Hi there, everyone. Sorry for the delay, but I needed a few mental health days, especially after what happened on Wednesday. What happened made me very sad but I've taken some time and vented on Twitter. Now, I'm ready to return to the world of Bones.

Last time we left Aubrey and Jessica, he had sent her away before he gave Karen the unvarnished truth. What happens after that? Read and find out.

Saturday morning, Aubrey woke up at 5:30, unable to sleep and nervous as hell. Laying with Skinner he checked his phone every five minutes, waiting for the text message from Jessica.

'What do I have to be nervous about? We're just getting together for coffee, that's all.' Aubrey thought. 'Just coffee.'

But it wasn't just coffee…it was a lot more. Would they become friends again? Would they just have one of those awkward 'exes' talks and wish each other well? Would they get back together?

Months before, he wanted to tell her he was staying in DC, hopeful that they could get back together. However, she never called him, and he didn't find out she went overseas until after it happened. Between her saying there was no future together and her avoidance of him, he decided he wasn't going to put himself out there like a desperate fool. He would respect her wishes.

Besides, between his promotion to Major Crimes and Karen's company, he didn't have time to wallow in sadness about Jessica.

In spite of himself, he'd always wondered about Jessica on and off, but after not hearing from her by Fall, Aubrey knew it was time to move on. Angela's matchmaking attempts with two blind dates were disasters, but Karen was still interested in him. She was cute, nice, always there for him, but he wasn't ready for a serious relationship. After they got together one night after some drinks at Founding Fathers, she seemed open to the idea of a casual affair. At worst, they enjoy each other for a while but if it doesn't work out, they mutually agree to move on and stay friends.

Looking back, all his instincts were telling him no, but he didn't want to be alone anymore, so why not give things with Karen a try?

Well, he gave it a try, and it was a disaster. Karen was already awkward with the lab group as it was. However, once they began their affair, instead of respecting the lab's friendships with Jessica, she badmouthed the intern. Instead of earning a spot in the close togetherness of the group, the profiler had only succeeded in them working overtime to avoid her, something she seemed oblivious to. At the same time, the profiler pushed him even harder for a commitment he wasn't ready for.

Then Jessica returned and it tied him up in knots as avoiding her was impossible. Karen seemed to pick up on his emotional roller coaster and worked harder to get him to forget the redhead. However, as much as he tried to move forward with her, she was a poor substitute, not just for the sex and companionship, but also for the amazing friendship he was missing from the intern.

He wanted to have Jessica in his life again, but he was also scared of putting himself out there once more. What if they tried again and fell back into their old habits of not talking to each other? They would break up and there would never be a third chance…then he would be alone because he burned his bridge with Karen…

Aubrey knew where his thoughts were going and quickly shook them off. "No, no, no. I'm not into Karen that way and having her as second choice is a shitty thing to do. If Jess and I decide to not be in each other's lives, then I move on, like an adult does. That's what you do. You need to man up, James Aubrey."

Skinner began meowing and Aubrey knew once his cat was up and hungry, he wasn't going back to bed. "All right, Cat. Let's get you fed. Might as well get a shower in, too while I wait for Jessica."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

At the same time across town, Jessica laid in bed herself, wide awake. Needing a distraction, she grabbed her phone and read her Twitter feed. However, she soon gave up and tossed her phone on the nightstand. "Come on Jessica. It's just coffee for crying out loud."

'But it might not be. Today, it would be coffee, but what about after that? What would they be to each other? Emotions were so damn confusing!' Growling, Jessica threw her pillow down and rolled over to try sleeping again. However, slumber eluded her, and she decided to get up.

She showered, debating on when to text Aubrey. She didn't want to wake him up too early, but she couldn't help her curiosity after he sent her off last night. She got why he did it, but she also thought that it was wrong. They were doing nothing but talking and he was not in an exclusive relationship with Karen.

But James Aubrey was also a gentleman and him talking to Karen one on one was probably the best thing to do. Now, they just needed to find out where to go from here.

The redhead rinsed her hair and sighed. She broke up with James because she wasn't ready for a commitment and he always seemed to hold things back from her. Besides, how ready for a commitment was he when he takes a promotion without even asking her thoughts about it, avoids her for a few weeks, but talks to everyone else, gets tanked at a wedding reception when she catches the bouquet, and then only asks her to move with him due to peer pressure from Hodgins and Karen?

When Karen told her that Aubrey could tank his career if he didn't take the promotion, Jessica figured it was a sign that things weren't meant to be with her and her Superman. The other woman's advice to break up with him seemed sound, but she didn't anticipate the hurt look on his face when she did it. When he left her in the interrogation room, she assumed he would find her later to talk and they would both come to the mature conclusion that being apart was best. However, that relief never came and instead, she was hurt and angry that he never contacted her to finish their conversation.

She was even sadder when she'd heard from Angela that he was staying in DC to accept a promotion instead of moving to LA. Jessica waited for his call, but it never came. Of course, logically, he was probably avoiding her due to his anger about being dumped and he had every right to do so. She had to accept the consequences of what she'd done.

Three weeks after their breakup, she was offered a last-minute open slot in AmU's summer program in Scotland. Off and on, she thought that maybe she had overreacted to him asking her to move with him to LA the way he did. Finally, she realized that waiting for him to call her was the coward's way of doing things, something she was not. She needed to finish that talk because she couldn't say yes or no to the offer until she knew where her and Aubrey stood with each other.

Going to the FBI, she headed straight to his office, only to stop when she saw Karen hugging him across the bullpen. Observing the large smile on his face, she realized that his happiness was more important than her need for closure. Deciding to do the right thing, Jessica left the building, accepted the spot, and left five days later.

Now that she had returned for the holidays, her vibes were telling her to stay in DC. However, she also needed to ensure her program would not be compromised by an early return to the lab. As part of her decision process, she met with Dr. B yesterday morning. To her relief, her mentor let her know she was welcome to return early if she chose but had to let her know before Christmas.

She wouldn't trade the experience of learning overseas for anything, but now, she knew that she was running from the emotional consequences of her actions. Yes, she was angry with Aubrey for not coming to her, but she could've went to him sooner. Yes, Karen may have manipulated the situation, but she was merely the excuse Jessica used to avoid admitting that she'd also ruined their relationship. That was a hard fact to confront, but it was true.

But could they reconcile from all that? She missed his friendship and she still had strong feelings for the agent. She had a vibe that Aubrey felt the same, but would they be able to handle things better if they went down the rabbit hole of a romantic relationship again? Should they just remain friends to play it safe?

"Well, you're not going to know until you talk to Aubrey, are you, Jessica?" The redhead quickly finished up in the shower and got out. Putting on her robe, she was about to head to her kitchen for some tea when she saw there was a message. Checking it, she smiled.

I know. I'm a dork who's up at 6:00. You're prob not up but when u r ready, I can meet u. Kind of nervous, but excited, I guess.

"So, he's nervous, too. Oh, that's good." Jessica raced to get dressed before replying to Aubrey. Meet me at 7:30 at the LM.

She didn't wait long for a response. Yes, ma'am.

Ready to go, Jessica put on her coat, took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and headed out for the Lincoln Memorial.