Disclaimer: I do not own Bones, Fox does. I'd probably have Booth tongue-kissing the maid of honor immediately upon suggestion if I did own it though.

It was two days after the dinner that Temperance saw Booth again and even that amount of time seemed too soon for her, though two weeks ago it would have appeared like forever.

She was standing over a set off remains supposedly belonging to a World War Two soldier, when she noticed a relative hush had spread on the platform. When she finally raised her head, Angela was nowhere to be found, and Hodgins as well as Zack weren't in their usual places. The guard was in his place thankfully; otherwise she thought she would have been extremely worried. All around the platform and outside the glass doors of the lab, people seemed to be roaming freely as well.

Then where was everyone?

She tried to peer at their offices' doors but couldn't see anything from where she stood and that's when she too a step back.

"Hey, Bones." Booth's low voice sounded very close behind her, and she tensed, first from being startled and then because of the tone of his voice. One she hadn't heard from him in the years they had been working together.

Steeling herself against his presence, and running the resolutions she had made one by one in her mind in a list, she turned and faced him. The first things she noticed was the proximity of their bodies, which was closer than she had imagined at first. What her brain processed next was that he didn't step back as he usually did, but rather stood there, looking at her intently.

She swallowed her nervousness and forced her voice to remain calm. "Hey, Booth. Anything wrong?"

Immediately a patent 'charm smile' made its appearance. "Nah, nothing wrong. Just wanted to talk to you about something I had in mind."

"Oh?" she offered, succeeding in sounding mostly uninterested.

"Yeah. Can we go to your office?"

"Of course." She led the way and proceeded sitting behind her desk, ignoring the voice in her head that accused her of weakness. "Well?" She watched as he walked around the desk and perched himself on the edge, his legs stretching out next to hers, almost touching.

"See, I've been wondering, Bones. The past several days it kinda seems that you've been…avoiding me." He had started in a casual voice, but then the last two words were focused and aimed carefully at her, she could see it in his eyes.

"What do you mean, Booth? I was just busy with the skeleton currently laying on the table just outside." She evaded, gesturing absently as she had read she had to in that article about body language. Why she had read that article she had no idea at the time, but apparently it was useful after all.

"Oh, really? Because as far as Hodgins and even Zack told me, you were bored out of your minds until this skeleton arrived, yesterday."

Damn him! She should have known better than to think she could have lied without him knowing. He was in full interrogation mode now. "You talked to Zack? You don't ignore him anymore as a form of male bonding?" She tried changing the subject, but knew she had failed when a smirk appeared in his face.

"Nah, no male bonding. So tell me, Bones, why have we seen each other only twice in the past couple of weeks?"

Something about that question put in those exact words had her furrowing her brows. Nevertheless, she stuck to her plan. "I had a lot of paperwork, Booth. Anyway, what's so wrong about us not meeting every day? We didn't have a case," she pointed out, finding her argument completely logical and giving herself a mental pat on the back.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Bones. We do have a case now." He smiled once again, but something in that smile made her frown in response.

"We have a body? Let me get my coat and call Zack." She started sitting up, when he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back down on the chair. Backing away from his hands, she scowled when he followed her movement and leaned closer to her, crouching in front of her. She cursed at the traitorous sensations he caused in her, her scowl deepening.

"No body, Bones. But we do have a case. And that's what I do. Solve cases. With your help of course. So, believe me when I say I will solve this one as well." Now deadly serious his eyes looked deeply in her own and she was afraid that he could see everything she'd been suppressing as well as everything she'd planned.

Without another word, he nodded and quickly walked out, leaving her staring after him.

This was definitely not good.

That evening when she left the Jeffersonian, a light drizzle had begun falling and the cold air around her announced the arrival of winter. It was about time, she thought to herself. She really enjoyed winter more than any other season, even as harsh as it came in D.C. The reason was simple enough and as always perfectly logical. When she was cold she could always pile up the sweaters and blankets to get warm, but in the summer one could only do so much to cool off.

There was another reason that she liked winter better though. One less rational but very good one in its own right. In winter she always felt less alone –with the exclusion of Christmas. Everyone remained home at night and between her work and her writing she had little time to think about being lonely while other went on vacation to exotic places with their loved ones. Plus the pressure of having fun wasn't that big. Not that she didn't like having fun…but generally that meant that she had to interact socially with strangers, which she wasn't very good at.

