A/N: blaah this took so long and it's so short.

but i was seriously considering just ending it at the musical. there was a lot of writing and crossing out and paper-crinkling and playing basketball with the wastebasket.

no joke. it was honestly really hard to add another chapter. in the end, it was you readers who convinced me. you all would be so crestfallen if i just ended it. so i won't. i'll continue.

Lily Whitaker woke up at 5 a.m. on the morning of December 14th with a contented sigh. She trained her ears, but heard nothing; Adeline was still asleep. Lily extracted herself from the sleeping form of Dr. Zack Addy and stepped gingerly out of bed. She was officially 22 years old.

"Good morning," said Lily pleasantly, coffee held aloft.

Zack held her hand as the two walked into the Jeffersonian. He hesitated a moment before kissing her on the forehead and vacating her side as Brennan gestured him over. It had been almost two full weeks since the Sophia Langston case revealed Zack's feelings. Lily practically skipped into Cam's office.

"Good morning," Lily repeated.

Cam smiled slightly, ever cautious of Lily's sometimes fleeting bouts of cheeriness. "Good morning, Lily."

"Do you have a job for me today?" Lily smiled widely back.

"Actually, I have good news," said Cam. She was leafing through a manila folder as she spoke, always busy. "Booth got you a job offer."

Lily's smile faltered. "What?"

"I know you don't really need to work, with your books and everything, but you enjoy the work here, so I figured I'd pass word along. A position opened up in the FBI as a professional interrogator. They'll train you to use to terms correctly, of course, and Booth will most likely want you to have basic training with a gun—"

"But that means I won't be working here anymore," Lily interrupted.

Cam looked understanding. "If you want to stay because of Zack, I'm sure Booth will understand."

Will he? Or, a better question would be, Will Zack?

"Hey," said Angela with a grin, wrapping Lily in a hug. "Happy birthday, sweetie."

"Thanks, Ang."

"So." Angela sat. "How are things going with Zack?"

Lily smiled. "Good."

"And the sex?"

Lily flushed crimson. "We haven't, uh…"

"You haven't had sex with him?"

"Well, no…"

Angela's jaw nearly touched the floor. "I thought you moved in with him?"

Lily rubbed her arm and walked to Angela's couch, sitting next to her, and said, "I did."

"You're doing everything out of order!" Angela exclaimed.

"Doing what out of order?" Lily asked. She was honestly confused.

"Your relationship." Angela launched into her lecture. "Step one, dates. Step two, sex. Step three, 'I love you's. Step four, long weekend. Step five, extended vacation. Step six, moving in, step seven, meet the family—"

"How many steps are there?" Lily's eyes were wide, and there was a small twitch just beneath her cheek.

"A lot, sweetie."

She fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve, looking guilty. She had gotten more confident in her outfits since Zack's admission, and she now wore a pretty yellow sundress that had had her boyfriend staring that morning. "Well, that's part of what I thought I'd tell you…"

"What?" Angela looked worried.

Lily took a deep breath and said it all in a rush. "We skipped stages one and two and went from three to six to four to seven and—"

A normal person wouldn't have had any inkling of what the woman was saying, but perceptive Angela caught on immediately. "Seven?" she squeaked. "You've met his family?"

"Met…meeting this weekend…same thing."

"WHAT?!"

Lily flinched. "Oh, and Booth wants me to take an FBI job."

Angela stared in silence for a solid minute. "What else haven't you told me?"

"No, I think that's it." She smiled a little. "Why do I feel like I should apologize?"

"Oh, sweetie; 'cause you should."

Booth came jogging into the Jeffersonian, a wider, more proud grin on his face than Hodgins had ever seen.

"What's got you so happy?" asked the man with a smile.

"New case," replied Booth. He jogged up the steps and, glancing down, Hodgins could see that the FBI agent was wearing green and blue striped socks today.

"Fun socks again?"

Booth's eyes were alight. "Present from Lily."

"I see." No matter what he said, Booth just adored Lily. Hodgins chuckled. "So why the excitement about murder?"

"Special reason." So saying, hyper Booth turned in a circle, looking confused. "Where's Bones and the kid?"

"Oh, a full sentence," Hodgins teased. "Lily's eating lunch with Zack. Haven't seen Dr. Brennan since this morning."

"Thanks, Hodge." Booth gave him a smile, clapped him on the shoulder, and left.

Hodgins merely laughed.

Lily stirred her macaroni and cheese absently, chin placed in her hand. The fork scraped against the bottom of the bowl, and Zack looked up. She looked dejected, her face scrunched in a strange expression, like she was trying to find the positives in a situation and the negative kept altering things. Her blonde hair hung in her eyes, something he knew she infinitely detested—for she had recently bought three packages of bobby pins, complaining of just that—but she made no motion to move it. She didn't even seem to notice it was there. Her nose wrinkled suddenly, as if she had smelled something bad.

"Do you not like the macaroni and cheese?" he asked in concern.

Startled, she raised her eyes to him. "What?"

"You're making a face," he said. He frowned tightly, trying to replicate her expression. "Is it the food?"

"No? No," she said assuredly. "I love the lunch, Zack. It was really sweet of you."

"I'm sensing a 'but', as Angela would say." Zack hesitated a moment, and then reached across the table and awkwardly pulled at Lily's hand until he held it. "There is something wrong."

Suddenly, a dam broke behind his vocal cords, and he said, in a rush, "Is it because you're meeting my family? There are quite a lot of them, there's a chance they won't like you, you just moved in a little while ago, Hodgins said this would happen, he said you'd panic and I shouldn't rush things—"

"Zack." Lily blinked.

Zack stopped, looking down sheepishly. Lily could tell his boyish face was beet red.

"Relax," she said. "It's not your family. I'm psyched to meet your family."

"Psyched?" he repeated, confused. He looked up again and met her eyes questioningly.

"Excited," clarified Lily, squeezing his hand. "It's just…What would you do…if I didn't work here anymore?"

His eyes widened and a look of panic overtook him, panic so severe Lily was concerned that her boyfriend was going to have a heart attack. Boyfriend. I like the sound of that…Focus, Lily, focus.

"Are you leaving again?" he asked. His brown eyes searched hers, and she thought again about how cute he was. "I thought Caroline said your father had no power. I thought you said he couldn't make you leave anymore."

"I'm not leaving." With those words, Zack didn't exhale a held breath—he wasn't that kind of man. But the unbridled relief that washed over his face tugged at Lily's heart.

Can't tell him, she thought. I can't tell him yet. Oh, God, what am I going to tell Booth?

"Hello, Camille," said Booth with a wide smile.

"Seeley," Cam responded. She smoothed her skirt absently.

Booth paced a short distance between the doorway, smile still in place and looking like it was cemented on. He was unbelievably…suspiciously…happy. "Has Lily answered you yet on the job offer?"

Ah, so that's why. Cam shook her head with a little laugh. Ridiculous. Can't he just admit how much fatherly emotion he has for her? "No, she hasn't."

"Oh." Booth's face fell for a fraction of a second, but it brightened right back when he said, "I'm going to go talk to her."

He sounds like a toddler with a shiny new toy. The corner of Cam's mouth turned down a little. How is he going to react if Lily decides to stay for Zack?

A/N: arrrgh. i'm a pirate!

hahah. i hope this was a good enough fix for some of you. :\ i promise to try and update sooner, but no promises everyone.

i shouldn't have to say this, but i will: review.

^_^