Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you so much for all your kind reviews, I appreciate them

Ok, I promised myself I -wouldn't- say anything but from your reviews people you're so not anywhere near finding out what's going to happen, which is wonderful because then it'll make then ending even more surprising :D (well I hope it'll be surprising anyway)

I know this is kinda slow right now, but it's necessary, I need to get this over with first, I can't just throw Brennan in a marriage ;) So bear with me for a little while, after this chapter, things are gonna start getting a bit more exciting (I think/hope) Don't let the slowness discourage you from reviewing, though. Remember what I said in the first chapter.

Also, in the last chapter I wrote that Booth lived in a house. Well, I watched the episode Brennan goes to his place several times and from the light and plants I could see outside the door when Booth opened it, it seemed to me it was a house, specially with Parker and all. So, if I'm mistaken and he actually lives in an apartment, ooops, sorry D:

invis: there will be kissing (lots of it or else I'm a dead girl to a certain person) but only further into the fic.
Bella-mi-amore: thank you. it kind of struck me at last minute!
canadianagurl: we'll see. I wouldn't be my life on it though.

last but not least: sorry the delay. Jerilee and I were working on the BB fansite, so it occupied most of my time! friggin' gallery :D Just take a peek at my userinfo and get the website url.

B/N:D

-

Booth dropped the set of keys in the bowl on side table by the door and stepped aside to let Brennan in. It wasn't weird to be entering this house, she had been here before, but what gave her a strange feeling was the fact that it was now her house also. And that made her hesitant. She couldn't possibly imagine herself opening up so truly to someone like it seemed. What had Seeley Booth done to her to make that happen?

She stepped in carefully, her eyes sweeping over everywhere visible. She caught sight of an Aztec mask hanging on the wall by the door. Her Aztec mask. Old paintings on the walls she recognized as hers and others she didn't but she knew were hers because they were her kind of thing. And the further she entered, the more she spotted things that belonged to her. It was surreal. It was like the Twilight Zone, Angela would say, whatever the Twilight Zone was. She remembered Angela using that sentence whenever something felt out of place.

Seeing her stuff sitting amongst Booth's was... overly out of place.

She felt Booth shifting beside her and it caught her attention away from the subject of the moment. She turned around to look at him; he looked nervous. She couldn't remember the last time he looked nervous. "Booth?"

"It's just..." He chuckled as he stuck his hands inside the pockets of his jeans. "I don't know what to do. I don't know if I should show you around or just... you know, be normal."

She stood there, staring at him. If he didn't have a clue as to what to do, she was even more clueless, for Brennan she had never lived in the house, or... married him. She had no idea what to do herself, all she wanted was to go back her own apartment, crash on her bed, hopefully sleep for a couple of weeks and forget this was all happening. She realized a little too late how selfish that thought was; she wasn't taking in consideration Booth's feelings at all.

She shrugged and was about to reply something pointless when her eye caught the orange of her couch; the same double couch, with the same cushions placed to face the large TV. But what really caught her attention were the several frames on the large table resting against the back of the couch. One in particular made her freeze on her spot. Oh my God.

It hadn't yet registered in her brain this new situation; sure, she was aware of it all, but deep down she kept hoping Angela would pop up from somewhere and tell her it was all a joke, tell her she just wanted Brennan to relax and have fun and probably would quote some show on TV that was unknown to her that'd let her clueless as always and every thing would be back to normal.

The silver frame, considerably bigger than the others, sat in the middle of the table rounded by other smaller, less attractive frames. Although her face out of sight, nearly covered by his on what looked very much like a passionate kiss, the auburn hair was unmistakable, and the white dress was so beautiful. She was there, kissing Booth on their wedding day, a moment caught that would last for a long, long time in that frame.

Her head started spinning; she felt her heart beat pounding against the spot above her nose and in between her eyes, a new headache was starting to form, kicking against her skull.

It was real; it was her reality, not a joke from Angela. Oh God, maybe it was a dream; maybe if she slept she would then wake up in her own bed, her senses started screaming, her brain almost on short circuit.

Brennan grabbed the delicate frame and sat heavily on the orange couch, the softness of it sending a soothing feeling of familiarity. Her knuckles started turning white with the force she was holding the frame, as she stared incredulous at it. She felt the space next to her on the couch sink and a warmth start enveloping her, then a hand gently covering hers, massaging it, relaxing her enough to soften her hold on the frame and take it from her. She didn't feel the other sneak behind her and rub circles on her back.

Booth held the frame in front of them, and looked at Brennan. Her eyes were red and it seemed as if a realization had just hit her, which it probably did. "Hey." He whispered, his hand still on her back. "It's ok, shhh, I'm right here. You'll gonna get your memory back, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Her voice was so weak and small he almost didn't hear her.

"You will." The certainty in his voice gave her strength to look at him. "You will remember this day, you will remember when you agreed to marry me, you will remember Angela dragging you from store to store to buy everything you'd need for the wedding and complaining to me about it." His hand on her back felt the light shake a chuckle caused, giving him the needed courage to hold her chin her turn her eyes to him; the tears were almost coming out.

She was so relaxed in his touch, it felt so oddly right. "I don't understand..." her sentence was cut short when the tears finally made their way out and a sob couldn't be held back. She fell into his embrace when he reached his arms to envelop her and hold her to him. His arms were strong and warm and firm around her, she felt so secure in them and a sense that everything would be all right overwhelmed her.

She cried into his neck, holding him to her for dear life, while he managed to comfort her like no one else ever had, as she remembered them doing twice before, letting herself be comforted by her husband for the first time.

