OKAY. Here it comes. Dropping a bomb.

She was in the kitchen making breakfast when Booth finally managed to crawl out of bed. His head was throbbing but it seemed like he might have avoided a full blown hangover—for that he was very grateful. Despite the partying, Booth was still very aware of everything that had happened the previous night. Sweets had told him that he was going to propose to Daisy and then planted the seed into Booth's head about moving in that direction himself.

Booth would have married Brennan that moment if given the option, but practically, he knew these things took time. Even though they had known one another for years, two months of dating probably wasn't long enough. Still, Booth could start looking for the ring; there would be no harm in that. She would probably like something platinum—classic but still unique. He could imagine her wearing it as he watched her slice some fruit for breakfast.

"You don't look like you feel too well," Usually Booth was more of the morning person, but Brennan could tell the alcohol had hit him hard.

"I'm fine… what are you making?" he was hoping for pancakes but all he could see was fruit.

"Just some apples and cantaloupe. Are you hungry?" She had assumed that his stomach might be to tender for a big meal so she decided to keep it lite.

"Nah, this is great," he stole a slice of apple. Not since his mom had he had a woman cooking breakfast for him every morning—anything was amazing to him. "I like that you go grocery shopping for me," he kissed her cheek as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"I don't go grocery shopping for you. I go grocery shopping for me and I just happen to be polite enough to share with you," She smirked at him. Brennan never would have thought that she would one day actually enjoy cooking for a man habitually—it seemed like a very archaic custom for housewives. But with Booth it was just some how different. He was always so grateful and excited; she liked the way he looked at her with such appreciation.

"Say what you want, Bones, you like me," he sat himself up on the kitchen counter and began picking away at the freshly cut fruit. "Or… do you love me?"

She could tell he was teasing her, but it wasn't going to work. "I have… affection for you," that was all he was going to get out of her for the time being. "You had a good time with Sweets last night?"

"Yeah," Booth knew this would be a good transition to start testing the waters with her. "You know, he's going to propose to Daisy."

"I didn't know that, that's ridiculous," she was laughing at the idea. Although Sweets and Daisy fell into societies' typically age acceptation for marriage, she couldn't process how it could be a good idea for anyone.

"Well, you know, he loves her," Booth was starting to get a little nervous. "He thinks she's the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with."

Brennan was laughing until she realized that Booth was not sharing in her amusement. "Booth… you don't think them getting married is a good idea, do you?" She was asking about Sweets, but really she wanted to know about them.

"Well, I think when two people love each other and want to be together—they should get married," Booth see a look of concern washing over her face. Maybe he shouldn't have brought it up. Maybe it was just too early for this kind of conversation. Maybe, Booth was just afraid of her answer.

"Do you want to marry me Booth?" Brennan didn't know how to say it subtly. This wasn't a discussion that she ever wanted to have—things were going to good for this.

Booth could tell that she was starting to panic. He hadn't meant to scare her, "Not right now… we've only been together for two months."

She could see it all in his eyes, "But you've thought about it". It was as if all of the air in the room had been sucked out from her.

"Of coarse I've thought about it, but I'm not asking you to marry me, Temperance".

"But you want to. You want to marry me don't you?" Booth was silent and it was enough of an answer for her. "I won't marry you Booth. You know that. You've known that about me since you met me—why are you doing this?" She was suddenly becoming very flustered and slightly upset. Why would Booth put her in this position if she had told him repeatedly long ago that she never wanted to get married.

"I thought you would change your mind. You didn't want a baby either and year later you were asking me to attach my sperm to your eggs. I figured this was just another one of those things," Truthfully, Booth hadn't thought that Brennan would be so flat out against the idea of marrying him. A lot of people never want to be married—but once they find the person things always change.

"Another one of those things?" his words where sparking agitation in her. "I changed my mind about having children—I have the sanction to do so. What else do you think I'm going to change? Is that what you're waiting for Booth? Because I'm never going to believe in your God. And I'm not going to quit my job or bleach my hair blonde for you!"

"Bleach your hair blonde?" Booth didn't understand where the last statement was coming from.

"You have a preference for blondes, Booth. I know that. Girls like me don't end up with guys like you," Hannah's words were now coming to the front her mind.

"Guys like me? Bones, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not asking you to change. I love you the way you are," it was all the truth and now Booth was desperate for her to see it before this argument got too deep.

Brennan could feel the tears forming in her eyes but she fought hard to keep them back. "I don't believe in marriage. And I can see that you're never going to be okay with that."

Booth hung his head down. It was true. He loved her, but he was a traditional kind of guy—and he couldn't ignore that. Looking at her now he wasn't sure of where they stood. Had she just broken up with him—had he with her? He didn't want to; he'd already gone down that road before and he was certain that she was the one. He just wished that she would give him an indication that she felt the same way. "Sometimes… being in relationships, it's about compromise. You can't always get what you want exactly—but you can come close enough."

"I don't like that ideology. Why should you compromise with someone you're supposed to love? That doesn't sound appealing," She wasn't trying to shoot Booth down even farther, she just wanted to understand. A single tear began to slide down her face and she quickly whipped it away. This wasn't just about marriage anymore to her, this was about her feeling she could never be exactly what Booth wanted. Maybe it was just Hannah's words from the day before manifesting in her head—but now all of her insecurities were getting the better of her.

She went to Booth and buried her head in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. They weren't sure if they were alright. Maybe this was goodbye.

Okay. So you might be a little mad at me. Things were going so well for them... and now this. But it's been something that I've wondered about since Hannah rejected Booth. Wouldn't Brennan do the same thing? And what if she did say yes- we all love how much she's changed and grown- but we don't want her to change to much. That would be bad.

Oh, and for those of you wondering. No, Hannah will NOT be back!

Review guys! Let me know what you think!