Starting Point

Disclaimer: No, they're not mine. I'm just borrowing them for a little while. I'll return them as soon as I'm done - not exactly as I found them, cause let's face it the reason I borrowed them in the first place was to change them, wasn't it? But, hopefully, they'll be happier and more fulfilled by the time I'm through!

A/N: Well, here's the second chapter; not a long wait, was it?? I should have the next chapter out soon too since it's half done now. I want to thank every one that took the time to review, I really appreciate it!!! One thing, most of you said that the vacation idea was sweet. I agree, however, as I said, when I came up with this idea the focus was on her realization and their coming together before the vacation. Now, I do listen to you guys and I like to accomadate you as much as I can. So, I will extend that part of the fic but some things have to happen before that, so please bear with me - I'll make it worth your while, I promise. Also, someone asked about the song, I promise I'll name it and post the lyrics but that'll be next chapter. Please, be patient. I have it all plan out, I promise!!! As always, thanks to pup for her help betaing and please let me know what you think!! Now, enjoy!!

Chapter 2

"So, I was thinking," Booth said fifteen minutes later, as they walked into Brennan's apartment building.

"Really, Booth," Brennan interrupted him, as they entered the elevator. "You shouldn't do that, you might hurt yourself."

Booth blinked a few times and opened and closed his mouth twice before he was able to talk. "Bones, did you just make a joke?" he asked, bemused. "What did they serve down in Peru that you came back with a sense of humor?"

"Booth," she replied seriously, "who said I was kidding?" Booth stared at her for a few moments thinking that she was always surprising him. He finally chuckled and shook his head deciding to just go ahead with his thought.

"Anyway," he continued, as they left the elevator and started to walk down the hall to her place. During the last fifteen minutes of the ride to Brennan's apartment, Booth had kept talking of the wonderful time they'd have at the cabin, while Brennan had kept arguing that she couldn't be out of touch for two whole weeks.

Booth had enjoyed acting as if he hadn't heard her, as he'd expounded on the beauty of the lake, the peacefulness of a few days without modern day distractions and how rested they'd all be afterwards. As much as he'd enjoyed the time spent frustrating her, however, he wasn't sure if spending the entire two weeks at the lake was feasible.

"I was thinking," he repeated, as Brennan opened her door, "that we could go to Disney World for the second week of our vacation."

"Disney World?" Brennan asked, surprised, as she turned to look at him after dropping her keys and purse on the table closest to the door.

"Yes, Disney World," Booth answered, as he closed the door behind him. He walked towards the hallway leading to her bedroom, pulling her suitcases behind him. "Have you ever been there?"

"No," she answered, as she followed him into the hallway and then walked into the kitchen. She headed for the refrigerator to take out a bottle of water as she continued; "my parents always talked about taking a family trip there but . . ." she trailed off, as she brought the bottle of water to her lips and took a drink.

"Yes, well," Booth said, as he leaned against a counter and crossed his feet. He took the bottle of water she offered and twisted the cap off before tightening it again. "Everyone should visit Disney World at least once in their lives. And Parker has been dying to go. I thought we could drive down and spend the second week going to the parks."

"Spend a week going to Disney World?" She asked, holding the bottle of water halfway to her mouth.

"Yes, to Disney and the other parks in the area," he answered before bringing his bottle to his lips and drinking deeply.

"So," Brennan said slowly, "you want me to take two weeks off and spend one week at a cabin by a lake, that has no way to communicate with the rest of the world, and another week going to Disney and different amusement parks?"

"Yes," Booth answered with a grin. "Doesn't that sound like a nice vacation?"

"I don't know, Booth," she answered, shaking her head and sounding skeptical. "I'm not even sure I want to go to the cabin much less Disney." She shook her head and added, "Being incommunicado for only one week sounds good, but why can't I just come back home while you and Parker go to Disney? I mean isn't that a place for kids? What would I do there?"

"No way, Bones," Booth had started shaking his head even before she'd stopped talking. "You're coming with us for the whole two weeks. And Disney is not just for kids. It is for people of all ages; it is the place where magic happens!"

"Oh, please, Booth," she said, rolling her eyes. "Magic doesn't exist!"

