Age 33- The Goop on the Girl (Christmas Day)-

Temperance smiled perhaps a bit brightly as she closed the door behind her father and Margaret. It had been a long and stressful evening, and she was just happy that everything had gone well at dinner. With all of the help that she had, and the pleasant sounds of her friends and family throughout her apartment throughout the evening, she had nearly forgotten that Booth still hadn't left. She watched him from across the room, noting that his eyes were starting to close despite his battle to keep them open. She walked to the kitchen and noticed that the wine bottle was nearly empty, and it held enough for the two of them to enjoy. She poured them each a glass and walked toward him.

"Hey," she said, sitting beside him, she touched his hand with the stem of the glass and his eyes opened, and his head tipped forward.

"What is this?" he asked, eyeing her playfully.

"The rest of the wine." Her voice was tired, and she watched his eyes follow her hand with the other glass of wine. "I didn't want it to go to waste."

"Ah..." he said with a smile. She settled next to him and gave him a soft smile. "Thank you."

Oddly, she could feel herself becoming slightly nervous suddenly. There was no rhyme or reason for her anxiety, but it almost felt like she couldn't think straight. "I just couldn't see it going to waste, you know? It was very good wine, and..."

"Bones," Booth said, with a hint of humor in his voice, she could feel her cheeks beginning to burn slightly. "I mean thank you for inviting me for Christmas dinner. It was nice."

"I couldn't see you being alone for Christmas. We spend so much time together, we're practically family, right?" She paused, and couldn't tell if he had really understood what she meant. "I mean… family that I can put up with." She said with a knowing smile, watching his eyes soften as he relaxed into the couch, he yawned, covering his mouth with his wrist. "Maybe wine isn't a good idea after all." She smiled, tipping her head onto the back of the couch as she pulled her feet up and curled herself into the couch. She could feel herself becoming needlessly self conscious.

"It's fine. It feels good to relax. Besides, we never had our closed case drinks that we always have." He said, holding out his glass to her, she smiled and leaned forward, toasting her glass with his. "To us." He said with a friendly smile. Their eyes didn't move from one another's as they sipped from their glasses. Temperance blushed a little more, the longer their eyes were connected, and after almost a minute, she let her eyes drift to the Christmas tree. She stared at it for several moments.

Her thoughts drifted to many things in the following moments. She thought of her father putting the tree up, decorating it himself. She thought of the lights that lined the shelves in her often boring and neat apartment. She thought of her friends, her family surrounding the table in a peaceful prayer, despite her attempt to squelch it. She thought of the family that was missing from that table, her mother, her brother. She thought of those that stayed, she thought of Booth, and before she could stop that lightning speed thought, he stopped her.

"Hey, Booth said softly, pulling her from her silent reverie. She smiled at him shyly.

She couldn't help herself, and the words poured from her lips before she could think otherwise. "Why were you hiding behind the Christmas tree last night?" she asked, noting the surprise in his expression.

She watched him recover quickly, and her embarrassment for blurting the question dissipated into the warm air. "I wasn't hiding."

"You were standing there." She stated in quiet defiance.

"And you broke into my apartment." He chuckled when he said it, so she knew that he wasn't upset, but still she couldn't hold his stare and she looked back to the tree. "So you knew I was there?"

She looked to him and smiled. "How could anyone miss those socks you were wearing? You couldn't even hide them in the dark from across the room." She laughed. "It was how I knew that it was you, and not an intruder or something."

He laughed, and she watched him blush a little as he chuckled. "Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, watching her shrug as she turned toward him, bringing her knees up to her chest, she watched him.

"I figured you had a good reason for it." Turning her head to face the Christmas tree, she let him recover from her reply.

"You figured I had a good reason for it?" He asked, leaning forward, he tried to catch her eyes, but she wouldn't relent and let him have them, she refused to look away from the tree. "Bones?" he said, waiting for her eyes to meet his, it took her a moment, but her head turned.

