A/N: Lots of fluff in this one. Hope you enjoy

"You had a secret," Booth whispered. His face was pressed against hers, his mouth right next to her ear. Despite the volume of the music, the words were clear.

A secret he'd never imagined even existed. A note, written years ago, that she'd chosen to use as her wedding vows. It had shocked him, for just a heartbeat, to have those terrible hours referenced on their wedding day. But the words she'd said had been…well…they'd been perfect.

She was perfect. To think he got to spend the rest of his life with her.

"A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets," she quoted smoothly. Her dress made a gentle swishing motion as they moved together and Brennan found she rather enjoyed the feeling it evoked. She'd never had a chance to wear a dress like this, and never would again, so she relished every sensation she experienced.

This was it for her, she knew without a doubt. No matter what happened in the future, she would never again put on a wedding gown. This man, holding her so perfectly in his arms, was it for her.

Booth pulled back to see her satisfied grin. "Titanic, huh? We haven't watched the movie for a few months. And I'm pretty sure it didn't have the happy ending we got."

"True," Brennan agreed, giving a little laugh as Booth twirled her, feeling her dress swing out from her ankles and back again. "But I never thought we'd get this either when I wrote that note all those years ago."

"Why me?" Booth asked. He pulled her back toward him, needed to feel her close to him. "Of all the people you could have written to, why me?" Trapped in a car, close to dying, it humbled him to know that he was the choice she'd made, even so early in their relationship. Or partnership, as they'd worked so hard to convince others over the years.

In the end, the only people who had believed it was the two of them, and they'd believed it for far too long.

"Who else?" she asked. "Maybe Angela, as at the time, we were friends. But, you were changing my world in ways I hadn't imagined were possible. You just seemed…right. And I wanted you to know that, even if I never got a chance to say the words. I knew you'd find me, but I was also honest enough with myself to know that it might not be in time. So I needed you to know."

"But you waited, Bones. It's been a long time since you wrote that note." But he shook his head, wondering if it even mattered why she made that choice. "I did like to look," he said. The reason why didn't matter, he thought. It was the words that did. "Back then I was like a moth to a flame. You had more than enough power to burn me, Bones, but I couldn't stop myself. Still can't. And you could still burn me if you chose to."

"I assume you mean that metaphorically, Booth. And I am rather beautiful, which makes you want to look. But you weren't the only one who couldn't stop. You just always seemed to be one step ahead of me. It was so hard to stare without you catching me."

"I liked to catch you looking at me, Bones. It was fun to try and figure out what you were thinking. What I hoped you were thinking when you looked at me."

Twirling her again, Booth watched the dress swing out behind her. Was there anything more beautiful than the woman you loved on her wedding day? There was the day Christine was born, but this was different somehow. Despite all of the guests, this was theirs.

So many days. So many steps. Toward each other and back again. Crossing a line that kept them safe, but not whole.

They were finally right where they belonged.

"I imagined you without clothes, once or twice," she teased and then laughed as Booth stumbled slightly. "But I imagined you did the same."

"I imagined a lot of things, Bones," he admitted. Things she could do with him, to him. Sometimes she still had her clothes on. Other times, the clothing wasn't fit for any place but behind a closed bedroom door. But most of the time, she wore nothing at all. "But this was one day I never dared to think about. It turned out better that I ever could have pictured."

She took her eyes from his long enough to glance around. "I agree, Booth. I don't know how Angela pulled this off."

But Booth didn't want to talk about Angela. "I loved you first," he said. He'd loved her for so long the emotion filled every corner of his skin. It was as much a part of him as the blood that flowed through his veins. "I loved you even when I shouldn't have."

But Brennan disagreed with his assessment of their past. "You said the words first. Could accept the emotions first. But whether you felt them first? I think we could debate that. I loved you before I could say the words. Loved you when I knew I didn't have the right."

