Author's Note: I am an absolutely horrible person. I have been making it a routine to give shout outs to those who reviewed the previous chap and made an impression and whose reviews help me in my writing. Well in chapter 9 I forgot. Please forgive me. Your posts meant a lot to me and I don't want you to think I forgot.

Those who get shout outs for their reviews of chapter 8 are:

Rosie ;) – you can lurk anytime you wish. Knowing you enjoy my writing means so much, because really love yours.

Bella ) – your reviews always bring a smile to my face

Jess ) – I agree totally FLUFF RULES!

BonesDBchippie ) – you will never know how much your reviews mean. Thanks for noticing about the pet nicknames. I'm going to try to remember to put them in quotes. Those are the times that they are ooc and like you said they know it and do it on purpose.

Angel6 ) – I can always count on you.

Disclaimer: I've started watching for shooting stars, my wish will be to own Bones. Whatcha' think my chances are.

Author's Note 2: Okay, I am so sorry for the length of these notes, but there were so many things that needed to be said. Last of which is that chapter 10 is dedicated to nikita79 and Bellabun. Without them this chap wouldn't have been possible. I didn't even have plans for this chap until nikita79 gave me the idea. I was confused as to handle the scene until Bella helped me out. Anyhoo, on with the story.

LETTING GO

Booth and Brennan, side-by-side, rode the elevator to her floor holding hands in silence. Just before they reached her floor, Booth pressed the stop button to halt their ascent. Brennan turned her head to look at him.

"Booth what are you doing?" He gave her a hand a gentle squeeze.

"I just wanted to take a second to tell you that I love you and that no matter what happens when we get off this elevator, we will face it together." She smiled sweetly.

"Of course we'll face it together, we're partners and that's what we do." Brennan stated matter of factly.

"That's my girl."

"So does that make you my boy?" She asked coyly. Booth gave her a chuckle in response.

"Absolutely, but it would sound SO much better if you said I was your MAN!" Brennan released his hand and moved to lean against the elevator wall. He made a move to get closer but she held up a hand to stop him. After letting her gaze roam over him in a brazen way, she slowly brought her eyes up to meet his.

"Yes, I would say that MAN is definitely a better choice of words." She moved from her spot against the wall and resumed her previous position. Grasping his hand in hers she looked up at him and gave him a wink. Booth just shook his head and restarted the elevator. "I love you too Booth."

He just gave her hand a gently squeeze. They both took a deep breath and released it just as the doors of the elevator opened up. After exiting and turning to go down the hall to her apartment is when they first spotted him.

Sully was sitting on the floor beside her door, his head was back against the wall and his eyes were closed. Brennan's steps faltered for just a moment. Taking another deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she continued down the hall. Brennan gave his hand a squeeze in response and then released it. Booth didn't protest but placed it at the small of her back.

She snuck a peak up at Booth. By all outward appearances he was his normal relaxed self. Brennan knew him too well though, she could sense his tension. She wasn't good at reading people, but she was good at reading Booth. His nervousness was obvious to her. Somehow she seemed to know what was worrying him. He was worried that she would somehow change her mind or that he had somehow imagined the whole thing and that she would end up back with Sully. There was no way Brennan was going to let him continue to think that way.

Booth came to a halt in the hallway and turned to look back where Bones had stopped walking. Taking a few steps back to where she stood, he raised his eyebrows in question.

"What is it Bones?"

"Seeley, you're not imagining all this and I'm not going to change my mind." She said quietly then brought a hand up and laid it on his chest. "I. LOVE. YOU. Nothing that happens when we get to my apartment or anything that Sully says is going to change that, okay?"

"How did you know what I was thinking? Or were you just going with your gut?" He teased, but the relief was evident in his face.

"No Booth, it's not my gut! It is my knowledge of you. I know how you think and I know that you were worried. You told me earlier you were afraid to let me out of your site, because you thought you would realize it was all just a dream. I don't read people very well, but I can read you. When I saw how tense you were, it was only logical to assume what you were thinking about." Booth brought a hand up to cover hers and slowly rubbed his thumb across it.

