Hey, everyone! Here's the next chapter!

Normal disclaimers apply.

Booth watched as Dani, Angela, and Hodgins walked out of the small house. Once they closed door behind them, he turned to Brennan; and she realize he wanted to talk. He maintained eye contact as he took the seat across from her that Angela had been sitting in only minutes before. Brennan suddenly felt as though she was one of Hodgins' particulates under a microscope. It was an intense stare, one that she was pretty sure that she had seen him use in the interrogation room on many occasions. After about thirty seconds of this, Brennan could not handle the tension. So, she stood up and poured two cups of coffee and added the correct amount cream and sugar in each cup. She knew that it was out of habit, since she had no idea how Booth took his coffee. The entire time, she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head.

"Booth, is there something you want to say, or are you just staring at me for fun?" she asked, her eyes never leaving the coffee cups in front of her. She heard him shift in his seat.

"We need to talk."

"Okay," she said, feeling the tension continuing to radiate off him. She returned to the table and placed his cup in front of him. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I know that you were listening last night when I was talking to Cam. I just don't know how much of it you heard." Brennan had taken a sip, but quickly froze with the warm cup on her lips. She knew they were eventually going to have this conversation, but she thought it would be in a few days after Booth had rested. She debated lying to him and telling him that she had walked in with Dani. But she knew she had put him through enough over the past couple of weeks and he deserved the truth.

"The entire conversation. Cam asked us not to get off the phone, because she would just put us on hold."

She watched as Booth's expression changed. "I'm gonna kill Cam."

"I assume you don't mean that literally." Booth gave her a half smile.

"No, I don't." He paused before saying, "So, you heard about the talk Cam and I had after my coma."

"Yes, and I completely understand. You don't need to worry about it." She felt her heart begin to crush as she said those words. She understood, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"For some reason, Bones, I doubt you do."

"Your brain was still adjusting from your surgery. It had the side-effect of making you believe that you were in love with me. When it wore off, you decided not to mention it to me. You, believing that love is eternal, thought maybe if we pursued a romantic relationship your feelings would return. However, I stopped your advances. And then when you went off to Afghanistan, you met Hannah and the feeling of love came back." It sounded logical; it sounded plausible; and it gave Booth a way to walk away from this conversation before her heart was completely torn apart.

"Like I said, I doubt you understand," he told her, looking her straight in the eye. "Things would be a lot simpler if you right; but you aren't. And I know those aren't words you're used to hearing. But it's the truth this time."

"I don't know what means."

Booth smiled again. "You should really patent that phrase." She looked at him as though he had lost his mind. It was impossible to patent a phrase as common as that. Booth continued as though he had said nothing. "In this case, it means that nothing you just said is right. I went to talk to Cam, because I wanted to make sure that the idea didn't sound crazy. Course, she didn't even need me to say it to figure it out. Anyway, I was going to tell you, but right when I was about to that clown came out of nowhere, and I knew that I wasn't completely back then because I didn't want to shoot him. And I didn't want to tell you and then it only be because of my coma. You deserved better than that. So, I just added the 'atta-girl' shit."

Brennan realized then realized he was talking about loving her. Her heart rate began to hasten and she felt her stomach tighten. He couldn't really be saying he had loved her, could he? He had Hannah. He loves her. Not me! But that's the only rational thing he could be alluding to.

"I decided to give it some time; you know, see what happened. And the only thing that changed was that my feelings for you got stronger. And then Sweets pushed me to tell you. I thought with the way things had been going, you'd say yes. To us. So, I asked you that night in front of the Hoover building. But you said no, so I told you I needed to move on. And I tried. But you were- are- still my standard for women. Not like anyone can really live up to you, though. And then you said you were going to the Malipoopoo Islands and the army came and asked me to go and train snipers. I thought maybe that year apart would help me move on. And it did, kinda. I met Hannah and we had this spark. And for the first time in six years, I wasn't comparing a woman to you and finding every flaw. And Hannah loved me; she was easy to talk to. I thought I had really moved on. But then when we came back, you were here and I felt those feelings coming back for you. I knew that if I wasn't careful, I'd lose what I had with Hannah because I would be more interested in you. So, I tried to put some space between us. And I thought everything was going to be okay. Things seemed to be going great, at least for me. I just assumed that they were for you too. But then you told me that you thought you'd had made a mistake and all those feelings I had been pushing away for months broke through. But I couldn't say yes, Bones. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. I had Hannah. So I tried to put more space between us. I hated to do it, but I knew that it was how I had moved on and thought it might help you too. It was a stupid mistake."

Brennan listened patiently, noticing that he never once said that he loved her (Or Hannah, a hopeful voice reminded her). But he definitely implied his feelings for her. And it wasn't in a past tense. But why would he be telling her this now? Shouldn't he be denying having feelings for her since he did have Hannah?

