Booth's heart was pounding in his chest as he looked into Bones' beautiful blue eyes. "Please stay…"
She withdrew her hand from his and turned away from him. She hesitated a few seconds before responding. "No."
"What?! Bones, please…."
Bones turned back to face him. "No. Hannah's been gone for what...3 weeks? And you show up in my office and ask me to stay with you because you 'love' me? I think it's more like you want sex. You're used to engaging in intercourse on a regular basis, and you need a new partner. The correct term is, I believe, 'booty call'."
"Booty call?" Booth stood gaping at her like a dead fish. "Bones...do you really think I would treat you that way? I love you…." He stepped toward her to embrace her.
Brennan held her hand out to keep him away from her. "So you say, Booth. And you've told me that before. You rambled on about how you wanted to stay with me for 30 or 40 or 50 years. But guess what happened? We were apart for approximately 225 days, and you completely changed your mind. You fell in 'love' with someone else." She brushed a tear away. "Someone else caused a release of brain chemicals for you, and I was forgotten like an old newspaper."
"Bones...I never really forgot about you. That's what I'm trying to tell you." Booth was desperate. How could he explain it to her? "Remember when I said 'I knew'? I did know...it's always been you, Bones…"
"It seems to me that you are quite fickle, Booth. Even if I believed you loved me now, my experience with you demonstrates that you could change your mind six weeks from now."
"I won't change my mind. I didn't change my mind. I loved you then, and I love you now."
"You've conveniently forgotten about the year in between then and now. You practically pounced on me to proclaim your love that night in front of the Hoover building. You didn't even give me time to think about what you were talking about." The tears were flowing freely now. "Well, I thought about it for seven months….which is not even close to 30 years...and I was ready to give you a chance, but you had 'gone on' by the time I came home."
"But, Bones...you said you didn't want me, remember? That hurt a lot….so I tried to move on."
She interrupted him. "That's not what I said. I said I couldn't love you like you wanted me to, and I guess I was right, because you only want someone to love you for weeks or months, not for years."
"You said you'd gotten the message when I followed you out in the rain during Dr. Eames' case, right? So has the message changed? I thought you cared for me. That's what you meant, wasn't it?" Booth was getting agitated. Had he really read the situation that badly?
Brennan was really angry now. "You told me that night that Hannah was not a consolation prize. Well, Booth, neither am I. I'm not going to be your backup plan just because things didn't work out with Hannah. Go find someone else to spend a few weeks with."
It was Booth's turn to be angry. "Great. So you're not a consolation prize, but you do get the booby prize for making a dumb decision to run away from the Jeffersonian just because you're mad at me."
"You have no right to an opinion about my life or my decisions. You can just go to Hell, Booth."
Booth felt like he'd been slapped. His life was falling apart in front of him...but he had to know the truth. He tried to speak calmly, even though his heart was being crushed.
"So are you in love with Paul, Bones?" He closed his eyes and held his breath, not really wanted to know.
"That has nothing to do with this discussion, Booth! I'm not making a decision this important based on what someone else wants me to do. So take your 'love' and leave my office!" She glared at him with her arms crossed tightly across her chest, then turned away from him again. "I have work to do. Please leave."
"Bones, just give me a chance to explain..."
"It's too late for explanations! Go!" Brennan pointed to the door.
"Fine!" Booth stomped through her office. "I hope you and Paul will be very happy together!"
"Fine! Thanks. We will be happy! Paul and I will have a great time together."
"Fine!" Booth yelled. He left in a hurry, wishing Bones' office had a door he could slam. He was angry and hurt, but he was also embarrassed, because almost everything she had said to him was true. Even when she was angry she was still logical. Now all he could do was pray that she'd change her mind….
oooooooooo
Angela rushed into Brennan's office. "Did I see Booth leaving? He hasn't been here in ages."
