This is really short. Yeah. Why do all of my chapters start with apologies?

The dinner started well, like any of the other dinners they had shared. Now, however, they were just looking at each other, into each other's eyes, again, like they had done so many times in the past. He frowned a little bit in thought, and then asked her a question.

"Bones, you… you've never actually told me how you feel about me."

She was caught a little off guard by the question, and he apologized. "I'm sorry. It was sudden. I just…" He sighed. "I'm going to ruin this right of the bat, aren't I? You've dated a lot of guys, and you've said that you...you shared similar interests, that you enjoyed spending time with them…"

"Isn't that the basis for a successful relationship?"

"Well, yeah…but, it's like how a foundation is the basis for a good house. You can pour a solid foundation, but it still matters whether there's a mansion, apartment building, shack, or just a regular house on that foundation…or anything at all. The foundation is just the start."

She struggled to follow his train of thought. "What do you mean?"

"I know we have a good foundation, Bones. But, what does the house look like?"

"I don't know what you mean."

He sighed. "I care about you, Bones. I'm always going to be on your side. As long as I have a choice, I will never leave you. That…that's the house that I see."

"I see."

There was a pause.

"I'm sorry. I kind of threw it all out on the table on our first date, didn't I?" She was about to give some short answer, and he stopped her. "You just think about it. It's what you do." He pulled the cash out for the tip – luckily, they did not experience a repeat of their earlier argument over his insistence on paying – and took her hand as she stood up. With a hand on her back, he gallantly offered, "Dessert, m'lady?"

"Where?"

"Oh, I'm sure there's a Dairy Queen around here somewhere."

She laughed. "Don't you think we're a little…overdressed for that?"

He looked at her. "You've gone to a crime scene dressed as Wonder Woman and now you're worried about being inappropriately dressed? C'mon."