"Why were you behind the Christmas tree?" She asked again, her eyes honest and clear as she watched him avoid eye contact with her this time, his laugh was forced and nervous. She felt bad for pressing, but was simply curious. She knew that if he wanted to share it with her, he would. If he didn't, she'd understand.

"I don't know why."

"You don't know why?" she asked, tilting her head. She watched him for several moments, and he stared at the tree. She could tell that he wanted to say more, from the way his lips moved, but nothing came out. Suddenly, he placed his glass on the table and stood up. She was surprised when he walked to her and extended a hand to her. "What?" she asked. She watched him wiggle his fingers, and immediately she put her glass down, and took his hand. She let him pull her up, and could feel him tugging at her arm. He slipped behind her Christmas tree into the corner, and she gasped in surprise when he pulled her along with him. "Booth, what are we doing?" He pulled her in front of him and put his hands on her shoulders. When she looked up at him, he was looking directly into the tree. "Booth?"

"Look straight ahead." He said, nodding toward the tree.

"It's a tree…" she said, looking at the tree, and back up at him. She wasn't quite sure what he was getting at.

"You're a genius."

"I know." She whispered, staring at the tree for a moment. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice, but knew that he meant no harm. He was just trying to make his point, whatever it was.

"Shh, Bones." She stared out into her living room through the tree, and she could feel his hand absentmindedly rubbing her arms tenderly. She felt a shiver work its way up her spine and her shoulders shrugged as his breath brushed across her ear. Her thoughts immediately went to the angel that topped the tree in Booth's apartment, the beauty and grace of the object. Her thoughts then went to Booth. Her thoughts went to the night before, when she spied him hiding, or standing, or whatever he was doing behind that tree the night before. She tried to stop herself, but before she could, her thoughts began to pour from her lips.

"I loved Christmas when I was a little girl," she suddenly whispered. "Before my parents disappeared, of course." It only took her a moment to calm with his gentle touch on her arms, and she continued. Temperance swallowed hard as she watched the lights twinkling through the tree, her eyes focused on the ornaments as she looked through the tree. "I loved the smell of the tree, and the feel of the needles on my fingertips… I loved the ornaments on the trees, and my mom and dad would drive us around the different neighborhoods, to look at the lights that everyone decorated their houses with. Russ and I would pick our favorites… and when we'd ride around the next week or so, my dad would always make sure he drove by our favorites." She paused as she stared at the branches before her. She felt the burning of embarrassment at being so open, but at the same time, she felt free. It was when she stopped when she felt his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Bones?" he whispered.

"Hmm…?" She said, turning her head. She could feel his skin against her cheek, and she felt warm against him, and despite the proximity to his lips, she remained calmly disconnected.

"I think that you figured out why I stand behind the Christmas tree each year." he whispered.

"So that you can look at the lights?" she asked. She knew that wasn't what he meant, but she needed for him to say the words. She turned her head back to the tree, and listened to his tender sigh.

"Not exactly."

"To try to recapture the way you felt when you were a little boy?"

She could feel him relax suddenly. "Mmm…" He nodded slightly, burying his nose in her shoulder slightly as they both remained silent for several minutes. "Are you going to make fun of me?" he whispered, his voice slightly muffled by her shoulder as she turned her head quickly to look into his eyes.

"No," she said sternly, her eyebrows furrowing, sending his head away from her shoulder as he looked at her with a pained expression. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's silly and irrational, and it doesn't serve any other purpose other than for people to look in on me and make fun of me for being strange, or feel sorry for me."

"I don't feel sorry for you," she replied. "And I don't look in at you, Booth. I prefer to be things through your eyes every once in a while."

"Thanks, Bones," he whispered, settling back against the wall with a soft smile. She felt comfortable in his arms, warm, so she leaned back against him, allowing his arms to wrap around her securely.

"Thank you, Booth."

"For what?" he whispered into her hair.

"Thank you for sharing this with me."

"It's the magic of Christmas, Bones."