"It does at Disney World," he insisted. "That's the whole point of the place; and it's not just for kids. Grown ups go there all the time; heck, some couples even get married there!"

"They do?" Brennan asked, once again surprised, before she shook her head and turned back to the matters at hand. "It doesn't matter; Booth, I really don't think . . ."

"Good! Then it's settled," Booth said, with a grin, and clapped his hands. "We'll go to the cabin and then Disney World. Oh, this is going to be great!!" He pushed away from the counter, rubbed his hands together and, ignoring her protests, said, "On to other things now – are you hungry?"

"Am I . . .?" she started to repeat the question, as she shook her head at his rapid change of subject. She thought about saying no and getting back to the subject of their vacation but her stomach chose that moment to rumble ending that thought before it fully formed.

"I see you are," he commented with a smirk. She frowned at him but couldn't very well deny it. "So, I was thinking Bertucci's?" He asked with a knowing gleam in his eyes; darn him, did he have to know her so well?

"I don't know, Booth," she said, hesitating, but only because she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much she had being craving a pizza from Bertucci's the last few days. "I kind of want to take a shower and don't really feel like going out."

"That's ok," Booth said, undeterred by her hesitation. He did know her well after all and knew she was going to accept. "I was thinking I'd pick up a couple of pizzas and bring them here." When she didn't immediately agree, he wheeled, "Come on, you can't tell me you don't want a vegetarian pizza, now can you?"

"Well," she started to say and then just gave in; she did want that pizza after all. "Ok, ok. Go get the pizzas, then," she ordered, as she threw the empty water bottle into the trash can. "I'll go take a shower. You still have a key, right?" she asked, as she started to walk towards the hallway.

"Yep," he asked, as he started to walk towards the door.

"Good, you can use it if you come back before I'm done," she told him, as she reached down to pick up her suitcase. It might take him half an hour to come back but she felt like taking a long, hot shower and did not want to have to worry about finishing before he came back. He nodded and kept going; she took two steps before she stopped and called out to him, "Booth! Don't forget to bring back . . ."

"Rolls," Booth finished with her. "Don't worry, Bones. I won't forget to bring back your rolls. I know how much you love them." He shot her a grin before he opened the door and walked out.

Brennan rolled her eyes again, as she walked towards her bedroom muttering about how insufferable he could be – even if he did know her better than she knew herself sometimes. Or maybe, a small voice insisted on speaking up, he was insufferable because he knew her so much.

Thirty-five minutes later, Brennan walked out of the bedroom, wearing loose track pants and a tank top. Her hair was down and damp, falling in soft waves down her back. She walked barefoot into the kitchen to find him setting the table.

"That smells amazing," she commented, as she walked forward to get a bottle of wine. "Would you like some wine?"

"No, thanks," he answered, as he took a beer out of the refrigerator. "I bought some beer," he told her, waving the bottle he got out.

"Your choice," she said with a shrug, as she opened the bottle of wine and poured herself a glass.

"Yes," Booth agreed, as they turned and walked towards the table. He pulled her chair out and even though she rolled her eyes at the alpha male move, she sat down and thanked him. He grinned at her muttered thanks, and took his own seat.

They talked everything and nothing during their dinner. She told him more about the Moche bones, marinera (a traditional courtship dance) and about her trips to Machu Picchu. He told her about taking Parker to Vermont and their ski runs, about the case they'd had in her absence and about the mischief Hodgins tried to get Zack into. They laughed about the little kid that had sat next to Brennan on the trip down to Peru and who had seemed to think Brennan's necklace was a toy and hadn't stop until she'd taken it off and let him play with it. Booth had reminisced about his first airplane trip with Parker and how he had cried for most of the trip and Brennan had laughed until she cried at the image of a desperate Booth trying to quite a crying Parker while everyone in the plane shot daggers at them.

Before they knew it, they'd finished the pizzas, Brennan had finished almost half the bottle of wine and Booth had finished three bottles of beer. They were arguing about whether or not Booth should feel entitled to drive when it was her car they were using, when he happened to glance down at his watch and noticed the hour.

"Look at the time," he said, as he leaned forward in his chair. She looked up at the clock on the microwave and was surprised at how late it'd gotten; she hadn't realized they spent more than an hour talking. Though why she was surprised, she wasn't sure; it wasn't the first time they'd lost track while talking. For two people that argue/bicker about most any subject, they sure could shut off the rest of the world and lose themselves in each other.

