Thanks again for the great reviews. I have a finish in mind for this one and a sequel in the pre-thinking stages. But I have a commitment to a collaborative fic for the summer, so we'll see how it goes.

In any case, I have a message for AchingBones….no door knocking in this one! I promise!

I don't own Bones. I do, however, own Gunn. And he's all mine. And you can't have him. So there. :P

Chapter Twenty-One

Booth placed his hand over Brennan's on his cheek. As much as it pained him, he knew this conversation was not going to be easy, nor was it going to end in the bedroom, a fact that really served to piss him off.

"Bones, can you call Gunn and cancel lunch? Maybe reschedule for dinner?"

Nodding, Brennan picked up her discarded phone. "I'll cancel. I have a feeling this is going to take awhile."

After hanging up with a curious but understanding Erik, Brennan followed Booth to the living room and sat across from him on the nearest chair. She didn't trust herself to sit next to him right then, she was afraid that her suddenly discovered urge to touch him ("'Suddenly'? Really, Temperance?" her internal voice sneered.) would be uncontrollable and they needed to get through this with as little distraction as possible.

"I have to ask, Bones…would we be having this conversation if you hadn't spent all that time thinking I was dead?" Booth decided that using Brennan's own blunt style of speaking was the way to go.

"No." Brennan looked up for a moment, trying to keep her breathing even. "Not right now, no."

"I appreciate your honesty, Bones." Booth leaned forward, elbows on knees. "You know I had to ask, don't you? And you know why?"

"I do."

"Okay, then. In the long run it doesn't matter to me. It's no less a legitimate epiphany than anything else and I'm okay with that. Everything beyond that is too important to nitpick."

"But Booth…I want you to be sure that I am sure. I know you said that you're the gambler, and I have to admit that up until this point I really didn't understand what the implications of that statement were beyond your asking me to give us a chance. But I've had a lot of time to reflect while you've…" Brennan took a deep breath. "While you've been gone. And yes, your death did spur my introspection. But it was never something that wasn't going to happen anyway. I know that now."

"And how do you know that, Bones?"

"Because I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone in my whole life. More than I trust myself. And you said that you knew. And that is enough for me." She stood up, only to drop to her knees at Booth's feet. "I've never gone wrong if I follow you, no matter what or where, so why should this time be any different? My standing with you, beside you…is never a gamble."

Booth nodded, and then leaned down to place his forehead on hers. "Alright, Bones. Alright. I'm convinced."

Brennan reached up and held his face in her hands. Wanting to connect with him, she leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips, barely a whisper but so full of promise it almost brought Booth to tears. Clearing his throat, he pulled away a bit and took in her confused expression. "It's okay, Bones. I just…there are things that I need to say to you now. Okay?"

"Okay." She leaned back a bit, watching his face closely. "Should I be scared?"

Booth laughed and reached for her hand. "No, Bones. The only thing we're going to have between us here is the truth. And since I know how much you love the truth, this should be a walk in the park for you." He smiled comfortingly, chaffing her hand between both of his. "I bear most of the responsibility for what happened that night in front of the Hoover."

"Booth.."

"No, Bones. I do. Yes, it needed to be said. It was a long time coming, and I don't blame Sweets one bit for calling me out. I can't even imagine how frustrating it must have been to watch me dance around my feelings, ignoring them or even pretending they didn't exist, when he knew all long how much I-" Booth swallowed and looked into her eyes.

"How much you love me." Brennan held his gaze, almost smiling at his surprise. "I am dense about a lot of human emotion, but you…I can read you like a book, Booth. Besides, you said you were head over heels in love with me yesterday."

Chuckling, Booth nodded. "Yeah, I was hoping you missed that. God knows Gunn didn't."

"You owe Gunn a beer, at least. He gave me a good talking to the other day; he made me see a lot of what I was missing that was right in front of me, and other things that I never even knew I missed."

Booth examined her face closely, and he instantly realized what his good friend had revealed to Brennan. "He told you about the casino."

"Yes. Booth…I-"

"No, Bones. No apologies, no blame, no regret. Everything that happened was supposed to happen."

"Okay. But I want you to know, you're the reason I didn't leave."

Brennan suddenly found herself in Booth's arms, his face buried in her neck, hands fisting the back of her blouse tightly. He breathed one word into her ear.

"Why?"

Brennan pulled back and looked at him curiously. "Why? Booth…"

"I need to hear it from you, Bones."

Wiping a stray tear, Brennan smiled. "Because I knew, too."