Two things: One, thank you to ellevee for pointing out that I not only shamelessly plagiarized Alias in my last chapter, but I also shamelessly plagiarized Grey's Anatomy. Apparently, I have no original thoughts. Lol. Two, for those of you who have been reading my fic "First a Dream", I'd just like to say that I'm working on the next chapter and it should be up soon.

Okay, now on to the fluff!

"Seeley?"

Booth glanced up from the morning paper towards Hannah. "Yeah?"

"I…I think we need to talk."

He bristled immediately. She could see him tense visibly as he leaned back in his chair, setting his coffee mug down on the table. "About what?" he asked softly.

"Well, for a long time now, I've been feeling like…" She trailed off, her eyes falling from his face to where his hands were clasped in front of him. She reached out and rested her palm over his interwoven fingers. "I feel like you're conflicted about something."

"I'm not conflicted," he said quickly, a little too quickly.

"Seeley."

He sighed and pulled his hands out from under hers. "Is this about Bones? I told you that nothing is going on between us. Whatever I felt for her…" He shook his head. "It's over. I don't feel anything anymore."

"I think that might be the problem," she told him gently.

"What might be the problem?"

"You don't feel anything anymore."

"Hannah, what are you talking about?"

"I think that maybe…" She paused, hesitant to share her thoughts with him.

"Hannah, what?" he asked, his expression guarded and a little heartbroken.

She reached out and grabbed his hand again. He sighed and looked away from her. "I think that you were in love with Temperance. And I think that she broke your heart. And I think that you needed to be in love with me to prove to yourself that you could be happy without her, but…"

"But what?" he mumbled, still not meeting her eye.

"But I think that in order for you to be in love with me, you needed to become this whole new person, because the person you used to be was all about loving her."

"Hannah…"

She ignored him, forging ahead unsteadily. "But I…I think that by closing yourself off from who you were—who you are—you closed yourself off from the part of you that could love."

"But I'm in love with you," he said and she suddenly realized that he really believed that—he really believed that he was in love with her.

"No you aren't," she said. There was a strange, melancholy confidence about her words. "You love her."

"But, Hannah—"

"Seeley, think about it. Think about her. Am I really the one you love the most in this world?

"I love you," he said softly. He glanced down to where their hands were still clasped together. "I do." He let out a long, shaky breath. When he spoke again, his voice wobbled. "But I love her, too."

"You love her more."

He looked up at her. "Why are you doing this?" he asked. "I would've stayed with you. I would have stayed with you for as long as you would have me."

"Because I saw it, Seeley. I saw your love for her and it…it took my breath away." She smiled at him. "She's my friend, too. How could I deny my friend and the man I love such staggering happiness?"

"You love me?"

She nodded and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his forehead. "I do." She pulled back and smiled. "You're a good man, Seeley Booth."

"And you're a good, kind, beautiful woman," he murmured, pulling her into him for a hug.

As she relaxed into him, felt his arms around her, his warm hands and broad chest, she felt a pang of regret sweep through her, fleeting and soft. But then it was gone and she was okay and happy and…free.

—BB—

"Hannah broke up with me."

The words tumbled from his mouth as soon as she opened the door. She frowned at him and he slumped against the doorjamb, letting out a tired sigh. "She broke up with me," he said again. "I'm…I'm…" He sighed. "I'm sad."

Her frown deepened. She crossed her arms over her chest. "She told me she wouldn't do that," she said, her voice surprisingly hard.

For the first time since showing up at her door, he looked at her face, really looked at it. She was angry, he realized, as he took in her knitted brow, the firm line of her mouth, the cool, blue of her gaze. "Are you…" He trailed off. He was stunned. "Are you…angry?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm very angry."

He was bewildered. "Why?" he asked.

"I told her you would give her your heart and I asked her not to commit to you unless she was just as serious about you." She paused to take a breath and shake her head. "She lied," she declared, indignant and angry and wonderful. "I knew you'd give yourself to her and I knew it'd break your heart if she left." She sighed and reached out. Took his hand and lifted her gaze to his awestruck face. "I didn't want that to happen to you, Booth. I'm sorry it did."

"Bones," he breathed, wanting to laugh and cry all at once. "I…I love you."

Now it was her turn to be stunned. "What?" she whispered.

He moved into her, pulling her from the doorway and into her living room. "I love you," he said again, wrapping her in his arms. "I…love you the most."

"Booth, I…I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," he told her softly. "Just…just be here with me."