Driving through the streets towards her apartment she thought of the awkward visit Booth had paid her earlier in the day and couldn't suppress a heavy sigh. Now that the thought was in his mind she knew it wouldn't be long until he reached a conclusion, whether that was true or false. He was good at solving cases in his own words. But then so was she, and although she wasn't very good at lying she knew she had to make him reach the wrong conclusion about their case. Since actual facts and evidence weren't applicable in this situation, she decided then and there that she would stick with her original conclusion. Booth would never know about her feelings. For the first time in her life she chose to cover up the truth.

By the time she reached her floor a delicious smell enticed her nose. Someone was cooking. As she approached her door the smell got stronger and she realized it was coming from her own apartment. Senses fully alert, she pushed carefully the key in and twisted, pushing the door back a few inches. What she saw made her gape in surprise.

Booth was humming a tune while carrying plates filled with steaming food from the kitchen to the coffee table set for two.

He straightened up and caught sight of her, a grin splitting his lips. She was still standing in the doorway when he approached her and pulled her gently inside, closing the door behind her. "Hey, you're right on time."

"What are you doing here?" She frowned, anger boiling beneath the surface, ready to explode. How dared he invade her house…her head. Why now?

Bringing his hand up he smoothed the creases between her brows with his thumb. "You do that a lot lately." His smile softened a second later and she stiffened as he bent his head to near her neck. "You smell nice," he stated, as if what he had just done was a natural occurrence between them and straightened to look at her again.

Her mind was in overload. Her fists clenched tightly in anger and not as a tiny voice whispered in her head, as a precaution in case she wanted to touch him. "I smell like the lab," she blurted and hated herself the minute the words left her mouth. Was that all she could think of as an answer?

"Nope, you always smell nice, even when you haven't been in the lab." He grinned at her again, stepping back.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated, this time satisfied at the amount of annoyance in her voice.

"You're very welcome for the dinner, Bones. It wasn't much, really. I just threw in whatever was there and see? It came out okay. Of course I know you owe me, being tired and all. But that's what partners are for," he went on taking her bag from her hands and helping her out of her coat. "Now sit down, while I get us some beer."

Numbly she made her way to the couch and sat down slowly. What was she doing? Why was she letting him take over her apartment and do as he pleased in the one place she had found sanctuary in the past few days? This was getting completely out of hand and if she let him she knew he'd take over her life as well. This shouldn't be happening. Everything she had done should have prevented this.

Not if he just figured it out.

The realization hurt and refueled her anger. She had been right of course. He didn't care for her as she did for him, otherwise he would have noticed sooner, and now he was trying to make amend. To go back to how things were. Well, he was wrong there. There was no going back to the way they were. No casual calls for no reason, no lunches just to talk and certainly no insinuating situations between the two of them. And this right now was definitely one of the latter. She had to gain back the control she had lost over her life and that meant showing Booth what his place was in it.

She watched as he walked back in the room and offered her an opened bottle of beer. She waited until he sat beside her and when he was right next to her –a little too close for comfort- she casually shifter putting some space between them.

"What's wrong?" came his immediate retort to her moving away, and she knew the serious look on his face meant he was asking more than why she had shifted in her seat.

"Thank you for the dinner, but I fail to see why you had to do this." She stated as simply a she could, deciding on honesty at least as far as her intentions went.

His expression turned into one of confusion. "What do you mean, Bones? We've done this in the past."

"Actually we haven't. That is, you have never before broken in to my apartment and prepared dinner. You always came by with dinner when I was already home, and most of the times you called first." There, the facts were spoken out loud and she knew what she meant hadn't gone unnoticed. The flash of hurt gave her brief pause but she quickly assured herself that Angela would be confused and maybe a little hurt in such a situation as well.

"Ok, first of all, I didn't break in, I used the key you have given me," he pointed out, setting his beer on the table and turning to face her fully. "Now, what's this?" he asked pointing downwards in the space between them.

"Excuse me?" she pretended not to understand his question, although she knew quite well what was coming. So, she had to prepare herself of what she was going to say.

His voice was laced with impatience and worry. "You know what I mean, Bones. What's wrong with you? Why have you been avoiding me all this time, and now that I want to have a friendly dinner and make amends for whatever I may have done or not done, you give me the cold shoulder."

"I don't know what that means."

