Dentist in the Ditch

"Well…you totally called it" Booth grinned and leaned against the doorway. "You were so right."

Dr. Wyatt looked up from his newspaper and smiled. "That is certainly what every man wants to hear, and now of course you've piqued my interest, and I must know what I was right about."

Booth chuckled and pushed off of the wall, walking forward to sit on his usual seat. "Bones. You were right about Bones. She does believe in love."

Dr. Wyatt tilted his head to the side and smiled in genuine pleasure. "Ah, congratulations are in order, my good man. I am very pleased for you. Tell me--"

"For me?" Booth blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Wyatt narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? Perhaps I misunderstood. You see, I thought you said that Dr. Brennan confessed that she in fact does believe in love."

"Yes" Booth nodded. "That's what I said. But I don't see what that has to do with me."

Gordon Gordon looked around the room in shock, as if someone else was there to share in his disbelief.

"What," Booth shrugged. "Bones and I were having dinner with my brother, and his new fiancée, and Bones gave a toast, and she said that when she first met me, she didn't believe that love existed, but now…now she believes. "

"Yes…" Dr Wyatt motioned for him to continue. "And…"

"And, what?" Booth frowned. "That was it."

"And…what did you say to that?"

"Me? Nothing."

"Nothing. You said nothing?" Dr. Wyatt asked. "The woman you're in love with, the one you claim is so different from you…she admits, in public, to your family no less, that she believes you when you say love exists. And you said nothing."

Booth shifted in his seat. "Well, we had dinner, and then I drove her home, that's about it."

"I see." Dr. Wyatt frowned and stared at Booth. "I see now that we have been going about this all wrong."

"What?" Booth's head reared back. "Wrong? Going about what wrong?"

Dr. Wyatt continued as if Booth hadn't even answered. "It's my own fault, really…" he murmured to himself. "It hasn't been that long since I gave up psychiatry."

"What are you talking about?"

"Agent Booth, did she say she believes in love, or did she say she believes what you say about love?"

Booth frowned. "What's the difference?"

"The difference" Gordon Gordon insisted. "The difference, my good man, is entirely you."

Understanding flickered over Booth's features, then sharp doubt and insecurity. "Hmmm. Whatever happened to 'hope and patience'?"

Dr. Wyatt barked out a laugh. "Whatever happened to 'grow a set'?"

Booth chuckled and then shook his head. "Nah. I mean, no way. She's just getting the basics, that's all."

"No" Dr. Wyatt shook his head. "Look, you've come to me for advice, and I'm going to give it to you. She's telling you what you've been listening for, but somehow you didn't actually hear it. And it's more than just gratifying to be right. Hell, I was right, and I feel immensely gratified," he bragged. "But for you…it means more. Allow it to mean more. Allow it to mean what it means."

Booth traced an imaginary pattern on the counter top. "Mean what it means, hmmm?"

"Precisely." Dr. Wyatt nodded.