Brennan wished that she could disguise the sadness in her voice, but it was much too late for that. She held her breath for a moment and even considered hanging up on her friend, but ultimately knew she'd have to answer.

"Brennan, answer me." Angela demanded, hearing her friend trying to compose herself. "I'm serious Bren, what's going on?"

"Nothing." She managed to whisper.

"This isn't nothing, Sweetie. You sound really upset. If you don't tell me what's going on, then I'm on the next plane home."

Brennan let out a slight laugh and sucked in a breath. Her laughter sounded strangled and sad to Angela, almost sarcastic. "I… am okay." She said, trying to disguise her voice, though it cracked as she spoke.

"I didn't ask you if you were okay, Brennan. I asked what happened."

"He… loves me." She managed to whisper.

"Who loves you, Bren? Come on, out with it."

"I am socially inept." Brennan muttered.

"Sweetie?"

"I'm a failure at every relationship, both romantic and otherwise."

"Brennan."

"I am a screw up. I deserve to be alone for the rest of my life."

"Stop, Bren."

"This isn't the way that this was supposed to happen."

"Bren."

"I can't believe I did this."

"Did what?" There was silence over the line suddenly, and Angela waited for her friend to reply. "Brennan, I am serious. I need some specifics here."

"He thought that I was in love with Cooke."

"Who, Booth?"

"Yes."

"But you're not… you said he is just a good friend."

"A very good friend, yes."

"Not a friend with benefits."

"I don't know what that means."

Angela knew that she needed some answers. It was almost as if Brennan was talking in code, and that fact alone made her nervous. Temperance Brennan was never at a loss for words, even if it were randomly strung together stream of consciousness, her best friend was never speechless. "Did something happen, sweetie? Is Booth alright?"

"I told him that I love him."

Angela could hear the tortured sound in her friend's voice, the fear of having revealed her innermost feelings, the secret that she held so close to her heart that it had practically become part of it. She listened to her friend's breathing, the soft, panicky sound in the back of her throat, and the way that she almost whimpered her next words.

"I'm so confused."

"Sweetie…"

"I have to go, Angela." Brennan whispered.

"Bren, no… you have to talk to me about this."

"No, I really have to go, Ange. I have to go find someone, and fix this."

"Bren…" Angela started to say, though Brennan only heard that much before she slammed the receiver down. It took only a moment, and the phone began to ring again. Brennan saw that the number was Angela's and closed her eyes, her hand still on the phone as she pulled it away as if it had burned her.

She stood up and grabbed her bag, swinging it over her shoulder, she stood up and walked toward the door, listening to the sound of the phone ringing as she reached the door, she looked back at the phone and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ange…" She muttered as she swung the door to her office open and made her way quickly through the lab, the sound of her phone ringing in the background, as she disappeared out of the glass doors toward the elevators.

She made her way down to her car, her mind reeling with the sound of Booth's voice over the messages. His words were echoing in her brain, and she couldn't believe that it had taken her this long to listen to them. He was right when he said she wasn't ready at Christmas time, and frankly she wasn't quite sure if she was ready for those words now. She got into her car and started it, pulling the car out of the parking garage and toward the street, she wasn't sure of where she was going. She had options, she had many options, and none of which seemed like an escape to her.

Did she want to escape?

Or did she want to embrace this epiphany?

She let the car drive her wherever it wanted to go, because obviously she wasn't in charge of herself. She listened to the sound of her cell phone ringing in her bag, obviously it was Angela, but she had no desire to talk to her friend right now. She pulled the phone from her bag and stared at the number for a moment, wondering if she should call Booth. He told her to call her when she wanted to talk, he told her to call him when she was ready, when she had heard his messages, when she had felt his emotions, and listened to his soul as he poured it out over the line. She was so tempted to press those buttons, for the same scenes played out in her mind.

That moment in the airport when they said goodbye, the many and frequent phone calls that she had gotten after Christmas, with no mention of love by name. Though if she thought about it, she could hear the love in his voice, in the memory of his voice during those phone calls.

"Brennan." She said, answering the phone as she always did, and though it was nearly two in the morning, she didn't even notice the time.

"Bones, why are you still at the lab?"

"Booth?"

