AN: Okay, yet another Bones one shot that came to me while i was writing another Bones one shot that i still haven't finished that came to me while i was writing my other Bones fic, damnit... i think i need less ideas. Anyway, read, enjoy and leave lots of reviews.

Expectations

"Bones?" Booth called "do you want food yet? Thai or Chinese?"

"Yeah, I'm starving, just order Thai and I'll be out as soon as I finish this chapter" she called back from where she was curled up in her office at home, comfortably on the plush sofa with her laptop nestled on her lap.

"Oh and Booth, don't forget the crispy noodles. Last time you forgot the crispy noodles" she added before turning back to her laptop and continuing with her book.

"I didn't forget the crispy noodles, they didn't have any" Booth muttered picking up his partner's home phone and dialling the number from memory.

Then it hit him, as he was placing the order and was being told that their food would be there in twenty minutes. When had Temperance Brennan become his entire life. If they weren't together at work then they were on the phone or instant messaging, Booth having gotten over his dislike of technology if only to keep in touch with her. After work they'd go to the diner or order in Chinese at the office while they put together their notes and paperwork. On the weekends he would show up at her place early in the morning having left late on Friday night after watching a movie on her widescreen TV, if they didn't have a case. He'd spend the day watching sport or educating his partner in the ways of popular culture, sometimes they'd even cook together in her huge kitchen. Other times like that day they would hardly talk while she worked silently on her novel in her office and he lazed on her couch making sure that she took regular breaks from her writing. On the weekends he had Parker he'd drag her out of her stuffy apartment to go to the park or the zoo, they'd even spent one afternoon wandering around the museum section of the Jeffersonian, she'd stopped protesting months ago that it was his time with his son and she shouldn't intrude.

They were a couple, he realised, or at least they might as well be. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been on a date, unless taking Brennan to the Italian restaurant on Wednesday counted. But he didn't think so. And if Brennan was dating or sleeping with anyone he wasn't sure when because they spent the majority of their waking hours together. In fact it seemed that the only aspect of their relationship that was not couple like was the physical. And damn, he knew he wanted that as well, but he was pretty happy with what he had. He and Brennan spent their days and their nights and their weekends together. They talked, they ate, watched TV and laughed, they had each other and for once the fact that he wasn't having sex wasn't an issue, he had Brennan.

"Oh God" he muttered dropping the phone back into the cradle and pacing the living room. Booth was left pondering the all important question of what to do next. Did he tell Bones? Or keep quiet, hoping that things wouldn't change, because his partner was after all quite unpredictable especially where feelings were concerned.

"Booth?" Brennan asked pausing in the doorway of her office dressed in jeans and a tank top "What are you doing?"

"Um, getting some exercise" Booth replied stopping dead in his tracks at her words.

"I don't believe you Booth, what's going on? Did you order the food?"

"Nothing is going on, the food will be here in about ten minutes" he told her falling onto the sofa where she quickly joined him.

"Booth, just tell me what's going on" she demanded.

Booth sucked in air as she pressed herself a little closer to him "It's just – well doesn't this all seem a little odd to you?" he asked awkwardly gesturing between them.

"What do you mean? Everything is fine between us" her voice cracked slightly and Booth saw her walls going up again.

"Yeah it is Bones, its great" he told her smiling reassuringly "But haven't you noticed what we've become – what we're becoming"

"I don't know what you mean" she told him defensively.

"You do Temperance, you know what I'm talking about. You and I, we're playing house Bones" Booth told her feeling a little angry.

"I don't know what that means" she told him confused, and Booth realised that she really didn't.

"It means Temperance, that you and I are eating together, working together, hanging out together, hell Bones, we're doing everything except sleeping together" he said frustrated resting his head in his hands, hoping that when he removed his hand from his eyes that his partner would still be there because he was pushing the very carefully laid boundaries and waiting for the whole damn castle to come crashing down on him.

Her hand pressed to his forearm and pried his hand from his face "I know Booth" she admitted gently.

"It doesn't bother you?" he asked surprised bolting upright on the couch.

"No. I'm quite happy right now, I like spending time with you" she replied smiling shyly at him.

"Good, I like spending time with you too." Booth took a deep breath before continuing, they'd gone too far to turn back now "But Temperance, I'm wondering where this is going because we're acting a lot like a couple right now... is that what we are? If it is, I'm okay with taking things slow, because we – we have something special" Booth sputtered out awkwardly his hands twisting nervously in his lap.

"I don't know Booth, are we really acting like a couple?" she asked as if considering it for the first time.