Brennan stared at her computer. "He doesn't want me to go to South Africa, but I told him I'm going anyway. He says he loves me, but I think he's just saying that because Hannah left and he wants sex. I guess I'm the reboot partner."
"Hannah left? That's wonderful!" Brennan glared at Angela. "Sorry. I guess that's sad. Anyway, I think you mean 'rebound lover'. But you aren't the rebound lover, Brennan. Hannah was."
"I don't know what that means."
Angela sighed. "Sweetie, I love you, but, to quote my dad, you don't have a lick of sense. Booth has been in love with you for years. He was crushed when you went to Maluku, so he tried to start a new relationship. The problem was he couldn't get over you. He's been using his relationship with Hannah to hide from his feelings for you. I think he finally figured that out. Now it's your turn."
"My turn? I don't understand."
"Okay, Brennan, I'll try to explain it to you. You went to Maluku because you didn't want to love Booth. You came back and wanted to love Booth, but he had a new girlfriend. Now he has no girlfriend, and you can love Booth again. What's so hard about that? Call the man and ease his mind. Tell him you'll stay."
"I don't think it's rational to use emotional responses in making decisions. I need to examine all the facts available….."
"To Hell with the facts. Here's the truth. You love Booth and he loves you. If you go to South Africa you might miss the chance to have a beautiful life together. Do you really want to risk that?"
Brennan chewed her lower lip. "He was so angry when he left. He may not want to talk to me."
"Trust me, Sweetie...he can't wait to talk to you again."
"Okay….I'll consider your opinion, Angela." Brennan turned back to her computer, indicating that the discussion was over.
Angela nodded, knowing she'd done her best to help Brennan understand what was going on with Booth. After she left the office, she made a phone call. "It's me. Founding Fathers, 6 pm. I need to talk to you."
oooooooooo
Angela walked into the Founding Fathers and saw Booth on the bar stool, hunched over, nursing his Scotch.
"Poor guy.", Angela thought to herself. "He just happened to pick the most complicated person on the planet to fall in love with. Well, I'll just help him out with that situation." She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, Booth. Looks like you started without me."
He turned a bleary eye to her and sighed. "I wanted to start right after I left Bones, but I had work to do. I've been here about an hour, I guess." He turned back to his Scotch. "It hasn't really helped. I still feel like shit."
"Look, about Brennan…"
"I really don't wanna talk about her, alright? I already feel bad. I don't need you bitching at me to go with it."
"I'm not going to bitch. I'm trying to help you out, if you'll just shut up and listen, okay?"
"Okay, I guess."
"Here's the facts. One: Brennan isn't in love with Paul. Two: She decided to move to South Africa because she didn't want to stay and watch you and Hannah be happy together. Three: she loves you, but you screwed up royally, and she's madder than Hell at you."
Booth was trying to process the facts with his Scotch soaked brain, but he wasn't getting it. "Did you say she loves me? You're not messing with me, right? 'Cause it's not nice to take advantage of a drunk guy."
Angela was trying hard not to laugh. "Yes, that's what I said. She loves you, but she needs to take some time to be mad at you since you hurt her feelings so badly. Listen, you can't tell her I told you this, okay? She'd kill me. I think in a few weeks she'll figure it out but until she's over being mad you're going to have to be patient."
"Yeah, well, she should be mad at me. I'm pretty much a screw up, you know? God, Angela...I love her so much, and I keep making a pile of shit out of it, you know? What am I gonna do if she stays mad at me forever."
"Trust me, Booth. I won't let her stay mad at you forever. But you've got to be quiet about this talk we're having now, and be patient, alright?"
"Yeah. Hey, can you call me a cab? I can't see the numbers on my phone any more."
"Sure thing, Booth." She eased him into the cab and sent him home. Angela knew Hodgins' hated it when she did matchmaking, but she figured this didn't count since it was obviously fate that brought Booth and Brennan together.
"It's Fate, or maybe God has a weird sense of humor." She smiled as she started home, glad to give Fate or God a helping hand.