"And then I got that call from Cam saying that you had left on a dig but didn't actually get there and wondering if I had heard from you. That's really when I realized how far I pushed you away. I mean, I didn't even know that you had left for a dig. That in itself was a wake-up call. You usually talked about digs for weeks before going on them. I thought maybe I had just missed the memo. But when I asked Cam more about it, she said that it was a spur of the moment thing for you. And that kinda worried me. I mean, you never go one sporadic digs. So, I knew something must be really wrong- I just didn't think it was me. But I was on the next plane out here. I was in such a rush I forgot to tell Hannah until she called me to ask when I would be home for dinner. But I didn't care; I had to come find you.

"I've barely slept the past two weeks. I've been looking into any leads about where you might be. I tracked down everyone who had ever threatened you from Ortiz to your foster parents. I pulled in every favor I had to try and find you. No one could ever find anything. And I kept having my Quantico instructor's voice in my head telling that every day that passed made it less likely that I'd find you. But I also had your voice telling me not to jump to any conclusions. That saved me, Bones. I knew that you wouldn't give up, so I kept on looking. Then two days ago, Hacker told me that if we didn't find you by tomorrow, they were giving up because you were probably dead. I was going to break it to the squints last night. But then I called Cam to tell her and she started to get on me for what an ass I had been to you. I didn't want to hear it, but I needed to. And, well, you know it from there."

Brenan knew he was watching her as she absorbed what he was saying. Her usually quick to process brain had was having a difficult time understanding exactly what he was saying. He had put her ahead of Hannah, the woman he loved? Or did he even love his girlfriend like he had been claiming to for the past several months? And he was avoiding her to help her move on? Yes, she had noticed the time they spent together had been limited, but she had just assumed that he was unaware of the change and that she was hyper sensitive to it because of her recently discovered feelings.

For once, Dr. Temperance Brennan was speechless. She wanted to say the right thing, but had no idea what that was right now. But she trusted her mind to find something. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come on this dig. It would have saved everyone from unnecessary pain."

Booth replied quietly, "Cam said that someone told her you left because you thought I was going to propose to Hannah. You're the one who told her that, right?"

Brennan nodded slowly.

"Why didn't you come talk to me? I would have told you that I wasn't. I wouldn't have without talking to you first. You know you're my best friend, Bones."

"I wasn't thinking clearly. I listened to my heart and it told me too run as fast and as far as I could. I just heard you talking to that man about a wedding and a ring, and I jumped to a conclusion. This is why I always tell everyone not to jump to conclusions. They're often wrong."

"Well, you have the wedding part right. Paul wanted my opinion on the ring before he proposed."

"Why did he want your opinion? . He called you 'Special Agent,' indicating you do not have a close relationship with him. And the one time you proposed to a woman, she turned you down"

"Thanks, Bones," he answered, sarcastically. "And it's because I'm good friends with his girlfriend. It was between me or her sister, and he wasn't sure if Felicia could keep the secret."

Brennan mind began to turn. She knew the name Felicia. It was one she was familiar with, though she couldn't place a face with the name at the moment. Booth apparently noticed her memory lapse.

"Felicia is Cam's sister." Brennan felt relief as soon as he answered her unasked question. Then the implication of his statement set in.

"Cam's engaged?" Why had no one mentioned that to her yesterday?

"No, because Cam cancelled her date to try to help find you," Booth smiled.

"Cam going on a date with her boyfriend would not have affected when I was found," she pointed out. Logically, Cam taking one night off had no influence on when Angela and Hodgins would have come to visit Dani.

"Maybe. But if she was missing, would you go out with your boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend," she reminded him.

"Pretend for a moment, Bones."

She didn't even have to think about the answer. "No, I wouldn't. I would be looking for evidence to find her."

"Exactly."

Brennan decided that Cam and Paul's engagement was another event to add on to her list of things she had messed up by going on an unnecessary dig.

Both looked down at their coffee, trying to figure out where to take the conversation from here. Brennan didn't like this awkwardness that now seemed to be forming between them. She missed being able to talk to him about anything, and have the discussion flow naturally. She missed how they could talk about nothing and debate the most philosophical questions in the same exchange, and not even notice. On how many occasions had they discussed the existence of God? Of love?

"Why did you tell about loving me?" she asked suddenly. It didn't make sense for him to do that now. Not when he had Hannah and wanted her to move on with her life.

Booth who had just taken a sip of his coffee about choked on the liquid. When he was finally able to breath, he asked, "Huh?"

"You told me about how you felt about me since your coma. Why? You're dating Hannah, but you implied that you love me. It doesn't make sense. Shouldn't you be hiding those feelings from me now?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but the door opened to reveal Angela, Dani, and Hodgins with breakfast in hand.

"I'll tell you later," Booth promised.

She wanted answers, now; but knew that he didn't want to talk about it with everyone else there. What goes on between us is ours. The phrase rang through her head.

"Hope you guys are hungry," Angela told them. "Because we have enough food for ten people."

"Yeah, but you're eating for two, Angie," Hodgins reminded her.

"So? That still only makes six of us."

Soon all six were around the table with a rather large breakfast on each plate.

So, Brennan's obliviously missing a key piece of information some of you have figured out... Don't worry, though, she'll get it next chapter.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone make the Cam/Paul connection before this chapter?