I am so sorry this took so long.. I changing the story five times and then rewriting things and ugh, but yeah.. Here it is!

Also, Im sorry if there are spelling mistakes, I still dont have a beta hahah

AlSo aLsO, Im sorry it so short.. IMMA STOP SAYING SORRY NOW byeh haha

I dont own bones

Chapter nineteen

So, this is how it's gonna be?

Year two apart, one year left

It had been exactly one year since Brennan had left. George hadn't really gotten to the point where he had found peace with her departure. They had gotten into an argument about something irrelevant and they hadn't said their apologies.

George found himself in Brennan's bedroom. It stayed untouched. He graced the desk and gathered the dust that flew off. It was like time stood still in her room. Outside it changed from spring to fall to winter, inside these four walls it was always summer. The way she liked it. George let out a sigh as he sat down on her bed.

"Dad.." Jared called out softly. George glanced up at his son. "Are you ready to go?" He asked and leaned against the doorframe.

"Yeah, give me a minute.." George smiled at his son and he left to go downstairs. They were going to the campsite with a few of their friends. Seeley wouldn't go with them this year because he wanted to hang out with his new found friends at college. They were going on a road trip all summer and they would stop by Toby on the way and pick him up.

Mary turned her head to the stairs when she heard her husband ascending from them. She knew where he had gone. George had told her that he was getting Jared ready, but she knew that he needed time to heal. Mary never mentioned when he had gone to her room. He had given her time to heal the first weeks that she had disappeared. He made sure she had everything she needed and put his feelings second, as he always did with Mary. He had done this during all of the years that they had known each other. One of the reasons she fell in love with him was his kind and loving heart.

"Sweetheart, are you sure you want to go this year?" She asked George as he stopped in front of her.

"I need to go for Jared and for you. We do this every year and this year is no different." He told her and put his hands on her arms and caressed them. "I'm fine." He told her. His eyes told a different story. She knew that if she would ask he would put up those walls that she had kicked down years ago. He almost put them back up when they lost Michaela. George had been days from rock bottom. Seeley had taken him out on a fishing trip, just the two of them. Mary had her suspicions that he knew what had happened.

"Okay, then let's go, we have a long day ahead of us." She said and put a smile on her face. Mary pulled him into a hug and she felt him relax against her body. George let out a shaky sigh and buried his face in her neck. They stood there for a few moments before they collected themselves and joined Jared out in the car.

Booth had been having the time of his life at college. He had found friends during the first weeks and it made him push back the feelings that had been pushing him to the ground.

This year had killed him, not literally, but it had felt like it. The one that he thought would be his ever after, left. He knew that he was young and she was even younger, but he knew somehow that she was it. He felt it. The way she felt in his arms, the way her smile made his body warm. Her laugh still had a place in his memory. It made his heart skip a beat when she laughed until she couldn't breathe. Those were the rare times she really laughed. Everyone has a fake laugh, but you barely got to hear her real laugh.

He had tried to not go into her room after she left. It hurt too much. But, he found himself laying in her bed with her pillow to his nose. She would forever be his best nights and worst fights. If you could have a favorite ex, she would be it. He never thought he would cry over a girl like he did this year.

Girls had flirted with him, and in weakness he had tried to flirt back. But it didn't feel right. She was supposed to be here with him. There had been a girl he had gone out on a date with, but he didn't see it as one.

Truth be told, he wanted to hate her. He really wanted to hate her for what she did. For what she did to the entire family, leaving his mother and father in pieces. But he couldn't, he knew why she did it. She had her reasons. He loved her too much to hate her.

This summer he wanted life to turn back around. He wanted to be in control again. Live his life to the fullest with his friends. They were going on a road trip around the US, picking up Toby on the way.

They had been planning for it for weeks and now they were finally on their way. Booth had insisted on taking his car and that he would drive. They wanted to take turns to get to their destination quicker but he wouldn't let them drive. The ride to Toby's college took two and a half days because of Booth's request to be the only driver.

Booth drove into the parking lot and found a spot closer to the school. They all stepped out of the car and stretched their limbs. Booth had been driving for 5 hours and wanted a cup of Coffee. He glanced around the campus and saw a Coffee shop around the corner. "Hey, Shawn." He called after his friend. Shawn turned around. "I'm gonna go buy some Coffee, do you want anything?" He asked.

