A/N: One more JP fic started. Woo! This one is for Sunsetdreamer, who wanted (surprise, surprise) hockey smut. And who am I to deny her the very thing that first bound this friendship together? Especially when she's letting me sleep on her floor this entire week. This takes place directly after the Goop on the Girl in season five. Per usual, I add the caveat that I am an American who watches baseball.

OOOOO

"Last one." Brennan said as she signed her file and set it down.

"So we're done?" Booth said, packing up his half of the files before Brennan could even answer.

"Yes." She said, watching him hurry. "Where are you off to?"

"Rebecca is going to be working on Saturday so I'm taking Parker skating." Brennan flashed him a knowing grin. Only Parker could elicit such a reaction from him.

"I'm sure he will enjoy that. Tell him hi for me." She said as she started cleaning up her own desk. Booth paused.

"You should come with us." He suggested.

"No." She shrugged off his offer without stopping to consider it. "It's your time with Parker."

"And Parker loves you." He argued. "You haven't hung out with us since your pool closed for the season. He would love it. Plus, I know you have the skates because we spent all that time last winter standing in the aisle staring at every, single, option before you finally picked them out."

"You didn't have to come with me!" She defended herself.

"When was the last time you wore those fancy skates, huh?" Brennan sighed. "Mmhm. I'll tell you what: I will bring the hockey sticks if you bring the hot chocolate." He offered. "I know an eight year old boy who will be ecstatic to spend some time with his favorite scientist." He saw her wavering and that last compliment sealed the deal.

"Okay." She relented with a charmed over smile as Booth clapped his hands together in victory. "But I have some things I need to take care of first. Text me and I will meet you out there. With the hot chocolate." She added.

"Deal." He grinned. "See you tomorrow."

OOOOO

When Brennan showed up at the lake that afternoon, Booth and Parker were already in the middle of a heated hockey scrimmage. Despite playing hard, Booth managed to catch Brennan coming down the hill out of the corner of his eye and he turned to wave, allowing his son to score a goal on the sly.

"Yes!" Parker cried as he skated around his father with his arms thrust victoriously in the air.

"Hey. Not fair." Booth pouted, but his smile of pride won out as they made their way over to greet Brennan.

"That's what you get for being distracted by hot chocolate." Brennan teased him.

It has nothing to do with the hot chocolate, Booth thought to himself as he looked her over.

"Congratulations Parker." She smiled as she doled out the first cup to him.

"Ooh, thanks Bones!" Parker said as he greedily sucked down the beverage.

"Yeah. Thanks, Bones." Booth agreed a bit more sarcastically as he took his cup from her as well. She heard the tone and rolled her eyes at him.

"So how is it going so far?" She asked.

"Good." Parker said. "We brought you a stick. Do you want to be on my team?"

"I'm afraid I'm not very good." She warned.

"That's okay. I'm winning anyway." He said with a shrug. "This way you can replace me when I have to leave." Brennan automatically glanced at Booth for his reaction to those words but he covered his feelings on the subject well.

"Parker's got a date." Booth teased his son with a nudge.

"It's not a date!" The boy protested. "I have to go to Kelly Thompson's birthday party." He explained.

"Well then," Brennan said, setting down her hot chocolate with determination, "we better hurry up and win while we still have the chance."

OOOOO

An hour later, Parker was headed back into the city with Rebecca for his birthday party and Brennan and Booth were sitting on the picnic bench laughing about the afternoon.

"I still cannot believe you scored that goal." Booth said from his position next to her on the bench.

"Neither can I." She agreed with a laugh. "It was fun."

"Yeah, it was." He said. "Hey, we still have some time before it gets dark. Want to take one more lap?" He asked.

"Sure." She smiled. Booth took her hand and pulled her out onto the ice. Brennan shrieked as she unsteadily slid out onto the ice and she clasped onto his hand tighter for security. "I must say, I am glad that you are so adept at this. I still need more practice." Booth chuckled at her humble statement.

"Then you'll just have to come out here with us again." He said. "You'll be showing me up in no time, I'm sure."

"I would like that." Brennan smiled. Booth felt his heart palpitate at her words. "I enjoy being out here with you."

"Me too, Bones." He took a deep breath to calm his racing pulse. There was something about skating with her that affected him more than it should. She just looked so cute bundled up in her hat and gloves, her cheeks rosy from the sting of cool air and laughing at herself. She was just too much to deny. The thought scared him and he turned away from her to clear his head. It was getting dark faster than he thought. "We should probably get going. It's going to be dark soon." Brennan instinctively looked towards the west and nodded. "Here, let me help." He offered her both his hands and started skating backwards towards the bank. She laughed as he pulled her along for the ride. He slid to a stop at the embankment but she didn't, her momentum carrying her directly into his chest with a soft thud.

"Oof." She mumbled as she held onto his biceps to keep from falling down.

"Whoa, easy." He said, holding her waist firmly. She looked up into his eyes and Booth saw something there that he was sure was reflected in his own eyes. The air crackled with the electricity from the gaze. It was yet another fork in the road: a stunning moment where, if they were two other people, he could sweep her off her skates and carry her off into the sunset. But Booth knew better and inertly resisted the draw towards her. He just had to wait it out. The moments never lasted long.

They couldn't.

Yet Brennan didn't seem to feel the same way. She was leaning dangerously close to him and he watched as her gaze flicked down to his mouth before she pressed forward and claimed his lips with her own. Booth froze, unable to believe her boldness, but soon was lost in her warm, soft taste. He let it go on longer than he should have, but somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that this would end and when it did, he would have to pretend that it had never happened, just like all the other moments that came before. When he finally pulled away, he looked down at her still closed eyes and he knew that she was memorizing it too.

