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

Spoilers: Season 6

Rating: K+

Author's Notes: This may be a tear jerker for some people. My heart raced and my eyes watered as I wrote this chapter. Hannah is disappearing and B&B are struggling to understand their relationship. I hope you like it.

The Revelation in the Diner

Chapter 7: Memories

As the weeks went by, the friendship that Brennan had with Booth slowly started to return to what it once had been. Gradually, Hannah stopped appearing at the diner and for drinks at Founding Fathers. She wasn't sure if the friendship changed because Hannah wasn't around or if Hannah appeared less because their relationship was improving. Most likely it was a combination of the two.

The case that they had just solved was particularly draining. They were both exhausted and Brennan suggested that they have drinks at her place.

"Is there something wrong Booth?" She was instantly regretting her suggestion. He looked like… what exactly? Shocked… with a hint of fear? How could that be?

"No!" He continued to look around the living room as he talked. "No, it's just that I realized how long it's been since I was here. I'm seeing memories that I had forgotten… memories that I shouldn't have forgotten." Were those tears she saw in his eyes?

"Booth?"

He finally looked at her. The tears were gone and he grinned sheepishly. "I'm okay, Bones. Can I help you with the drinks?"

"Um… sure."

He grabbed a couple of beers and they settled onto her couch as if time had never passed.

"Bones? May I ask you something?"

"Yes." She hoped that she looked more relaxed and confident than she felt.

"Are you happy?"

She didn't know what he was going to ask, but that surprised her. How was she expected to answer his question? "I assume that I am. I would more accurately define it as content."

He shook his head in understanding, but she couldn't fathom why.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Booth, this is me. You're my best friend. You can ask me anything."

He looked surprised. "I am Bones? I'm your best friend?"

"Considering that I have never allowed anyone, including Angela, to know me as well as you do without judgment, protecting me without giving it a second thought, caring about my well being… I would have to say yes. You are my best friend." She just didn't know if it was reciprocated.

His voice became softer. "Why haven't you been dating?"

"Dating? Dating is a ritual people go through to enter into a monogamous and intimate relationship. I'm not meant to be in a relationship. I've always known that I would be alone."

The tears returned.

"I'm sorry if I upset you, Booth." She would never intentionally do that.

"Is that what you meant by not being able to change? Is that why you rejected me? The fear of being left actually was the root of the actions I didn't understand?"

She thought about what he said. "I believe that's a good way to explain it. I didn't know at the time that I was rejecting you. I thought I was merely protecting you. I would never want to hurt you, Booth. You mean too much to me." A couple of tears slid down their cheeks. Her voice became soft as a whisper.

"For a moment, you responded to my kiss."

"I never said that I didn't want to be with you." He looked truly shocked. But she couldn't blame him. It took going to Indonesia for her to figure that out. Should she reveal that? What did she have to lose? Her dignity? This was Booth. She didn't need to hide from him. "It took me going to Indonesia to realize that I did want to be with you, but the fear remained. The fear of being left is very powerful."

"I would never leave you." The tears increased.

"But you did."

"What? How did you come to that conclusion? It was hard to be around you so often after that night. It was hard to continue to work together. But I did it. I couldn't deny us that kind of connection even if I tried."

"Maybe you didn't leave right away, but you did leave our friendship, metaphorically."

"I don't know what that means." He was regaining his confidence and speaking with more determination.

"You entered into a serious relationship while in Afghanistan. You came back with Hannah. She became the center of your world. I'm not complaining because that's how it should be. It was natural for our friendship to fade."

"We were still friends when we returned." He was annoyed.

"Yes. But it wasn't the same. You said not too long ago that there are different kinds of intimacy and that we had that in our friendship. That's the part that disappeared when you came home with her." She was trying not to sound bitter.

His annoyance turned to understanding and then she saw something else in his eyes. He was feeling regretful. And then… she might has well have stabbed him through the heart because that was how he looked.

"You lied to me."

"What? You think I lied to you? When?"

"At the Hoover, after we were done talking with Sweets about our first case."

He jumped up from the couch and looked down at her in disbelief. "I didn't lie to you. I can't believe you would think that!"

And then her tears started flowing quickly. He never could handle seeing her cry. The stress eased from his body and he crumbled on the floor in front of her. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he enveloped her in a hug that couldn't be defined as a guy hug. "Bones, you gotta tell me. What do you think I lied about?"

She couldn't look at him so she just kept her head on his chest with her face nuzzled into his neck. "You said that you knew. You said that you knew from the beginning that I was the one. One is singular noun. You can't have more than that. If Hannah is the one, there is no room for me."

"Bones. Look at me. Please?" He guided her eyes upward by gently lifting her chin. "I didn't lie to you. I thought you didn't want me. Sometimes a guy has to settle for second best."

"I don't think Hannah would like knowing that."

"I know. That's why the relationship gradually came to an end."

"It ended? When?" She was genuinely shocked. Her heart began to race wildly. What did that mean for them?

"A couple of weeks ago."

"Two weeks?"

"About that. I'm not exactly sure. Like I said, it was gradual. But we mutually agreed that it was over about two weeks ago. I don't remember the exact date."

She could hardly believe it. Her eyes were wide as she tried to comprehend the news.

"How did I not notice?"

"Maybe you didn't notice, but looking back you should be able to tell that Hannah became less present in your company and we, you and me, started to grow closer." Did she here hope in his voice? "I never stopped caring about you. I need you to know that. I brought Hannah everywhere we went so that I wouldn't fall for you again. It was futile. When I returned from Afghanistan, I couldn't push you away from my mind anymore and I couldn't keep you out of my heart. She needed to be with me to protect me from you and the pain I suffered from having my heart crushed all those months ago."

Tears were flowing freely from both partners. What he said next would never be forgotten.

"You were right to remind me that what is ours is ours. After that, I was discouraging Hannah from joining us. After awhile, she started making excuses not to be around. She knew. She just didn't want to know."

"She didn't want to know what exactly?"

"She didn't want to know that I didn't love her the way that she loved me. She knew who it was that I truly loved." She tilted her head in the way that is unique to her, waiting to hear what he would say next. "I could only love you, Temperance Brennan. It will always be you."

"You love me?"

Author's Notes: One more chapter to go! Then I will be back to concentrating on What Could Have Been. I will be finishing He Called Me Baby last since it's farthest from the actual storyline. But I promise not to make you wait long for those to be completed. I have plans for more stories in the near future. I have to keep myself sane this season while Hannah is on the show.