Seeley Booth had never imagined he would be in an affair. It went against everything he believed, all his morals.
Thou shalt not commit adultery. The seventh of the Ten Commandments was extremely clear on that matter. There was no gray area, only black and white. And as a good Catholic man, he had always vowed to himself to cherish the woman he was with, and never, ever cheat on her.
Until now.
He loved Hannah, he truly did. He loved everything about her, the way her hair fell just right, the way she got that defiant look in her eye when she was following a lead on a story, and the way her lips felt against his own. In Afghanistan, it had been easy to give his whole heart to her, to be completely consumed by her. But now they were back in Washington D.C., and had been for six months. It had taken him five of those months to realize his sin and the last month to overcome his denial.
He was having an affair with Temperance Brennan.
Not an actual, physical affair, though he wouldn't have minded that at all. In fact, it would probably have been preferable to what he was experiencing now. No, he was having an emotional affair with her. And that was much, much worse.
He wasn't even sure she was a knowing participant in this illicit romance. But he knew that every time she looked at him, his very bones were set on fire. And every time he looked at her, there was a little twinge in his heart, a bittersweet taste in his mouth, because he knew that he would never have her.
But he wanted to. Oh Mother Mary he wanted to.
With all of her flaws, which were many indeed, with all of her imperfections, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. With all of her quirks and idiosyncrasies, she was still the most fascinating and intelligent woman he had ever met.
He was still in love with Bones, and if he was being completely honest with himself, he always would be.
He thought that by being with Hannah his obsession with his partner would fade until it was no more. But the opposite seemed to be true. With every glance, with every stolen, seemingly innocent touch, and with every soft word spoken, he was falling farther and farther for Bones, until he could no longer distinguish what was leftover love and what were new found feelings.
He never thought it was possible to love two women at the same time, but apparently it was.
As he had slipped on that diamond ring on an ecstatic Hannah, he had been overjoyed himself, telling himself he was marrying the woman of his dreams. But as he held her in his arms, as he kissed her, he let his subconscious have a little too much leeway and slipped.
"I love you Seeley," Hannah had whispered in his ear. And then he said the unthinkable.
"I love you too Bones."
It was only a murmur, but Hannah's ears had caught it, and he knew he had made the biggest blunder possible as she froze, then pulled away from him, pain written across her face.
So now here he was, sitting on the curb outside of Hannah's house, understanding now why affairs were a very, very bad idea.