A/N: This was written at...4:11 in the morning, and not beta'd. But please read, anyway. The slight idea of this story is from Crossing Jordan's "Don't Leave Me This Way" which has an alternate title of "It Had to Be You." That was the only reason this fic is named this, well, what it is. Enjoy. Oh, and READ AND REVIEW. Thanks. :)
He didn't know what he was doing. Still in his jeans, not his tux, he picked up his keys and headed for the sanctuary.
They were all there. Zach, Angela, Jack, Camille, all of them. Even Gordon Gordon was sitting in the front row, next to Caroline Julian and her husband. Next to Cullen, his wife, and Amy.
Melissa's mother, surrounded by her father, brother, and a few others he couldn't place, asked him why he wasn't wearing his expensive tuxedo. Mark, her brother, even tried to joke about it.
He didn't laugh. In fact, he didn't even hear it as he made his way to the center of the busy aisle. Clearing his throat, he tried for the attention of the crowd, which wasn't hard. "I'm sorry to bother you," Booth began, attempting to word his sentences carefully, "but I need to say something."
Whispers immediately surrounded him, one after the other, speculating. Someone pulled Melissa into the room, informing her that Seeley had something to say. Instead of rushing to him, she stayed by the doors, her hands clasped together in front of her.
"This is not Melissa's fault, it's got nothing do to with her. Believe me, it doesn't." He took a heavy breath, scanning the crowd for his partner. She wasn't there. "But, some things have come up. I'm so sorry, Melissa, I really am. I'm sorry for this. But, I can't get married today."
He suddenly found Melissa at his side, looking up at him. "Seeley," she began, not knowing what to say, "it's okay. We can reschedule, it's no problem. I mean, there's guests here from as far as Italy, but they won't mind." The whispers began again, and he took Melissa's hands in his. "We can reschedule."
"Melissa, I'm so sorry." He took a deep breath, "But I just can't get married. I can't get married to you today, or tomorrow. I just," He couldn't think of what to say, "I'm a little messed up, I can't marry you. I'm so sorry." Softly, he kissed her on the cheek.
He felt her hands jerk away from his, and Melissa rushing to her parents behind him. "I'm so sorry." Booth closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Opening them again, he headed for the exit. Headed for the Jeffersonian.
He fumbled furiously to turn his keycard to the right direction, and he wondered why he was even doing this. Oh, yeah, because he dumped his fiance at the altar because of something she said. Something she did. "Bones!" He yelled, the open space of the lab creating an echo. Finally getting the card facing the right direction, he slid it through. He didn't even wait for the red light to turn on before he ran passed the security checkpoint, towards her office.
When he stumbled his way in, shoving the glass doors open, she jumped. "Bones." Concern, anger, disappointment, they all crossed his voice. "Why aren't you at my wedding?" It was accusatory, more so, than a question, but he wanted an answer anyway.
Bones placed her hands firmly on her desk, sighing. They had already gone through this.
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This was her third, no fourth beer. She had some other, stronger drinks, but found the Heineken in front of her to do the job just as well, with perhaps a less intense hangover in the morning. The music was swaying, Melissa and Booth had hired a live band. They were playing some jazz song, and she was more or less enjoying the saxophonist's way of playing. His talent.
Angela and Jack, along with Camille and Zach, had left for the dance floor some hour and a half ago, and Brennan was enjoying her little stay, observing, from the darkened corner bar stool. She could drown in misery, or, perhaps, another Heineken.
She was about to do just that when Booth plopped himself down next to her, smiling. "So, Bones, why so down?" As if she needed to explain. Being at a wedding, even if this was just the party, especially Booth's wedding, without a date, didn't make Brennan very happy.
Her reply was a glare, and then, "Why aren't you with Melissa?"
"Cause. I wanted to talk to you." He smiled boyishly, trying to see if she would believe it. When he realized she didn't, "She wants to dance with her dad and brother."
They shared a moment of awkward silence. "Excuse me." A drunk off his ass Zach stood on a table opposite the room, clinking a spoon against his martini glass. "Love is like..." He faltered and stumbled over his words. They couldn't hear anything from where they were at, except the occasional "love," which Zach decided to say quite louder than the rest of his speech. When he was done, the only one clapping was Hodgins, who was quickly stopped by an embarrassed looking Angela.
"I liked you." She blurted. Booth had to rethink what he heard. "A lot. I think I love you." Great. Not only was she to have a killer hangover in the morning, she just professed her 'love' to Booth, the groom, four days before his wedding.
Taking a deep sigh, he said, "I think I did too. But now's not the time to talk about that." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Melissa waving to him from the dance floor. "Listen, Temperance, I've got to go. I'm sorry." He got up and left.
"I'm going to need something way stronger than beer, now."
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Booth repeated himself, "Why aren't you at my wedding?"
"I-I couldn't Booth. It hurt too much. I just couldn't." After a second, the realization dawned on her. He wasn't there either, he was at the lab. Wearing jeans and a tee shirt no less, and his wedding was supposed to start--six minutes ago. "Why aren't you at your wedding?"
"I-I just couldn't. Like you said, it hurt too much. It wasn't what I was supposed to do." His anger had subsided, and he couldn't help but try to decipher the look on her face.
"How was it something you aren't supposed to do, if-"
"She's not the one I'm after." He said seriously, the corners of his lips rising only slightly. Just as she was about to ask who, he continued. "She's not, well, you."
"Booth." She sighed, standing close to him. "We can't. We're work partners. It would jeopardize our safety." This made him chuckle.
"I don't think you realize, Bones, that if any emotional thing was going to jeopardize us, it would have already. Believe me." He put his hand on her shoulder, looking at her sincerely.
"But Booth," She wanted to protest. "I don't think I'm ready."
"I'm not either, Bones, I'm not. But that's okay, because we have the rest of our lives to get ready. I'll be waiting for you. You'll wait for me too, right?" She nodded. "Good." He smiled. "That's good, Bones."
"If we're going to have this work," she said, a smile toying at her lips, "you're going to have to stop calling me Bones."
His eyes glimmered, "Okay, sugar pie."
The look on her face was priceless. "You can call me Bones."
They turned to leave, "Oh no, no, no. I like Sugar Pie better."
"I don't. My name is Bones."
"My Bones?"
Rolling her eyes, "Your Bones."
Pushing the doors open to face the sunny day, "That's my girl."
A/N: So, how was it? Good, for four in the morning? I hope so. Just so you know, I was a little iffy on how this ended, but I couldn't think of a better way, so, voila. Hope you enjoyed. Please review!! If you've written a Bones fanfic, I'll be sure to stop by and review myself:) lot's of love, Kata/ Bec