He watches her from the balcony overlooking the lab, as always she crouched over her table with her colleagues 'squinting'. He can tell by her student's facial expression that she is telling him something that he would never be able to understand, either that or explaining some strange technique for gathering information from the evidence in front of them.

He's been distancing himself from her lately, he knows it, and he knows that she feels it too. His past and his present have collided in the past few months and he's been trying his hardest to sort his way through the feelings that have resurfaced. It had taken some harsh words from Angela to make him realise that he has dragged her down with him.

First Rebecca and then Cam, she'd turned a blind eye to his indiscretion with the former, but the affair with Cam had actually seemed to affect her. He had tried to ignore it at the time, but it had always been there, in the back of his mind eating away at him. Temperance Brennan was a strong, proud woman but he realised now that he had ignored her ability to feel when he had labelled her.

Angela leans next to him on the balcony looking down at her friends below. "What you doing?"

"Just trying to figure some things out."

"Any luck?"

"Things are becoming a little clearer."

She turns her back to the platform below and leans against the railings. "I'm sorry about earlier… I should have bit my tongue."

He shakes his head "No, you were right. I've been selfish. I never once thought about how my actions might affect her. I guess I never believed that she might..y'know…"

"You can say it Booth. Have feelings for you… I'm not confirming or denying, just think about how you might be a little more discreet, she needs to work here too. It was hard for her, Cam constantly trying to one up her… that was mainly due to Cam's insecurities about your relationship with Bren. She didn't deserve that."

Booth wipes a hand over his face. He nods.

"I really screwed up huh?"

"It's never too late Booth. You just need to figure out what you want, the sooner you do then the sooner you can let her know where she stands. She's my best friend, I don't want to see her get hurt, but at the same time, I don't want you to realise once it's too late that you passed up on something incredible."

"I know." He looks down at the lab again, he watches as she stands from her crouching position and stretches the kinks from her neck. Her eyes drift around the lab, finally catching sight of him and Angela on the balcony. She nods in their direction and flashes him a smile.

Angela waves and pats Booth's shoulder before walking away. Booth smiles back at Brennan and then watches Angela leave his side. He knows that he has a choice to make, he knows that he needs to once and for all sort through these feelings that he has tried for so long to repress. He knows that he and Cam need to have a serious talk.