"I'm good." He shrugged with a smile. Booth smiled back and walked to the Coffee shop. It was crowded with people, all students.

Booth stood in line for a solid fifteen minutes before getting to the barista. "Welcome to Coffee around the corner, what can I get started for you?" She smiled at him.

"A black Coffee, thank you." He smiled back at her and gave her a couple of Bills. "Keep the change." He winked and she smiled.

After a few minutes he got his Coffee and he started to walk back to the car. Booth glanced around the park that the Coffee shop was located in. He smiled as he saw student upon student laying across the grass studying for their last exams.

That's when a chill went through his body, the sound of her laugh. Her real laugh. The sound made his body turn around swiftly. Booth glanced around the park. It had to be her. It had to be.

A girl and an older woman were walking with their back towards him. The girl had shoulder long hair and it looked sun kissed. Booth saw how the girl let her head fall back as she laughed. As if she knew he was looking at her the girl turned around with a toothy grin. For a split second, the world stopped. Their eyes met. For one entire second the world felt right again.

"Silly my maaan." Toby broke the spell that had been casted between the pair. The smile that had been growing on Booth's lips faded and the girl walked away with her friend.

"Toby Woby. Finally, come here." He brought back his smile and hugged Toby. "How's.. Uhm.. School treating you?" He stuttered as he kept looking over Toby's shoulder. Toby quickly noticed and smiled as he turned slightly to see what Booth was looking at.

"See a cute girl?" He winked and nudged Booth as he turned back around.

"I-.. You're not gonna believe me, but I think I saw her." Booth said and questioned the words that left his mouth. "I heard her laugh, our eyes met. It had to be her." He told Toby. "But I lost her." He gestured behind Toby.

The panic set into Toby's body. "Her?" He asked carefully.

"Yes, her, Clumsy, Sherlock, Temperance, her." Booth exclaimed and rubbed his face. "It had to be, those eyes, that laugh.." He muttered. "But she looked different, she had cut her hair and colored it.." He added. "And she was with a woman."

Rose.. Toby thought to himself. "Maybe the woman was her mother? Do you even know where she is?" He questioned.

"I know she mentioned this school once or twice but.." His words disappeared and he shrugged.

"It could've been someone el-" Toby started and nudged him.

"But it was her laugh, Toby." Booth exclaimed.

"It might have been her laugh." Toby insured him. "Come on let's hit the road and find a motel along the road." He said and gestured towards the car. They walked towards it and met up with the others.

Brennan had turned in her last exam and she was ready to take on summer studies. Rose had wanted her to take a break from it all for a week, Brennan had agreed to one full week, nothing more. They went on different outings around town and rearranged in the store, something they had put off the whole spring.

Today was the last day before she took on the studies for the summer. She wanted to go through as many courses as she could. They decided to take a calm day around town, find something new to wear and drink coffee. Brennan had found a pair of khaki pants and a plain green tshirt. Everything looked good with her new haircut. Toby had told her "You're turning 18 soon. You should have an adult haircut instead of this." He said as he played with the tips of her hair. Her gaze made him clear his throat and he started to stutter. "What I- I mean is that I- You look amazing with your hair now but you have had this hairstyle since I met you, time for a change, you know?" He tried to save his previous statement. Brennan had only chuckled and later that week booked a hair appointment.

"Temperance, Is this the shop with that amazing coffee you bring home?" Rose asked Brennan and stopped walking. She glanced up and nodded.

"Yes, this is the place. It's the only coffee shop on campus." Brennan told her as they walked into the shop. Rose had gone on and on about the coffee bean flavor when Brennan brought home to cups for them one day. After that, she brought home coffee every once in a while to Rose to see that smile on her face.

They bought their coffee and began their walk home again. "Darling, I wish I was in school nowadays." Rose said with a smile as she took a sip.

"And why is that, Rose?" Brennan asked with a smile.

"The boys are fine." Rose smiled and nudged her. Brennan started laughing at her comment. "If you would just let yourself see the boys instead of looking down at your books."

"I do look up." Brennan smiled. "The boy I want to be here, isn't." She shrugged.

