4Not That
"Bones, wait! Brennan! Tempe—"
Her eyes flash, unshed tears gathering as she whirls around to face her partner.
"NO. Don't you dare call me that! Not you." Booth's face falls, his mouth twists into a scowl.
"What? Why? What, am I not good enough to call you 'Tempe'? Is that it?" He remembers clearly all the men who have called her that—all the boyfriends who paraded through her life. Sully. Hell, even Jared. "No, I get it. I don't rate a 'Tempe'. That's fine, sure."
"No, it's not that," and damn her. Even on the verge of tears she's beautiful, with her fists clenched tightly, and her lips drawn in a thin line. Booth isn't sure if she wants to start sobbing or to start punching him.
"Then what is it, Tempe?" There's a sneer in his voice that makes him hate himself just a little, and he has to repress a wince when she flinches.
"You didn't leave." It's all but a scream, her voice hoarse and breaking. "They all left me. Everyone. Dad, Russ, Sully-" the tears are starting to drip now, unbidden. "Everyone who calls me Tempe leaves and if you start, then it's...it's logical that you might leave me too." Her jaw is stiff, arms crossed defiantly over her chest, but Booth can see her bottom lips trembling as she fights the tears. "You never left," she continues, softer now. It breaks his heart just a little more. "You never left-and you never called me that-I'm Bones; you called me Bones, and I'm your Bones and-" his lips cut her off. When he pulls back, she's definitely crying, and his eyes soften as he pulls her into a crushing hug.
"Bones," he whispers, lips against her ear. "There is nothing you can do that will make me leave you."
