AN: Thanks for the reviews. And thanks to redrider6612 for keeping on the straight and narrow of comprehensible paragraphs. I couldn't do it without her. Here's a bit more fluff for you all to enjoy. For everyone waiting for a sequel to Wounded and Scarred, I'm still working on it. I think I'm a bit over half done and working out the details for the second part of the story.

As they walked out of the Jeffersonian and to his car, Booth asked curiously, "So, what exactly happened back there?"

"I kissed you and told you I loved you," Brennan replied taking him literally.

"No, what I meant was 'why'?" he asked patiently.

"I would think that was obvious," she answered, looking at him askance. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he replied hastily. "I'm just trying to figure out what chain events lead you to those particular actions." Internally, he heaved a sigh of relief. 'That should get me a clear answer.'

"How about I tell you at lunch? I'm really hungry," she said, as they arrived at his vehicle.

He followed her as she moved between the cars toward the passenger side door. He placed his left hand on the car and reached around her with his right, effectively trapping her between his body and the SUV.

"Booth, I can get the door myself you know," she said, turning towards him.

Her eyes widened as she realized that he hadn't been trying to open her door. He gazed down at her for a moment, a small smile playing around his lips, and then he lowered his head slowly to capture her lips in a kiss. As he kissed her, he tried to pour all his emotions – his love, his admiration and respect for her, his passion, his pleasure that he was finally done waiting – into the kiss.

The feeling of his soft lips moving against hers was the most incredible thing Brennan had ever felt. Somehow the kiss was more than just a kiss. He made her feel cherished and safe in addition to the excitement that coursed through her body and left her feeling a bit trembly. Sometime during the kiss his arms had left the car and wound around her and she had snaked one hand up and around the back of his neck.

He turned his head slightly for better access to her mouth and she sighed in satisfaction. He took advantage of the moment and gently teased her tongue with his. She melted into him.

The need for air caused them to break apart eventually. For a moment they both sucked in deep draughts of air.

Then she smiled up at him and asked, "What was that for?"

When he looked at her questioningly she hurriedly added, "Not that I minded."

He smiled his charm smile at her and answered, "Because I wanted to and because I can." Then his lips and one eyebrow quirked and he continued, "Because you wanted me to."

She looked at him, trying to decide whether she should be annoyed at the size of his ego or amused at how well he managed to read her. While she was trying to make up her mind, he opened the door and ushered his speechless partner into the vehicle and then pointed the car in the direction of Wong Fu's.

The moment they walked into the restaurant, Sid said "Well, it's about time!" in a satisfied tone.

They looked at each other and then at him. 'The dumbfounded expression on their faces is almost comical,' he smirked to himself.

"Are you sure you're not psychic?" Booth asked.

"Booth, there's no scientific evidence supporting the existence of phenomena like ESP," Brennan lectured.

"I didn't have to use my special powers," Sid said with a wink. "Besides the happy glow on your faces, you are holding hands," he continued dryly.

He ushered them to an isolated table set in an alcove at the front of the restaurant. He adjusted the shades to prevent the sun from shining in their eyes and said, "I'll be back with your food in a minute."

When Booth slipped his hand onto Brennan's thigh underneath the table, she jumped and looked at him in surprise.

There was a serious expression in his eyes as he told her softly, "You're mine."

"You know I would like to have one – just one – conversation with you where your alpha male tendencies aren't front and center," she exclaimed in annoyance. "Besides, one person cannot own another, regardless of the arguments that those in favor of slavery used to make."

"Bones, I didn't mean it that way," Booth protested. "Besides you're exaggerating. What I meant was that I choose you. When we first became partners, I protected you because it was part of my job, but after a while I did it because I wanted to, not because I had to. After a while, I chose you to be my friend, and later, part of my family. I just thought you should know… I choose you."

He watched her carefully for a reaction and noticed a sheen of tears in her eyes. For her part, the anthropologist in Brennan was a bit outraged by his possessiveness, but the greatest part of her – the woman trying to cope with her abandonment as a child – was overwhelmed with emotion.

