"Don't ask me, Angela..."
She stared at him, forcing him to look at her, "I'm asking you, Booth, because I obviously can't ask her. What the hell did you say to her?"
"Nothing..." He sighed, rubbing his face roughly. He was exhausted, physically because he hadn't slept since they found her the previous afternoon, and emotionally because... he'd found her the previous afternoon.
"Then..."
"Because I said nothing. Because when she told me she wanted to cross the line, that I made her break her own hand... I couldn't say anything to her."
She was studying him intently, and he felt a little self-conscious. "You love her..." It was not a question, and it didn't need a response. It just was what it was--common knowledge, obvious to all, apparently, but to Brennan, who was lying broken and sobbing behind the door to his right. She kept looking at him, "You really do..."
"Yes, okay, yes!" he whispered, tension crippling his control. "I'm in love with her, Angela. And she thinks that I'm not..."
"Why didn't you just tell her when she told you how she felt?"
Because she would never take no for an answer then. Because if I told her I was in love with her, she wouldn't just leave it be and be happy with the knowledge that I was stuck in the same boat with her without acting on our emotions. Because it would be putting her in danger, and I've risked her life enough as it is, and I wouldn't be able to deal if I wasnt' able to save her once... Because it's easier to let her hate me than to let her love me. If I break her heart, she won't want to cross the line anymore, and she'll let it go. Maybe eventually I'll be able to regain her trust and we can be friends... maybe one day it won't ache to look at her and know that I did what was best for her. Because I don't have a choice... "Because I can't."
"Yeah well..." She pushed herself up and opened the door, startling both Booth and Brennan, "I can..."
"Don't!" He called, and she paused, giving him just a glimmer of hope before her voice shattered it all, crumbling the world beneath his feet...
"You might be okay with ruining both of your lives, but I'm not going to participate in this, Booth. You both are too damn stubborn..." She shook her head, "You'll thank me one day, Booth..."
As she disappeared into the room, he held his face in his hands, "Not if I can't protect her. Not if I lose her..."
AN: Short chapter to show you that Booth isn't being an ass, he's just being his "alpha-male", overprotective self... hope you liked it!