"Do you need to go home?" she asked, hiding her disappointment at the thought of him leaving. She'd been gone for almost two weeks and she had missed him; as much as she liked her solitude, she found herself wishing he'd stay longer.

"Nah," Booth said, shaking his head and taking a final sip of his beer. "There's nothing I have to do; but I was wondering if maybe I could stay around and watch the game here?"

"Game? What game?" she asked, but before he could answer, she realized something else, "Wait, whatever game it is, how are you going to watch it here? There's no TV here."

"Well," he said, as a grin slowly crept across his face. "That's not exactly right. There wasn't a TV here; there is now."

"What?" she asked, not trusting that grin. "What do you mean? Booth, what have you done?" She asked, suspiciously.

"Me?" he asked, innocently. "I've done nothing. Well, Parker and I got you a TV for Christmas. Is that what you mean?"

"You got me a TV?" she asked, as she pushed back from the table and stood up. "Why and where is it?"

"It's on the living room," Booth said, as he too stood up. "And we got you a TV because it's just not right that you don't have one," he explained, sounding reasonable.

"Yeah, right," she said, as she walked into the living room and a medium size plasma TV was the first thing she saw. "You got me one because you wanted a TV here you could watch whenever you came over," she told him with a knowing smirk.

"Bones, you wound me," he told her, putting a hand on his chest and with his best innocent smile. "I got it for you!" he protested, as he walked towards her.

"Yeah, right," she repeated, skeptically.

"I'm serious," he insisted, earnestly, as he walked forward to pick up something that was lying by the TV. "Look, there are a bunch of channels that I'm sure you'll love; the discovery channel, the history channel, PBS – they all have documentaries about that academic stuff you like so much," he said, as he gave her the card he'd picked up, which contained all the channels the cable company offered.

"Ummm," Brennan said, as she took it and glanced at it briefly. "Don't I need to have this hooked up by the company?" She asked waving the card around, as she remembered a conversation she overheard between Angela and Hodgins about somebody needing to be home when they changed their provider.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it; I've taken care of it," Booth said and then quickly turned to the TV and added, "Don't you like it? It's a pretty good model."

"Yes, it's very nice," she said absently, her mind on something else. "How did you take care of it, Booth?" When he didn't immediately respond but took the card to study the channels, she asked again, "Booth, what have you done?"

"Well," Booth answered with his charmed smile, "I had to get you the complete gift, didn't I?" When she just looked at him, he shrugged and went on, "I got you the premium package and signed you up for a year and used my key to let the cable guy in."

"Booth," she chastised him. "You let some stranger into my house when I wasn't home?"

"I was here the whole time," he defended himself. "He was never alone. But I had to get cable or what good would the TV be?" She just shook her head and he grinned at her until she sighed and gave in.

"Thank you, Booth," she told him, sounding surprisingly honest. "But you really didn't have to get me anything else; the tree was more than enough."

"I'm glad you liked the tree, Bones," he said softly. "But there's no rule that says you can only give one present."

"I only got you one, though," Brennan told him just as softly.

"And I loved it," Booth told her sincerely, thinking of the beautiful watch she'd gotten for him. "Thank you; it was just what I wanted."

"I know," she told him with a small smile. "I saw you admiring it a few times."

"They weren't hints, you know," he told her, seriously.

"I know that," she repeated. "But I wanted to get it for you."

"Just like I wanted to get you the TV, so don't worry about it. And now," he said, before turning to the TV and rubbing his hands together. "You think we can try it out now and watch the game?"

"Yes, sure, go ahead," she told him with a small smile. "I'm just going to clear up the table." She turned to go and he looked at his watch and the TV before sighing.

"Hold on," he called out. "I'll come and help."

"No, don't worry about it," she said, as she stopped and turned back around. "It won't take me long; it's just a couple of dishes after all. And you got the pizzas," she added, as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Ok," Booth agreed, not needing to be told twice. "I'll be here then." With a grin, he dropped onto the sofa, reached forwards for the remote, and turned on the TV.

