Thanks to MoonlightGardenias for her great beta work, encouragement and advise. Thanks also go to Dave.

These characters belong to Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, Fox, Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions, et al.

Thanks to all those who reviewed it always means so much.

Reviews are eagerly awaited and appreciated. Please no flames.


CHAPTER 6: ARBUTUS Thee Only Do I Love

The first thing she did was call Angela.

"Bren, honey. You should be sleeping."

Brennan sighed, "Did you know that primroses mean 'I can't live without you'?"

"He sent more flowers?" Angela's excitement came clearly through the line.

"Yes, and apparently there're two more to come." Tiredness laced Brennan's voice.

"Listen Sweetie, go to sleep. Things'll be much clearer when you're rested. I'd love to talk more, but I have to complete the reconstructions from those remains you identified last night in 'limbo'. Love you, Sweetie, talk later."

Before Brennan could protest or even answer, the line went dead. Sighing heavily, she moved into the kitchen and brewed herself a cup of chamomile tea laced with a heavy dose of honey. Moving into her bedroom, she placed the cup of tea on her bedside table and lay on the bed.

Looking at her bedside table her eyes fell on Jasper and Brainy Smurf. 'Damn,' she thought. 'When did this get so complicated?'

She remembered what Booth had said after the death of Howard Epps; 'There's this line, and we can't cross it.' It had both relieved and crushed her at the same time. The status quo had held until that damn kiss under the mistletoe.

Closing her eyes, she fell asleep thinking about Booth, the mistletoe kiss, and the dozens of moments over the years that belied her denial of a deeper relationship.

Ringing made its way into her subconscious and dragged her away from her sleep. Glancing blearily at the clock on her bedside table, she saw only and hour had passed. Fumbling for the phone she answered, "Brennan."

"Hey, Bones. Sounds like I woke you."

Stifling a yawn Brennan said, "Yeah, you did. What's up?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to hear your voice. How come you're sleeping this time of the morning?"

Moving to a sitting position on the edge of the bed she answered, "I worked through the night."

"Oh, anything interesting?"

Brennan took a sip of her now cold tea. "No, time just happened to get away from me."

"Uh-huh."

There was a minute of almost uncomfortable silence before Brennan asked, "Are you going to be back the day after tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. Why?"

"That's when the funeral is." Feeling more awake, Brennan put the phone on speaker and started to undress.

"Oh right. I promise I'll try." She heard him take a deep breath before asking, "Did you like your flowers this morning?"

"Can we please not talk about that yet?" she pleaded getting into a robe. "I'm going to take a shower now. Please try to be here. It's important to me."

"I know Bones, I'll try. I'll talk to you later…I love you," he finished quietly before hanging up.

Bones listened to the beeping of the dead line before hanging up. She felt as though she was being pulled in two directions at once.

Setting the temperature of the water, she stepped under the spray. The warm water soothed away some of her tension, and also gave her the opportunity to 'mull' things over a little more.

Finally fresh and feeling better, Brennan decided to visit her father.

~~ BONES ~~

Max Brennan smiled widely when he saw his daughter in the visitation room. "Tempe!" he greeted as he hugged her.

"Hi Max," she answered pulling away.

Max hated that there were still moments when she increased her emotional distance from him. A slight look of sadness passed over his face as they sat down. "So what brings you to see you old man?" he asked lightly.

Brennan looked uncomfortable. "What do you think of Booth?"

With a confused look Max said, "Why are you asking?"

"No reason. Just want your opinion," she answered, hedging.

"Tempe, you're a lousy liar. Why do you care what I think of Booth? Are you sleeping with him?" he asked.

"Dad! No!" Sighing she decided to bite the bullet. "He's told me he loves me."

"Honey, that's fantastic!" he said the smile coming back to his face.

Bones looked at him confused. "What? Why? He's the one who put you in here, dad."

"He was only doing his job, and I can't fault him for that. He seems like a very good man, and if you don't mind my saying he's quite easy on the eyes."

His daughter turned an attractive shade of pink. "Dad! Seriously!"

Deciding to give his daughter a break he said, "Honey, I've seen the way he looks at you…" She opened her mouth to protest but he held up his hand to silence her. "…And the way you look at him. It's the way your mother and I used to look at each other. There's something there whether you want to admit it or not." He reached across the table and took her hand. "Don't waste a chance like this Tempe. He loves you, and if you love him, which I'm sure you do, don't let it slip away, or you'll regret it forever."

Bones rose from the table and made to leave, but turned back. "When did you know?" she asked, truly curious.

Smiling, Max answered. "When we were on the way to rescue him from Gallagher. The look of concern and panic on your face told me all I needed to know. Your depth of affection for him really shone through that day."

Brennan nodded as her father stood. She smiled. "Thanks dad. You've helped."

"Don't sound so surprised. Your old man isn't as obsolete as you want to believe."

Father and daughter embraced. "Love you, dad."

"I love you too, Tempe," he replied as they parted. "Tell him."

Nodding Brennan knocked on the window to notify the guard that she wanted to leave. "In time maybe. Thanks again dad."

Max watched his daughter leave, and a sense of melancholy washed over him. He'd missed so much in order to protect her, and she'd become so detached from her feelings and the real world. He could only blame himself. Turning to return to his cell, he hoped he'd pushed her firmly enough in the right direction.

~~ BONES ~~

Brennan strode into the Jeffersonian, and went straight to her office. Putting on her lab coat, she then made her way to 'limbo'. There was nothing else pending and with Booth away there were no FBI cases to work on either.

Minutes after taking a crate of remains to the examination table, Angela walked in. "There's no way you've had enough sleep."

Brennan looked up. "Couldn't sleep," she stated.

"Made your decision yet?"

"Nope," she replied without looking up. "I really need to concentrate on this. And you should probably be doing some of those reconstructions."

Angela narrowed her eyes, she hated it when Brennan pulled her dismissing shtick on her. "Okay sure. I'll talk to you later." 'When you're in a better mood,' she added to herself.

Brennan only barely noticed the intrusion and had no idea she'd been so dismissive. In a few moments she was totally buried in her work.

~~ BONES ~~

The remainder of the day passed quickly, and for a change Brennan went home at exactly six o'clock.

At seven there was a phone call that she let go to the answering machine because she knew it was Booth. "Hi, Bones. I should be done by lunch tomorrow, so I'll be home early evening. I'll see you then. Well, um, I'll see you then. Oh wait I already said that. Okay, so bye. I love you," he finished awkwardly.

"I love you too," Brennan whispered.

A restless night saw Brennan spending most of it on her sofa staring into the darkness. On occasion she would drift off, then dreams of Booth and flashes of the past three years with him, floated through her subconscious.

Morning found her even more tired than before. She dragged herself through her morning routine and headed for work. As she arrived, a courier caught her attention. He was carrying a large spray of dainty yellow and white flowers.

Stopping him she said, "I'll sign for them."

Looking at the name he said, "Looks like they were for you anyways. That's like the sixth day in a row. This guy's got it bad for you Miss…" He read her name. "…Brennan."

"Yes he does," she replied absently making her way to her office.

Having grabbed another beaker for her flowers she filled it with water arranged the flowers and placed it on her desk. Next she 'googled' flower meanings under images. It took her a while to find out what kind of flowers he'd sent her, and that the meaning of the arbutus flower was, 'thee only do I love'.

She picked up her phone and was poised to dial Booth's number before remembering the time difference. Placing the receiver back in its cradle, she sat back and sighed heavily.

She was terrified.