Note: I have so many ideas buzzing in my head, but I also have a cold that makes it difficult for me to open my eyes. It's not a good combination. Hope this makes sense.
Disclaimer: I don't own them
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She wants him to be happy.
That's why she turned him down.
That's why she decided to go to Indonesia. She didn't want to be the one holding him back.
She lost track of the number of times she wanted to call him, but the satellite phone was intended for emergency use. "Needing to hear your partner's voice" is not an emergency, even if it sometimes felt like one.
When Caroline called, she didn't think twice about abandoning her commitment and rushing back to DC. She had come to terms with her feelings. She was ready.
When Booth told her about Hannah, a knot of pain settled in her stomach. He'd said he was going to move on, but she hadn't really believed it. There it was, though, on the display of a cell phone – Hannah's picture, telling her she'd missed her chance.
She wanted to cry, to yell, but more than that, she wanted him to be happy.
Hannah made him happy.
As much as it hurt, she did what she could to support him - helped Hannah pick out gifts, made time to have lunch with her, canceled her plans with Booth so that he and Hannah could … be together.
When her kitchen tap started dripping, she called a plumber. The morning her car didn't start, she called a tow truck. When she was lonely and depressed after a hard case, she went to the gym.
She knew he loved Hannah, and from what she could see, Hannah loved him, too.
When Hannah called, her voice choked with tears, to tell her that Booth had proposed and they had broken up, she was shocked. She had known he was serious, but marriage? For a man like Booth, that was more than serious.
She hadn't known him when he'd been with Rebecca, but she knew that rejection still hurt him. This one wouldn't be any easier.
She found him – after all this time, she still knew where he'd be – but then she was at a loss. Usually he was the one she'd ask, the one who'd tell her what to say, what to do. So, she asked, "What happens next?"
When he told her, shared his belief that the reason Hannah rejected him – the reason she rejected him – was that there was something wrong with him – she wanted to interrupt, to ask him to give her another chance.
Before she worked up the courage, though, he made it clear that the only thing he wanted from her was to be partners, to work cases and celebrate their conclusion with small talk and alcohol. To go back to where they'd been years ago.
If she couldn't do that, their partnership was over.
She agreed, took the drink he offered. After all, she'd missed her chance.
She tried not to listen to the flicker of hope that told her one day she'd get another one.