BIG UPDATE! TWO CHAPTERS!

I am in love how the end, yes the end.. , of this story is turning out! There are some chapters left, dont fear!

Disclaimer I dont own bones

Chapter twentysix

She taught me patience, he gave me love

After that night the partners started adventuring into what it might be like if they would step over that line again. They didn't kiss, they didn't really make a move, but they didn't stop themselves from staring or letting that touch linger. Toby saw it all, he screwed with them and interrupted annoyingly often.

The people at the lab were still confused as to what had changed between the pair. But in reality nothing had changed. They had just gone back to how they used to be, they went back to being them.

An early Thursday evening Booth was over at Brennan's apartment to go over the last of the paperwork they had for their latest case. "Give me that file over there." Brennan pointed behind Booth's shoulder. They had been sitting on the couch from the beginning but slowly they found themselves on the floor beside it with the papers scattered around them.

Booth handed her the file and leaned in. "Only if I get the last spring roll." He challenged her and smirked.

She took the hint as she leaned and held the spring roll in front of him. "This one?" She asked innocently.

Booth hummed. "No spring roll, no file." He shrugged with a smile on his face.

"But I want it."

"No can do, Sherlock. Either or."

She leaned in further and their faces were inches apart. "But the last spring roll for a case file? Isn't that a little mean? You got the two before that." She licked her lips and glanced down at his.

"But you ate all of the tofu."

"Because they're mine, you have beef." Brennan gasped lightheartedly.

"You're adorable." Booth muttered and shook his head. "You can have it." He gave her the case file and instead caressed the side of her head.

Brennan felt her cheeks darken and leaned in slightly, moments before their lips met, the door flew open. "TB. Emergency. Simon is back." Toby announced himself by bursting into the kitchen.

Booth put his head on Brennan's shoulder and chuckled. "Who's Simon?" He asked in a whisper.

"I thought you blocked his number?" Brennan called out. "An ex. An awful ex." She told Booth quietly.

Toby came out to the living room with an opened bottle of wine. "I did. I had it blocked and then last weekend I unblocked it because I was bored and- wait" Toby stopped dead in his tracks and looked at the scene in front of him. "I'm interrupting something."

"Don't be silly, TD." Brennan said softly, earning a look from Booth. She mouthed to him later and winked. "What did he do this time?"

"What didn't he do.." Toby sighed and took one of the Thai boxes and a pair of chopsticks. "I texted him first, I know, stupid move, been there done that. But then he texted back and was all sweet.." Toby waved around the chopsticks and ate from the box.

"But what happened?" Brennan asked and turned so that she was facing Toby. Booth's arm fell perfectly around her waist and they sat close together. His fingertips touched her bare skin and he drew slow circles.

"Well, one thing led to another and we met at a club. Last night."

"You didnt- you said never again." Brennan exclaimed.

"You haven't been in my shoes TB. You don't know what he's like." Toby tried to defend his actions that led him to fall into bed with his once again ex.

"No but I have cleaned up after he broke your heart." Brennan countered back.

Toby sighed and played with the food in the container. "But when I woke up I found out that he had a boyfriend.. And that Simon had cheated on him with me.."

"Toby.." Brennan sighed softly. "That's not your fault.. He didn't tell you that he was in a relationship."

"Is that what happened before?" Booth tried to understand the situation.

"Oh no, the situation before that was way worse. He was screwing several guys behind my back, blaming me for cheating. Manipulation. Abuse, mentally and.." Toby trailed off.

"You don't have to go into it, Tob.." Brennan told him quietly. She put her hand over his. "Have you blocked his number again?"

Toby nodded and put away the container. "But he won't leave. He stops by the FBI and the coffee shop-"

"I can put a restraining order on him." Booth said instantly.

"It won't work, they won't accept it without proof." Toby shrugged.

"I don't have special in my title for nothing, I'll fix it, Toby. I got your back." Booth assured him.

Brennan felt her entire body tingle. She finally felt like she was home again. Two of the men she cared most about were here with her and they were just as amazing as when she had met them.

§The days were closing in on when they were leaving for Philadelphia and suddenly it was tomorrow. Brennan was getting nervous. She hadn't been in that house in years, she hadn't really wrapped her brain around the fact that everything was falling back into place.

Angela hadn't really gotten the full story yet, but she saw the affection the pair had for each other. She saw what they meant to each other by the way they let their fingertips linger a little longer than acceptable for just being partners. The way when their eyes met no one else mattered.

What she was surprised about was the fact that they hadn't kissed yet. From what she had heard from Brennan at least. And it wasn't like she hadn't tried prying it out of her.