Less than ten minutes later, Brennan was done clearing the table. After she poured a glass of wine for herself, she was reaching for a bottle of beer for Booth, when she heard his shout, "Hey, Bones, could you please bring me a beer when you come out?"

She grinned, as she closed the refrigerator door, thinking she knew him as well as he knew her. And somehow that thought was comforting and not scary.

"Here you go," she told him, as she handed him the beer. He muttered thanks and threw her a grin before settling back down to watch the game. She leaned a hip on the sofa's edge for a minute as she studied the game. She sipped her wine and tried to follow the game but soon gave up; she knew Booth would explain it to her if she were to ask, but she just wasn't interested enough to ask.

She pushed back from the sofa and walked towards the hall table where Booth had left her mail from the past two weeks. She looked through them and picked up the latest forensic anthropology journal. She flipped through it and found a few articles that looked interesting. She took another sip of wine as she walked back to the sofa and sat at the opposite end from Booth.

She nestled against the corner, brought her legs up onto the sofa and covered them with the afghan that was over the sofa's back. She sipped her wine before putting the glass down and opening the journal. Soon she was engrossed in an article about the native tribes of the artic. Before she knew it, she'd finished that article and had begun the next one about the Polynesian people.

"What?! You gotta be kidding me!!!" Booth called out, as he leaned forward on the sofa, bringing Brennan back from the trip to the academic world she'd drifted into. "That was a foul, for God's sake!! Are you blind?! You should put your glasses on before going out into the field!!"

Brennan stared at him before briefly looking at the TV. She had no idea what had happened that had prompted such a strong reaction from Booth but she could guess it hadn't been good for Booth's team. She shook her head and went back to her reading, thinking that it was completely irrational to get all worked up about a situation that he could do nothing about. And yet somehow, it was so completely Booth and she couldn't help but be amused by it. He looked so adorable and cute that she chuckled.

"What?" Booth asked, as he turned his head to look at her, distracted from the game by her chuckle.

"Nothing," she answered, as she stretched her legs and shifted on the seat. "You know it's not very logical to shout at the TV. They won't be able to hear you and you can't change the outcome."

"Yes, I know," he agreed, sheepishly. "But," he added with a shrug, "I guess it helps me to relieve my frustrations."

"So," she said, as she once again briefly turned her head towards the TV. "Should I assume form your little demonstration that your team is losing?"

"Nah," Booth answered with a grin, as he turned his attention back to the game. "We're still a few points ahead; it was just a bad call that annoyed me, is all."

"I see," she murmured with a small smile, as she too turned back to her journal. She reached forward to pick up her glass of wine and brought it to her lips only to find out that it was empty. She put down the journal and stood up to refill it. "Would you like another beer?" She asked Booth, as she walked past him.

"Yes," he answered. "Thank you," Booth said, as he handed her his empty bottle.

She nodded and walked towards the kitchen. A few minutes later, she was back and after handing him his beer, settled back onto her seat. She sighed and sipped her wine before reaching forward to put the glass down. As she leaned back into the sofa, she happened to glance at the clock on the cable box. Her eyes widened as she realized just how much time had passed since they'd sat down after dinner.

She sat back and picked up the journal, but this time she couldn't seem to concentrate enough to follow the article. After a few moments she gave up and put the journal down on her legs as she let her mind wander where it would.

She shifted her eyes to study Booth but shut them a few seconds later; she didn't want him to catch her staring at him.

With a soft sigh, she leaned her head back and relaxed, as she tried to analyze why the passage of time had affected her so much. As much time as she spent with Booth, this wasn't the first time when a considerable amount of it was spent in silence as each one lost themselves in their own thoughts.

What was it that made this time different from all the other times that it unsettled her so? For that matter, what was it about the whole evening that had her analyzing her relationship with Booth? Oh, she knew that he thought she analyzed everything and he was right – up to a point. While she couldn't stop her mind from analyzing most everything it encountered, she'd made it a point not to analyze her relationship with Booth because she had never been ready to face whatever it was she would find.

With a frown, she wondered if the reason she was thinking these things now was because she was finally ready. When her heart started to beat faster and her palms started to sweat, she decided to leave that particular question for later and go back to the earlier question.