She was trying to figure out what to say in response when Sid returned and rescued her. He placed a candle on their table and lit it. Then he returned with a single large plate.

At Booth's questioning glance, he announced, "You two are always eating off each other's plates anyway, so I figured one large plate was good enough. And it will mean fewer dishes."

He laughed at their identical expressions of disbelief before asking, "So, how did this happen?"

"I don't know," Booth answered. "She kissed me half an hour ago and told me she loved me. I'm still waiting for her half of the story."

"Okay, well, I'll leave you two lovebirds to your lunch," Sid said.

While Booth was talking to Sid, Brennan had started eating.

"Wow, Bones. You weren't joking when you said you were hungry," he commented. "Save a little for me, okay? And I really want to hear your side of the story."

She speared a piece of chicken with her fork, chewed and swallowed it before answering. "Well, Angela told me I was in love you and she was right." She paused before continuing thoughtfully, "She also told me you were in love with me and she appears to have been right about that as well."

"Wait," Booth exclaimed, "she told you that and you just believed her? After all the time she's spent trying to get us together?"

"Um, not exactly," Brennan replied. "I told her the results of my experiment and…"

"You did an experiment on me?" Booth demanded, interrupting her. The idea of being the subject of an experiment and not knowing it was a bit unsettling.

"Um… not on you exactly. It was more on me," she replied. "And it didn't really meet the qualifications of a true experiment. You were more of a constant… no, that's not right. But you weren't a variable either."

At Booth's confused expression, she gave a self-conscious laugh and said, "I'm not explaining it very well, am I?"

"Nope," Booth answered, shaking his head. "Why don't you begin at the beginning?"

"I can do that," she replied confidently. "You remember a couple of weeks ago when I told you Steve cancelled our date?"

He nodded, unsure what Steve had to do with this, containing his frustration that she was bringing another guy into the conversation.

"Well, the morning after he cancelled, I did something a typical woman does. I complained to my girlfriend about it."

He snickered at the small jibe she was getting in and winked at her. His colleagues were always telling him that she was weird and strange, and a few had been rude enough to say it to her face.

"I told Angela that all I really wanted was a guy who could handle my job and would stay around for more than a few dates. And she said that I already had that in you and that the reason none of the other guys stayed around was because they realized I was in love with you. I didn't believe her, so she told me I should do an experiment – pay attention to how I felt when you were around. I told her the results this morning and she said that was how she felt when she first started dating Hodgins."

She paused to take another bite of food. "That's what I was thinking about when you walked in to my office. I still wasn't sure whether or not to believe her. But when I was on the platform and turned to look at you, all of a sudden it clicked."

She smiled fondly at him and then leaned over to kiss his cheek before looking at the plate. It was empty.

"Booth! I only had like two bites of that, and I told you I was really hungry," she scolded him.

Sid arrived and placed another plate of food in front of Brennan.

She thanked him and told him firmly, "I don't think that us sharing a plate is such a great idea. Booth ate all but two bites of it. Next time I want my own plate."

Instead of being repentant as she'd hoped, Booth laughed and said, "Hey, I was hungry too."

"But that doesn't give you the right to distract me from our food and then eat it all while I'm not looking," she argued around a bite of her food.

"It's not my fault you were distracted," he countered.

"Oh yes it is," she fired back. "You were the one who insisted on hearing the story right away, even though I told you I was hungry."

"Hey, I can't help it if you can't multi-task," he protested.

"Oh, you… " she spluttered in frustration before eating another bite.

She slapped away the hand that had slowly begun to inch its way up her thigh. "See you're doing it again! Trying to distract me. And you can't claim to be hungry now after you ate that whole plate of food," she proclaimed triumphantly, knowing she had won the argument.

Booth simply smiled and nodded. She might have won the argument, but he had gained something so much better. Her eyes were finally open to what they could be and he wasn't going to miss a minute of it. He'd win another argument some other day.

He made a mental note to send Angela some flowers; after all, she had played an important role making this happen.