She nodded gently and pulled him closer. Slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his warm, firm chest. And as he held her in his arms, smelled her smell, felt her body against him, he felt something shift back into place. It felt like coming home and he suddenly realized what Hannah had meant. Him, who he was, was all about loving Bones. He was good at it and he liked doing it.

He didn't know exactly when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, Bones had become a part of him, a part of him he couldn't live without. He needed her, in all the right ways. "Thanks, Bones," he whispered into her hair.

"For what?" she asked.

"For being patient," he said. "For waiting for me."

"You waited for years, Booth," she said, pulling away so that she could look into his face. "You were so patient with me."

He smiled. "You were worth it."

For one, fleeting moment, he saw regret stirring in her eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by a smile. "So were you."

—BB—

"I missed this," Booth murmured.

She smiled and nodded. "Me too."

They had been sitting on the couch for hours now, talking and laughing and getting reacquainted with what it felt like to be together again, to be them again. They had barely touched after his spontaneous hug by the doorway. They sat on opposite ends of her couch, facing each other, their legs stretched towards each other across the cushions. Every once in a while, he'd rest his hand on her leg, gently stroking his fingers across her ankle. His movements seemed almost unconscious and it suddenly struck her how hard it must've been for him to keep from touching her for all these months.

"Booth?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"You said you were…sad. Before, when you showed up you said…you said you were sad. Do you…" She trailed off. Her gaze was uncertain. "Do you have…regrets?"

He tilted his head to the side, his expression thoughtful. After a few minutes of silence, he set down his beer bottle and scooted towards her on the couch. She watched as he lifted her legs and rested them across his thighs, before slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her onto his lap. She tensed slightly at first, but quickly relaxed in his strong, sure hold. "Yes, Bones," he admitted. He rested his hand on her thigh and lifted his gaze to her face. "I have regrets."

She swallowed. "About…Hannah?"

He shook his head. "About you, Bones."

She nodded. "What kind of regrets?" she asked, not quite sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"I regret not telling you how I felt sooner. I regret all those years I spent denying what I felt about you and all those years I refused to face it." He paused for a second, his grasp tightening around her. She leaned closer, curling into him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. "You said you're biggest regret was turning me down," he continued, his voice soft and low. "Do you know what my biggest regret is?"

"What?" she breathed.

"Not fighting for you," he told her. "You said that you couldn't change. You said you were a scientist and that you didn't have an open heart and I…I just gave up. I told you that I knew, right from the beginning; I told you that I would love you forever and then the next words out of my mouth were 'I have to move on.' That wasn't fair, Bones. You didn't deserve that."

He paused again and turned his lips into her forehead. She sighed and rested her palm on his chest, right over his heart. "You deserve more than that, Bones. You deserve everything. I should've told you that that night instead of giving up. I should've told you that you had changed, that I'd seen you change in front of my eyes, that I'd seen you grow into this kind, empathetic, beautiful person with the biggest, most open heart. I should've told you all those things and I…I hate myself for not saying them. I hate myself for letting you fly away to Indonesia when all I wanted to do was beg you to stay with me."

"Booth…"

"I'm sorry, Bones," he breathed, his voice thick. "I'm so sorry."

"Booth," she said again. "It's okay. It's okay."

"No, Bones, it isn't."

She lifted her head from his chest and put her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to meet her eye. "It is, Booth," she insisted, her voice soft and filled with conviction. "Because we're here now. We made it. That's all that matters."

He still looked doubtful so she leaned down and pressed her lips to his, in a soft, whispering kiss that left tears in his eyes. "We made it," she breathed into his lips. "And I…I love you, Booth."

"You do?"

"Of course, Booth," she whispered fervently. "Of course I do."

"I love you, too, Bones."

"You already told me that," she said.

"I wanted to say it again." He paused. "Is that okay?"

She was quiet, considering. "I guess so," she said slowly, a soft smile spreading across her face. "Actually, I think I…kinda like it."

He grinned. "You do?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm…I'm not scared."

His expression softened. "Don't be scared, Bones. Don't ever be scared because you think I don't love you."

"That's not what scares me, Booth," she told him quietly. "I'm more scared of depending on someone, of needing someone the way I need you. I'm used to being alone."

He smiled sadly. He kissed her lips and her nose. "I need you, too, Bones. And that's okay. It's okay to need someone and it's okay to be scared."

"Really?" she asked, her expression uncertain.

"Of course."

"Thank you, Booth."

"For what?"

"For understanding me. For knowing me." She paused and smiled. "For loving me."

He grinned. "My pleasure, Bones. My pleasure."

Yay! Another happy ending! I love it. Review please!