A/N: Wow, guys, I'm really sorry I took so long to update this one. I had a terrible case of writer's block, and then, for some reason, something just sparked my muse for this story again (I'm not even sure what xD) but, anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for sticking with me, even though you all probably hate me for taking so long to update. xD

Chapter Thirteen

"Falling faster, barely breathing,
give me something to believe in.
Tell me it's not all in my head.

Take what's left of this man, make me whole once again.

'Cause I want you and I feel you
crawling underneath my skin
Like a hunger, like a burning
to find the place I've never been.
Now I'm broken, and I'm faded
I'm half the man I thought I would be
but you can have what's left of me."

-"What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey

Brennan closed her eyes calmly, attempting to catch her breath, when she felt her lover's lips making their way up her back, stopping when he reached the back of her neck to nibble her earlobe softly, his breath hot against her ear. Brennan could no longer hear the soft music playing in her bedroom, only the quick breathing of the man kissing her. Booth could hear the sharp intake of breath from his ex-partner, taking notice to how she squirmed slightly under him when he took her earlobe gently into his mouth.

"Are you falling asleep on me, baby?" He whispered in a velvety voice in her ear.

Brennan shook her head, making a small "mmm' noise when she did.

"It technically wouldn't be 'falling asleep on you' anyway, because we already engaged in intercourse. Now you're just pushing it."

Booth poked her side, feeling her jerk in response.

"You're an ass" she complained, hearing him laugh in an amused tone in her ear.

Ever since he found that spot on her hip that would make her involuntarily jump when poked hard enough, he did it all the time. She wasn't entirely sure why she was surprised by that though. That was such a Booth thing to do, even though, before they took their relationship from 'just sex' to something more, she was beginning to wonder if she even knew Booth at all.

After he released her earlobe, Booth leaned away from her and picked up the half full glass of wine, taking a sip out of it before offering it to Brennan, who had turned over onto her back and was looking at the ceiling. Silently, Brennan took the glass from his hand and took a sip for herself after she sat up fully.

"Are you trying to get me drunk so I'll forget about Hannah?" She asked, playfully.

"A sip of wine isn't even enough to get an infant drunk," he laughed, taking it from her hand to take another sip, "and the answer to that is no. Besides, I still have another month before I have to break up with Hannah," he paused to take another sip of the wine, "please remind me, when that day comes around, to get really, really, drunk."

"I'll try," she laughed lightly, kissing his bicep tenderly when her hands stroked over it, "and it can't come soon enough. I'm honestly growing very tired of being the other woman."

"Bones, you know you're not the other woman," Booth looked at her with a concerned expression, "I love you."

"I know," Brennan assured him, "but, as much as you want to say I'm not the other woman, I am. She's who you go home to at night. That makes me the other woman."

"I don't want you to feel that way," he touched her shoulder softly, setting the glass of wine back on the night stand.

"Then break up with her," she kept her voice low, not wanting to come on too strong, "frankly, that's the only thing you can do that will make me feel better."

"Hey, I still have another month," he laughed awkwardly, very clearly trying to brighten the mood of the conversation, which had recently become much more serious than he was comfortable with, "you can't start nagging until there's a week left."

"I really don't think it's too much to ask, Booth."

"I know," he sighed, seeing that his playfulness wasn't helping, "it's not too much to ask, I just need you to understand that this isn't easy for me."

Brennan sighed and sat up, picking his shirt up off the floor to button it up over herself, an action that both of them were growing accustom to. She liked being in his clothes and he liked seeing her in them, so it was a win-win situation.

"I've heard it all before, Booth. You've only told me every night since we started this," she rolled her eyes, "you swear you love me, but then talk about how hard it is for you to leave Hannah. I may not be an expert on love, but I know enough to know that when you claim to love someone, you shouldn't have such a hard time leaving the woman you don't seem to love."

"It's not about me, Bones. I don't want to break her heart, that's all. She loves me."

Brennan crossed her arms over her chest, not exactly buying into all the crap he was feeding her about how this 'wasn't about him'.

"Bones," he groaned in frustration, reaching to the floor to grab his colorful boxers and slip them back on before getting out of bed.

