Title: Shouldn't, Don't
Summary: "A while back, I told Bones that we were Scully and Mulder, and they're the partners-to-lovers relationship..." Booth's POV.
Rating: G
Pairings/Characters: Booth/Brennan, implied Brennan/Sully only because it's canon
Series: not really part of a series, but companion to my award-winning (gosh, I LOVE the way that sounds) "Can't Don't"
Length: 500 words
Genres: introspective, angst, romance
A/N: Like I said, this is a companion piece to my award-winning "Can't, Don't". However, it can be read as a stand-alone. Someone just mentioned on "Can't, Don't" that I should do a similar piece from Booth's POV. So I did. Took me a while to perfect it, but I did. Also, this is set right after 2x14, so spoilers for that.

Shouldn't, Don't

I can't believe that, of all things she could've possibly shared, Bones told me about her and Sully. Even more than that, I can't believe the surge of jealousy that rose up in me when she did.

I shouldn't be jealous of Sully. And I shouldn't be jealous that he slept with Bones.

I don't have any reason to be.

Like Sully said in my office, the only reason I should be jealous of him was if I had the hots for Bones, my partner. If I liked her as more than a partner. Which I don't. Really. I don't. And I can't believe that I do.

We're friends, nothing more. Any other relationship would risk our friendship, which neither of us would ever want to do. And I've learned the hard way about having relationships with people you work with. It's not a smart thing to do. Ever.

And we're partners. We can't put that sort of risk on our work relationship.

But yet, when I say that, something comes to mind.

A while back, I told Bones that we were Scully and Mulder. At the time, I just meant we were partners. Now I realize a different side to those words. Scully and Mulder are the model for the partners-to-friends-to-lovers relationship. Bones and I have already gone from partners to friends. After that, there's the step from friends to lovers.

But she's in a relationship now. And she's apparently happy in the relationship, otherwise she wouldn't be sleeping with Sully and then telling me about it.

That thought still makes me jealous. I know it does, but I wish it didn't. Because it most likely means that Sully and Angela—who has hinted at a relationship between Bones and me for a while—are right. I have the hots for Bones. I have the hots for my partner.

As much as I hate to say it, it's… actually possible.

I've told Bones before that everybody wants what they can't have—that everyone wants what's right out of reach. And it's true. I've seen it lots of times, especially in my line of work. It's often a motive for murder: wanting what's out of reach because someone else has it, and then killing to get it.

And, while I certainly wouldn't kill to get her, Bones is out of reach to me... So, logically, it's…possible that I could like her as more than a partner and friend.

After all, just because I shouldn't want her doesn't mean I don't...

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