"What was that?" He asked hoarsely.

"I kissed you." She replied, her low whisper making his eyes nearly close in desire.

"I know, but why?" At his question, her confidence completely disappeared and was replaced with a look of confused panic. She had obviously thought that he wanted this too. She wasn't wrong.

"I'm sorry. It just felt like…" She stopped.

"Like I wanted you to kiss me?" He offered. She nodded, too stunned by his reaction to speak. "I did. I mean, I do but…" He stopped.

"We can't." She said simply as she looked down at her skates. "Let me guess: the line?" She sighed, clearly disappointed as she sat down and began putting on her boots. He nodded.

"People would get hurt. We would get hurt." Booth said, knowing it was true as he sat down beside her.

"You would never hurt me." She scoffed defiantly.

"Not on purpose." He agreed conditionally. "But we both know how different we are. The wrong words during a fight or, or, the wrong bad guy finds out about us, and we've lost our job, partner, best friend…" He heard how flimsy his own excuses sounded, but his mouth couldn't stop. For some reason, he had to make them. He wished he had her brain in times like these. He watched as she stood up.

"You're right. We have a lot to lose." She agreed. "But our relationship has changed, Booth and we both know it. I'm tired of pretending that it hasn't just because someone might get hurt." She said. He remained silent, unable to argue but not wanting to concede. "When you're tired too, well, you know where find me." She finished as he watched her climb the hill to her car.

OOOOO

"Oh my God." Angela said yet again, still unable to wrap her mind around Brennan's actions the night before.

"You've said that twice."

"And I meant it twice." She said. "So…what does this mean?"

"I don't know. I just know that I can't keep doing this anymore. I feel like I'm lying all the time." She explained. "That's not who I am."

"Well, Booth is a smart guy. He'll make the right decision."

"And what would that be?" Brennan asked. Angela gave her a pointed look.

"Don't do that. You finally made a move. Stand by it!" She encouraged.

"I'm just saying that if Booth 'stands by' his belief that we would never work as a couple, I couldn't blame him."

"Well, I would." Angela said seriously. Brennan couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's face. "So I suppose this means you won't be going to the big hockey game with us this afternoon?" Brennan sighed.

"I already told Wendell and Booth that I would be there. Besides, he'll be on the ice, so it's not like I have to speak to him." She justified as she straightened her napkin.

"Avoiding him without avoiding him. The student has become the teacher." Angela said proudly.

Brennan simply rolled her eyes and took another sip of her coffee.

OOOOO

As Booth took the ice, he was nervous, and very little of it had to do with the intramural hockey championship he was about to play in. He had no idea if Brennan was going to show up or not and he still hadn't come to a decision about what yesterday meant in the grand scheme of things. If she did show up, what did that mean? Or worse, what did it mean if she didn't? He shook his head clear of the racing thoughts and tried to focus on the game. He started taking a lap around the rink to ease the tension in his limbs when Wendell skated up to him.

"Looks like the Squint Squad is in full force today." He said with a smile. "We've got our very own section of fans." Booth glanced towards the familiar section of the rink where the Jeffersonian crew always sat. Cam, Sweets, and Angela waved. He waved back but noticed that Brennan was nowhere to be found.

"No Bones?" He asked.

"Haven't seen her yet." Wendell said before looking at his face. "Don't worry. She'll be here." He added with a playful slap to Booth's shoulder.

I wouldn't count on it, he thought.

OOOOO

After the first period ended, Booth finally got the courage to glance over and see if Brennan had shown up. She was sitting there alright, looking just as adorable as the day before in her hat and scarf. She gave him a small wave and went back to chatting with Angela like absolutely nothing had changed between them. He grabbed his water and sat down on the bench. He felt better knowing that she was still around but it felt wrong somehow.

He continued throughout the rest of the game plagued by the knowledge that something was amiss. Every once in a while, he would glance over and she would smile. He heard her cheering his name mid-play, just as she always did, but still, the feeling lingered. His gut was trying to tell him something and it wasn't being specific. As the last whistle blew and the rest of his team celebrated their win, he finally understood what was wrong.

Nothing had changed.

And that was the problem.

Wasn't this the moment that he had been waiting months for? He had spent the better part of the past year fumbling over his I love yous and trying to play it cool but inside, his heart had been rioting for her attention. And yet for some reason, when she had stood in front of him yesterday and told him that she wanted more too, he had balked.

"Congrats, Booth." He heard from behind him and he waved and gave a random teammate a slap on the arm as he skated his way over to her as quickly as he could.

"Bones!" He called out, wanting her to stop heading for the nearest exit. Hodgins heard him and grabbed her arm on his behalf. He pointed down towards the ice and Brennan turned around. Booth waved her towards the partition. She told the group to go on without her and then started making her way down the steps towards the ice. "We need to talk." He informed her.

"Now? Don't you have a team party or something to attend?" She asked.

"Nah, I'm… tired." He threw the code word out with a small smile. She went so still, he could have sworn that time stopped. When she came to her senses, she looked around to see who had heard his statement before turning her attention back to him. "I think I'm just gonna go home." He said pointedly. "Meet me there in…40 minutes?" He requested. She hesitated, but nodded once. "I'll see you soon." He smiled as he skated off, letting himself take one more glance back at the woman still standing where he had left her.