Author's note.

Please re-read the last chapter. I've changed it slightly. The ending wasn't punchy enough.

Better enjoy this chapter guys... it's the last one :)

The Missing Part Of The Whole.

Previously...

Booth couldn't stop himself, the words coming out in a rush...

"There's me driving myself crazy, thinking 'Hey, I'm in love with my best friend but she doesn't feel the same way, so I can't tell her'' but you? You knew all along! And you never even thought to mention it! All those times when we were sat doing paperwork, eating Chinese together, you didn't once ever think to say, 'I know your in love with me, Booth Old Buddy, we can get past it.' Because I could have accepted that! I'm a big boy! But you? Bury it under the carpet and pretend it's not there! Why is that your answer to everything Bones? Running away from the things that scare you! I was scared too, you know! Do you have any idea how hard it is being in love with your best friend? !"

That's when she whirled around.

Booth stopped mid-rant, shocked that she had... and at the sight of her.

She was crying.

Temperance Brennan had tears streaming down her face.

And it was through them that she angrily answered his question.

"What do you think Booth? !"

Part 5.

Are We In Love?

Seeley Booth felt all his anger drain out of him like a popped balloon.

Did she just say...?

He closed his eyes, suddenly afraid he was dreaming.

When he opened them again, she was staring at him.

Temperance Brennan was staring at him.

Her face wet with tears, she looked very vulnerable.

But she was facing him.

At least she was facing him.

And she was staring at him like that because...?

Oh yeah.

This is the part where I'm supposed to say something...

"D-d-did you-? D-do you-? Are-are you-? Are we-?"

Great.

He sounded like an idiot.

Now she was staring at him and she looked confused.

He stopped, taking a deep breathe to calm himself.

He needed to organise his thoughts.

Where to begin?

There were a million questions he could ask.

But maybe only one really mattered...

He looked at her, unable to keep the awe out of his voice, as he gave her the question he could hardly believe he was asking...

"Are we in love?"

Brennan looked down.

She closed her eyes... and sighed.

Booth felt his stomach drop-

But then...

"Yes." She met his gaze and whispered it softly, as if sharing a secret. "I believe we are."

Seeley Booth let out a breathe he was not even aware he had been holding.

He had prayed for this moment for the last six years.

The moment when he and Brennan finally accepted they were more than just friends.

He had imagined this scene a million times, in a million different scenarios.

But the outcome was always the same.

They declared their true feelings.

Then he kissed her senseless.

So it was ironic really.

Six long years of praying and wishing and just plain hoping and he finally had the moment he'd always wanted.

Only...

It wasn't like anything he had ever imagined.

And he couldn't let one thing go:

"How long have you known?"

He needed to know.

He just needed to.

Brennan said nothing at first.

She shifted from foot to foot, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Does it matter?" She finally asked, she didn't mean for it to come out so blunt.

Booth quirked an eyebrow and gave her a pointed look in answer.

"Fine, long enough okay? I just couldn't face-"

She faltered, unable to finish.

But Booth wasn't about to let her off the hook.

"Face what?" He asked. "Face the truth...?" His tone was heavy. "Or face me?"

His brown eyes flashed with hurt as he said it.

Brennan saw... and it pained her.

She wanted him to understand.

She shook her head.

"No... not like that. I... I couldn't face what it meant... everything would be different between us. I couldn't handle the possibility of being l-"

She faltered again, grimacing.

Booth sighed.

"Is it really so bad?" He asked simply. "Being loved by me?"

He looked defeated.

The sight of him standing there, looking like that... moved Brennan.

The walls around her heart crumbled just a tiny bit and she felt a rush of sympathy... and affection.

"Your amazing Booth." She whispered it softly.

He looked at her then and she graced him with a small, watery smile as she continued.

"You prove it to me every moment I'm with you. Being around you makes me a better person."

"Then why won't you let me love you?"

He didn't even sound angry... just resigned.

Brennan swallowed, deliberately avoiding his eyes by looking down at her hands. "We have such an amazing partnership already." She said after a moment. "What if we try for more and both of us end up getting hurt?"

She always sounded so confident and sure of herself, it was strange to hear her sounding so uncertain.

