Title: Sweets' Plan for the Truth

Disclaimer: Bones and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.

Spoilers: Season 6

Rating: T for later chapters

Author's Notes: One more chapter to set the foundation of the story.

Sweets' Plan for the Truth

Chapter 2: Just Friends

Booth's thoughts are in italics.

He and Hannah entered the restaurant an hour later than expected and he was starving. Hannah's little seduction put all thoughts of food on hold in order to play out one of her fantasies… not that he minded of course. She had always made him forget everything else going on in the world around him. She had always been good at that, especially when he needed it most where they met in Afghanistan.

He would have preferred to order in so they could relax that evening. Even a place a little more casual would have been nice, like the diner. But for someone who prided herself on being a nomad and living out of a couple of duffle bags, Hannah hadn't been doing much of anything casual. She was becoming "high maintenance." Perhaps it was for the best to avoid the diner, anyway. It would only cause him to think about his Bones. His? Who was he kidding? She made it perfectly clear that she didn't belong to anyone much less to him.

When he and Hannah were seated, he excused himself and headed to the restroom. He hadn't made it far when he heard a familiar voice.

"Forget about Limbo this weekend. I promise it will still be there on Monday."

Sweets? He needed a better place to watch and listen because he was obviously talking to Bones.

"You sound like someone I know."

"Ouch! Don't lump me into his category, please."

"I thought you liked Booth."

"I did, but that was before he hurt you."

"I'm not hurt."

"Maybe not. But he appears to be distant and I worry that it will hurt you if it hasn't already." She gave him a "Dr. Brennan" look. "Sorry. That's probably shrinky. I just hope it doesn't take him long to discover his mistakes… to notice how he has changed."

"Sweets, I don't want to talk about him right now and you promised not to get shrinky."

What? What had he done… nothing but move on in his life. He deserved that, didn't he?

"Sorry again. My bad. No more talk about relationships: surrogate or real. So, how about your book? Are you going to leave me in suspense about the plot?"

She sighed but she gave herself away with her smile. "I'm going to make you wait until Saturday."

"That's two days away!"

"I think you'll live," she said while shaking her head at him in disapproval. "So, you're place or mine?"

What?

"Whichever is most comfortable for you, Bren.

Bren?

"If we worked on it Saturday afternoon, I could reward you with dinner. Maybe drinks afterwards… You know… for getting me through the freaky shrinky parts of my story so I can recover."

"Did you just say freaky?"

"Maybe."

She could be so damn cute. Most people didn't know the real Bones. And damn it, it looks like Sweets is going to learn about what she hides from everyone else.

"Of course, it would probably require more time when I'm at a new chapter that requires a profiler scene."

"Of course. I have to say, this is so wickedly cool!"

"I think I may have to edit your dialogue since some of your expressions don't make sense to me." He grinned.

He was sure she'd always be learning modern expressions. That was another part of her that was

so endearing.

"So, just out of curiosity. Will I be expected to eat a vegetarian meal? "

"I think maybe I will." He groaned, but really, he didn't mind. "You don't like homemade baked macaroni and cheese?"

Hey, wait a minute!

Booth walked up to their table without being noticed until he arrived. That wasn't a good feeling. "Mac & Cheese? Am I invited?"

Brennan's eyes lit up. "Booth! I didn't know you were here."

"Hey there, Sweets. Having a late dinner?"

"Yeah. You know how Bren overworks herself."

Had she gone back to her old habits? "Looks like you scored some great company."

"Scored?"

"I don't know what that means," interjected Brennan.

"You don't want to know," answered Sweets without removing his glare away from Booth.

"Bones, I need to speak with Sweets here. Do you mind telling Hannah what's taking me so long to get back to our table?"

"I will for Hannah. But don't go all Alpha-male on Sweets. You have Hannah, now."

What's that supposed to mean?

He sat down.

"Alright Booth. Spit it out so we can both get on with our evening."

"What the hell game are you trying to play with my partner?"

"Game? We're having dinner as friends."

"Friends? You're her shrink. Our shrink."

Sweets couldn't help being a little annoyed, maybe even sarcastic. As much as he wanted to see them back together, he was still upset with his present behavior towards Brennan. She deserved better. Booth needed to start being a little worried. Although he hadn't planned on it being this soon, he would go with it since the opportunity arrived.

"When you saw Brennan after work hours, you changed from partner to friend... and don't deny it. I'm not the psychologist tonight. We're just friends."

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"I'm sure you don't since you and Brennan never used the term in its popper context."

"Are you saying we were more than friends?"

"You have always been more than friends since I've known you. You just kept it platonic. You don't need to be concerned about Brennan and me and our friendship. I know the precise meaning of the word." He switched the discussion to him. "You don't get to be, as she refers to it, all Alpha-male over her time and activities. Your spare time needs to be focused on Hannah if you want the relationship to work. So, please, go back to your war-time girlfriend and let Brennan and I finish our dinner."

But Booth wasn't done. "You don't have anything in common. Geesh Sweets, you're too young for her."

"How is that different from you and Hannah?"

"What?"

"Since you have only been looking skin deep, you may want to do some more thinking before your new relationship goes any further… before you damage your life and possibly those around you, as well."

"I don't need to hear this from you."

"Brennan is coming back. So I expect for you to act respectively this time. It's seriously unbelievable that I have to remind Mr. Old-fashioned gentleman of that concept." He was getting mad. He really needed to modulate his voice.

Booth wanted to punch the kid. He also felt like he swallowed a rock and it had landed hard at the bottom of his stomach. Had he been mistreating Bones? He didn't think so. He would admit that he hadn't been spending much time with her, but that was to be expected. He wanted to take her outside right then and there to make things right, but he knew that would cause problems. He stood to let her sit back down. Before she could sit, he kissed her cheek. "Good night, Bones. Sorry I interrupted your dinner. You look beautiful this evening. Sweets is a lucky man to have your company tonight. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

He did his best to make eye contact… to reconnect with her. Thankfully, he wasn't facing his girlfriend. For some reason, that didn't set well with him. He saw confusion in her eyes and it pierced his heart. What kind of damage had he done?

Author's Notes: I've finished laying the ground work for the story. The plot starts to thicken in the up-coming chapters. I'm really excited about this story. My hubby thinks I'm strange. LOL!