Author's Note: Well, so much for taking a break from this story. This chapter was just itching to get out of my head. I really do plan to take a little break until next week, though. For real, this time. Probably ;-)

Booth woke Saturday morning on the couch, still in his clothes from the night before. His mouth felt like sandpaper, and his head was pounding.

He cracked one eye open enough to see an empty bottle of scotch on the coffee table.

He groaned as the events from last night washed over him. He couldn't believe what an asshole he'd been. Bones had sought him out to apologize, and he'd been a dick. He hadn't been able to put aside his anger at himself and his shame for the way he'd been acting long enough to just tell her that's he was the one who should apologize.

He couldn't help but think that maybe he should just put in for a transfer. He'd toyed with the idea the night before, not really considering seriously, just counting it among his options. But if the last couple of weeks were any indication, he needed to get away from Bones for her sake. He just kept hurting her.

He was carrying around an albatross of guilt, but instead of making things right between them, he just kept adding to it. He needed advice, but he wasn't sure who to go to.

Cam had already put her two cents worth in.

No way in hell was he going to Sweets.

Angela could probably give him the best insight into what would be best for Bones, but he couldn't count on her discretion.

Pops would tear him a new one.

As he was running through his options, his phone rang.

Looking at the screen, Parker's face flashed up at him. He groaned. Rebecca. He flipped it open. "Booth."

"Seeley, I have a favor to ask."

He waited.

"Seeley, are you there?"

"I was waiting to hear this favor," he said a little gruffly.

He could practically hear her look of disapproval. "Sorry," he said quickly. "It's been a rough week. What's up?"

There was a lengthy pause before she asked, "Are you hung over?"

"I'm fine, I just didn't get much sleep last night." If she noticed he didn't actually answer the question, she didn't call him on it.

"I know it's last minute, but could you take Parker for the day and keep him tonight? My mom's sick, and she needs some help, but I don't want him exposed to this. I think she's got the flu."

He hung his head. Shit. "Yeah, of course. Do you need me to come and get him?"

"Can you meet us at the diner in an hour? His report card came home on Friday and he got all As. I promised him we'd celebrate, but we haven't had a chance yet. I know he'd love to go for milkshakes with you."

"Yeah, of course. Tell him I love him."

"I'll pass it along…"

"Was there something else?"

"Is everything okay with Dr. Brennan? Parker mentioned you were concerned about her last weekend."

He hung his head, clearing his throat before he answered. "Um, yeah. She's fine. She got back last Saturday."

Rebecca was quiet, clearly waiting for him to continue.

"Okay, Bec, I'm gonna jump in the shower. I'll see you in an hour."

He could hear her speaking as he flipped the phone shut, but he didn't want to hear it.

He pushed himself off the couch, downed a large glass of water, started the coffee maker, and headed for the shower. He needed to get his shit together before he picked up Parker.

oOo

"Dad!" Booth was almost bowled over by a blur of blond curls.

"Hey, bub. So…all As, huh?"

"Yup." He smiled proudly.

"I see you got started without me," he gestured to the milkshakes on the table.

"He just couldn't wait." Rebecca eyed him critically. "Parker, go wash your hands."

"But Mo-om!"

She fixed him with a stern glare. "Go."

Booth watched his son trudge toward the bathroom with a sinking feeling in his gut. Rebecca had obviously saved the hand-washing until he got there to get Parker out of earshot.

She was just looking at him.

"What?" he asked her.

"What's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" He knew he was acting like a petulant toddler, but he just couldn't muster the energy to care.

"Well, I know that ten-year-olds are not the most reliable source of information, but Parker said you were a mess when Dr. Brennan was gone last week."

He clenched his jaw.

"And that Hannah was gone the whole time."

He looked out the window, deliberately avoiding her eyes, and still didn't answer.

Parker came barreling back from the bathroom and offered his hands to his mother. "See? Clean."

She inspected them, nodded, and Parker immediately dug into his milkshake.

"Parker, I need to talk to your dad for a second. We'll be right back."

Too drained to argue, Booth allowed Rebecca to lead him outside.

"Seeley, I try to stay out of your personal life."

He scoffed.

She glared at him sharply. "Considering how many of my boyfriends you've run background checks on, I've earned the right to say this. Just shut up and listen."

Booth shoved his hands into his pockets and ducked his head, but didn't say anything.

"Hannah seems nice. Really. Almost…too perfect, in fact…" she mused with a shake of her head. "Anyway," she got back to the business at hand. "Even I can see that you're still in love with Dr. Brennan."

She paused. "Did she tell you that I ran into her a couple of weeks ago?"

Booth's eyes met hers in surprise. "What?"

"Yeah, we saw each other at the grocery store, you know that swanky organic one that you're always complaining about?"

He nodded, wondering where the hell she was going with this.

"I asked her how she was, you know, just chitchat. And then I mentioned in passing that Parker had placed third in his school science fair, and that he was really looking forward to telling her about it. She didn't know, Seeley." She paused to let it sink in. "It had been at least two weeks since the competition, but she didn't know. She was…the look on her face. I swear I thought she was going to cry. She just looked away from me and said, something like 'I hadn't heard. Please tell Parker congratulations for me.'"

"So?" Booth was starting to get pissed.