"-no, I promise. We'll be here. Just get here today, we miss you- no, come on. We haven't seen you for a few weeks." Brennan talked to the person on the phone and glanced over to Angela in surprise. "I have to go, come here today- no, I won't take no for an answer. Please." A bright smile found Brennan's lips and she nodded. "Good, see you later, love you- you're not 11 anymore, say it back." She hung up after getting the words she wanted and held the phone tight in her hand.

"Who was that?" Angela smiled.

"Uhm, just-" Brennan let out a sigh, realizing that the secret was out. "It was Booth's brother. He's coming home for Mary's birthday and I had to force him to come here." Angela could sense the playful irritation on Brennan's voice.

"Are you close?" Angela curiously asked.

"We've been in each other's lives for a long time, so I would say that. He's family. My little brother." Brennan gives Angela a shy smile.

"I'm happy for you, Bren." Angela gave her a warm smile. "You deserve a family."

"Of course she does." Booth smiled when he walked in.

"Jared is coming today." Brennan told him instantly.

"I know, we talked this morning. He said something about you nagging him to come here?" Booth smirked.

"He has to come here. See the lab and all." Brennan waved her hand around the room.

"I'm guessing you succeeded in getting him here?"

"When don't I succeed?" Brennan winked and put on her lab coat.

The rest of the day flowed easily. Brennan mostly sat in her office, working on her book. They hadn't gotten a body recently, and she was up to date with what Cam had wanted her to go through the older bodies.

Some days the chapters came easy for her, today was not that day. Her head was somewhere else. How would she act? Would everything be the same when they went home?

She shook off her thoughts and walked out of her office to get up on the platform. Working on something else might help. Up on the platform Cam stood with an army clad man and Booth. A bright smile found her lips. He was here.

The sensor beeps as she puts her access card through the scanner. The army clad man turned to her and smiled. "T."

"JJ." Brennan let out and walked up to him. He picked her up and spun her around in a hug.

"Okay, dude. Let her down." Booth cleared his throat.

"What? You see her like every day. I don't." Jared backed away and admired Brennan's face. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Brennan nodded. "How are you? How was your flight?"

"It was good, bumpy." He shrugged.

"I'm so lost." Cam announced and the group turned to her. "You know each other?" She gestured towards Brennan and Jared.

"Yeah, we kinda go way back." Jared chuckled.

"But you've never mentioned her. And we've known each other for years." Cam said in confusion and glanced back at Booth. "You knew her too?"

"That's- it wasn't something I could bring up just like that." Jared said carefully and Booth kept quiet.

"Why not?" Cam tried again.

"Dr. Saroyan, our past is complicated and shouldn't be brought up here in the middle of the lab. If you could respect our wishes?" Brennan spoke up in a professional tone.

"Of course, Dr. Brennan." Cam glanced at Brennan and then back at Booth. Why won't he talk about it?

Brennan pulled Jared off the platform to show her office and they walked arm in arm away from Cam and Booth.

"What was that about, Seeley?" Cam asked and folded her arms over her chest.

"I've told you to not call that, Cam. Please." Booth muttered and turned away.

"She's the girl, isn't she?" Cam asked Booth's back. "The girl you always talked about?"

Booth scratched across his chin and sighed before putting his hands on his hips. He let his head fall slightly and cleared his throat. "Yeah, yeah she is." He let out and walked away from Cam.

She stood on the platform alone with her arms folded over her chest. He had never told her the name of the girl he had been crazy about as a teen. Can thought that he just didn't want to tell her, maybe it still was that but she had a feeling it wasn't.

"Camille Saroyan" The tan skinned woman put her hand in front of him.

"Oh, uhm, Seeley Booth." He smiled and shook her hand. "But you can call me Booth."

She hummed in response and they walked to the shooting range together. Booth hadn't come here to make friends or even get to know anyone. His mind was racing every day and he could barely sit still. Yet this woman made it her mission to be in his life, and he was quite grateful for it.

They soon became close friends. After the army and after missing his child's birth, he wanted to be in the moment and not miss anything important. Maybe that's why he wanted to become an agent for the FBI. But first, Quantico.

"Don't be like that, Seeley." Cam smirked.

"Don't call me that, Cam." Booth muttered. At first he had played the back and forth game with her, because he noticed the way she squirmed at the sound of her first name. But after a while his heart hurt too much.

"Why are you so persistent in people not calling you by your first name?" Cam asked in a scoff.

"I just don't like it, you don't like it either." Booth waved it off.

"No, no, I don't like it. You can't stand it. Your entire mood changes, like someone drove your favorite car into a tree or someone broke your heart-" She saw the way his nonexistent smile dropped even further and his features were stone cold.

"It's none of your business, Saroyan." Booth started to walk back to the rooms.

