"Look the crazy girl is doing another Fanfiction." If that's what you're thinking, please don't turn back now. Inspiration had gotten the better of me again, and this sort of just came to me and I've already written a couple of chapters. I now love Athletics, school Aths were Tuesday and I took the day off, shopping and writing inspiration, you have to love it.

Okay, here's the little synopsis:
Brennan's not a gambler, but Booth is. Neither can properly move on without the needs of one another, so they compromise - friends with benefits.
The chapter titles will start with the letter of the alphabet; A, then B, then C etc. and when we get through the whole alphabet and if people are still interested, I'll start at A again. It's a follow on Fanfiction, not just a lot of one-shots.

First letter is… you guessed it, A.

Anticipation.

I'm not a gambler, I'm a scientist; the words still rung through her ears, three weeks later. She tried to move on, but Andrew wasn't Booth. She knew Booth had a connection with Catherine, but it wasn't like the one he was willing to give them. Even she could see the shield he was building around himself. The walls she had broken over the years were rebuilding, stronger than before. She was supposed to have the walls, she was the one abandoned as a child, but her walls were broken long ago, never to be replaced while he's in her life.

Reaching for her glass of red wine from the coffee table, Temperance pulled her legs towards her chest and sipped at the red liquid, letting it ease its way down her throat before replacing her now empty mouth with more.

Somewhere between her third sip of wine and the knock at the door, Brennan had fallen asleep. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, or how long the knocking at her door at been taking place, as she slowly rose from the armchair, feeling groggy and unsteady on her feet.

"Coming," She mumbled to no one in particular, as she neared the front door, the familiar scent of Thai takeout wafting from under it was immediately picked up by her now watering taste buds. That meant only one person could be behind the door, standing in the hallway of her apartment block – Booth.

Unlatching the lock and pulling the handle open, a smile washed over her features as Booth shoved the boxes of takeout in her arms and picked up the beer which was resting by his feet. Standing aside she let him pass as he made his way through her apartment as if it was his own. Rolling her eyes as he made his way through to her living room, she sighed and closed the door behind her, locking it in the process before heading back towards she came.

"Make yourself at home," Her smile brightened as he shrugged and relaxed into the sofa, popping the cap from the beer bottle and taking one long swig, before sitting back up in the couch, his socked feet sitting firm on the carpet below.

"I broke up with Catherine," His voice was dismal as he spoke and refused to make eye contact with her. Her heart skipped a beat at the words he spoke, but she declined to show the happiness. Padding lightly across the floor, Brennan sat down next to him and tugged his shoulder back so he would be forced to stare into her crystal blue orbs.

"Why?"

"You know why," She could feel the hotness of his breath tickling her lips. Nodding she took a deep breath in and brushed the back of her fingers along his jaw up towards his ear, where she thread her fingers through the mocha hairs at the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, but I still can't give you what you want," Pressing her lips to his jaw, she left a single hot kiss halfway between his earlobe and mouth.

Pulling back, Brennan grappled the brown paper bag and pulled out both boxes of takeout and chopsticks. Handing one box and set of chopsticks to Booth, she opened the box of her own food and dug the chopsticks into it and pulled out a piece of broccoli.

They ate in somewhat silence, but each of their minds was abuzz with thoughts and heartache. They both felt hope and they both felt love. The kind of love which squeezes your heart in no uncertain terms. Like the kind of pressure around the heart after losing someone you love dearly, or when you have heartburn. The ache you wish was never there, but it is.

"Why do we keep doing this?" The words had escaped Booth's lips before he could realise what he was saying. Dropping the chopsticks into the cardboard box, Brennan raised her head so they were staring into each other's eyes. "Why do we… Why do we just get to a moment, a single moment, where we can either go with the flow or stumble and fall? Why do we always stumble and fall?" The tears which now glistened in his eyes, caused Brennan's heart to drop and tears to brim to the surface of her orbs.

"I don't know, but I can't give you the love you deserve," Her breath was heavy as she fought back the tears from cascading down her cheeks in hot streams, but it was no luck, one single tears managed to escape her left eye and trickle down her cheek, running into the corner of her mouth. "I can only give you a relationship without feeling."