"You can't know this won't end badly Booth and if it does..."

She didn't want to finish the sentence.

But this time she knew she had to.

"I lose the most important person in my life." She confessed, looking up at him at last.

He almost couldn't believe it – she was finally being honest with him.

And he was touched.

He also understood what she was saying and worse - she had a point.

They could try for more... and ruin what they already had.

It was a risk.

But Booth was a gambler.

And he thought, no, he knew, there was no going back now.

The dice had been already been rolled.

The cards had already been dealt.

All in.

He took a deep breathe.

"I get it Bones." He said. "And it's true I can't guarantee that everything will work out between us. I do know I would never intentionally hurt you though. I care about you too much. And I know you care about me too. Yes we could try for more and ruin our partnership but if what we have now is so amazing, isn't it worth trying?"

He looked at her and she hung on his words as though they were a life preserver, unable to look away.

"Its a risk Bones. But everything in life is a risk isn't it? A gamble. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you don't. You have to trust that everything happens for a reason."

Brennan looked down.

"But I'm not a gambler. I'm a scientist Booth." She said sadly. "I trust in facts. I've invested my life in them. I trust in facts to do my job. Facts are all I know."

He looked her in the eye.

"Do you trust me Bones?" He asked seriously.

She didn't have to think.

"You know I do." She replied.

"Then why can't that be enough?" He asked her.

Booth realised it was time to put all his cards on the table.

"I love you."

Her eyes widened at the words... and how easily he said them.

"That's a fact." Booth continued "A fact you can trust in. I'm asking you to trust me Bones. I'm asking you to trust in us."

He was saying all the right things.

Brennan wanted so badly to believe him.

But she needed him to understand.

"I'm-"

She stopped, swallowing.

Gathering her resolve, she tried again.

"I-I'm scared Booth." Her voice cracked but she got the words out. "I'm really, really scared."

She looked into his eyes... asking him to understand.

And Booth did.

"I know." He agreed, with a dramatic sigh.

Brennan looked down, saddened.

But Booth wasn't finished...

"The thing is though," He declared aloud. "I had kinda hoped we could be scared together."

Brennan's head shot up, her eyes widening in amazement.

Could he mean-?

"Really?" She breathed, the words nothing more than a whisper.

They looked at each other.

Booth slowly nodded. Just once.

Brennan did not look away.

She held his gaze.

The air was suddenly full of meaning.

And Booth knew.

It was time.

"Come here." He said.

It was a undisguised question.

They both knew it.

Booth knew they both knew it.

So he said nothing else.

He wanted her to come to him.

He wanted her to want to come to him.

She had made the first step.

Now she had to make the leap.

Only...

She was looking at him, but she wasn't moving.

She regarded him through long jet black lashes with a deep-in-thought look on her face.

A long moment passed.

And during this moment Booth had the horrible thought she might actually walk away again.

But instead she spoke...

"We'd probably argue."

Booth looked at her.

A smile appeared to be tugging at the corners of her mouth...

"I'll always let you win." He answered simply.

Brennan did not look away.

"But you'll see me too much." She tried instead.

Booth did not need to think.

"It won't be enough."

"Then we'll get on each other's nerves." Brennan retorted.

"Then we'll always be laughing."

"What if you have a mid-life crisis?"

Booth laughed at this, the light returning to his brown eyes.

He had forgotten how blunt she could be.

"Then you can laugh at me." He emphasised, with a rueful smile.

There was silence for a moment, as Brennan racked her brain for more excuses, more challenges, more reasons why they couldn't be together...

Booth eyed her, one eyebrow raised as if to say 'Well, anything else?'

Brennan said the only thing she had left.

The thing that scared her the most in the entire world.

"You might leave me."

The pain in her voice was clear.

And so was his reply.

"Not a chance."

He held her gaze, letting her see the honesty in his eyes.

Opening himself to her.

Then, when he felt he had her attention fully, he gave her a challenge of his own:

"If you come to me, right now Temperance Brennan, we cross a line."

Her eyes widened.

She knew what he meant straight away.

She remembered.

Six years ago, she had angrily stormed out of his apartment.