"Who else calls you this late on a school night?" He asked, a ring of laughter in his voice at his joke.

"School?"

"Bones… did you eat dinner yet?"

"Why, are you buying?" She teased.

"Funny." He said, and she heard his chuckle. "You should go home and get some rest, Bones."

"If I go home and get some rest, will you call again tomorrow?"

"I will."

"When are you coming home?" She asked.

"Why, do you miss me?"

"No." She replied quickly, hearing a faint sigh on the other end.

"A couple of weeks." He smiled. "Come on, you miss me… don't you, Bones?"

"I miss our partnership."

"I thought you found a new partner."

"Cooke is not you, Booth. He's not even close."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I should go. Go home, Bones."

"I'm going home." She sighed.

"Have sweet dreams."

"I have no control over the content of my dreams, Booth."

"Goodnight, Bones."

"Goodnight, Booth."

She sighed as she thought of his thoughtfulness, the sweetness of his voice, the way that he seemed so relieved when she reassured him of their partnership and bond. She wasn't sure what had happened between the two of them, and although she hadn't listened to the messages from early on in the trip, their relationship continued to blossom and grow with each and every phone call.

And with that growth, came increasing fears on Brennan's part as she began to rely on her new friend to reassure her of her relationship with Booth. She and Cooke had spent many hours together outside of work, much in the same way she had spent time with Booth, but it was different. With Cooke, she could talk about the one thing that she couldn't talk about with Booth, or with Angela, or with anyone else in the lab. She could talk about the one person that she had fallen head over heels in love with, the one person that she trusted above all others, and the only person she couldn't talk to Booth about… him.

She drove through the streets of Washington D.C. thinking about all of the things she had shared with Matthew about her relationship with Booth, and remembered the day that he had come back from Afghanistan.

Brennan sat at her desk working through some paperwork, her eyes on her computer screen as she sighed, sitting back in her chair for a moment, she stared at the blinking cursor at the bottom of the screen. To say that she was shocked by the voice that came from the door would be the understatement of the century.

"What's with the pinchy face, Bones?"

She gasped with surprise and a smile lit up her face as her blue eyes connected with his gaze. She said nothing as she watched him lean against the door frame, his head tilted as he smiled that charm smile in her direction. "Booth." She said his name, the sound of her voice bringing a smile to his face as he watched her get up from her chair. She moved quickly across the room as he stepped into her office, and immediately, her arms wrapped around him.

"Whoa…" he said, feeling the strength in her hug as he gave her a tight squeeze back. "Geez, Bones…"

"What are you doing here?" She asked, pulling from the hug, she looked into his eyes, her hands lifting to her shoulders as she looked at him intensely. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and looked relaxed, happy.

"You're not happy to see me?" He teased.

"Of course I'm happy to see you." She replied, her hand touching his face as she took a step back. "I just… I thought you had a couple more weeks, you said you'd be there for another couple more weeks, and…"

"And I may have told you that so you wouldn't worry about me returning."

"How long have you been in town?" She asked, her hands still holding his wrists as she continued to look him over.

"Just this morning… I had a chance to change into civies, and…" He paused for a moment and smiled. "You look great, Bones. Beautiful… you look beautiful." He whispered, reaching his arms out to pull her into another hug, she fell into it gratefully as she allowed him to hug her tightly. "God, I missed you…"

"I missed you." She whispered as she closed her eyes and breathed him in, feeling his warm arms envelop her, as she felt all of the fear and dread from her worries crash down on her like a tidal wave.

She found that her car was pointed toward the hospital that Matthew was in, because with all that she had shared with him, he was the one person that knew the truth about everything that was true to her. He knew her fears for her future, at least in vague terms. He always listened and encouraged, hoped for her and gave her support. Most people were lucky to have one person in their life to love them unconditionally despite their faults and fears. Brennan was more than lucky, she was blessed, to have two people in her life to love her as much as Booth and Cooke both did.

She knew where she wanted to be, and she needed just a little jolt of courage to bring her over the edge, to tell her not to be afraid of what was gripping her heart and soul. She wasn't afraid of Booth or his heart, his love or his feelings. She was afraid of hurting him, because that was something she would never, ever forgive herself for.