"So, the boys are up for grabs?" Rose teased and Brennan let her head fall back as she laughed. She felt as if someone was looking at her, she had been for the past few minutes. Brennan turned around, with a smile on her lips and her eyes traveled around the park quickly until they landed on a boy. The boy. Her boy. Was it already time for their roadtrip? Her heartbeat stopped and sped up at the same time. For the first time in a year, her heart felt whole. For a split second, before she turned back around and her smile fell. "What?" Rose questioned in concern.

"He is here." Brennan whispered and glanced down at her cup.

"He is?" Rose started to turn around but Brennan stopped her.

"He doesn't know that I'm here." She muttered and they walked back to the store in silence.

The weeks flew by and the boys traveled through the US, jumping state from state. Booth insisted on being the only driver and there had been moments where they had wanted to keep on going but Booth had been too tired. "Please, Booth. Can I Drive? You can sit in the passenger seat?" Shawn asked in a pleading tone.

"No. Never. No one drives but me." Booth muttered and drove into the motel parking lot and got out of the car.

"What's up with him?" Shawn asked Toby.

"Something.. Happened that made him afraid of letting other people drive when he is in the car." Toby explained. "He won't even let his parents drive when he's in the car." He added before he got out of the car.

"His own parents?" Shawn questioned. "Damn, what the hell happened?" He asked.

"That's something he has to tell you, it's about someone special in his life." Toby sighed. "She didn't die." He added quickly.

"Hmm.." Shawn hummed and made sure Daniel was coming along as they all left the car.

"But can't we just sit in the driver's seat before him and just-" Daniel spoke up.

"No." Toby told them. "Just respect it, this trip will be ruined otherwise. He's already on the verge of breaking." He told them.

"He seemed fine to us." Shawn shrugged and Daniel nodded. Toby turned back to them and sighed.

"Has he told you about her even once?" He asked.

"Who?" Shawn questioned.

"You would have known who I was talking about if he would have told you." Toby sighed and regretted doing this. "She was a big part of his life and then she left, out of the blue and he hasn't been the same since." Toby told them and glanced over his shoulder. "Everything should have gone differently, but it didn't." He added.

"So? It's a girl." Daniel shrugged.

"Not just any girl. His girl. So stop asking if you can drive." Toby told them and walked to the reception.

After that night they stopped asking and Booth's mood changed. They took breaks more often so Booth could rest. They had brought polaroid cameras to capture the memories they were making.

They drove for another few weeks before dropping off Toby at school. It was only a few weeks left until school started again and he had decided to get an early start on his studies. He had talked to his mother and they had decided to see each other on a weekend later on.

"Hey, Tob." Booth exclaimed. "Your mom wanted me to give this to you." Booth waved a letter in the air. "look at you getting letters now." He teased to make his own heart stop beating so fast.

"And it's from my mom, such an accomplishment." Toby winked and grabbed the letter. He saw how Booth was glancing around the campus. "She won't be there." He said softly.

"You don't know that." He said and glanced over his shoulder. Toby did know though. He knew she was at the store with Rose. She was always there on Saturdays, even if she wasn't working. He was her only friend here.

Toby shrugged and put his hand on Booth's shoulder. "I do know that. It's summer break and on a saturday. no one is here." Toby told him.

"She would be here, that little brainy smurf." Booth said gently and picked at his nail.

"If I see her, I'll give you a call. Okay?" He reassured Booth.

"Promise?" Booth asked.

"Promise." Toby told him and they hugged goodbye. He waved at the others and took his bag. "I'll see you next time." He said and walked away.

"As soon as you see her." Booth called after him.

"I'll hold her hostage until you get here." Toby chuckled and waved at him.

Toby walked to the book shop and heard the bell go off as he opened the door. "Welcome to story books and- TD" Brennan exclaimed and ran over and hugged Toby. "Tell me all about your summer, what did you do? What did you see?" She rambled on.

"He saw you." Toby told her as he let her go.

"He did?" She questioned. Toby nodded. "He did.. I knew he did." She shrugged.

"I can't keep this from him anymore." Toby sighed and brushed her hair from her face. "I'm keeping his happiness from him." He smiled and gently pinched her cheek. She chuckled softly.

"But I can't hurt him again, we can't be-" Brennan started talking.

"Yes you can." Toby told her. "Don't be so afraid." He whispered.

