The Doctor in the Photo has to be one of my favorite episodes, but I really do wish it had gone differently, if only slightly. So, this is my rendition of events. It's a little fluffier, and maybe a little OOC, but I don't care, and hopefully neither do you. So, without further adieu, I present to you, A Kiss in the Rain.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BONES, THAT RIGHT BELONGS TO FOX AND HART HANSON. THIS STORY DOES USE A BIT OF EXACT DIALOG, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE COMES DIRECT TO YOU FROM MY VERY OWN BRAIN.

Brennan gasped as Booth seemingly came out of nowhere, pulling her from the road, and most certainly her death.

"Bones, what are you doing here?!" He yelled at her.

"What are you doing here?" She retorted.

"Oh, I dunno, following you to a bad part of town and saving your life?" He panted. "You know, the usual, your turn."

"Lauren came to Woodland to beg the family of a brain-dead boy to give his heart to Sam Dworsky"

"Oh, so what? They were the ones that killed her?"

"No, Booth," Brennan laughed halfheartedly at his conjecture. "When Lauren was really disappointed or upset, it's like Sweets said, she couldn't handle the intense emotions, so she'd do something dangerous."

"Right, like coming here in the middle of the night."

Brennan smiled, acknowledging his understanding of the situation. "I- Im not her, we're not the same person at all! Its just… The universe, it turned upside down for three days."

Booth gazed at Brennan, not really understanding what she was saying. "What happened to her?" He asked.

"She bought the heroin, for the danger of it. To feel something." Brennan's tone changed, became deeper, more emotional. "She put it in her pocket, she got hit by a car. Just like I almost did." She felt the tears forming, threatening to fall. "The impact explains the defensive wounds, she struck her head over there," she said, pointing to the very spot Booth had just pulled her from.

"So it was the driver that buried her in the park," Booth said in agreement.

"I can't prove any of this," Brennan sighed.

"I know," Booth replied.

"But you still believe me?" She questioned him.

"Yeah," The trademark 'Boothy' grin appeared on his face. "Of course I do, alright? Let me take you home, come on," He said, placing his hand at her elbow to lead her back to the SUV.

"Booth," She hesitated. "Wait, I-" She stopped short. Emotions were not her strong suit. Telling people how she felt, telling Booth, it was terrifying.

"What's wrong, Bones?" He questioned.

Brennan couldn't hold her resolve anymore. The tears fell from her eyes, and though the rain obscured them, Booth could tell that she was crying. She hung her head, breathy sobs now escaping her. "I'm so sorry, Booth. I'm so sorry,"

"Sorry?" He said, hooking a finger under her chin to bring her eyes to his. "Why are you sorry?"

She let another sob escape, but gathered herself quickly, forcing the cries to quiet themselves as she once again put on the façade that shone day to day. Brennan took a deep breath and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his gingerly, his hand moved to her shoulder to push her away, but she pulled away before he could. "I'm sorry for crushing your heart, even when I wanted nothing more than to welcome you into my own," she sighed, dropping her gaze to the ground once more. "I'm sorry, Booth. All I have ever wanted is for you to be happy, but I couldn't look past my own selfish insecurities, and I'm sorry that we missed our moment."

"Bones…" Booth was speechless. Brennan had finally, actually proclaimed her love for him. He had waited years for this moment, and now he was the one who couldn't accept it. "I'm- I'm with Hannah now, I love her." His voice cracked, knowing that his words would hurt his partner.

"I know that. I wasn't asking you to leave her. Hannah is a very lovely woman, Booth. She's good for you, she makes you happy. She's very lucky. It doesn't mean that some part of me wishes you would, but I know that she makes you happy, and I could never ask you to dispose of your happiness."

"If you're not asking," Booth stopped, taking a deep breath. "Then why are you telling me this now?"

"I don't know, I guess… It's just this case," She threw her hands up in exasperation, quickly refolding them at her chest. "Lauren, she died regretting that she never gave the pilot a chance. She gave me a new perspective on my life, Booth. I now understand the signals that the universe has been sending. I don't want to die with regrets. I just wanted you to know that it was never my intention to hurt you, I only ever intended to protect myself from the unknown." Brennan wiped her face and sniffled. "I find that being completely honest with you is absolutely terrifying, and yet it is totally and completely gratifying. I just hope… I hope that you can find it in your metaphoric heart not to hate me."

"Bones, I don't hate you. I could never hate you…" Booth didn't know what else to say.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," She said with finality. They stood in silence, the rain still pouring over them. Brennan sighed, and stepped closer to Booth. "I promise I will never, and I say that even though I do not believe in absolutes, ever do this again," She whispered, bringing her lips to his once more. Booth didn't deny her gesture, or really even accept it. He stood, his eyes locked on hers, even though she had closed them. He saw the sadness in her eyes as she looked up and pulled away, putting her hand to her mouth. "That was a goodbye, nothing more. Now, I'd like very much to go home and change, as I am sure you would as well. Standing here in the rain was rather an idiotic decision," Brennan said, already walking towards his SUV.

Booth was dumbfounded. He still couldn't form a coherent thought, but he decided that he agreed with her, at least on the standing in the rain issue, so he turned and followed her back to the car.