On the way out she had made a vow:

I swear Seeley Booth, if you let me leave now you've lost me! No second chances!

She was angry because she thought he was rejecting her.

So it was ironic that with these words she had stopped them becoming anything more than friends.

She had drawn a line.

Booth also remembered making his own.

Frustrated at the beside of an injured Cam, Booth had made a vow too.

He'd said that people who work together shouldn't be anything more than friends. It was too dangerous.

He was upset when he said it.

He thought Cam was going to die.

But he'd still said it.

And Brennan had been standing right next to him at the time, in no doubt as to what he was implying...

The partners had each drawn a line.

But Booth had already erased his.

He looked Brennan in the eye and asked her the most important question of the night.

"Are you ready to erase yours?"

They looked at each other.

Booth held his breathe for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

She didn't break his gaze.

There was a long silence.

A silence full of tension.

And Booth started to think he'd blow it.

What had he done?

She wasn't ready after all...

But then...

"I still won't change my mind about pie."

It came totally out of the blue.

But Booth smiled, unable to hide his amusement.

God, he was head-over-heels in love with this woman.

"I still won't stop trying to convince you."

He answered, the air of finality in his tone left Brennan in no doubt that he meant it.

And he did, because his words were nothing to do with pie...

He sent her a grin, his eyes shining with warmth.

She looked at him for a long moment, studying him...

Then she nodded.

He watched her take a step.

Forward.

She took a step towards him.

Then another.

And another.

She didn't stop until she was standing in front of him.

Then they were looking at each other.

They weren't touching, yet in so many ways they were closer than they had ever been.

Everything was different now.

The tension had gone.

The look that passed between them was open.

Tender.

Full of affection.

It was the look of two people who had been kept apart for a very long time and had suddenly found each other again.

It was the look of two people who didn't have to pretend anymore.

She sent him a watery half-smile.

The kind of smile that said 'Wow, I made it. I can't believe I'm here.'

And with that smile, Seeley Booth fell just a little bit more in love with her.

"Hi." He said softly, the corners of his eyes creasing in the way she had always loved so much.

The way that made her heart skip a beat.

Brennan looked at him shyly and smiled. "Hi."

She sounded giddy and slightly breathless.

Booth found it adorable.

Now that she was standing in front of him, he could clearly see the tear tracks evident on her face.

"I hate seeing you cry." He declared, as, without thinking, he reached up to wipe the marks away.

She was unprepared for his action, pulling back a little.

He stopped mid-way, the tips of his fingers just grazing her cheek hesitatingly.

He looked down at her, his hand hovering at her face.

Brennan looked into his eyes and her breathe hitched.

Because all she saw there was tenderness.

No man had never looked at her that way before.

As if she were a treasured procession, as if she was so treasured, he was scared to death of breaking her...

He didn't have to say it, she didn't need to ask, it was there, all over his face, the truth of it.

He loved her.

He really and truly loved her.

And with this realisation Brennan felt a warm feeling spread throughout her body.

The once-tiny flame in her heart, sparked and became a fire.

It felt good.

No, it felt amazing.

To be loved.

She leaned into his touch, allowing his hand to cup her cheek and he brushed her tears away with his thumb.

His touch was gentle.

Heartbreakingly gentle.

And imitate.

So very imitate.

And it was him.

Him.

Her partner.

Her best friend.

Everything was going to be okay.

She could trust it.

At this, Brennan wanted to cry again.

She felt the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

Booth saw the tears glistening there.

His voice was affectionate as he raised her chin so he could look into her eyes. "Now your doing it on purpose." He smiled.

That did it.

Brennan laughed, as the spilled down her cheeks.

He always knew what to say.

Always.

"Why are you crying?" Booth asked softly, as he continued to brush the fresh tears away as they fell.

Brennan raised her face to his, their gazes locking.

"I think I'm happy." She whispered, her eyes wide, as if she couldn't quite believe it herself.

That's when Booth pulled her into his arms.

He held her.

Just held her.

His chin rested on the top of her head.

And she buried her face in his chest.

His scent – earthy, chocolatey– was all around her and Brennan felt calmer.

He was warm.

The beating of his heartbeat- comforting.

Real.

It felt right.