"Okay babe, no more worries." He flashed her charm smile.

"That's good 'dear'. Now let's go and get this over with. You see I have a weekend long date and I'm anxious to get it started." Flashing her own charm smile, she dropped her hand. They moved to start back down the hallway.

Sully opened his eyes as he heard them approach. He wasn't surprised to see them together. The connection between them was obvious to everyone. If only he had been able to get her away from Booth things would have worked out. As he watched them, he didn't see anything other than the normal behavior. Maybe, there was still a chance.

"What are you doing here Sully?" Brennan didn't see the need for small talk and just got right to the point. "I thought that we had settled things over the phone."

"You thought they were. I, however, thought there was more that needed to be said. Perhaps, YOU AND I, could step into your apartment and talk. You've done your duty Booth, you can leave now."

Booth took a step forward as if to argue. Brennan spoke up before he moved very far.

"No Sully, I would like for Booth to stay. There is nothing that you can say to me that you can't stay in front of him."

"Fine. Shall we go inside then?" Sully said, his disappointment obvious.

Once opening the door, Brennan led the way inside. Booth was the last to enter and shut the door behind him. Once in the living room, Brennan turned to face Sully. Making his way past them, Booth went to kitchen to get himself a beer. When he returned he sat on the sofa to observe.

It didn't escape Sully's notice how comfortable Booth was in Brennan's apartment. It was clear to him that this would be the only chance for him to speak his mind, so taking a deep breath he began.

"Brennan, I realize that you are having doubts about us, but if you give us a chance maybe…." She interrupted him.

"Sully, I'm sorry but what I am feeling is not doubt. Yes I had doubts before, but not anymore. It's over. It would be best if you just accepted it and moved on." He shook his head and stepped forward to grasp her arms.

"I don't want to move on Brennan, I love you and we have something good between us." She jerked her arms out of his grasp.

"We HAD something between us Sully. I'm telling you that it's over. I don't feel the same way about you as I did."

"Because of Booth?" He asked sarcastically.

Booth slid to the edge of the sofa, ready to jump up at a moments notice. He was shocked to realize how true Bones' statement about knowing him really was. She had turned to give him a look that said to stay where he was and let her handle it. He gave her a slight nod in acknowledgement and stayed where he was at.

"Only in so far as he helped me realize how I really felt." She told Sully after returning to face him.

"So somehow he convinced you that you don't love me."

"Sully, I'm not known for being a very tactful person, but I'm really trying here." She told him. "I'm sorry, but you must have misunderstood. I never loved you. I am fond of you and I enjoyed our time together, but it wasn't love. I'm sorry."

"If you would go away with me maybe you could learn to love me, if we could just get away from Booth. It was working, you were spending less time with him and we were getting closer. That's why I thought if we got away…" He let his voice trail off when he realized what he had just admitted. Sully watched as she began to understand what he had admitted too.

Before she got a chance to speak, Booth was beside her.

"Sullivan, are you telling me that you purposefully tried to keep us apart." Booth's voice was low and harsh.

"Why would you do that Sully?" Her voice had taken a very somber tone. "I told you that he is my best friend, why would you try to keep us apart? He will always be apart of my life."

"He has always been more than just your 'best friend' and you know it." He accused. "I asked you if there was something going on between the two of you. You said no. I asked if I was getting in the way of something and again you said no. YOU LIED!"

"Hey, why don't you back down there buddy." Booth was ready to throw him out, but Bones stopped him with her hand. "She doesn't lie, you should know that."

"Well, obviously there is something going on between you now."

"Yes, there is." She told him honestly. "We have talked and admitted that there are feelings between us. We've also decided to that we're going to give a romantic relationship between us a try."

Brennan was downplaying what had actually had happened between and hoped that Booth understood what she was trying to do. He did. He knew that she was just trying to be respectful.

