Disclaimer: Bones is property of FOX, Hart Hanson and Kathy Reichs

Author's note: I suppose Booth confiding in Angela is rather OOC, but if it ever happened, it could perhaps go a little like this…

Timeframe: set sometime after episode 3.10 (The Santa in the Slush)

Confidante

Angela looked wide-eyed at Booth, who was standing in the door opening of her office, nervously hopping from one leg onto the other. She couldn't believe the words she had just heard coming from his mouth. Was this a dream? She pinched herself, her nails digging into her flesh. Ouch. Definitely not a dream.

"Could you repeat that?"

Booth walked further into Angela's office, closing the door behind him. It would be better to have this conversation in private, he supposed. Although, at this point he didn't care who overheard. Well, save for one specific person. He walked up to Angela's desk and took a deep breath before repeating his earlier confession. "I admit it. You've been right all this time. I love Bones. Am in love with her. And, frankly, it's driving me insane. You have to help me."

Angela gulped. She had never expected the agent to be so forthright with her. She had been waiting for this moment for so long, almost to the point she was about to give up her hopes of it ever happening, but now that it finally had arrived, she actually felt shivers running up and down her spine. It was overwhelming. Overwhelming because it meant the two partners were one giant step closer to getting together romantically. Overwhelming because she knew how happy he would make her best friend and how much she needed that. Overwhelming because Booth was here to confide in her and ask for help. She was honored to be his confidante. "What can I do?"

"I need to know how she feels about me," Booth replied as he sat down across from the artist. "And I figured you know her best."

"Well, that one's easy," Angela told him, a bright smile on her face. "She's totally into you, too."

"That's what you think."

"It's what I know."

"But she's never actually told you that, right?"

"Not in that many words, no. But I'm her best friend. I can tell. I minored in psychology, so I'm pretty good at it."

"As am I and I'm not sure."

"Well, you're biased," Angela told him matter-of-factly.

"Biased?"

"Yes, you only want to believe you're not sure, because you're afraid. Afraid she'll reject you. But she won't. If you'd look at it objectively, you'd see the same thing."

"And you want me to believe you're objective here?"

Angela bit her lip. He did have a point. Perhaps she was rooting for them to get together more than was healthy. But she knew she was right. Their feelings for each other were too obvious to think otherwise. "Maybe not as much as I should be. But it's easy to see you two are so much more than partners. Everyone does. Well, except the two of you. Which, you know, makes it very frustrating for all of us."

"You don't think I'm frustrated?"

"Well, now that you've finally admitted your feelings for her, I can understand how you could be frustrated, too. But again, there's no reason for you to be. She likes you as much as you like her. Trust me. Really, Booth, trust me on this. I never believed Wyatt. She stayed because of you. It had nothing to do with her being unable to lead a purposeless life. That's bull. He just needed the two of you to get back into the field."

The corners of his mouth kicked up in a smile. "Really?"

"Yes, Booth. She stayed because of you."

"So, what do I do?" Booth asked, still quite astonished with himself that he was actually putting his love life in Angela's hands. He normally kept his feelings bottled up inside, but over time he had gotten so frustrated—in more ways than one—that he hadn't seen any other option but to talk to Angela about it. Drastic measures, but he had to do something.

"God, Booth. What are you, twelve?" she laughed. "How about act on it? Go to her office, tell her, kiss her… Better yet, take each other's clothes off and do it right against the wall. Make us all happy."

"Right."

Angela smiled. "Seriously."

He could tell she wasn't actually kidding. "Okay, how about just the first two things…"

"Tell her and kiss her? Do it," she encouraged.

"Going to her office and tell her, were the first two."

"How about going to her office and tell her with a kiss?" Angela suggested and saw that a grin was appearing on his face. "Ah, I give good advice, don't I?"

"The grin? Nah, I was just thinking about something that happened a while ago..."

"Well, do tell," she pressed. That grin revealed it had to be something good.

"Caroline Julian… she has a puckish side," Booth started, deciding that while he was going to tell her, he was going to draw it out a little bit longer just to tease her. Somehow, he felt she deserved that.

"She does, huh? So, what does that mean?"

"It means she blackmailed Bones into kissing me under the mistletoe."

Angela squealed. Again, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. And to think she was going to call in sick this morning. She was glad she was being rewarded for bringing tissues for her cold, instead of staying in bed. "Oh my God, how was it?"

"I got her gum," Booth smirked.

"Ah, so there had to be tongue…" Angela exclaimed. Her morning was only getting better. "So, what exactly are you doing here? What's the problem? You guys kissed already. I don't see why you'd need me."

"It only happened because Caroline made us. And she was standing right there, watching us. I don't think it meant anything… to Bones, I mean."

"Well, there was tongue, so I think it did. Unless that was part of the deal?"

"I don't think it was."

"So, there's your answer."

Booth nodded, although he still looked uncertain and Angela wondered what more proof he needed, what more she could give the man to reassure him.

"Look Booth, you just told me Caroline blackmailed her. Blackmail means there was a choice of some sort involved. You either give in or you don't. I understand that not giving in isn't always easy, but it's still a choice. She chose to kiss you in order to get what she wanted from Caroline," Angela started, but then frowned as realization dawned on her. Blackmail typically contained some type of exchange. She still had no idea what the kiss had accomplished. "What did she actually get by kissing you?"

"Christmas with her family."

Angela raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. "Okay, that's it."

"What?"

"Christmas with her family?"

"Yes. Caroline would arrange for a trailer, you know, the ones that are used for conjugal visits, so she could make Christmas for her family. As the prosecutor in charge of her father's case, Caroline had to sign for it and because she has a puckish side, she decided she wanted to see us kiss under some mistletoe."

"Are you actually hearing what you're saying?" Angela asked, but continued when Booth stared at her blankly. She guessed not. "She kissed you in order for her family to be able to celebrate Christmas. Christmas, Booth. You know she dislikes the holiday. She goes to Peru every year to escape from it. Obviously, the choice wasn't very difficult. If she even had the slightest apprehension about kissing you, she wouldn't have done it. Christmas is not that important to her. But she went ahead and did it anyway. I think that should tell you something."

"She didn't go."

"Huh?"

"She stayed and celebrated Christmas with her family. Actually, they weren't allowed to have a Christmas tree in the trailer, so Parker and I brought them one. We put it outside, in the snow, and decorated it. They could see it when they looked out of the window. Plus we hooked it up to the car, so it would actually be lit."

Angela smiled. "That's so sweet."

"She said she loved it."

"Well, I'm convinced."

"I thought you already were."

"Even more convinced," Angela told Booth, who nodded pensively. "Please just find her and plant one on her. She'll kiss you back. No, she'll love you back. I promise."

"Okay."

"Yes?"

Booth smiled. "Yes."

"Oh, I'm so excited… for you."

"Thanks, Angela. For everything."

"No problem. Just go and kiss the girl already."

Without another word, Booth left her office. As soon as he was out of sight, Angela leaned back in her chair and triumphantly thrust her fist up in the air. "Yes, finally!"

She was so happy for her best friend.

And for Booth.

And, admittedly, a little bit for herself as well.

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