126The mistake in the invitation
"I am with someone Bones, Hannah, I love her, and she is not a consolation prize"
Those fateful words, slipped from Booth's conscious, not from his heart. He once told Brennan, I have never cheated on anyone before and he then emphasized his declaration by the word "ever", and he was not about to start now. He was not about to make the love of his life, the other woman in his life. So he held on to his morals and his decision to move on, put his heart along with hers and crashed both on the side of the road.
She told him, it would take her three days to adjust, and she did. She adjusted to the pain until it was replaced by numbness, she continued to work cases with Booth or at least they pretended to work the cases until he decided he is getting too old to chase criminals and took the promotion he has been denying himself. The promotion came with a not too big raise, but enough to move out of his apartment above the liquor store into a cozy house that he called home now. Of course he refused Hannah's offer to help with the down payment and liquidated some of his savings after discussing the matter with Rebecca who agreed that it is best for Parker to be raised (at least whenever he is with Booth) in a safer neighborhood. And so he moved, he was left with barely enough to buy a new TV, so he opted to take his old furniture with him. He was then the proud owner of the "Booth household" as Parker called it, the day they moved in.
His relationship with Hannah continued to grow; she was not only his girlfriend, his roommate now, but the person that he settled for. He was content; he smiled more often, whether it was because he now lived across the street from Rebecca and could see his son every day, or because Hannah was a person that brought so much positive energy into his home. He still called it, at least in his mind, his home. Hannah of course was part of it, but somehow when he looked at her at times, he felt like she came with the old furniture from his old apartment , they all look old and out of place, but regardless comfy and homey.
And once again, she adjusted to the change, the change in the dynamic, the change to the friendship, the change in the family and she moved on. She too moved out of her apartment the day Tye asked her to move in with him. Angela threw her a Good bye Apartment party and invited all their friends. They all came even Daisy and sweets but not Booth. He was not in their social circle anymore, so he was not extended an invitation. Every once in a while Booth and Brennan would accidentally meet at the coffee cart and have coffee. The first few times it was a coincidence, until they decided to agree to accidentally meet at the coffee cart on the 21st of each month. They would sit on the bench and drink coffee silently he would hold her hand, each move of his thumb across the palm of her hand telling her that everything is ok. They silently agreed they would not talk; they would stay for 21 minutes and then move each in their own direction since they do not belong to the same social circle anymore.
It has been the 21st time they meet, and like always he took the seat next to her, and as soon as he held her hand in the palm of his, he shivered as the cold metal on her finger touched his finger, the oversized rock on her ring sparkled and blinded his eyes. He closed them and took a deep breath holding it within his lungs, hoping he could keep holding it until their 21 minutes has ended. He knew he would broke the code and speak, but before his lips opened to speak, she tightened her hold on his hand, so he let out the breath he was holding and held the cup of coffee to his mouth filling his mouth with the bitter liquid.
Tye was a nice man, a gentleman, he treated Brennan with respect, and he cared deeply for her. He believed in her and what she does, and it helped that he was as wealthy as Hodgins if not more; he had enough to donate for all the causes she supported, so she appreciated him even more. Not that she cared for money; she had enough, a two lifetime enough. When he asked her out for the first time, at Angela and Hodgins little princess's first birthday, she could not turn him down. How could she, when he was holding Tara Montenegro-Hodgins in his arms carrying a blue rose matching her eyes, and his crooked smile on his thin lips, . He dropped her home that night, she offered him coffee and he agreed, the coffee turned to heated discussion about how all women loved roses, where she insisted that she did not and refused to tell him what her favorite flower was. So for a month after that he kept sending her different flowers everyday with the same note neatly tucked among the stems
"If these are your favorite, I will be waiting for your call, if not! There is always tomorrow – Tye"
Angela was going crazy, she had told Tye about Brennan's favorite flowers, but he kept sending the wrong ones on purpose, only because he was out of town and wanted to get her call once he was back in DC. And so he did, he sent her the daisies she liked and among them was a sole blue rose, and the card read this time
"Blue Roses are my favorites, meet me at Momos at seven, I will be the handsome guy with the yellow daisy – Tye"
And so she walked into Momo's the famous Moroccan restaurant and was surprised that he had invited her there. It was well known upscale restaurant where you needed a month's notice to book a table. She held the blue rose to her lips and spoke softly to it as soon as she reached him
"Can I have my daisy now?"
"as soon as I can have my rose" he whispered closing the distance, holding her fingers and lifting the stem. And so she let out a small laugh, he smiled back and held the short chair with the high back for her to be seated. The night was magical, not that Brennan believed in magic, but Tye was very charming, intellectual and had a good heart. His sense of humor was as awkward as hers so they laughed at their quirkiness and the expensive wine helped lightening the mood.
Tye, did not know Brennan well, but he compensated with his persistence and patience, he believed in trial and error, so when he made mistakes, he apologized profusely and learned from them. Six month later she was moving in with him and a year later she made him the happiest man on earth when she accepted his marriage proposal.
It has been two years, two years since that car incident, she hasn't thought about it for a while now, at least not while she was awake. In her dreams, Booth's words always haunted her, why did it still hurt her, she is with someone now, and did she love Tye? She was marrying him that must count for something. He never once told her he loved her, and she never did. Even during his proposal, similar to when he asked her out for the first time he used Tara Hodgins, he dressed the brown eyed toddler with a T-shirt that says I am Tye, and taught Tara the words marry me. He knew she never said no to her niece and she was not about to start then. So when her wide eyes shed tears and she nodded he crossed the room, went down on his knee and slipped the 2 karat diamond on her finger and kissed her, but he never uttered the words Love.