She knew that she had hit a nerve, Cam ran after him. "No, come on. If we're friends I'm here to talk. Whatever you need." She tried to make him talk.

"It's not even-" Booth sighed and graced his temple with his fingertips. "Yeah, there was a girl and.."

After that moment he told her everything he remembered about the girl he fell madly in love with, or at least he thinks he did. He mentioned her everytime something reminded him of her.

But he never said her name. Cam always wondered why that was. She had tried to ask about the name multiple times, but he always seemed to steer the conversation in a different direction.

There was something that Booth hadn't told Brennan but he couldn't tell her now. Not when they were on their way to Philadelphia. It would mess everything up. Every little thing they had done to get to this moment would disappear into the sand.

Jared was passed out cold in the backseat. He didn't enjoy long road trips. He never had. Not even when they went on camping trips as kids.

The pair in the front spoke in a low tone with soft music in the background, like they always did when they drove longer trips with work.

"Nu-uh, I remember it as you were the one that was dancing with what's his face and I had to stand and watch." Booth chuckled softly.

"Fred, his name was Fred." Brennan smiled. "And you didn't want me to dance with him."

"Of course I didn't." Booth shrugged. "I wanted to dance with you."

Brennan glanced over at him and felt a sense of warmth surrounding her heart. She was in awe of the man beside her. Ever since the night she had gotten the letter, they had found their way back to how they were and it made Brennan feel completely and utterly at peace.

"You should've heard how jealous he was all the time when boys were near you." Jared leaned in between them.

"And it's time for you to shut up again, Jare." Booth muttered and gripped the wheel tighter.

"Oh, I did. It's.. it wasn't the best night." Brennan scrunched her nose at the memory.

"The middle was nice though." Booth spoke in a low tone, only for Brennan's ears.

She turned to him and saw a soft smile forming on his lips.

"Do I wanna know what happened in the middle?" Jared said in a disgusted tone.

"I don't think you do, little brother." Booth chuckled.

"Disgusting, truly disgusting." Jared muttered and leaned back into his seat again. "Now that I'm scarred for life, could you please listen to some music that I like?"

"Nope, driver decides."

Jared sighed and folded his arms over his chest. This trip was taking longer than he wanted.

The rest of the ride contained music, guess the person and foolish car games. They bickered over simple things and laughed at each other. Just like a family does.

Booth turned into the last road and the car turned quiet. Brennan let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. Home. This was home for her. Even if she had found her father and her brother, this place, these people. They were home.

George and Mary stood on the porch watching the car park in the driveway. Bright smiles were glued on their faces and they slowly made their way to the parked car.

Brennan got out and she ran up to them. Mary wrapped her arms around her body and George hugged the both of them. Brennan felt her body relax and she could finally breathe again. She didn't have to hide or lie.

Booth and Jared cleared their throats as they stood behind them with all of their bags. "Hello, flesh and blood here. Two sons you birthed. No hugs for us?" Jared chuckled.

"Oh shush." George spoke up. "We saw the both of you like two months ago, we know who you are, boys." He joked with them and hugged the older and then the younger.

"Mom." Jared spoke up again when he saw that she was still embracing Brennan.

"You'll get your turn." Mary spoke up and stepped back from Brennan and put her hands on her cheeks. "You're gonna have to tell me everything." She said and Brennan nodded gently. Mary caressed her cheek and then hugged her sons. "You're so impatient."

"Learned from the best." Booth chuckled and Mary slapped the back of his head. "Hey, I was just joking."

"Mmhmm, I don't believe that…" Mary muttered and winked at her eldest son. They all walked into their childhood house and unpacked.

They all help with dinner, except Jared, he only watched. He wasn't allowed to help after a toast incident. The dinner flowed on just like it had all of those years ago. Like nothing had changed.

But it had. Everything had changed.

Mary stood by the sink, cleaning up after dinner. She glanced over at Brennan who sat by the kitchen island, twirling her drink around in her glass.

"Sweetheart." Mary spoke softly. Brennan glanced up at her. "Go out to him, you know he's out there."

"It's going to be so.. Weird, being out there now when we're adults." Brenna shrugged.

"Weird good?"

"I don't know.."

"Why don't you go out and see?" Mary smiled and gestured with her head for Brennan to go out. Brennan let her head fall back slightly as she let out a sigh.

"Okay.." She said and put down her glass.

Brennan made her way through the house and stopped as she touched the handle of the backdoor. She watched as Booth walked across the pebbles by the lake. Her mind couldn't help but think of when she was young and she stood in the exact same spot and watched as he threw stones out in the lakes.

She opened the door and walked out to him.

oooooooooh lake time