Hi there. You might remember me from such stories as A Change of Events, Booth & Bobby: FBI (Friends, Bros, & Inspirations), The Love in the Heart (co-written with I Love Kol Miakelson), The Science Teacher in the Public School, and The Love Story in the Old Journals. I know, I know, I am insane for starting ANOTHER Bones story while I have so many on the go, but to be fair, I could not shake this idea from my mind once it struck me two hours ago. I had to get this down. I want to share it. I might not update it as regularly since I've got so many other stories on the go, but I wanted to at least get the first chapter out there. It is going to be AU mostly. I am going on the fact that Brennan originally said she was raised by her grandfather, and I thought, wouldn't it be interesting to write a story about Booth and Brennan growing up and going through all the ups and downs of adolescence, college, the army, and their romances together? I apologize if this has been done before. I hope it will be different. Anyhow, enough of my chattering. I present to you: The Hidden Love in the Two Friends. Enjoy!

Temperance Brennan stood and stared up the steps of the high school. This was her first day, and she was already not impressed. There were a bunch of boys hanging around the entrance and smoking and guffawing with each other while whistling at the odd girl that passed. She sighed heavily. This could get interesting.

Chin up. Eyes forward. Keep moving.

This was her mantra. It helped her survive through most days. At her old school, she at least had friends. Here, it was a whole new playground. She gripped her shoulder strap of her backpack tightly. Here went nothing.

"Hey, baby," a guy crowed at her before she was even halfway up the stairs. "You're lookin' fiiiine." Brennan ignored him. She found this was the best thing to do since she didn't really feel like detention today.

"Nice ass!" someone else hooted.

"Daaaaaaamn," another hollered. More catcalls and whistles, and Brennan blocked them all out. That is, until someone dared to grab her arm.

"You too good for us, huh?" the guy asked, sneering. Brennan's arm shot out faster than she intended, and her fist clipped his nose with such impact he staggered, almost falling down the stairs.

"Oooohhhh!" the other guys were laughing now. Her victim touched his nose and found blood.

"Bitch!" he yelled at her. She turned and went inside, her fist throbbing. What a great first day. She managed to find her locker quickly and unpack her bag into it, keeping the books she needed. She kept her eyes ahead and didn't meet anyone's stare. Being abandoned by your family definitely made you tougher. Well, not everyone abandoned her. Her grandfather found her in the foster system and brought her home. That was where she lived now. Pittsburgh was not what she had expected. A scuffling in the halls caught her attention, and without realizing what she was doing, she stopped and stared. Two boys were going at it in front of an open locker. Not hard, but enough to gain attention.

"Knock it off!" the one shouted, shoving the other away. The second just laughed. There was a girl standing there with her arms crossed.

"Will you both stop it?" she demanded. "We are going to be late for class!"

"Aw we're just having some fun!" the second joked. The other one glared at him, straightening his jacket. Brennan decided she had had enough of eavesdropping and carried on to her first class. History. Sometimes she felt history was useless. Was she going to spend the rest of her life living in the past? Probably not, but you never knew. She set out her books and prepared to be bored.

...

Brennan sat by herself at lunch. She hated being the new kid. People would act awkwardly and try to offer her a seat and then ignore her the whole time, so she made it easy for them. She sat on the floor in front of her locker and ate her sandwich while reading a book. She saw shoes approach and then stop right in front of her. She looked up.

"You know there's a lunchroom for that, right?" It was the guy who had been roughing up the other one earlier. He had very good bone structure in his face and dark black hair with a grin that could be irresistible if you were into that sort of thing. Brennan was not.

"I'm fine right here," she answered, going back to her book. The shoes didn't move. She kept reading in hopes that he'd go away. He didn't.

"What?" she snapped, looking up again.

"I'm just curious, why are you eating in the hallway?" he asked.

"Why do you care?"

"Cos I'm a curious person."

"Get lost."

"Oohh touchy one aren't we?" he laughed.

"I can be more touchy if you'd like, but you won't appreciate it," Brennan growled.

"Seeley, what are you doing?" the same girl from before asked, appearing around the corner.

"Nothin'," Seeley said innocently. "And don't call me Seeley!"

"Whatever," the girl sighed. "By the way, Jared is planning on jumping you while waiting for the bus."

"Thanks, Camille," Seeley called after her. Brennan assumed that Jared was the boy Seeley had been roughing up earlier. The girl held up her hand in response as she walked away.

"So," Seeley started.

"Not interested," Brennan cut him off, not looking at him.

"All right then," he said, starting to walk away. "Nice to meet you, Book Girl."

"Sure thing, Seeley," she replied. He was most definitely a jock. He had the build and the attitude to go with it. Definitely somebody she wanted to stay away from.

...

"How was your first day, Bella?" her grandfather asked when she came through the door. Brennan wrestled up a smile for him. He was 56 years old and didn't look a day over 40. She wondered what his secret was. He smiled back.

"It was all right," she replied. She covered her right hand absently so he wouldn't see the marks. He was better than that, though.