"No matter what happened between us, I NEVER lied to you. Yes, I lied, but only to myself. I was not willing to admit to myself or anyone else how I had begun to feel about Booth. I started to have feeling for him beyond being a partner and best friend. I was in denial about it." She said softly. "I'm sorry about that, I really am. I'm sorry that I hurt you, I never meant for that to happen."

"See, I knew it, I knew there were feelings there." Sully said haughtily.

"If you knew there were feelings then why did you continue to go out with her?" Booth spoke up.

"Because, I fell in love with her and thought that if I could just get her away from you then we could have a good thing. If it wasn't for you then we would be getting ready to sail away together."

Brennan shocked them both by laughing. Booth and Sully just stared at her.

"Bones, what is so funny?" Once she stopped laughing she looked at them both, sobering quickly.

"First let me say Sully, whatever you thought about us and any possible future between you and I, gives you absolutely no right to try to remove Booth from life. It won't happen. He is my partner. He is my best friend. He is my family. And now he is going to be more. There's no way you would succeed in removing him from my life. You never even had the right to try."

Booth stepped close to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. He was done trying to be respectful. This was him staking his claim. Bones would probably tell him off later about his alpha-male tendencies, but he wasn't letting that stop him. He was surprised when she actually leaned him to him a little.

"What I was laughing at was your statement that if it wasn't for Booth. If you think that then you really don't know me as well as you think you do. If it wasn't for Booth, you and I would never have gone out to begin with." She told him flatly. "Angela told me about a conversation she had with Booth about you Sully. She told him that you lived a wide life and Booth lived a narrow life. Her statement makes perfect sense."

"You have done all of these things; FBI agent, master carpenter, you've studied kinesiology, trained as an EMT and probably a lot more things that I don't know about. Booth does lead a narrower life and there's nothing wrong with that at all. His focus his son, his job, his friends and family. But what you don't understand is that my life before Booth was so much narrower than even his. I worked and I went home, the only time I ever went out was to appease Angela. The times I dated were only with people that I came into contact with in the course of my job."

"You are not the normal type of man that I would have ever gone out with. Even when if I had, it wouldn't have lasted very long. Because of my past I have a problem letting people close to me. I have built up walls around me that no one has EVER taken the time to get through. Nobody before Booth, that is. He did finally get through though. There are still some walls there, but he has been patient with me. It's taken him almost two years and he's still not through. We've only been going out a month, you are not even close." She could feel Booth stand up a little straighter at her words. She knew that he and Sully both needed to hear this.

"Booth has helped me to widen out my life. Sure it could be wider, but I'm very happy with how it is. If my life is to get any wider then it will because of Booth also. He has opened me up to the world around me, helped me to become a better person and better friend. He's even helped me to become a better girlfriend, from which you benefited. So that's what is so ironic to me. You want Booth out of my life, but if it wasn't for him, you would have never been in it to begin with."

Booth and Brennan looked on as her words sunk in. Sully finally realized the futility of his coming here, that he would never come between her and Booth. He closed his eyes and dropped his chin to chest. After a brief moment, he raised his head to look at both of them. They were still standing side by side, Brennan was leaning into Booth and he had his arm around her. He understood what she had said and finally grasped the truth of what she had said. Sully shifted slightly to look at Booth.

"Do you really love her?" Booth nodded and Sully stuck his hand out. Booth stepped away from Brennan to shake Sully's hand. "Take care of her."

With that Sully started to leave the apartment. His mind was reeling from what had just happened. He really did love her and he knew that there was one more thing that he could do for her before he left her life for good. He could let her go to be happy. Stopping at the door, he turned to face them again.

"Brennan, I'm really sorry that things didn't work out between us. However, all I want is for you to be happy. I know Booth will do that to the best of his ability. I just want you to know that you have nothing to feel guilty about." He paused to let his words sink in. "I know you a little better than you think I do. I know that you are feeling guilty for thinking that you led me on and that you hurt me. Well, I did it to myself."

