"Go to hell Seeley Booth! I hope you die and go to hell!" A very pissed off Hannah Burley was storming out of her boyfriends office after what one could only assume was a very heated argument. Their relationship had been growing more and more apart the longer she lived with him. Thy had been arguing over every little thing but especially over the amount of hours he spent with his so called "partner."Hannah wasn't stupid. She could see that there was something else there, but despite her best efforts, the two of them had yet to divulge anything about what happened between them in the past, and more importantly what could be going on between them in the present. As she rounded the corner, though, the other half of her frustration was standing there, and had overheard the final words of their argument.
"Don't you dare say that again" Brennan was trying to maintain her calm outward appearance but on the inside her anger was threatening to boil over at Hannah's last words. "You weren't there, last time. You would never say that if you had been there!" She could feel the tears springing to her eyes as her voice faltered slightly. "You weren't there so you could never know what it is like to have him actually die, but I was! For two weeks I thought he was dead, so until you know how much it hurts, you do not get to wish that fate upon anyone, do you hear me?"
Booth had definitely heard her. "Bones!" He wasn't surprised to see her, but her words sure as hell had shocked him. "Hey Bones" He said calmly as he grabbed her shoulders to lead her back to his office and away from Hannah. After the fight they'd just had the last thing he needed was Bones fanning the flames. "come on Bones, lets go back to my office."
Hannah wasn't quite done with her fight yet though, her reporter curiosity had been peeked and she wasn't giving up that easily. "What the hell is she talking about Seeley?"
"Hannah not now" He started to guide Brennan back down the hall, his hand naturally falling to its rightful place at the small of her back, which only flared Hannah's temper again.
"Oh sure, that's right, walk away Booth. Its what you're good at. Just take her side and ignore everything else to take care of her. This is exactly what I was talking about Seeley, you place her needs above everyone elses and I've dealt with it long enough. You know what, she's a big girl she can take care of herself. You want to know why we have been fighting so much, its because of this right here, right now. You say there isn't anything going on between you, and maybe there isn't anything physical but you are still cheating on me with your heart. I'm sorry Seeley but I want the whole package. I didn't quit my job and move half way across the world to have a boy toy, I thought we had a good thing but I can see now that its only a fraction of what you are and, call me greedy, but I want the whole thing! I can't do this anymore I'm sorry, but if you leave with her right now, then I won't be there tonight when you get home."
Booth nodded slowly, taking in everything she had just said. She was right, he had never truly given up on the idea of Bones, regardless of how much he wanted to move on, she was still his standard. The ultimatum she had presented him was not what he wanted, but there was really no other answer to give. "I'm sorry Hannah, but I'm with Bones, all the way. We have a history, and yes, its messy and might not make sense to anyone else, but I have promised her on more than one occasion, that I'm here for her, and that I will always be here for her. It is true that she has a piece of my heart, she always will, I'm sorry if you can't deal with that."
With huff, Hannah stormed off, that was not how she wanted this to go, but really she didn't expect anything different.
Brennan had been standing there speechless listening to the whole thing. Slowly, she turned and looked up at Booth, the man that had saved her life more than once and had taken a bullet for her. The man that insisted he need to move on. The man that just admitted he still loved her. Love, a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person, something that, while it may be triggered by the release of chemicals in the brain, those chemicals were ultimately pumped through the bloodstream by the circulatory system, the heart. She had a piece of his heart, metaphorically speaking, and even though she had refused it, he still held it, like a gift, the ultimate gift, just waiting to be given. She was tired of waiting. The tears that had threatened to spill over at the thought of him dying were back. Only now they were brought on by happiness, she finally realized she not only held a piece of his heart, but he a piece of hers. They were forever intertwined, and forever was a whole lot longer than 30 or 40 or 50 years. She could do this. Her mind worked at an amazing speed. Her train of thought, that for most people would take hours, days or even years, to form happened for her in a matter of seconds. As she stood there, staring into the warm reassuring brown eyes of her partner, she came to her conclusion and she needed to tell him.
"Bones you ok?" He saw the tears, but didn't know the cause.
"Yes, Booth, I am. I'm perfect, actually." She smiled, and with her eyes shining with unshed tears she took his hand and whispered a truth she had never told anyone in the romantic sense "I love you."