"I hate psychology" Temperance Brennan muttered as she walked down the FBI building steps with her partner, Special Agent Seeley Booth. The night air was chilly and she tightened her coat around her. They had just finished a quite intense meeting with their therapist and case profiler, Dr. Sweets. During the meeting they had discussed the events of the first case that she and Booth had worked. Those memories were exciting, embarrassing, and at times, quite painful.

Brennan noticed that her partner and stopped. "I'm the gambler" She heard Booth say. A flutter in her chest. Was this what she thought it was? She turned to face him.

"I believe in giving this a chance" He said. A hint of a smile escaped from Brennan's lips but when she saw her partner's nervous face she grew serious.

"Look, I wanna give this a shot" Booth said, and narrowed the gap between them. It fully dawned on Brennan as to what he meant. Her heart began to thump wildly. Deep down she knew that she'd wanted to hear him say these words for a long time. But, as always, the rational part of her took hold.

"You mean us? No, the FBI would never let us work together as a couple." She argued. Booth walked closer and said "Don't do that. That is no reason-" He didn't finish his sentence because he had already closed the gap between them and their lips met. For a brief moment Brennan was carried away by the kiss. It felt new and exciting and familiar all at the same time. But she felt herself push him away, regretting it at once.

"No. No!" She said, her hand still on his chest. He held her elbows.

"Why? Why?"

Brennan could see the desperation and pain in Booth's eyes. She blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"You thought you're protecting me, but you're the one who needs protecting."

Even to her it didn't make any sense.

"Protecting? From what?"

"From me."

Brennan's arms landed at her sides. She could feel the lump in her throat and the stinging at the corners of her eyes. Damn this man, who brought into her life feelings and emotional instability that weren't there before.

"I don't have your kind of open heart." Her voice broke.

"Just give it a chance, that's all I'm asking!"

Booth was not willing to give up just yet. He knew that she felt the same way. He saw it in her eyes. But his Bones was not easily persuaded into sharing what she really thought. It was locked away, somewhere deep inside her. Booth knew hat he was one of the few who could make her share her feelings. And when she did, with him, he was always so proud of her. His Bones.

But his Bones was not letting up either. She could be so stubborn at times.

"No, you said it yourself. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome."

But he could be stubborn too.

"Well then let's go for a different outcome here, alright?" He persisted.

"Just here me out, alright? You know when you talk to older couples who, you know, have been in love for thirty, or forty, or fifty years, it's always the guy who says "I knew.""

His argument was failing, and his voice had a panicky edge to it. Brennan was crying. So was he.

"I knew. Right from the beginning."

Brennan remembered the first time she had seen Booth. He gave her his cocky smile and asked if removing the flesh from the bones wasn't destroying the evidence. She smiled, always ready for a challenge, and explained to him why he was wrong. The way he had looked at her that day, in the empty lectures hall, had made her feel something new. Something she had yet to experience. But now, her fight or flight instinct was leaning towards flight. Maybe Sweets was right. Maybe she does have abandonment issues.

"Your evidence is anecdotal" Forever hiding behind the numbers and the facts and the evidence.

"I'm that guy, Bones, I'm that guy! I know!" She had always hated that nickname.

"I'm not a gambler. I'm a scientist. I can't change, I don't know how." His pain was unbearable to watch. Why was she doing this to him? To herself?

"I don't know how." Tears streaming down her cheeks.

Why not give him a chance?

As Booth stared into Brennan's blue eyes, he understood that if not today, he will try again. He will never give her up. He loved her. Always had.

One last shot.

Booth cupped her face in his hand.

"Then I'll show you how." He whispered.

"I'll change with you. I'll be by your side the whole time. We'll do this together, alright? For once in your life, Bones, do something irrational. Go with your heart on this one, not your brain. Do what feels right."

Brennan looked into his eyes. It WAS irrational. But it also did feel right. There was no other place she'd rather be than here, in Booth's arms.

"Alright, Booth. I'll give this a chance. We'll give this a chance." She said. Her partner looked at her in surprise and perhaps wonderment. Then all she could see on his face and in his eyes was unbelievable joy. He leaned in to kiss her, but she leaned back. Booth looked at her, confused.

"Although, I can't think with my heart, it's physically impossible. The heart is a muscle, Booth, it is not capable of thought or opinions. I would have thought that after spending so much time in my companionship and at the lab you would've known that by now."

Booth smiled. Same old Bones.

"Bones?" He whispered.

"Yeah?" A smile passed between them. They shared the same breath.

"Just shut up and kiss me."