"I'm just mad. I am just really mad. At all of you."

His words stung in a way that very few people's could, and she could practically feel the shield he was building around himself. For all his talk, he had his walls too, and they were somehow even harder to break than hers. He hid behind his lion heart, guarded his inner pain by flinging love at any who would take it. What he didn't understand was that he never gave them enough time to truly accept it, and to know what it meant. The fierce anger in his eyes was burning through her defenses, and she couldn't sit here and take this.

"Booth." She interrupted him. He kept talking.

"Booth." She said it louder this time, still no response.

"Booth!" She yelled at him, and finally the stream of intentionally hurtful statements came to a jarring halt.

"I understand you are upset. That is perfectly reasonable. But you DO NOT get to chastise and hurt me for what Hannah did tonight. I am here to support you, like you have done so many times for me over these years, but I am not your punching bag."

"God you just don't get it." His tone was condescending, and she found that anger was beginning to build inside her at his rude behavior.

"It's not just her, Bones. It's not just Hannah." He spat her name. "It's all of you. All of you who just send me away when you've got what you wanted."

"Oh don't you dare Booth. That is not what happened with us and you know it."

"ISN'T IT THOUGH?" His voice was drawing attention at nearby tables. "I wanted a relationship with you. I really did. And you turned me down. You turned me down and ran all the way to fucking Maluku Bones! That doesn't even sound like a real place!"

Now her anger was boiling over.

"YES, YOU KNOW WHAT I DID RUN! So did you, and this is in no way fair. I talked to Cam you know. When we got back. I asked her some questions, did my scientific study. MONTHS SEELEY. YOU HAD FEELINGS FOR ME FOR MONTHS BEFORE YOU TOLD ME. EVER SINCE THAT DAMN COMA. You went back and forth, made sure you were certain, decided what to do, weighed all the pros and cons. So what did you do? YOU FLUNG IT AT ME. YOU GAVE ME NO TIME TO PROCESS ANYTHING YOU WERE SAYING. I ran to Maluku alright, I ran as fast as I could, because you love people so much Booth. You love them with such a ferocity, and in those few seconds you gave me to decide, I couldn't take it all in. I panicked Booth, and I did what I thought would protect our friendship. But obviously, I was wrong, because this is NOT how friends treat one and other."

She had tears in her eyes by this time, and his face had slowly fallen from its steely anger to a muddled compilation of guilt and despair. He reached out his hand to her, but she flinched away.

"Bones…" he almost whispers, and she finally looks up at him.

"I'm so sorry Bones. For everything. I really am. I didn't mean it."

"You didn't mean what, the accusations or the love?" She punctuated the statement with a sniffle.

"The accusations. Bones I will always love you. I just…"

"You don't know what happens next. You need time. I understand that."

"I guess you would." He was just looking downtrodden now, and she was starting to feel just a little guilty, but she in no way regretted what she'd said. He'd needed to hear it, and she'd needed to let it out. She smiled sadly at his statement.

"This time though Seeley, I'm not going to run, and you better not either. We're partners, and whatever else we become or don't, we will always be that."

He nodded at her like a child who had just been scolded. She reached out her hand and took his under the bar, and she could feel him clinging to her like a lifeline.

"I really do love you Bones."

"I know." And she did. "And I love you too, but now isn't our time yet. We'll get there. But you can't push me away like you have been."

He laughed a little and said,

"I feel our roles have been reversed here. When did you get so good at reading people?"

"Not people, Booth." She replied, looking him straight in the eye. "Just you."