"Yeah, but you get the rest of it, don't you? Now will you tell me what it is that I did or something?" He spread his arms in a gesture that she interpreted as invitation to tell him what she had in mind.

She didn't disappoint, at least not in that department. She turned her eyes on him and spoke calmly. "Many times you have told me how there are lines that shouldn't be crossed, people we shouldn't allow to become more than they should because there's a lot to lose." She forced a mild smile on her lips, so that the next words didn't sound accusing, but rather a friendly warning to keep out. "You were right…so that's why I have been uncomfortable. I feel as if all this," She gestured towards the plates on the table. "Goes a bit further than our friendship dictates that it should. So I've kept my distance to reestablish that relationship to what it was." She finished her little speech, letting out a long breath.

There she had done it. Now Booth would probably make a joke filled with false innuendo, and they'd proceed eating. Everything would be back to normal and they'd be friends again…why did that still hurt then, damn it?! She took a swig of her beer and finally turned to face the new reality that was between them, only to be faced with a different sight than what she had expected.

Booth's body was rigid with what she had come to know was anger, and unidentifiable emotions swirled in his eyes as he stared back at her. "Really, Bones? So, I should make sure I don't step out of line and be a good boy by being your friend and partner, so you can dedicate your books to me?" His voice was low and strangely rough.

"I thought you wanted to be my friend," she forced out calmly, but internally panicking at the thought that maybe she had ruined their friendship as well.

"Oh, I am your friend. But just bear with me for a moment here." He cadence of his voice rose as he stood up and started pacing, the food sitting cold and forgotten on the table between them. "What you meant with your little declaration was…" He talked over her protest that he was being condescending. "…was that you see me exactly as you see Hodgins, who is one of your friends after all, right? Hmm, interesting theory right there. However there's one small glitch, Bones. You expect me to accept your wishes like everyone else has done before, even if I know perfectly well that everything you just said is crap."

She stood up, hating that all this time he had been looming over her, even across the small table, and faced his intense glare head on. Who did he think he was looking at her as if he had a right to be angry? "Crap? Everything I just said was what you have told me in the past. Lines that you drew, limits you have set. If I want to uphold the decisions we both agreed on, and you currently don't, it's your fault not mine. You made up your mind and now so have I," she shouted in frustration and walked to the door opening it. "Now, please go home and we'll talk tomorrow when our we can think rationally."

His eyes narrowed on her face, and slowly, extremely slowly he stalked towards her, stopping just before their bodies touched. "I haven't been thinking rationally since you started this and until you stop acting this way I don't plan to."

"If you can't understand that my actions tonight will salvage our friendship then I can't change your mind," she replied stubbornly.

"You're not trying to save our friendship, you want to prevent something more," he gritted out.

She snorted at his implication, but the voices in her head screamed for her to question him about it. "You've been making it quite obvious that our friendship is all there is, so I fail to see your point."

"I've known what I wanted since day one." His scowl deepened when she snorted again and for a moment he reminded her of a very intense animal ready to pounce angrily on its prey. "You expect me to run along and do what you say like everyone else, don't you, Bones?" She inhaled sharply when his right hand came up to palm the side of her neck and his mouth lowered, just a breath away from hers. She could feel his lips moving on hers as he spoke. "Well, guess what? I don't run."

And with that he abruptly released her and was gone.

She closed the door slowly and stared off in the living room, seeing nothing. It was one of the few moments in Temperance Brennan's life when her mind had trouble adjusting and interpreting the facts.

As Booth got in his car, slamming the door in frustration he took out the phone from his pocket and dialed.

"What are you doing calling me so early?" came the voice from the end of the line.

"The slow approach didn't work, Ange. We ended up getting it out in the open and fighting…and this time it wasn't the harmless kind."

"So…what?"

"I don't know." He scowled, looking up at her floor. "I have to hope that I haven't lost her, because if I have…"

"I know, honey. What did she tell you?"

He let out an audible sigh. "What I understood is that I've messed this up by waiting and now she wants to be my friend," he emphasized the last word with a note of disgust.

"So, you'll give up?"

"What? Of course not.Will you help?"

"With all my powers, Booth. What did you have in mind?"

A.N. : I'm not terribly happy with how this chapter turned out but I think they had to get it in the open so the story would go on from there. You know, declaring open war and so on. What do you think? Too slow? Characters not making sense? Feel free to rant...LOL