"I'm not afraid.." She whispered back. The silence took over the shop for a moment and Brennan couldn't take it. She was the cause of it. "Tell me about your summer. I just brewed a new pot of coffee." She shook her head to get her thoughts out of it.

"He still won't let anyone drive." He started and laughed.

"Still?" Brennan asked shyly. They walked to the back room and sat down. They both talked about their summers. Brennan's had been more about school than Toby's had. He had hooked up with a girl in Miami, woke up still high and had searched all day for her. Brennan laughed through the entire story.

School started and Brennan buried herself in school work. The only people that got through to her were Toby and Rose. And when they did, it was only for food and for sleep. Toby wanted her to let go of her studies for only one night but she would only bring her books to dinner or to the party.

"Welcome class to your spring term." The teacher announced when he closed the door. "I am your new anthropology teacher. You can call me Stires. My full name is Michael Stires and I have been working with anthropology for 5 years now." He told the class. "And I know what you're thinking. I am way too young to have already been working in the field and now I'm teaching." He chuckled. "Well, I enjoyed the field I did. But, I enjoyed the light bulb that would go off when a student got it." He shrugged.

The lesson went on and Brennan was attentive during the entire class, holding up her hand for every question and finishing Stires' sentences. She enjoyed the way he included the students in the lesson and made jokes. He quickly was becoming her favorite teacher.

She looked forward to the lessons she had with him. Even if she enjoyed all of her lessons with all of her teachers, she had the most fun in these lessons. Stires often made Brennan stay late, to look over her papers and they would talk about anthropology. He tried to talk about other things but Brennan didn't want to.

Her birthday came and went. She didn't want Rose to make a big deal out of it but Toby and Rose bought her a pastry from their favorite shop and they had a game night at Rose's apartment. Brennan did think that she needed that comfort in her life at that moment, but she did. The way that Rose had taken her in and treated her like her own daughter. The same way that Mary and George had done.

Every once in a while Brennan would imagine how life would have been if she hadn't left Philly. She would still have all of them in her life. She would wake up with Jared beside her in her bed. And Watson on the other side. Mary would hold her when life got too much and George would tell her everything would be okay.

Seeley would still be hers and she would be his. They would have made it work. Somehow. Somewhere. They would have made it work, they always did. Brennan would cry herself to sleep with regret, regret of what could have been.

She wanted that security of a family. Of a love that would have lasted a lifetime. Rose provided that for her, as much as she could and had time for. Brennan didn't feel secure enough to tell her about her entire life. She only told her about what her life was like after the foster home before the Booth's.

A day in April after her lesson with Stires, he asked if she could stay later as usual. They went through her papers and she asked the questions that she needed for her next paper. He stood close to her and always made sure to lean over her when they read through everything.

As they were packing up everything Stires glanced at her. "Tempe." He spoke up. Brennan had first been against him calling her that, because he was her teacher. He wouldn't call her anything else, so she gave in.

"Hmm?" Brennan hummed in response.

"Would you like to go to dinner with me? Outside of school." He asked her and smiled. Brennan's entire body froze. This is not what she had wanted. She wore revealing clothing, and was too talkative.

"Uhm, I.. I'm only 18.." She told him. She sighed slightly when she heard the door behind her open.

"And I'm only 28." Stires chuckled. "We're both adults."

"Hey, babe, you ready to go?" Toby spoke up behind her and walked up to them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

"Just about." She told him. Brennan turned back to Stires. "No thank you. I have to go." Toby and Brennan left the classroom. He turned to her and furrowed his brows.

"Do not stay after class anymore. I've heard stuff about him." Toby told her. "Not anything good." He said.

"Thank you for coming when you did." She told him. "But I can take care of myself." She added.

"I know you can Miss. Independent." He chuckled and pulled her close to him again. "Come on, Babe." He added.

"Do not call me babe… I am not your girlfriend." She chuckled and pushed him playfully.

"Whatever you say." He chuckled. It had been an inside joke for about a year now because everyone thought they were together. They were like conjoined twins when they were going places. Sometimes it worked in their favor of being 'Together'.

Y'all! Will they meet again soon? What will happen next year? Also, had to get rid of Stires, dont like him AHAHHA

Leave a review, let me know what you think! love to you all