Exhaling heavily, Booth tried to smile but couldn't, "So your saying we can be friends with benefits."

"I don't know what that means," She had some idea, she'd heard Angela use it once or twice before, but it had no real meaning to her at the time. Now she was well and truly intrigued to find out the meaning.

"Simple terms, its sex without being in a relationship," Dropping the now empty contents of the takeout box back onto the coffee table, Booth drew in a deep sharp breath before releasing it again and flung himself back into the couch, running a hand over his five o'clock stubble before dropping his palm onto his thigh.

"Oh yes, we can be friends with benefits." Her voice had returned to the scientific ways she used during the day, but even she could tell by the look on Booth's face it wasn't something he wanted.

Silence brimmed the living room as each contemplated the whole 'friends with benefits' conclusion, but neither were willing to vocalize their thoughts, until the other spoke first.

Annoyed with the silence, Brennan was the first to speak, "You need an emotional attachment don't you?"

Smiling the first time since divulging into the food, Booth nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I do."

"What if this arrangement leads us to an emotional attachment?" A new set of tears were brimming in Brennan's eyes as she spoke and her voice which had been scientific just moments before was back to the innocent, childlike voice, she'd grown to use when in a personal disarray.

"You can't promise that," His heart was at breaking point, like it had been three weeks ago when he wanted to give 'them' a chance and she clearly stated she couldn't gamble, so why was she gambling now? Why would she after three weeks begin to gamble? Was it because of Catherine? Was it because of Hacker? Or was it just after she realised she needed him as well?

"But I can try. Just give me a chance," Her voice was a plead and through the hot tears which were streaming down her cheeks and landing in a puddle at the bottom of her chin. In this state she was vulnerable, a side to Temperance Brennan you rarely got to see, but Booth was seeing it. Booth was seeing it with his own two eyes, just like he did that night three weeks ago, just outside the Hoover.

"Okay," His voice was barely audible, but she heard. "Okay, I'll give friends with benefits a go."

He never knew he would be the one having to agree, but as his heart clenched once again that night, he couldn't leave her pleading form lying there, sobbing for the rest of the night and days to come. It wasn't in his nature. He suffered from White Knight Syndrome, so he couldn't, he wouldn't.

"Do we need to agree to any terms and conditions?" Booth chuckled at her statement, but dragged her crumbled figure in towards his chest and leant his chin onto the top of her hair.

"I don't think so," He replied to her question, letting her trace a circle around his heart, through his tee-shirt.

"That doesn't seem logical." She paused, lifting her head to meet his eyes in a gaze, "What if we feel the need to release our libidos at work?"

"How about we make a code word?" He suggested, as his hand ran through the waves of her auburn hair, which fell over her bare shoulders and the thick strapped dress she was still wearing from their day at work.

Agreeing, they listed off some words, most of which sounded too scientific for Booth or felt too easy for other people to pick up on for Brennan. They argued over the code word for what turned into a good half an hour, tossing around ideas, arguing and having a genuine good time, forgetting about the emotional hang ups from their arrangement.

"So we're agreed?" Booth whispered into her ear as she clung to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Feeling her nod, Booth swept a final finger through her air. "If we feel the need to, and I'll you your words, 'release our libidos at work' we'll use the word Pie."

"Yes, we need to make sure no one else hears, otherwise they'll all be going to the diner looking for us," Her words were a mumble, but even so, they were surprisingly clear, even for her.

"Okay, if we're around the squints, we'll clear our throats and rub the tip of our nose?" Booth shrugged against his own suggestion, but Brennan cracked a smile and nodded.

"But…" Pausing, Brennan traced a love heart on Booth's tee-shirt, above his heart, "If we're alone like we are now…"

She didn't get time to finish her sentence when Booth's lips were crushed against her own, and his tongue was fighting through her lips to trace the back of her incisors. Pulling back abruptly, Booth guided a single strand of hair away from her face, while her lips popped open into a 'O' shape.

"One thing…" He paused, nipping at her earlobe, "I always drive."

With his statement out in the air, Booth grazed his teeth along her earlobe as she moaned into his touch. Maybe, they would get more out of friends with benefits than they would get out of a relationship. Only time would tell.