Hi! So the hiatus is killing me, and I have finally gotten back some 'Bones' inspiration, so here is the beginning of a short piece I am writing. It takes place after 'The Blackout in the Blizzard', and is just my wishful thinking. It will probably be only four or five chapters long, so I hope to write the rest soon. Please let me know what you think, feedback is always wonderful!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.


He had given it a month, which meant it was almost two months since his break-up.

Thirty days, since his partner and himself had admitted to wanting more between them. Unfortunately, like always when it came to them, the timing was just not right. He wished their conversation had occurred a year earlier, but as usual their personal affairs were never simple. After all, to have last month's conversation take place at all was something he had all but given up on, so he definitely wasn't going to jinx it.

She always took his lead when it came to matters of the heart and anything regarding human emotion, so he wasn't surprised when he hadn't heard anything from her on the subject since that night. While she usually called it an 'old-fashioned' and archaic ritual, she was waiting for him to make the first move; at least he hoped that was the case.

He was almost certain that the time was now.

He felt he had given her and himself sufficient time to deal with recent events. While many would probably speculate that he was moving on too quickly, he knew that the time was finally perfect. And anyone who thought that obviously didn't know the two of them well enough. Hannah was gone; he accepted that. He always knew in the back of his mind that it wasn't going to last forever, regardless of how much he tried to convince himself of that. In the last six weeks he had evaluated his whole relationship with the reporter. He had cared for her deeply, possibly loved on some level, but it was definitely not enough. He had been telling himself that she wasn't a 'consolation prize', which he was still adamant she hadn't been. However, he now recognised how much turmoil was the result of their relationship, and was now seeing that he probably misread love as lust and convenience.

He had his mind made up, he was ready. And he was definitely going to make that known to her.

...

They were driving back from a crime scene, a body found near a river, almost certainly a suicide, just needed a formal examination to confirm.

This was the first call-out they had gotten in weeks, so it was one of the first times the partners had seen each other since the day of the blizzard. She looked over at her partner, looking more content than he had in months. She just hoped it would last. He had been distant lately, more so because there were no cases, but he also hadn't enforced his 'partner-ly' protectiveness. She wasn't surprised by this though; they hadn't had that sort of contact in months, so she had gotten used to seeing him sporadically,

She noticed a change in his face, like he was deep in thought, something she rarely witnessed from him.

She watched as his brow lines creased and his grip tightened on the wheel. He was either nervous or something was troubling him, she presumed it was the latter. He avoided looking in her direction, looking at her would throw his whole thought process out the window, and to make the decision he was deliberating, he couldn't be influenced by her. She looked back out the front window, which was when he took his chance to glance at her. As soon as his eyes fell on her, he knew he was making the right decision.

Her hand was resting on her leg, while she was still distracted by the happenings outside the car; he reached over and gently took her hand. As he suspected her head whipped back to him almost instantly. The look on her face was questioning, all he gave in response was a slight smile and a small nod. After a few moments she allowed their fingers to interlace and she gripped his hand as tight as she could.

Finally they were both ready and willing to take the plunge.