"Got into a fight already?" he asked, gesturing.

"No. Some guy was too aggressive," she replied.

"Hmm," he said. He watched her unpack her lunch bag and put the ice pack back in the freezer. Charlie Witman's heart ached as he saw the face and demeanor of his daughter in the girl before him. At 15, Temperance was already displaying womanly attributes, and she looked more and more like his Ruthie every day. Charlie had by chance heard about her being placed in the foster care system. His daughter had stopped contacting him before long once he realized what type of lifestyle she was into, so he had no idea that she had abandoned her two children. Russ was nowhere to be found, but Temperance had been with a family that appeared nice on the outside, but Charlie knew better. He was very good at reading people. His other daughter, Beth, was involved in the social worker field, and she had alerted him to Temperance's whereabouts. He went to claim her, and she had lived with him ever since. That was almost three months ago.

"I'm going to go study," she said once she was finished putting away her bag.

"Already? You just started. Surely you can spare some time and have a cuppa with me," Charlie said. She paused.

"All right," she agreed. She did enjoy his company. He had a lot of stories to tell. They chatted for a while until it was suppertime, and then they made something to eat together. It felt like the old days. The only person missing was his wife. Once they'd finished eating, Temperance went upstairs, and Charlie sat in front of the TV. It was another night.

A Few Days Later

"Tempe!" Charlie called. "Hank's here! Come on down and meet him!"

"Okay," she called back. Hank was her father's best friend. The two had served in the Korean War together. Hank was ten years younger than Charlie, but they got along like brothers. She trotted down the stairs. She liked Hank. He was amusing. Then she stopped in her tracks. Standing beside Hank was...

"Seeley," she blurted out. The boy turned, and flashed her his big grin.

"Ah, so you've already met," Hank smiled. "I wondered." Brennan saw the shared look between Hank and her grandfather. She'd be sure to have a word with him later.

"We go to the same school," Seeley told him. "She doesn't like me very much."

"She takes a while to warm up to people," Charlie explained.

"'She' is standing right here," Brennan said sharply.

"We're gonna be in here playing some cribbage," Charlie went on, ignoring her. "Take your friend out back and go explore or something."

"He's not my friend..."

"Just go on already," Charlie said, waving her off. Brennan huffed, turning to face Seeley, who was still grinning like an idiot.

"Come on then," she growled, shoving past. She didn't want to share her backyard with him. It was her sanctuary. Her grandfather lived on acreage, and there was a forest behind the house with a stream and lots of high rocks that she enjoyed climbing.

"This is nice," Seeley said, making conversation.

"Whatever," she responded. She walked over to the one rock and hopped up to sit on it. He joined her much to her chagrin.

"There are a ton of rocks to pick from," she pointed out.

"I like this one," he answered, patting it for good measure.

"Ugh," she muttered.

"Why do you hate me so much?" he asked. "You don't even know me."

"I know the type," she snapped.

"What type is that?"

"The sports guy. The jock. The guy who dates the hot girls and gets through school by the skin of his teeth because his coaches need him to play in the big games. I don't like people like you."

"Ouch. I'm so hurt," he said sarcastically. "And what are you? The bully? The tough girl with the big attitude who beats up other people when they piss her off?"

"You don't know me," she replied harshly.

"Just like you don't really know me," he shot back. They glared at each other.

"Why did you come here?" she asked.

"Because I was bored."

"Go be bored somewhere else," she ordered.

"Nah. I'm good." He stretched back onto the rock, exposing a bit of his well toned stomach as his shirt rode up. Brennan looked away.

"I'm not looking for a friend," she said after a while.

"Neither am I."

"Good."

"Great."

There was more silence. Brennan was feeling impatient that this guy was not getting her drift.

"Stare at me all you want, I'm not going anywhere," Seeley said, reading her mind.

"I just don't get it," she started. He sat up suddenly.

"I'm only here to make Pops happy, okay? He thinks I need more friends. I don't like it anymore than you do."

"Then just tell him..."

"Like you're gonna tell yours?" he challenged. She shut her mouth. "That's what I thought. Just put up with me for another hour, and I'll make sure I don't come back here."

"Thanks."

"My pleasure."

...

"How did it go?" Charlie asked once Hank and Seeley were gone.

"He's annoying and I hate him," she answered. "Please don't invite him over here again."

"All right," Charlie sighed as she went up to her room. He was really going to have to think of some other way to find her a friend she could talk to.

Brennan sat on her bed, thinking. She knew what her grandfather was up to. She wanted to laugh that he thought she needed friends. She was fine on her own. She wouldn't get hurt that way. She'd been hurt enough by the people she loved, and she wasn't about to let anyone else in so they could hurt her too.

Chin up. Eyes forward. Keep moving.

That was her plan. That was what she was going to do. She didn't need anyone else.

A rather steel hearted Brennan, but perhaps Booth will break through all that eventually. For the purpose of this story, I am only having a two year age difference between Brennan and Booth. What did you think? Should I continue?