A/N: I apologize, again, for the delay in posting... It's a combination of lack of creativity, ridiculous fatigue, stupid wrists that hurt, and, what's that other one? Oh, yeah, procrastination. Anyway, here's chapter 7. It was edited, as always, by Carrie. She is amazing. Really, you should all bow down and worship her. Right now. Are you bowing yet? A note on timeline (as brought to my attention by Carrie...): this story takes place before, or in ignorance of, really, the Hodgins/Angela breakup. I promise the next chapter is already started. I'm just struggling through it and am hoping Carrie will be able to provide some assistance. I originally meant for this chapter to be longer, but I figured it was better to post something now then wait until who knows when for the next part.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far. It really, really does mean the world to me. I do my best to reply to each of you individually, so if you haven't heard yet, I apologize and hope to respond soon.


So close and still so far

Of course Angela would be the first to notice. And the first to bring it up.

"Sweetie?"

Brennan's head popped up from the paperwork on her desk. "Yes, Angela? Make it quick. I have dinner plans and need to leave soon."

Angela eyed her friend thoroughly. She certainly didn't look like she was hiding something, though she rarely did. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"No." Brennan's eye's returned to her paperwork. She had an hour and a half to finish work, get home, and get ready.

"You're not lying, are you?"

Brennan's head popped up again. "What? Lying about what? Angela, I don't lie to you." She sounded exasperated and heavily moved a pile of case files.

"Booth just left here."

"Yeah. He managed to leave work on time," she said, pointedly.

"And when he left here," Angela continued, ignoring her, "he kissed you."

Brennan froze. "No he didn't."

"Yes, he did."

"No, he didn't. I'd distinctly remember if he kissed me."

"Maybe it wasn't a kiss kiss," Angela said, draping herself over a chair, "but it was at least a cheek kiss."

Brennan, prepared for a defense, was not expecting this. She paused, and that's all it took.

"He did! He did kiss you!" Angela squealed.

"It's possible he gave me a brief kiss in parting."

"Since when does Booth, a man you vehemently deny is anything other than your partner and friend, give you a 'brief kiss in parting'?"

It certainly was a valid question. When had that started? Their relationship had definitely shifted over the last few weeks, but… She wondered if Booth realized what he'd done so seemingly naturally and she was terrified it was so natural to her that she hadn't even acknowledged the kiss to be something of notice. It was like… they were together. Romantically. Her head sunk into her hands.

Angela watched her friend's transformation with interest. She knew Brennan processed her emotions with the same clinical consideration she used to examine evidence. It was obvious she had introduced an idea that Brennan had not yet discovered.

"Sweetie… I'd know if you and Booth were sleeping together." Brennan jerked upright, eyes wide. "Come on, you know you couldn't hide that from me. So I know that you haven't gone there yet."

"No, we haven't!" Brennan confirmed, unnecessarily, ignoring the "yet" in Angela's speech and feeling the need to say something, anything that would explain what she, herself, didn't understand. "It's much more serious than that."

"More serious than sex?"

"You know I view sex as a fulfillment of biological needs. If I chose to fulfill those needs with Booth, it would be easier than this." She exhaled heavily. "It's like… we're almost… from the outside, observationally, it would appear we were in a relationship. Dating."

Angela fought down a smile. She didn't bother suppressing the look of mild shock. She had always expected the sexual chemistry between the partners would lead to a night of near-spontaneous combustion in the bedroom. She hadn't expected a relationship to come first. And it appeared Brennan hadn't, either.

"Okay, maybe it would be good if you filled me in on the details," Angela said carefully, wanting to know more, but not wanting to scare Brennan into silence.

Brennan stood and Angela followed as they settled themselves on the couch for some girl talk.

And talk Brennan did, starting with the stairwell kiss, which, as predicted, Hodgins had already told Angela. She continued on to their kiss later that night, the early morning weekend visit, the dreams that had only increased in intensity, the hockey game, meeting Jack Hudson, and the assumption she'd be Booth's date at the wedding.

Angela listened calmly, keeping her expression supportive, while inwardly cheering Booth. He had managed to draw Brennan into a relationship without her having any idea it was happening. Until now.

Brennan finally paused in her story telling and Angela thought hard about what she would say. It had to be something that wouldn't scare Brennan, that would let her know everything was fine, and that she should let what was happening run its course. She had to appeal to her logically. She smiled.

"Are you happy?"

"What?" Brennan furrowed her brow in confusion.

"In general, these past few weeks, even with everything that's happened, would you say you've been happy?"

Brennan paused, turning the question over in her mind. "There have been some difficult moments, but, in general, yes, I have been happy." She wondered what Angela was trying to get at.

"Would you say that Booth has contributed to your happiness?"

Oh, she really didn't want to answer that one. She sighed. "Yes," she replied in a small voice.

Angela smiled. "What was that?"

