Disclaimer: See first chapter.

A/N: This I know this one is prolonging the agony, and all, but I'm trying to make one plot stretch into twenty six complete shorts, and it's difficult. Also, I don't mean to sound like I'm begging, but I'm getting a bunch of story alert notifications and not many reviews. If you read this or any chapter, I'd appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you thought or what you want to see happen. Thanks!

Never

Lord, she was never going to figure this out.

Somehow, he'd wrapped himself around her heart. She thought bitterly that he seemed to be handling it just fine, then chastised herself. No, Booth was just as out of countenance as she was. He was just better at dealing with the feeling.

She was going absolutely insane.

She'd tried working on her next book to clear her head. She'd ended up writing love scenes and having to delete them. She'd tried reading. She kept imagining how he'd poke at her until she explained things "in plain English."

At this rate, she'd be ready for an institution in a week.

Didn't Angela once refer to marriage as an institution?

Oh lord, she was really going crazy.

The only thing to do seemed to be to sit down and make up her mind. Easier said than done.

On the pro-Booth side, he was incredibly good looking. He was kind, smarter than he let on, and he was, anthropologically speaking, a good partner. She was sure that they'd have a good time, and the sex would probably be great. And there was Parker: a child she could mother without having to become a mother, thereby dealing with some of her fears.

On the anti-Booth side (well, if she was honest, the anti-relationship-with-Booth side), they were coworkers. They had to work together no matter where their relationship ended up going. He got easily frustrated with the way she spoke. She constantly felt slightly stupid around him, because he was always reminding her that he spoke the language of pop culture and she didn't. Well, ok, so maybe it was retaliation for the science talk, but still. She didn't do it on purpose, and he did. There was also the fact that Booth was overprotective, potentially jealous, and refused to let her carry a gun.

Neither side really seemed to win.

The only question now, the only question that really mattered, then, was...

Did she love him?

A/N: I know, I'm evil. Next word is Overload.