"Sully…" She started to speak but he stopped her.

"No it's the truth. I was a profiler. I knew that there was something between you and Booth. I ignored it. I led myself on. I let myself believe that we had a future together. You have NOTHING to feel guilty about. I wish you the best with Booth, you and him were meant to be together. It's obvious to anyone who spends any amount of time with the two of you. I deluded myself. Don't let me or any feelings of guilt you might have hold you back from widening out your life. Be happy." After he finished speaking he let himself out of the apartment.

Booth and Brennan stood frozen in place for several minutes letting his words sink in. Booth was the first to react. He turned to face Bones and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You okay Temperance?"

"Yes Seeley, I am. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off of me. I still regret that Sully got hurt, but I don't feel guilty anymore. I appreciated what he said at the end." She raised her arms to wind them around Booth's neck. "It was if he gave us his approval."

Booth wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "How does this affect us?" Her response was a beautiful smile.

"I think that it removes the last obstacle to us moving forward." He grinned down at her.

"You do, do you?"

"Yes, it made me realize that I don't want to wait any longer. The two years that it has taken us to get to this point is long enough. It was worth the time that it took to get us to where we are now. It was worth it for us to have gotten as close as we are. But it's not worth waiting anymore." He lowered his head to kiss her, but she stopped him.

"Babe, if I let you kiss me right now it won't stop with just a kiss." He grinned at the endearment.

"Would that be a bad thing?" She shook her head.

"No, but why don't you run down and get your bags first? We have all weekend. It's been 2 years getting here, what's a few more minutes?" She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and stepped back. "Go on Seeley, I'll be waiting right here."

It only took Booth about ten minutes. When he let himself back into the apartment he saw that Bones had kept her word. She was standing in the exact same spot. Around her however, things had definitely changed. She had lowered the lights, lit candles all over the room and there was soft music playing in the background. The biggest change though was her outfit. Temperance had changed into a long, silky nightgown. Her hair was loose and falling over her shoulders. He had never seen her look more beautiful. He walked slowly to her, stopping just short of touching her so that only a thin amount of space separated them.

"You look beautiful Temperance." He said huskily just before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you, you make me feel beautiful." She smiled up at him shyly. "I love you very much Seeley and I don't want to wait. Please don't make me wait."

"Far be it from me to deny you anything." As he spoke he pulled her into his arms. "I love you too Temperance and I don't want to wait any longer either."

Booth lowered his mouth to hers. Their previous kisses had been fiery from the start. This kiss was tender yet passionate. After a several minutes, Booth pulled back to look down at her with a dazed expression on his face.

Brennan was a genius, but it didn't take one to figure out what he was thinking. He was thinking again that he must be dreaming. So she did what she did before. Lowering one hand from his back to his butt, she gave him a sharp pinch.

She started laughing when he released her to rub the offended part of his body.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you knew you weren't dreaming." She said through her giggles.

"Gee thanks Bones. That was very romantic of you." He groused.

"Well, then let me see if I can find another way to convince you." She pressed her body to his and pulled his face down close to hers. "Seeley, would you make love to me?"

Booth didn't waste any time, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he proceeded to show her just how much he loved her.

THE END

Just a little more fluff for you there at the end.

Congratulations to all of those who correctly where the title for Chapter 9 'As You Wish' came from. It is from the movie the Princess Bride, only best and most hysterical movie ever. The line is what Wesley says to Buttercup, every time he uses that phrase is his way of telling her that he loves her. I decided to throw it into the story, because I love to believe that is what Booth is doing when he calls Brennan 'Bones.' If you haven't seen the movie check it out.

I had planned on continuing this story further, however, at this time I'm going to stop. I'm not sure of where I want to take it after this. This seemed like a fitting stopping place. Who knows, I may come back to it if my muse Tells Me What To Do! lol

Anyway, thanks for all the wonderful reviews and encouragement. I already am thinking of another story and have started working on it. Thanks again, )bandbi