"Yes! Booth makes me happy." What had happened to her? In the span of a few days, independent, self-sufficient Temperance Brennan had admitted to Booth and now Angela the role he played in her happiness.

"Well, then logically, wouldn't you say whatever is happening between you and Booth has had a positive impact on your life?"

Damn Angela for bringing logic into it. "So far," she replied, knowing her pessimism would irk her friend. But Angela continued to smile.

"Then, at this point, there's no reason to not let what's happening continue to happen. All relationships come with an inherent form of risk, but, it's Booth, Sweetie. You know he'd never hurt you, he'd never cheat on you, he'd never join a cult or murder his brother…"

Brennan glared as Angela brought up her failed attempts at relationships.

"I'm just saying, some guys are total jerks. And some guys are worth the risk. I mean, look at me and Jack. Would you ever have predicted that one? You and Booth, though? In the works from day one. He is definitely worth you taking a risk."

Brennan pondered this for a moment, recalling her conversation with Booth in which he said the same thing to her. That some things are worth the risk. He had referred to her attending the hockey game, but had he had their relationship in mind as well? Were Angela and Booth privy to some secret book on risk in relationships? How did they know this stuff?

She shrugged her thoughts away, giving Angela a hug. "Thank you." She glanced at her watch and jumped up. "I have to go. Booth and I are having dinner with my dad and a friend."

"Like a double-date?" Angela smirked.

"Like a dinner with friends." Brennan deadpanned.

Angela rolled her eyes at her friend's stubbornness. She headed for the door, but stopped short and turned around.

"Bren?"

"Yeah?" she replied, looking up from her desk and she tried to quickly clean up.

"You said something earlier… You do know that it could never just be sex with Booth, right? Not with you."

Something between fear and hope flitted across Brennan's face. She nodded, slowly. "Yeah, I know."

"And you know that's a good thing?" Angela smiled.

"That, I'm still rationalizing.

--

"Max."

"Booth."

"She still getting ready?" Booth asked, gesturing toward the bedroom.

"Yeah. Got home late from work, mumbling something about Angela and sex. Frankly, I didn't want any more details. Beer?"

Booth nodded, mind spinning over what conversation with Angela had made Brennan late getting home from work. He took a sip of the beer Max handed him and headed for the couch. Max sat in a chair across from him.

"So tell me about this Karen. It's not like my daughter to try and set me up."

Booth grinned. "She's not setting you up. I don't think her mind works that way. She sees two people about the same age who are without spouses and figures they could be friends."

"If you say so." Max still couldn't believe he had agreed to this dinner. He knew a large part of it was just to please his daughter. A smaller part of it was to take advantage of the opportunity to see Booth and Temperance in a non-work-related situation. He may have moved out of his daughter's apartment, but he wasn't blind.

"We don't know Karen all that well, but she's really sweet. She seems like a good person who is still struggling with the loss of her husband. I don't think she has that many distractions."

"How long ago did he die?"

"Three months."

"Well, no wonder she's still struggling. It takes time to overcome a loss like that. You never really do, not entirely." Max's face went blank as he got lost in thought and Booth knew he was thinking of his wife.

Booth took a long draught on his beer but when he finished his mouth felt barren. The correlation between that and the appearance of Temperance Brennan was not lost on him.

She had emerged from the hallway into the living room, brushing invisible lint of the skirt of her dress. "How do I look?" she asked, seemingly blind to her own beauty.

"You look lovely, sweetheart," Max responded, drawing his eyes from his daughter to Booth, who was practically drooling at the sight of her. He stifled a laugh.

Brennan turned to Booth, looking for his opinion and the pulse of electricity that flew between them was as detectable as lightning.

"Is that the Vegas…" Booth stuttered, trying to force himself not to completely ogle her in front of her father. He knew from experience Max could punch, and punch well.

"Yeah," Brennan responded, feeling herself blushing as she pulled an aqua-colored jacket over top the dress, attempting to raise her level of modesty. She had no explanation for why, among the many dresses in her closet, she picked that one. If she believed in such things, she would say it had drawn her to it. Hell, a part of her was hoping she would get exactly the reaction she had received from Booth.

"You look beautiful," he finally said, standing, but not trusting himself to move any closer to her.

"Someone want to fill me in?" Max asked, dramatically crossing his arms.

Two sets of eyes turned to him with equally confused stares. "Fill you in on what?" his daughter responded.

"What's going on with the two of you. I moved out three weeks ago and, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were…" Brennan's eyes widened and brows rose with such astonishing speed Max immediately censored himself. "Dating."

A small smile crested Booth's lips while Brennan looked exasperated. "Well, we're not," she replied.

She picked up her purse and headed for the door. Booth followed closely behind, his hand seeking solace in the small of her back and pressing a quick kiss on her cheek.

Max shut the door behind them, shaking his head as he trailed behind. "The hell you're not."