Suddenly the lyrics to the song she'd heard earlier on the plane came back into her mind. And the cynical part of her mind wondered if that was the real reason why she'd been thinking about this – because those lyrics had put the idea into her mind. With a soft, mental scoff, she decided that whatever the reason, the idea was there now and she must deal with it.

With an inaudible sigh, she thought back to the last hour and a half and thought how there'd been nothing remarkable in it, how it had been very much like all those times they spent driving to and from crime scenes and neither had anything to say or all those hours spent working on paperwork at her or his office, her or his place. As much as their relationship was often defined by their bickering, she unexpectedly recognized that the silences were just as important and as comforting.

She thought back to her past relationships and realized that just like in every other aspect, the bickering and silences she shared with Booth were unique. No other man had ever bickered with her like Booth did; they had either been too intimidated by her intelligence to try or those that had tried, had soon given up when they'd discovered that she always had an answer and very rarely, if ever, did she give up.

Even Michael Stires had very seldom engaged her in a bickering session. Oh, they'd argued, but it had rarely been playful and he had rarely paid her side of the argument the attention it deserved; he had been convinced he knew better and felt no need to hear her out. But Booth did hear her out; as heated as their bickering could get and as dense as he could sometimes act, she knew Booth respected her and always listened to her.

Likewise, she had always avoided prolonged silences with anyone she had ever been involved with. She had never been comfortable enough in anyone's presence to fully relax and simply be; she had always been 'on', had always felt she had to entertain or keep them occupied. It wasn't until she met Booth that she realized how wonderful it was to not have to be 'on'; how freeing it was to be with someone and not have to worry about them but instead be able to concentrate on yourself and on what you wanted to do because you knew that they were happy just knowing you were there and needed nothing else from you other than your presence.

Another shout from Booth brought her back from her musing and she began to wonder whether these thoughts had occurred to him too or whether this was all in her head. She knew they had never talked about this, because as much as they talked about their problems, they rarely talked about their relationship. It seemed that somewhere along the line they had agreed that whatever it was they had going didn't need to be discussed, that it just was. And both were happy that way; both were happy with the status quo and had felt no need to change it.

But the truth of the matter was that things had been changing and they'd been changing for awhile. They were no longer the persons they'd been when they first started working together; they weren't even the persons they'd been a year ago. They'd gone through too much together; they knew each other too well; they had fought for and supported each other for too long to be the same people. Without realizing it, they had each become one of the most important persons in the other one's life. And whatever she had told Sweets, she could no longer imagine her life without Booth in it; what was more, she no longer wanted to.

Their relationship had been changing for months now and whether conscious or not, so had her behavior towards him. She no longer had to be convinced to accept a 'guy hug' when she needed comfort; now she was the one that initiated the hugs or the kisses whenever she either needed them to feel better or to express her feelings. Hell, she had even grabbed onto Caroline's request that she kiss him on the lips because it had been something she'd been wondering about for a long time but which she wouldn't have had the courage to attempt on her own. That was why her 'no' to his insistence that he'd talk Caroline out of it had been so strong and quick in coming.

She had to stifle a smirk as she remembered his surprised at her swift 'no'; though to be fair, at that moment she wasn't sure who had been more surprised, him or her. Just like she wasn't sure who had been more shaken at the power of their kiss, him, her or Caroline. And whatever she'd told the attorney, kissing Booth had been nothing like kissing Russ; if she ever got a tenth of the reaction kissing Booth had provoked in her when she kiss Russ, then she would check herself into the first psychiatric clinic she comes across.

So, yes, their relationship had been changing for a while and it seemed like she was finally ready, not only to face those changes, but also what they meant. Whether the catalyst had been the song, or whether it was just the time, or whether it had been the kiss they shared before she left, it didn't matter. What mattered now was whether or not she was ready to talk about it, whether or not she was ready to talk about them with Booth and, perhaps most importantly, whether or not he was ready to acknowledge those changes and act on them.

Because something had just become very clear to her: She was in love with her partner, she wanted more than just a professional partnership with him, and there was no way that she could keep this to herself. Just like she had shared every other major event in her life with him, she needed to share this with him too. And how he reacted would determine the shape their partnership would take, it would determine the shape their future would take. Either way, one thing was certain: there was no going back.