A/N: Hey kids, here's the next installment. It's slightly shorter than usual but what the hey. I did this one by myself with a few spellchecks from angel6 but she was otherwise absent this time around :( But the good news she'll be helping me with the next chapter, so now everyone has reason to smile. A review would be nice, it always brings encouragement. Have fun!

Strolling casually across the sand, Brennan broke the rose stem before placing the pretty red bud in her hair. They walked close to the sea, the tide just stopping short of their feet, shoes in their hands.

"Nice," Booth complimented, taking her hand as they walked along the beach.

They went on in silence with smiles on their faces until Booth laughed out loud. "What?" she asked, a smile flitting across her features.

"You remember that time we went to the museum?" he asked, suppressing a laugh, opting instead to grin at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh don't remind me," she said, shying away from his smiling face.

"Oh come on, that was the funniest things I've ever seen!" he joked, grinning all the more. "When the curator said something about mummies and you corrected him. You then started a full argument which had all the kids running for cover."

"Well, what he was saying was anthropologically inaccurate!" she protested, looking at him critically.

"And then, in the gift shop, you leapt like Lara Croft over all those kids to get to the Egyptian hieroglyphic pens," Booth howled with laughter, while Brennan marvelled who Lara Croft was.

"And and…" Booth stuttered, trying to reel in his laughter, "When we were allowed to get up close and personal with the mummies, you tried to steal some of it's bandages for what was it? Oh yeah 'identification purposes'."

Brennan couldn't help but laugh herself. That was a favourite memory of hers, though not often mentioned. They shared more happy memories, their laughter getting more and more raucous by the minute.

"Right, I promise I'll stop laughing," She pulled up and pursued her lips. Brennan took one look at Booth before a smile spread over her face and she started again. This only caused Booth to laugh harder.

Brennan let go of his warm hand and playfully pushed him. He was taken by surprise and fell backwards into the sea. He came spluttering back up, choking and gasping. Brennan teased him, "That'll teach you!"

Booth dragged himself out of the sea, shivering and shaking. He walked right past Brennan at a quick pace and right off the beach. He never uttered a word while he headed back up to the hotel.

Brennan wondered what she had done that was so bad before racing back to their room.

Booth was sitting on the bed, in dry boxers and rubbing his hair with a towel, when Brennan entered.

"Booth, come on," she coaxed him playfully, "You, of all people, can surely take a joke."

When no reply was forthcoming, she took a closer look at her partner. She noted a panicked look in his eyes and that his hands shook uncontrollably.

"Seeley," she said, taking a seat next to him and taking his hand. "You're trembling. Little dip in the sea doesn't scare you does it?"

She was asking with a jesting tone but when he turned his brown eyes on her, a serious tone overlaid the earlier cheerfulness. There was no impish fun in his eyes now.

"I'm thalassophobic," he stated simply, the fear still evident on his face.

"You're afraid of the sea?" she asked, hardly daring to believe that this brave man could be afraid of anything. She squeezed his hand in a reassuring fashion.

"Yeah," he uttered, barely above a whisper. "It was when I was eight. Me and my brother Findlay were at the seaside. He was twelve then. We were joking around, dunking each other and stuff when he held me under for too long."

"I struggled but he thought I was just kidding. I nearly drowned that day. I'm ok in swimming pools and stuff where I know there's a way to save myself but the sea…" he trailed off, his voice an octave higher than silence.

Brennan felt awful for her actions. "I'm sorry," she murmured in his ear, kissing his still damp hair. She hugged him close to her chest, wanting to console him. He allowed himself to be consoled. He wrapped his arms around her waist and they gently fell backwards onto the soft pillows. The two drifted off into uneasy sleep.

For just one night, he didn't have to be brave because she was there to save him.