Oh my God! You guys are amazing! I never thought people liked angst so much! LOL

I think never a story of mine got so many reviews and alerts on the first chapter, but I gotta tell you that made me really excited and I wrote a LOT yesterday after reading all those amazing reviews. I'm so glad I left everyone curious! Hehehe

I was expecting everyone would hate the whole Booth is getting married thing, so, I'm really happy you are interested to keep reading even if there's a third person in this.

I'll admit this story is one of the hardest things I've ever written, my little heart gets squished the whole time while I'm writing the chapters. :(


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Brennan had to take a couple of seconds to regain her brain activity before she could react at what her former partner had just informed her.

Married. He was getting married.

She felt like someone had punched her at the stomach. Even though she was very supportive of the idea of Booth moving on with someone and start having his own family – wasn't that what she told him she wanted for him? - Brennan couldn't help feeling her heart being stake now that it was actually coming true. So many things changed in the past year, but Booth tying the knot with a stranger woman was not something she was expecting to hear at their first meeting after all those months apart.

A girlfriend, yeah, she supposed it was a very likely possibility. But a fiancée?

That changed everything.

Because Booth would never marry someone unless he was certain he loved her or, at least, had great chances to end up loving her down the road.

"Bones?" He called her, a bit worried by how pale she suddenly got. "Are you okay?"

"I- I'm fine." She was able to say. "Just weary because of the long flight."

Liar.

She'd came back from Paris a week before to make sure all the work being done at her apartment would be complete till the time she schedule to move back. She was staying at Angela and Hodgins' at the moment and she was pretty sure she would never be able to thank her friends enough for all the support they've been giving her lately. She didn't even want to think what she would have done if she hadn't had Angela and Hodgins by her side, especially in the past months. "So… you're getting married?"

"Yeah." He smiled, but even oblivious Brennan could notice he was uncomfortable to share those news with her.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that." She sighed. "But I am."

Both of them were avoiding the other's eyes. Was this supposed to be this awkward?

"Everything happened so fast." He looked down to his feet. He couldn't wait to go home and take off his combat boots.

"No kidding…" Brennan snorted. "Are you happy?"

That was the most important thing and she wanted to know. She needed to know.

"Yes." Booth lifted his head but kept his eye focused in the obelisk in the other side of the reflecting pool, now illuminated since it was already dark. "I'm happy."

Brennan knew she wasn't supposed to feel sad about that, she should be glad her friend finally found what he was looking for, but she couldn't help feeling a knot in her throat. She was horrible for not wanting to have him at that part of her life – or maybe that was how she felt one year before – but also hoping he would never move on to someone else, but Brennan knew that after Booth got married, things between them would never be the same ever again.

He wouldn't have lunch with her every day at the Royal Diner. He wouldn't show up at the lab at eleven pm with a takeout bag to make sure she was eating properly and then giving her a ride back at home, after she complained and told him she had a lot of work to finish and he gave her a thirty minute speech of how useless she would be during the next day if she didn't rest at least a little bit. They wouldn't have late night conversations at her or his apartment over a bottle of liquor nor would she be able to call him in the middle of the night after she had a bad dream and needed someone to soothe her. It wouldn't be appropriated.

Because now Booth would have a wife.

Booth would have a wife and, she was very sure about it, a whole family to care about. He wouldn't be able to focus most of his time in his cold hearted partner anymore and make sure she was out of trouble. Not that she wanted him to do that. It wouldn't be fair. Not after she crushed his heart. Twice.

He deserved to have a happy normal life with the family he longed for such a long time. He didn't need a damaged woman who thought she would never be able to love him the way he deserved to be loved.

"How is she like?" She managed to open a smile.

"Hannah is great." Brennan noticed his face lighted up when he thought of his fiancée. "She's a journalist and was embedded in my unit back in Afghanistan. She's also from Washington and we ended up starting talking because of that. It was nice to talk with someone so close to home." He smiled remembering the day the journalist approached him and tried to cheer him up with silly jokes. It was about two months after he moved to the unit and when he was almost giving everything up and coming back to the States. Hannah was one of the reasons he was able to finish his agreement with the government and finish his work there. "We became very good friends and a couple of months after that our unit was attacked and she was taken as a hostage." His eyes got darken with the remembrance. "It took me a week to find and rescue her, one week I believe I didn't have any sleep at all. That was when I realized I wanted her to be more than my friend. Those things bring people close together, you know?"

Of course she knew! How many times had she rescued him? How many times had he rescued her? More than they could count on their fingers, that's for sure.

"We've been together since that unfortunate event, which thankfully had a happy ending. Hannah shares the same views of life that I do. She comes from a catholic family and wants to be married at the Church. She wants to settle down and have a family, maybe a house in the mountains where we can spend the weekends with the kids." Brennan swallowed hard trying to not allow the stubborn tears to fall from her eyes. She hoped she wasn't so hormonal at that moment; it all would be much easier if she wasn't. "I didn't see a reason to wait to get married. We got engaged about three months ago."

"Does Parker already know about it?" was the only thing she managed to ask. She felt grateful that her voice came out steady.