"Where have you kept that note hidden?" he asked. His fingers brushed the bare skin above her dress where she'd tucked it away again. "Through the moves, and Christine, the year apart and escaping that damn car with nothing more than an airbag and luck. How did you manage not to lose it?"

"I don't believe in luck. I considered the options and the airbag was the best option." She smiled indulgently at the annoyance on his face, knowing he didn't agree. "But, to answer your question, it's been in a safe deposit box. Where Brainy and Jasper went while I was in Maluku. Where they stayed, for a time, after I came back. Where all the important things go." She tilted her head, suddenly fascinated with his lips. Impulsively, she leaned up to kiss him, then pulled back and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened. "It occurs to me now that everything in that box had to do with you."

Still reeling from the unexpected kiss, it took his brain a moment to catch back up. "What's left in the box?"

"Nothing," she said. Inside she gloated at the power of her single kiss. "The note was the final item left. I hoped that one day, there would come a time when it was perfect for something. That's why you've never seen it. It took a long time for that moment to come, but I'm glad I waited."

"Me, too," he said. He pulled her closer as the band finished and moved into another song. Neither had noticed that most couples had left the dance floor and were standing on the outskirts watching the happy couple.

BbBbBbBbBb

"I can't believe Max won the pool," Hodgins grumbled, handing Angela another drink. "What do you think they're talking about out there?"

"Hopefully happily ever after and the next fifty years," Angela said cheerfully. She took the drink from her husband and took a healthy swallow. It was definitely a day for celebrations. "Did you know about the note?"

Hodgins shrugged and nodded. "I ripped the page out of the book and encouraged her to write it. But who she wrote it to, and what it said, was not something she shared." Hodgins watched them dance with a moment. "Apparently, she didn't share it at all. Until today."

"To think she wrote those words to Booth all those years ago and didn't realized she was in love with him, even then." Angela shook her head, reflecting on the paths all of them had taken. "I'm glad that life brought us here," she said, leaning into her husband. "There were so many places it could have all gone wrong."

"And so many places it went right, Angie. Buried alive in a car, a year spent on the other side of the world. Do you think we'd still be standing here if any of it was different?"

"Are you asking if I believe in fate, Hodgins?" Her eyes drifted from the dance floor, to his brilliant blue ones and back to the dance floor again. They watched in silence as their friends danced slowly in each other's arms. "You know I do. Some things, you just know. The first time I saw them together, I knew."

"Yeah," he said, marveling at the faith his wife had carried. "You always believed."

BbBbBbBbBbBb

"They're watching us," Brennan said, leaning a little closer to Booth. She'd noticed the eyes on them as she'd glanced around the room and the attention made her uncomfortable.

He hated to even take his eyes from her, but Booth glanced quickly around them before returning his attention right where it belonged. "Let them watch."

"Why?" Brennan asked, resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the feeling of his arms around her.

"Why are they watching us?" He felt her nod into his chest and he bent to kiss the top of her head. "Because they've rooted for us. Kept faith in us. Even when we weren't sure, they were. You can't underestimate that kind of faith, Bones. They love us. They're our family. So our happiness is theirs."

"Are you?" she asked, picking up her head. "Happy?"

He looked at her with a bemused expression. "Why would you ask me something like that? Do you think I'm not?"

"Of course not, Booth. I just…you put feelings into words so much better than I do. I just wanted to hear you say it."

"I love you, Temperance Brennan. You have made my life so much better, so much more than I ever thought it could be. Arriving at this moment has always been my greatest dream. I'll have to come up with a new one now, though it will be hard to come up with something that tops this."

"Spending every moment of our lives together for the fifty years you wanted," Brennan sighed. "That sounds like a good dream."

"No, Bones," he said. When she looked up at him in confusion, he took the opportunity to kiss her. Possessively. At the edge of the dance floor, several women fanned themselves or shared knowing glances with their own husband. "Spending fifty years with you isn't a dream. It's our reality now. One I look very forward to living."