He grabbed the towels from his gym bag so they could attempt to remove some moisture from their thoroughly soaked clothing before getting in and cranking the engine. The drive to her apartment was quiet. Booth had so many questions, so much he wanted to know, and yet didn't want to know at the same time. He was with Hannah. He loved Hannah. Brennan had had her chance and she threw it away. He loved Hannah. Brennan's out of character confession had his mind reeling. He had to stop himself from traveling down the path of romantic moments with his partner multiple times, reminding himself that he was with Hannah, that Hannah was the one he loved, not Brennan, right?

The rain had subsided by the time they reached her apartment, only a slight mist came down now. Booth pulled over to the curb and threw the car in park. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what their future would hold now. Could they still be partners? Could they still solve crime together and not let the personal stuff get in the way?

"I should go," Brennan said quietly, pulling the door open.

"Yeah," Booth turned to her. "Yeah, okay."

Brennan tried to smile halfheartedly, but only seemed to muster a pitiful grimace. "Okay," she said awkwardly. "Bye then," and she stepped from the car shutting the door and walking toward her building.

"Hey Bones," He called after her as he rolled the passenger window down. She turned to look at him hopefully. "See you tom- soon?"

"Sure." And she turned, leaving Booth behind her as she disappeared into the half lit lobby of her apartment building.

Brennan kept her composure as she took the stairs two at a time, but by the time she reached her door and had the key in the deadbolt, she was fighting back tears. She turned the lock and opened the door, throwing her bag and keys aside as she closed the door, slumping to the floor. She was breathing heavily, the tears flowing freely.

Booth hadn't said anything, not really. He'd said that he was with Hannah now. She knew this. He said that he loved her, also something she was very aware of. She knew that there was only the slightest of chances that Booth would drop Hannah and come running back to her, she knew this, and yet she opened herself up to the heartache, and now that she was in the privacy of her home, crying to herself over the love that she refused, she couldn't blame him.

He had waited for her to open herself up to him, had waited years, hoping that she would recognize the love that he was so obviously giving her. She had denied him time and time again, and now she decided that she deserved this pain. She deserved to feel the pain that she had made him feel. And yet, she let herself cry, knowing that it wasn't rational to be so sad about something she technically hadn't even lost because she'd never owned it. But she cried, she let the sobs wreak havoc on her body.

After what felt like hours, Brennan's tears had finally subsided. Her breathing was almost even again. She pulled herself from the floor, her joints popping, her clothes now uncomfortably pasted to her skin, grabbed her messenger bag and headed for her room. She stripped the damp clothes and took a hot shower. When she was done, she couldn't even bring herself to look in the mirror, she didn't want to see the hurt she knew was perceptible on her face.

As she thumbed through her drawer trying to decide what she'd sleep in, she saw the t-shirt at the bottom of a pile near the back. It was just a plain old black FBI t-shirt, but it was his. He had lent it to her after Parker had tripped and thrown his slushie right onto her chest. Her breath caught at the memory. Booth had been afraid that Parker thought he wasn't happy, so he had started taking Brennan with them for the occasional weekend activity per Sweets' suggestion. She'd promised that she would wash it and return it to him the next day, but they had gotten a call about a case and she'd forgotten about it.

She knew it probably wasn't the rational thing to do, but she'd already done enough irrational things today, so what could it hurt? She pulled the shirt from her drawer and slipped it over her head. It was loose on her, but she didn't mind. It was comfortable.

After she was dressed and ready for bed, she took her phone from her bag and dialed a number as she situated herself on the edge of her bed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Russ."

"Tempe, what time is it? What's wrong, are you okay?"

"It's really late, I'm sorry. I should have waited until morning, I'll let you get back to sleep-"

"Tempe, no, I'm already awake, what's up?"

"I-" She didn't know what to say. How could she tell her brother that she had finally opened up to Booth, after she had so fiercely rejected him? "Do you mind if I just come down and visit?" Her breath hitched, threatening more tears.

"Yeah, sure. It's been a while since everyone's seen you, I'm sure the girls will be thrilled."

"Thank you, Russ. Thank you. I… I'll call you again tomorrow, after I've booked my flight."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you, Tempe"

"I love you too." She broke down again as she pressed the 'end' button on her phone, locking the screen and setting it on her bedside table. Her tears were silent this time, and she let them fall, let herself fall into the emotions that just wouldn't let her go. She felt ashamed. She felt sad. She felt empty. She would adapt. She would move on, go back to her work, her science, her real love. She would be okay. Eventually.

K so, Brennan is a tad bit better about being openly honest. I like Honest Brennan. I like catching a glimpse of her mind. So yeah. I'm working on the next installment now, but I'm not sure when I will have it posted. I hope I get enough feedback to make me want to post more! Yep…. So…. Yeah. Feed my muse with good reviews?

P.S. This story is unbeta'd. I don't really have any writing buddies in the Bones fandom, so, feel free to call me out on misspellings or bad grammar or whatever else. I always aim to improve! Okay cool. I haven't slept more than five hours in the last three days, so I am going to go pass out now. I hope I wake to reviews so I can write with a fresh brain tomorrow.

Best wishes! Xoxoxo