"So since when don't you tell her stuff like that? Last year she actually helped him with his project, and this year you don't even mention to her that he got a prize?"

He dropped his head, fixing his eyes on the cracks in the sidewalk.

"Seeley, she was devastated. Do you guys even…I mean are you still friends?"

His head snapped up. "What? Of course we're still—"

"Listen, I know things change, and…I'm probably overstepping my bounds here, but I have to say this. The look on her face, when she said your name…I certainly can't claim to know her well, but she…" Rebecca trailed off.

"She what?"

"She misses you." Rebecca was giving him that look, the one that said there was more, but she wasn't sure how to say it or if he was ready to hear it.

"Okay, thanks," he said abruptly and turned to go back into the diner.

Rebecca reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait, Seeley. Have you ever…when she talked about you there was this…look…on her face. It was very strange. I've never seen her so unguarded before. She was hurting. Did you guys…was there something more between you?"

He shook his head, looking angry, but his voice came out softly, "Not your business, Bec."

She nodded. "Maybe seeing you with Hannah made her realize what she was missing."

Booth couldn't stand another second of this conversation. "That's enough. I'll see you…well, just call me. Parker can stay with me for as long as you need him to."

"Seeley."

"What?" he roared.

"You know I just want you to be happy."

He turned to face her, and for just a second he saw the girl he used to be in love with. His face softened. "Yeah. I know." He turned away from her, trying to put all of this out of his head so he could just enjoy the extra time with his son.

oOo

An hour later as Booth unlocked his front door and ushered Parker inside, his eyes landed on a suitcase and purse stationed by the front door.

Shit, he thought. Hannah's home. He really didn't want to have this out with her with Parker in the house, but he didn't think he could keep up the pretense of being in this relationship anymore. He was just too emotionally drained.

"Parks, take your stuff to your room, and them you can watch TV for a bit, okay?"

"Really?" Parker hesitated.

"You want me to change my mind?" Booth threatened jokingly.

Parker grabbed his bags and sprinted towards his room.

Booth cautiously pushed open the bedroom door, then locked it behind him. He didn't want a surprise audience for this conversation.

The shower was running, so he poked his head in the bathroom.

"Hannah? Why didn't you call me to tell me you were home?"

"I'm almost finished in here. Just give me a second. We need to talk."

Booth nodded, then realized that she couldn't see him. "Okay. Um, Parker's here. Rebecca's mom got sick and so I've got him at least until tomorrow."

She didn't respond.

"Hannah?"

"Okay…I'll be out in a minute."

Booth sprawled on the bed, his arm thrown over his face. He knew this wasn't going to go well. After being lectured by Cam, confronted by Bones, and then getting another lecture from Rebecca, he was feeling overwhelmed and less than charitable towards the women in his life at the moment.

But he couldn't put this off. Even if his suspicions about Bones' feelings were wrong, now that he'd faced the truth about his relationship with Hannah, he couldn't keep play-acting. This was not something he could avoid.

Hannah emerged a moment later wearing nothing but a towel on her head. He stood up and looked at her, careful to keep his eyes on her face. She noticed this, and nodded to herself, as if he'd just confirmed something.

He started to speak, "Hannah, we—"

But she interrupted him. "I'm back early because I was offered a promotion."

He just stared at her, unsure of what this meant.

"It would require me to move overseas."

His jaw dropped slightly, and he tried to speak, but his throat was suddenly dry.

"Can you give me any reason not to take it?" Her voice was level, but her cheeks were flushed and her eyes flashed with anger.

He looked down at his hands, feeling like a schmuck. "No. No, you…you should take it."

She unwrapped the towel from her head, and began rubbing her hair dry, watching him carefully. "Seeley, look at me."

He hesitated, but raised his eyes to hers. She stepped forward, but he retreated. Again, she nodded, smirking a little as if he were behaving exactly as she expected. "Is it Temperance?"

His eyes widened in surprise.

"I'm not blind, Seeley. Since I came to DC, I could tell there was something between the two of you. But I trusted you."

"Hannah, I swear, I never—"

"But then when she disappeared a couple of weeks ago," she cut him off. "It was like you were...empty while she was gone. I've never seen someone so broken up over a 'friend' taking an unexpected vacation. You were totally wrecked, Seeley. And since she's come back, you still seem…troubled. Conflicted."

"I never meant to—I swear I didn't—" he couldn't seem to form a coherent thought.

"I'm not accusing you anything. I don't think you slept with her or anything. But I didn't downgrade my career to be the other woman," her voice was quiet, mindful of Parker in the next room, but there was a hard edge to it.

She was pissed. Not that he could blame her.

"This isn't about Bones. We're not…together or anything. I just…I care about you, Hannah. But I don't see a future for us. Do you?"

She shook her head. As she turned back to the bathroom, he suddenly realized that she had been naked for the entire conversation. For some reason that struck him as incongruous and amusing. He started to laugh.

She turned and looked at him sharply. "What's so funny?"

He stopped abruptly. "My life has gone to hell. Everything is fucked up."

She nodded, appraising him unsympathetically. "Why don't you take Parker to a movie or something. I'll be gone when you get back."

Booth nodded, reflecting that this was the easiest, least emotional break-up he'd ever had. Actually, you could say that about the whole damn relationship.