Brennan was leaning against her vanity, examining herself in the mirror. She had to wonder what she was doing wrong, why things could never just be easy for her. Things were always complicated in her life, and she found herself wishing that her relationship with Booth could just be a single thing that was easy. But of course, it wasn't. Things with her and Booth had never been easy, and she wasn't expecting that to change so quickly.

"Bones," he tried again, stepping behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder, "hey," he whispered, gripping her shoulders gently to turn her so she was facing him, "can you please just look at me?"

"Why?"

"Because, I'm asking you to," he cupped her face gently between his hands, seeing her gaze travel to the floor, "I love you, Bones, but I'm getting the feeling you don't love me back," he paused, as she looked up at him seriously, "I tell you I love you every time we do this, but, lately, you haven't said it back."

"I know," Brennan admitted, sheepishly.

"So do you?" He asked, wanting an honest answer from her.

"I, don't know," her voice was low, as she grasped his wrists gently to pry his hands off of her face and turned away from him.

"Bones, it's really simple. You either do or you don't."

"I don't know anymore, Booth!" She felt her eyes well up with frustrated tears, turning back to him for only a second before turning back around, her hands balled up in frustrated fists at her sides, "You're, without a doubt, the single most frustrating person I've ever met."

Booth's lips were slightly parted in shock, surprised by her sharpness, looking at her with those big, innocent looking, brown eyes. The ones that made her feel like a horrible person for snapping at him like that, even though, deep down, she knew he deserved it.

"I'm, sorry," he stumbled over his words, unsure of how to respond to her little outburst.

"Sorry for what?" She asked, bitterly.

"Everything!" he was growing frustrated now as well, "I don't know what you want me to say, Temperance. I'm sorry, for everything. Must I go down the list and pick out each individual thing I did wrong?"

"That would be satisfactory, yes," she told him, seriously, "because honestly, Booth, I'm beginning to think that you don't even know what you're doing wrong anymore."

"I know what I'm doing wrong, Bones," he promised her, "I know I'm cheating on Hannah, stringing her along instead of just breaking up with her. I know I'm pissing you off and making you think I don't love you the way I say I do. And the one thing I'm extremely aware of is that I'm hurting everyone around me. I feel like I'm self destructing, Temperance, and anyone who's standing too close is going to get hurt."

"There's a very simple solution to this problem, Booth. Break up with Hannah and you won't have to feel like you're hurting everyone anymore. You won't be hurting her anymore, and you won't be hurting me anymore."

Booth leaned down to kiss her, despite the small sound of protest that left her lips before they touched his, placing one hand on her waist and the other on the side of her face, encouraging her lips apart with his own. Brennan knew she should push him away, tell him that he couldn't just kiss her and expect everything to go away, but she couldn't find the strength to reject him at the moment, especially when he just poured his heart out to her. Once they needed to breath, their lips gently disconnected, and Booth leaned his forehead against hers.

"I love you," he whispered, stroking her hair gently, "I love you, Bones."

"I know," she told him, her voice quiet.

"Say it back," he urged her, smoothing his hand gently down the side of her neck, seeing the reluctance in her eyes.

Brennan shook her head, feeling as if she couldn't squeak out even the word 'no' let alone 'I love you'. Booth let out a long sigh, keeping his forehead pressed to hers, but closing his eyes now.

"It's okay," he said, after what felt, to Brennan, like an eternity, "you don't have to. I'm not going to push it."

"I, want to," she said, reluctantly, "but I don't think I should. Not yet."

"Bones, it's been six years," he had to laugh, his smile loosening her up just a bit, "I think you've had plenty of time to prepare."

Brennan tore her gaze from his eyes and looked down at the floor, chewing on her lip.

"You said you weren't going to push it," she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

"I'm not going to push it," he promised her, "say it when you're ready. If I'm making you wait for me, I can wait for you."

"Not wanting to say I love you and making me stick around as the other woman for another month are completely different," Brennan raised her voice, getting increasingly more annoyed the more they talked, her sudden change in attitude taking him by surprise.

Booth leaned down to give her another reassuring kiss, only to be pushed away before their lips could actually connect. When Brennan had her distance, she tugged at the bottom of the dress shirt she was wearing in aggravation.