-

She raised her head at the glass of water held in front of her. Her eyes were red and puffy and it broke his heart. "No thanks." She shook her head slowly, carefully with the stinging pain and simply too tired to make any movement.

Booth sat next to her again, his hand resting above hers; thumb rubbing against her smaller and considerably paler hand. The glass now on the coffee table, making company to the wedding photograph that had been discarded several minutes before, when Brennan had finally gave into exhaustion and let herself cry for overwhelming weight set on her back since she had woken up on that hospital bed.

With the loss of any other option, she was starting to accept.

Her deep shaky breath made him think she was going to cry again, but she didn't, instead, she rubbed her eyes with her free hand and sank down into the couch, her back against cushions. It was uncomfortable. Reaching one hand behind her, she pulled the cushion from her back and threw it on a vacant space. One hand still clasped with Booth's.

"Do you want to eat something? Drink?"

She shook her head. "No. I just want..." She shut her eyes firmly, trying to keep the melancholy tugging at her heart away. "I'm just so tired. My head is about to explode, and I feel pain all over my body." She felt him squeeze her hand gently, and after a pause she continued, looking at him, "I could really use some sleep."

"Oh yeah, sure. Of course you're tired." He stood and used their clasped hands to help her up. Grabbing the glass of water and bag of meds with the other hand, he led her to their bedroom, still with their hands joined. As they climbed the stairs, she passed by several frames hanging on the wall, pictures of moments she didn't remember. She tried not to look too much right now, her brain in overdrive and her body not able to catch up. That was something she would deal with later.

He stopped in front of the door and let her step inside first. The room was large and well decorated with mahogany furniture that had a nice contrast with the light walls, sheets and curtains. A king sized bed was set in the middle of the room, covered in a pale yellow sheets and covers. The closet door was as large as the adjacent wall and she wondered just how many clothes they owned. The chest with 6 drawers on the wall in front of the bed was large enough to home a plasma TV, resting peacefully on top of it.

Following her gaze, Booth had to smile. "Nice, huh? You gave me that TV for our first anniversary." When she turned to look at him, the proud smile was well placed and somehow she had an idea it wasn't for her. The one in the TV room was much nicer so she didn't understand how this one could be more valuable.

It looked new. "When was our... huh..." She couldn't get herself to say the word out loud. Maybe it was because saying it would actually make it more real.

"A few months ago."

"Oh." She avoided his eyes. So they had been married for over a year. Impressive.

"Here." Booth changed the subject as it was obviously awkward to Brennan, and handed her the glass of water, proceeding to get two pain killers from the bag and hand them to her too.

"Thanks."

"Yeah." He shifted awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to do. "I'll just... leave you." He nodded in the direction of the bed.

"Yeah, ok."

They stood there facing each other, Brennan holding the glass in one hand and the painkillers in the other, Booth with his hands inside his pant pockets.

"So..." It had been a long time since it was this awkward with her.

"So..."

"I'll just... leave you to sleep."

"Ok." Brennan nodded and watched as he gave her a nod of his own and left the room. She looked around, feeling incredibly reluctant about moving around, still very unfamiliar with the place. It was HER bedroom, she should feel comfortable, she should feel she belonged there, but she didn't. As she moved around she simply felt it was someone else's bedroom.

She sighed deeply and decided that for now she wouldn't think about it. She swallowed down the painkillers with the water and put the glass on the bedside table, then moved to the closet. Opening the door she gaped at the enormous space inside. Sure, it held both her clothes and Booth's, but still. And that thought brought another one, their clothes. She peeked around inside the closet, looking through the clothes, and her nose caught a whiff of Booth's scent. She tried not to think about it, concentrating on her part of the closet, going through her stuff.

She found old pajamas she recognized and retrieved from the shelf, then stepped out of the closet and walked to the bed, dropping the PJ's on the bed so she could remove her own clothing. Changing into the pair of flannel plaid bottoms and a button up long sleeved top felt nice and she found herself comfortable enough to sleep as she lay on the bed, under the covers, careful with her bruised side.

Before her mind shut down from the world, it recognized the smell on the pillow as Booth's.

-

She opened her eyes to bright fluorescent lights, and squinted them as the light became blindenning and turned her head from it. Her mind was a blur as well as sight as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Everything was white, her brain registered and as she tried to recognize where she was the white clarity was suddenly replaced by a dark blur.

The mattress she lay on was soft but the sheets had a thick texture to it and felt slightly uncomfortable. She tried to focus her eyes on the blur above her and slowly the blur started forming a shape and a face. It resembled Booth so much. Her head was spinning so she brought one hand to her forehead and pressed it against her skull, which send a shot of pain through it.

"Bones?" The Booth look alike blur voiced and approached. She tried to focus on it but her head hurt so much. "Bones!" This time, along with the voice came a slight shake and it only made her whole body hurt. She felt his hands -they felt like hands, or something that was grabbing her-moving from her shoulder and up to her neck. The blur was so close she could feel its breath against her face. But her brain tried to ratiocinate, blurs don't breathe! Her mind started shutting down, however, as she felt the blur-Booth- squeeze her neck tight and stop any air from passing through.

-

Brennan jolted upwards in the bed, her arms swatting around as she grasped for all the air her lungs could possibly hold. The fragments of her dream still fading away as she tried to still her mind and body.

-

TBC.

The next chapter will probably take longer to be done due to the website. There is a lot to do! Plus college started again D: