A/N: the prompt for this chapter was "Never let the words 'I love you' be left unsaid..."


Even after the successful closure of such a high profile case, Seeley Booth was subdued as he took a seat at the bar in Wong Fu's. It had been a busy day, and he was beat, but he wasn't really in any hurry to get home. Going home would mean having to explain things to Tessa, and he wasn't sure he was up to that just yet.

He smiled as Sid brought him a bottle of his favorite beer along with a chilled pilsner glass and a container of mixed nuts. Leave it to Sid...in Booth's crazy, mixed up world, Sid seemed to be the one constant...the one person who understood Booth completely. Nothing needed to be said between them...just a tacit nod between good friends before Sid left Booth to quietly sulk with his drink.

If the truth were to be told, Booth realized he should be happy, or at the very least, relieved, with the outcome of the trial. Judge Myles Hasty had been disbarred and was going to serve at least twenty years in jail for murdering Gemma Arrington. As an FBI agent who worked in the Major Crimes division, Booth would finally achieve not only some recognition for his abilities in working on a cold case, but also a sense of closure for ending that investigation after three long years. He'd finally be able to look Gemma's mother in the eyes and tell her that justice had been meted out to the man who'd killed her daughter. All of the time spent on the case...the months of refusing to give up, of leaving no stone unturned, and of following up on every slim lead had been worth it. He'd closed the case, and his supervisor had been impressed, as had the formidable Ms. Caroline Julian. Impressing that DOJ attorney was a monumental task in itself, but it seemed she had been quite pleased with his efforts, and had made a point to say so to Director Cullen.

Booth knew he should be pleased as well...that he should be proud of his efforts. He was an excellent investigator, and he knew what he was doing when he worked a murder. He should be glad that he was being noticed by the people he worked with, especially since he wanted to move up through the ranks of the FBI. He had long range plans to be in charge of a division one day, so what was the problem? He should just take his well-deserved accolades and move on to the next case.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I should do," he muttered to himself as he watched the bubbles of beer rise to the top of his glass. "I deserve it. I worked my ass off on that goddamn case...I was the lead investigator, so I should get all of the credit, right?" Except, he thought to himself, that wasn't really the truth. He hadn't actually done all the work...and that was the problem...and that was why he couldn't be completely happy with today's outcome.

He'd had some help from a very special person, and that help was what had broken the case wide open. Booth had ever met anyone like Temperance Brennan. She was brilliant, mercurial, beautiful, and completely guileless. She had no preconceived notions about the way justice worked or who should win or lose in a murder case. To her, the case was merely a puzzle to be solved, not a means to earn recognition or a promotion. She'd enjoyed the challenge of proving who'd committed the crime, and Booth had enjoyed the challenge of trying to understand her...of trying to figure out what made her tick.

After he'd seen her lecturing her class in the auditorium that afternoon so many months ago, he knew his life would be changed forever. He'd called it Fate, and she'd laughed at that ridiculous notion, but to this day, he believed she'd entered his life for an even more important reason than finding Gemma Arrington's murderer. There just had to be more to it than that. How else could he explain the changes that occurred in his life so soon after he'd met her? He'd gone back to Gamblers' Anonymous to regain his sobriety after briefly working with her. He was determined to be a better FBI agent so he could hold his own while he worked with a genius like her. He'd taken her advice and changed up his wardrobe just enough so he could stand out from the rest of the members of his paramilitary organization. He was finally ready to be noticed by the people in charge of the Bureau, and all because of Temperance Brennan's influence on his life.

It had to be Fate. How else could he explain the way he'd felt that night, when he stood with her in the pouring rain outside that pool hall as she pulled him close and kissed him? His stomach still did flips when he thought of those beautiful blue eyes looking up at him...of her scent fogging his brain as she stood huddled close to him...of the feeling of her lips brushing against his...those feelings were not just lust or drunkenness. Bones was special...more special than any woman he'd ever met, and no one else had ever made him feel so alive.

Taking another sip of his beer, Booth thought about the court session today. He'd looked forward to it for weeks, wanting to see Bones as she came to testify about how the two of them had used the evidence they'd gathered to determine that Judge Hasty had committed the crime. However, much to his extreme disappointment, her testimony hadn't been needed this morning. Ms. Julian had gotten Hasty to agree to a plea bargain in hopes of avoiding a scandalous trial which would've exposed his cocaine habit, most likely causing the cases he'd heard to be reopened or appealed. From her perspective, the sooner this whole sordid affair was behind them, the better she'd like it. Booth had understood Ms. Julian's point, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow. He'd wanted the chance to talk to Bones again...the chance to explain how things should've been between them.

He and Bones had parted on less than ideal circumstances after a very loud, very angry, and very public argument at the Hoover, which ended abruptly when she had slapped his face and stormed out of his office. If he'd only swallowed his damned pride and gone to the Jeffersonian the next day to smooth things over with her, things might've been different, but he had vowed to himself that he wouldn't be the one to give in. He knew he wasn't the one at fault, and he'd done nothing deserving an apology. She was obviously crazy, right? She was the one who walked away from him without so much as a backwards glance, so she needed to be the one to do the apologizing. Unfortunately, that strategy had been a spectacular failure, because she hadn't spoken to him at all since that day. She'd gone on with her life, and he'd gone on with his, and things were just fine, right? He was happy, right? He had a great job, a nice apartment, a beautiful girlfriend...what else could he want?

"Bones. I want Bones.", he said to himself. "I guess I'll always want Bones. I guess maybe I'll always love her..." He contemplated his frustration as he picked at the label on his beer bottle. Was it really possible to fall so deeply in love with a woman after spending just a few days with her? Was it really possible for someone you barely knew to have such a profound impact on your life? What if he'd gone to the Jeffersonian and bared his soul to her the day after they'd argued? What if he'd asked for a second chance? What if he'd told her how he felt? Maybe they'd be together now instead of seeming to be millions of miles apart, even though they lived in the same city.

Thanking Sid as the man brought him another beer, Booth sighed sadly. It was too late now to tell Bones how much he loved her...that he'd fallen in love with her the moment he met her. Of course, she'd probably think that confession about his falling in love with her at first sight was just as silly as his idea about their meeting being the work of Fate. It seemed they were well past that part of their lives at this point in time, and, anyway, now he had Tessa, and she seemed to be happy with him just the way he was. She was so very different than Brennan. Tessa was as uncomplicated as Bones was difficult...but maybe that was part of the problem. He already knew everything there was to know about Tessa. There were no more surprises with her...no more challenges...just the same old routine.

He glanced at his watch as he munched on some peanuts. He'd need to go home to his girlfriend soon and pretend to be happy to see her as he explained how successful he'd been in closing the case, even if he didn't really feel that way. She'd be worried if he was late for dinner, and she'd also be anxious to hear what Director Cullen might've said about the possibility of a promotion for him after such a successful outcome for the case.

He sat alone for a few minutes longer, trying to deal with his regrets over what had happened between himself and Bones. He knew there'd always be traces of sadness whenever he thought of her. Draining his beer, he sighed as he stood up and put some bills on the counter before heading home for the evening. It was time to move on...to forget Temperance Brennan for good...and maybe, one day, if he was very, very lucky, he might be able to do that.

Maybe…

...or maybe not...