"I'm sick of waiting for you. I'm sick of waiting around like some sort of damsel in distress," she told him, finally just pouring out everything she'd wanted to say since they came to this ridiculous two month agreement, "I'm done waiting for you, Booth. There are plenty of other men out there. Be with Hannah, that's what you want. I can move on, I'm just going to need time. I'd rather have to deal with rejection for a short period of time than wait around for somebody who clearly does not want to be with me."

"I don't want to be with Hannah," he huffed, since she obviously wasn't grasping what he was trying to tell her, "I want to be with you."

"Prove it."

"Damn it, Bones!" His voice was sharp, his jaw clenched tight, "You're so pigheaded!"

"I'm pigheaded?" She was shocked by his words, "You're the most stubborn person on the planet! Breaking up with Hannah is a simple task, you just won't do it because you're stubborn."

"I won't do it because I don't want to break her heart, Temperance! What about that is so hard for you to understand?"

Brennan turned back to face him, her eyes filled with rage towards her former partner, so much so, that he felt as if he needed to take a step away from her, but didn't.

"Be a man, Seeley, and do what you have to do," Brennan's voice trailed off, and she just sighed, something finally hitting her for the first time since all of this started, "forget it," she went from shouting to speaking so low that he could barely hear her in just a couple of seconds, "forget it, Booth. Go be with Hannah. I'm done. I can't do this anymore."

"Bones-"

"Don't," she held up her hand and cut him off before he could start, putting it down only so she could start unbuttoning the shirt she had draped over her, "I'm done. Get out, please."

She tossed him his shirt, feeling somewhat exposed standing in the middle of the room in only her bra and underwear, especially after she just kicked him out of her apartment.

"Don't you think you're being a little rash?" He asked, pulling the shirt, which now smelled like Brennan, back over his shoulders.

"I'm not being rash!" Her voice raised again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Booth was annoyed now as well, unsure of why he was all of the sudden getting yelled at and kicked out of her apartment.

"What's wrong with me?" Brennan asked, rhetorically, laughing a bitter laugh, "You want to know what's wrong with me? I'm tired of the men in my life treating me like something that can be left to the side when they don't feel like dealing with me anymore. Every single man in my life, Booth. Russ, my Father, Michael, Sully, David, you're no different from any of them," Booth looked sincerely hurt when she told him this, "I don't want this man who I'm having a conversation with. I want Booth. I know the real Booth is in there somewhere, but, I don't want to be with you until you can find him."

"I haven't changed, Bones," his voice was pained, "if this isn't who you want, then you don't want me. This is Booth, alright? I don't know why you're trying to convince yourself that I'm a different person now, but if you want to be with me, this is who you're getting."

"If this is who I'm going to get, then I don't want you," she said, coldly, "I don't understand why you refuse to admit that you've changed."

"Ever think maybe this is the real me?" He asked curiously, "Did that thought even ever cross your mind?"

"No," she whispered, unashamedly, "I know you, the real you, and this is not him."

"With everything I've been through, you never considered that maybe I'm just a jerk? Maybe the person you thought you loved was all just a mask?"

Brennan shook her head, unwilling to go along with his little mind game. She was surprised when, instead of getting a rant, or a cold comment, he simply pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face into her shoulder. Reluctantly, she hugged him back, finally seeing a piece of the old Booth she had been referring to.

"Thank you," he whispered into her shoulder, "thank you, Bones."

"For what?" Brennan asked, stroking his hair absentmindedly, "I was only being honest."

"For loving me," he looked up at her with sincerity in his eyes, "for knowing who I really am, even when I act, like this."

Brennan wanted to tell him the word 'love' never left her lips, but decided against it, simply nodding, unsure of how to respond to that. She only closed her eyes when his lips touched hers gently, as if it were their first kiss, her hands moving to cup his face affectionately.

"I love you," he whispered, once their lips separated.

"I," she was so close to saying it back, but refrained, "I know."

And for now, 'I know' was good enough for him, because, even though she wouldn't say she loved him back, the fact that she knew he loved her brought him a sense of relief. Brennan looked into his eyes, moving one hand to the back of his neck before she made the one request he knew was bound to come in a matter of minutes.

"Make love to me," she whispered, her eyes locked onto his, as if he was her lifeline.

"I thought you wanted to stop this?" He finally smiled, his words playful.

Brennan shook her head, remaining serious.

"I never want you to stop," she told him, locking her arms around his neck, a small smile on her face, "ever."