Bones was reading it all wrong. Then again, he often did. Vaguely he was reminded of their time at the rave, the night they first ended up falling into bed together— when Bones kept second-guessing himself and wondering if Jim was just humoring him when he really wanted to be spending time with someone else.

It drew a smile from him, despite everything. He gave Bones a bit of room and the time to work through that anyway, although he wouldn't give him too much time, lest the doctor drown in his own negative, self-deprecating thoughts. Eventually he pushed away from the counter and stepped closer to Bones, settling his hands on the doctor's waist, moving closer from behind as he curled his arms around him.

"It matters," he muttered, pressing a soft kiss to Bones's neck and nuzzling against it. Voice lilting, he couldn't help adding in a playful tone. "God, Bones. If you wanted to get me in bed for that long, you should've just asked me."