Title: Left Behind
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters used in this fic. Nor can I stake a claim to Taylor Swift's song, as much as I want to. ;)
Summary: Brennan finally recognizes her own feelings for Booth, but her realization comes too late: he has already moved on. Contains possible SPOILERS for season 6.
A/N: After reading about what is probably going to happen in the next season of Bones (in the first few episodes, at least), I couldn't help writing something about it. I have no idea how this situation is going to play out on the show, but I tried to make this fic more about emotions than small details. Enjoy. Reviews make my day, spread the love. :)

I'm alone, on my own, and that's all I know
I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh but life goes on
I'm just a girl, trying to find a place in this world
~ Taylor Swift, A Place in This World

He calls me from a payphone at the airport; my entire mood lifts as I remember that in less than fifteen hours he will be back home. I am grinning much too widely at the sound of his voice, but I can't help it. Having no contact with Booth whatsoever over the past few months has really taken its toll on me.

I can't wait to see him in person, to catch up and start working together again as a team, but first there is something he has to tell me. And all it takes is one simple sentence for my heart to feel like it is shattering into a million pieces.

"I've met someone, her name is Hannah," Booth tells me.

I nearly drop the phone in surprise, unable to believe what I am hearing. It takes all my efforts to focus on the conversation once more and listen as he tells me about her personality, her sense of adventure, the way they met.

But when I finally hang up the phone, allowing myself to sink, in a near-comatose state, onto my couch, I don't remember a word of our conversation. All I know is that Booth has chosen someone else.

No matter how I try to pretend this doesn't bother me, I am aching inside. The tears come before I can stop them, leaving wet trails down my cheeks.

And in my misery, I finally admit to myself that I love him, that he means more to me than anything else in the world. But I also realize that it is too late now.

I took too long and Booth has finally moved on, leaving me behind.

It isn't until he knocks on my door much, much later, startling me from my sleep on the couch and forcing me to groggily let him in, that I get my first look at her.

She's blonde, not that I am surprised, Booth usually has a soft spot for blondes, yet she has an aura of toughness about her that reminds me of myself, a thought I shed away from immediately.

Shaking her hand, I try to keep the grimace off my face and attempt to smile politely, though I'm not so sure my attempt works.

Then I am wrapped in Booth's arms, enveloped in a hug so intimate that I am surprised Hannah doesn't break us apart immediately. When I realize why, it is only another blow to my dwindling self-esteem; she is so assured of her relationship with Booth that she isn't concerned about his friendship with me at all.

With a pang I remember that's all we are now: friends. I wasn't sure what we used to be, but today we are nothing more, and nothing less, than friends; which is what I once wanted. Of course it is ironic that when I want us to become so much more, Booth could care less.

It seems he has changed me almost as much as I have changed him in our time working together. Some days I look in the mirror and wonder who is staring back at me. Surely I can't be this confident, completely together and un-awkward woman who no longer has trouble interacting with other people.

Yet at the same time, I have taught Booth invaluable information about science and forensic technology. It is not difficult now for me to see which is more important.

And watching Booth take Hannah's hand and sit down, all too at ease in my apartment, I wish I had learned these things long ago and taken advantage of our relationship earlier on.

But as I bid the couple farewell later in the evening, now all I am left with is jealousy and an unbearable feeling of being alone. It is enough to make me wish I'd never started caring about Booth at all. Or at least, enough to make me wish I had stayed in the Maluku Islands a little bit longer.