She felt like she belonged in his arms.

Like she always had.

And Brennan realised she owed him one last truth.

"Cleo Eller." She whispered softly, against his chest.

Booth pulled back slightly to look at her.

He gave her a questioning look in response.

Brennan took a deep breathe.

"Our second case together." She said. "When I was getting into my car at the end. You put your hand here."

She took his hand in her own and as he looked at her, she placed it in the spot that they both knew was his and his alone.

The small of her back.

"That's how long." She explained, looking at him with warmth in her eyes. "I knew then. How you felt. You- you did what you did... that night. You put your hand back in the exact same place. Like you remembered. It's..." She hesitated, but only for a moment. "It's when I fell in love with you. It's why I fell in love with you."

He stared at her, mouth open.

She had finally said the words he had been waiting to hear for six years.

"I have spent so long being afraid Booth." She admitted softly. "So very long."

Booth swallowed thickly.

"Are you afraid now?" He asked seriously, then without waiting for an answer. "I don't want you to be afraid anymore."

He sounded so sincere, so genuine.

Brennan stepped into his personal space, leaning her body into his.

"Then show me." She whispered softly into his ear. "Show me I don't have to be."

She looked at him again, needing to make him understand.

"I know there's so much we have to talk about. So much we need to figure out right now but... but can it wait till tomorrow?... Please? I just want tonight to be about us. Nothing else. Just you and I." She smiled. "I want you to kiss me Booth and then I want you to take me home to your apartment and I want you to make love to me. Is that okay?"

The enormity of what she said hit Booth like a bolt of lightening.

He stared at her in shock.

All his Christmas's had just came at once.

Any minute now he would surely wake up...

Brennan looked back at him.

Waited for him to say something...

When he didn't, she got impatient.

"Booth? I think... I mean... that was an invitation. I would like you to kiss me now."

Booth didn't have to pinch himself.

He was awake.

Only Brennan said stuff like that.

He laughed. "I concur." He said, unable to wipe the smile from his face. "I totally concur."

Then he leaned forward and brushed his lips across Brennan's – the slightest touch- but it sent a jolt of electricity straight through her body and the fire in her heart roared.

He did it again, attentively, questioningly,

And the fire became a furnace.

But before she could deepen the kiss, he pulled back ever so slightly and looked at her.

For the last six years, Brennan had often thought about what it would feel like to kiss Booth again.

She remembered.

But it turns out she was wrong.

She had lied.

And so had her memories.

White-hot desire surged through her body and she leaned forward and captured his lips in a searing kiss that told him never to question again.

It felt amazing.

The flames of passion burned out of control as six years of sexual tension were turned into a kiss.

They only stopped when the need for air became too apparent to ignore and they both broke apart, breathless.

Booth leaned his forehead against Brennan's.

"Why did we wait so long to do that again?" He uttered after a moment, feeling dazed.

It was a rhetorical question.

She wasn't supposed to answer.

But some things never change.

"I was resisting you," Brennan said frankly. "I guess I was being a scaredy squirrel."

Booth started laughing.

"What?" She demanded looking at him, confused at his laughter. "What's so funny?"

The indignant expression on her face only made him laugh harder.

"It's... scaredy c-c-cat Bones!" He got out breathlessly between chuckles. "Scaredy... cat, n-not squirrel!"

And he collapsed in laughter again.

Brennan watched him laughing and it was infectious.

She started laughing too.

They stood on the side walk beside the Jeffersonian.

Two idiots laughing their heads off.

Two idiots in love.

Finally Brennan paused, looking thoughtful. "That phrase is inaccurate really." She declared. "Cats aren't scared. They're curious creatures, alert by nature. They only run when they feel threatened, like when their chased by predators, like dogs and that's a natural response to danger stimuli so they shouldn't be penalised for doing something that's natural-"

Booth was watching her ramble, his smile getting bigger and bigger.

Brennan finally noticed he was staring at her and stopped, blushing.

Booth wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"God I love you so much." He said smiling, as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm going to be in love with you for a very, very, very long time."

She smiled, ever rational. "You can't know that."

Booth grinned at her, placing his hand in the spot where it belonged.

"Wanna bet?"