t do it. He rolled his eyes to heaven, and the smile she had been trying so hard to get magically appeared in his eyes and on his lips.
She stopped as she saw he was mellowing a little. “Ah ha! Just as I thought - you are a big chicken at heart.” She grinned triumphantly.
“I’m sorry…. I had a really bad day… I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I’m really sorry.”
“Well, not sorrier than I am for wearing this unacceptable shirt,” she quipped. “What are you, a Flyers fan?”
He blushed. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“Your bad day is going to turn into a bad season,” she teased him.
He ran a few fingers through his hair. He really enjoyed her personality. She was an upbeat person, in spite of all her sorrow. She didn’t let it bring her down.
“You know, you shouldn’t have come. The tow truck is not going to get here for another hour and a half,” Booth warned her. “With the mood I’m in, you are not going to have a good time,” he warned her again, this time a little more playfully then he intended. He couldn’t stay angry; he couldn’t stay unhappy when he was around her. And he didn’t want to anymore.
“I will take my chances… are you thirsty?” She grinned, knowing he was softening spit of himself.
“You didn’t bring juice in boxes, did you?” His eyebrows rose cautiously.
“I think you needed a schematic to open them.” Now it was her turn to give him a comical look.
“Yeah… yeah… who the hell decided to invent that straw contraption? I bet it was the dry cleaners association,” Booth quipped.
She shook her head, amused. She ran back to her car, producing two harmless, screw-top soda bottles. He grinned approvingly.
“Well, your car or mine?” Booth asked. “We’ve got a long wait.”
“Yours I guess, but why are we waiting?”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, what on earth do you need a tow truck for, Seeley? It’s a flat tire; don’t tell me you can’t change a tire?” She chuckled at the idea of this capable man unable to handle a simple tire change, or a harmless juice box. She found it kind of endearing.
“I can too.” He felt like sticking his tongue out at her. “I just don’t happen to have a tire to change…”
“You don’t keep a spare?” Her admonishing look made him feel like he was being sentenced to the corner of her classroom, complete with a dunce hat.
“Of course I do, but Bones was the one that had my car last time, and she… we never replaced it… after all the… I just forgot.” His voice faded from righteous, humorous, indignation to sad, self-recrimination.
Now Emma wished she had never brought it up. She would rather wait twenty hours for a tow truck than see that look in his eyes. She decided it was not going to stay there. He had a hard day, and she was not going to let his night go the same way.
“Well, Seeley, today’s your lucky day, because not only do you have a master blue ribbon and trophy winning tire changer friend on your hands, but you also have a tire.”
He looked at her, perplexed.
She put her hands out in walah style. “Notice, we have the same size tires, so I’m going to be a really good sport considering the greeting I got tonight and the fact you are tire challenged, and I’m going to let you have my tire.”
“I’m not tire challenged, I can change it,” Booth groaned. It was not a sincere groan, because as fast as his spirits had dropped a minute ago, her sweet, silliness had raised them back again. That was why he was afraid to allow himself to spend too much time with her, because she had that effect on him all the time. When he was with her, he forgot he was supposed to be sad and broken. The rest of the time, when he was not with her or his sons, he was too sad and too broken to care.
“I wish we had two flat tires, and two spares, then we could race… because this is something you are going to have to prove, since I have my doubts.” She looked at him shaking her finger. “I bet you don’t ever get your hands dirty. I mean, what would your FBI buddies say?” She didn’t seem to think that what he did for a living was enough to dirty his hands; she never condemned him or gave off any condescending feelings. It was one of the many qualities he admired in her.
“I can’t let you change my tire… I’ve rebuild cars before; I will prove to you now that I can do it.” He walked to the trunk and opened it, looking for a jack. The only problem was that his bad mood was keeping him from doing a good job to begin with.
She watched, shaking her head, and grinning from ear to ear. His blush widened and reddened to epic proportions.
“Seeley, it’s okay. This one’s on me. Time it,” she advised him as she went to the back of her vehicle to take out the unexpected present, complete with a jack.
“I will replace yours,” Booth promised as he watched the rarely seen double twirling, jack wielding expert.
He was awed by her in so many ways, and he was afraid to let her friendship go, because right now, he needed the positive reaffirmation of life she gave him. At least he knew now that someone had made it back from the walking dead.
They ended up making it to the restaurant, and they had that drink, and he cherished every moment spent in lighthearted with her. He needed her, and he couldn’t deny himself such a small luxury. His soul needed rejuvenation, and his heart needed to feel hope. She gave him hope, because she had been where he was, and she wasn’t stuck there anymore.
AN: Thanks for reading.