"He knows about Hannah, but not about the wedding." He leaned back at the bench. "But I don't think he'll react badly about it. He was the one who kept saying I needed to sex up and get myself a girlfriend, right?" He chuckled remembering that day when his little boy asked every woman he worked with to be his girlfriend, including Bones.

"But that was only because he wanted a pool." Brennan reminded him. "Does Hannah have a pool?"

"I don't know, Bones… I just arrived back here in DC." Booth creased his forehead. "But we'll probably buy a house with a pool once we are already married, so that won't really be a problem."

They would buy a house together. Of course they would, what are you thinking, Temperance? Didn't you hear when he said he wanted to settle down and have a family?

"He can always use my pool, you know that." Brennan told Booth. "I know it's been quite a while but I'm pretty sure it's still working perfectly and being cleaned often. I kept paying the building taxes while I was away."

"Thanks, Bones. I'm sure he'll be happy to hear about it. He's been asking me a lot about you since we traveled. He misses you." He met her eyes for the first time since he announced his engagement.

"I miss him too." She said holding his gaze. "He's a lovely boy."

"Maybe we can go have lunch at the diner this week? I bet he would be thrilled about it." Booth said. "And you also have to meet Hannah. She said she's looking forward to meet the famous Bones."

Another punch in the stomach. Did he really want them to meet? Would he really torture her making her have lunch with his son and future wife? Didn't he think for a moment that she would feel like an outsider during that? Like someone spoiling their happy family moment?

"Yeah. We can do that, I think." She agreed. What else could she say?

"Great. You know what I really missed?" He asked.

Me?, she wanted to ask, but that was completely ridiculous.

"What?" She asked, more to be polite than because she really cared.

"The diner's pie." He opened a delighted smile.

Of course.

She chuckled. "It's amazing you survived a whole year without your daily pie dose."

"Right?" He grinned at her, feeling relaxed for the first time during that encounter.

They stood like that for a moment, just smiling at each other and pretending the past year and a half never happened, and they were just Booth and Bones, partners and best friends with no awkwardness or misunderstood feelings between them.

"So." Booth broke the silence.

"So what?" She asked confused.

"You told me you had something to tell me." He took a sip from his coffee and grimaced when he realized it was cold. "Spill it."

Oh God.

How could she possibly tell him now? He was obviously happy with the course his life was taking. She couldn't be the one to mess with his life. Not again. Not when Booth finally was getting everything he ever wanted. Not when he finally moved on. She would have to find a way to make things work between them but, right now, she had no idea how that would happen.

So, she would tell him the truth in another opportunity. Whenever that might be.

"It's nothing really that important…" Brennan said. She wishes.

"It's not? You looked very concerned when you told me you had something to tell me." He knitted his brows surprised.

Damn. Sometimes she wished he wasn't so good at reading people.

"I just… I know we agreed to come back to work next week, but I'm really tired and I was hoping I could take another week off to visit Russ and the girls before coming back to the Jeffersonian and start tracing murderers with you." She lied.

"That's it?" Booth let out a laugh. "Oh, Bones, you really haven't change, have you? Always the workaholic."

"Do you think they'll get you another partner if I don't come back when I originally said I would?" She asked, now actually concerned. She didn't want to lose their partnership. Wasn't for the sake of it that they took that sabbatical year in the first place?

"Of course not, Bones. They know pretty well that I wouldn't work with anyone else." He assured her and saw the relief washing over her face.

He missed her. God knew how much he missed his Bones. Of course, Hannah made the pain in his heart hurt one hundred times less, but still, that woman sitting next to him was his best friend. No matter how much she had hurt him in the past, he would never stop caring about her.

"You know, Bones." He reached out and took her hand in his. Brennan shivered with the unexpected touch. She looked up at him with her surprised eyes wide opened, realizing he also perceived the electric current that passed through their bodies once their skins touched. "Things don't have to change between us. Remember what we talked about that night? Once we came back, we would be the old Booth and Brennan. You'll always be my amazing partner and my friend, no matter what happens."

Brennan smiled sadly.

"Everything changes, Booth." She bit her lower hips. "It's inevitable."

"They don't have to…" He tried.

"They already did." She said conformed. It was irrational to mourn over something that was impossible to change. She just had to accept it and move on.

Brennan felt her breasts aching again and hoped her baby accepted the bottle easily. It was the first time she spent more than three hours away from her child and some infants rejected the bottles, being used to be only breastfed.

"I have to go, Booth." She finally said, releasing her hand from his grasp. "I'm really tired and I promised to visit my father tomorrow morning."

"Of course." He nodded. "How's Max?"

"He's fine." She said. "Behaving well, as far as I know."

"Good." Booth smiled. "Do you want me to tell the FBI about your extended vacation week?"

"Sure, I would appreciate that." Another week would be good for her to decide what to do about her situation.

"Ok, then." Awkward silence. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm fine. My car is parked right there." She pointed at a silver Volvo parked a few meters away from them. "Tell Parker I said 'hi'."

"I will." He nodded. "Bye, Bones."

"Bye, Booth."

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=(

Are you sad?

Are you still curious about how they got themselves in all that mess?

Next chapter might explain part of it…

Stay with me and enjoy the road!