"Yeah, we are. We spend all our time together, when was the last time we went an entire day without speaking to each other?" Booth said, realising that it had been months, even on the few days that they hadn't seen each other they had at least spoken "I act like your place is mine and I feel weird about seeing other people, not that I have been, because it would feel weird, like I was betraying you and as far as I know you haven't been seeing anyone either"

Brennan considered Booth's evidence for a moment, even the physical aspect of their relationship had escalated recently. Brennan thought back to the previous weekend when she'd spent the afternoon reading a few anthropological journals while Booth watched the baseball, all the while she lay stretched on her sofa, he head resting comfortably in his lap his fingers twisting in her hair every now and then, his other hand on her shoulder.

"Oh my God... Booth you're right. What does that mean... for us?"

"What do you want it to mean?" he asked ignoring her question.

"I – I'm not sure, I've never felt like this before and I don't know what that means." She told him honestly.

"I know Temperance, I've never felt like this before and I don't want ruin what I think we have, what I think is developing between us, even without our knowledge. I think we have a few options. First off we keep going the way we have been the last few months" Brennan considered this option raising her eyebrows slightly "Secondly, we can go back to the way things used to be, when we just worked on cases together and went to the diner afterwards" he paused to let her consider the second option but it didn't take her long to shake her head in an emphatic no "Okay, third we do the whole dating thing, I take you out to dinner and stuff"

"We already do that Booth, how would that be different?" she asked confused.

"Hmm, I guess it wouldn't really be different. Okay, one more; we decide that we are a couple and add the physical aspect to our relationship as we see fit" he added the last one more cautiously.

"My past relationships were never this complicated" she said buying herself a little time to consider her options.

"Well Bones, this is not a typical relationship, this is all unchartered waters"

"Okay... well I think I've narrowed it down to either option one or four" Brennan told him reasoning out her decision verbally "Option two seems like things would be going backwards and option three sounds very similar to what we're doing now. Option one seems promising, but I'm aware that if we were to do that our biological urges would continue to remain unsatisfied, so logically I believe option four will be most beneficial" she concluded.

"No Bones, no logic, this has nothing to do with logic. Just tell me Temperance, how do you feel about me?"

"Wha – What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you care about me? Do you think about me? Want me to be happy? Think about us as a couple? What would you do if you lost me? Would you be lost? Because Temperance, if I lost you I would lose myself"

"Of course I care about you Booth, and you're my friend so I always want you to be happy. I don't think about what would happen if I lost you, because I already know, I did lose you and Booth, I felt like I was dead when I heard you were dead, but I don't know what that means for us"

Booth smiled, for a genius Temperance Brennan could be quite slow sometimes "What about when you see me with other women? How does that make you feel?"

"I don't like it Booth, none of them are right for you" she whispered.

"Who would be right for me?" he probed.

"I don't know, someone who cares about you, understands your job, who will marry you and give you the kids you so desperately want. God Booth, I'm no better for you than any of those other women." She concluded turning away.

His hand against her cheek forced her to look back at him "Bones, you're wrong, I have a child and as much as I would love another if I can't have a baby with you I don't want one with anyone and I guess Hodgins made me realise awhile ago that marriage isn't all that important. We can't help who we fall in love with and a life with the person you love is worth more than a piece of paper. Temperance, not everything can be boiled down to logic. I love you and you are the only woman I want to spend my life with" Booth said boldly, knowing that he had to tell her everything, that just like gambling he had to throw in all his chips and risk losing it all while he hoped for the best. When he finished talking she was crying a salty tear dropped onto Booth's hand which still rested on her cheek gently caressing her skin.

"If you don't feel the same way" Booth continued "We can forget I said any of this. If you're not sure, I'll wait as long as you need to figure it out. I'm not going anywhere" he reassured "If you feel the same as I do then I want you to know that I won't push you to do anything you're not ready for, we go as slow or as fast as you want, because I don't want to hurt you" He couldn't remember the last time he'd said that much to anyone, opened up that much, but finally there was nothing left he could say, he just had to wait for her to reveal her hand.

Her eyes searched his for a long time and neither of them moved, Booth didn't dare blink, then all of a sudden she launched herself toward him and pressed her lips to his. Her hand rested on his chest, the other on his thigh her tongue forcefully thrusting into his mouth and exploring it eagerly her lips bruising his. His hands rested on her hips as she pressed herself closer to him, before eventually pulling away leaving her hands resting on his chest and thigh, his still on her hips gently massaging her skin where her shirt met her jeans.

"I'm not fragile, you're not going to break me Booth" she whispered her tongue grazing his ear causing him to inhale sharply.

"Does this mean you feel the same way?" he asked breathless one hand trailing up her back.

"Yeah, and I don't want to take things slow" she smirked before taking his bottom lip between her own and pulling herself easily onto his lap and Booth groaned, she never did what he expected.