Remember that time at the top of Chapter 1, where I told you I would put my toys back together when I was done with them? I just want that sort of sitting in the back of your mind while you read this chapter.

And to the Guest who keeps commenting about how crap my story is. I just want you to know that I already know that, but I'm going to post it anyway. You cannot hurt my feelings; I have none.

Ready your bathroom tissue, b*tches. Here comes some more crap!


As Brennan strode purposefully toward her office, she glanced at the forensics platform where Clark was giving Booth a rundown of the evidence. She briefly made eye contact with Booth before turning away quickly, but she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head still.

"Someone is la-ate." Angela sang as she stepped into stride with her. "Methinks the lady doth got laid last night." She continued speaking a little louder than was entirely necessary, and Brennan rolled her eyes as they entered her office together and ignored her friend's suspiciously good timing to blurt out that phrase within Booth's proximity. She sat at her desk and started her computer, ignoring Angela's presence entirely. "C'mon. Throw a dog a bone… did you get a bone last night?"

Brennan tried to glare at her friend, but she had had a very enjoyable evening with Andrew and she couldn't find the energy to be irritated. "We had a lovely dinner, followed by frozen yogurt and a walk by the pier where we ended up sitting down and talking until nearly five o'clock this morning when his alarm went off to wake him up for work." She explained with a smile, and though Angela seemed disappointed with the lack of salacious details, she too was smiling. "We… may have osculated." she shared after a moment of coy smiling.

"You did what now?" Angela asked, looking at her like this was some kind of erotic novelty activity.

"It's the scientific term for kissing. We kissed..." She clarified, feeling she owed her friend that extra detail.

"Dish. Now." Angela demanded, grabbing Brennan by the hand and hauling her out of her seat. She dragged her over to the couch where she yanked her down into the plush seat next to her and snatched a throw pillow to hug before staring intently at Brennan. "Chop chop." She said with a pat on Brennan's leg.

Brennan sat across from Andrew at dinner. Thus far the conversation had been casual and friendly. They discussed music, he asked questions about her trip to Maluku and complained that the solve rate of his department plummeted without her. As the topic of discussion turned more serious, she explained that she'd needed space and time from the crime-solving.

"You mean from the crime-solving partner." He'd stated softly, and then looked like he regretted his words.

"Yes. You are correct. I… find I need space from him again, in fact." She admitted, and she wondered why he looked anxious.

"Forgive me for being direct, but please don't disappear to another island before I get a chance to show you what a catch I can be." He said, smiling though she knew there was a grain of truth to his lighthearted attempt at a joke.

"I find that being direct is a very good policy. It prevents any misunderstandings." She stated firmly, and he nodded his agreement.

"In the spirit of being direct, I'd like to say that I want to kiss you, but I'm not sure how it would be received, and I really don't want to ruin a perfectly good evening with misunderstood signals." He admitted, looking incredibly nervous and toying with his hands. It was quite endearing.

"In the spirit of being direct, I find that I would like that." She told him, meeting his surprised eyes. "To be clear, I would like it if you kissed me, not if our evening was ruined." she added, and he laughed. He always seemed to laugh at her jokes. She liked that because she knew she could be quite humorous but very few people understood her jokes.

The kiss was positively chaste when he leaned awkwardly over the table and brushed his lips across her very lightly, but it had made her smile. Andrew was different. Most of the men she'd dated previously had been very self-assured and confident in their sexual prowess. Andrew, though very self-assured in his job, like she herself was, seemed to be on unfamiliar territory in the romance department.

"Ok, not a bad start. He's one of those guys, ya know. Slow roller, but once you get his motor runnin'…. Grrrr" Angela said, and Brennan couldn't help but laugh.

"I think I got his motor running just fine, Ange." Brennan said with a blush, recalling the rest of her evening.

"This was an excellent choice for dessert." Andrew said, scooping his frozen yogurt into his mouth on the tiny pink spoon.

"Yes, I enjoy this particular shop because they have a wide variety of flavours in vegan options." She pointed out as they approached a bench. She sat down, pulling his suit jacket more snuggly around her shoulders.

"I'll admit, I've always been skeptical of vegan options, but this is quite good. Consider me a convert." He laughed, and she enjoyed his willingness to try new things.

Their second kiss was sudden, and took Brennan by surprise, even though she initiated it. It was slow, and he tasted like strawberry yogurt when he parted his lips and his tongue slid forward tentatively, as if asking permission. She met him with her own tongue, granting him access to her mouth and deepening the kiss. He reached toward her hesitantly, as if he wanted to touch but wasn't sure if he was allowed, so she slid her hand along his thigh, rubbing slow, soothing circles until he finally relented to his desire and brought that shy hand up to cup her cheek. When they parted, both in need of air, she glanced down at his growing arousal. That was reassuring, as she was feeling rather aroused herself. It had been a very long time since she'd been with a man. She had to tamp down the primal urge to attack him right there on the bench.

He told her about his family and his upbringing, how he'd grown up on a pig farm and was the oldest of six children, born to a preacher and a school teacher. She felt envious of his idyllic childhood, and wondered why they'd never discussed this before.

He was kissing her again, after telling her that despite her unconventional upbringing, she still turned out pretty amazing, when the sound of his phone going off like an air strike warning signal startled them.

"It's my alarm." He assured her, turning it off and blushing profusely. "I'm a very heavy sleeper." He explained when she commented on how alarming his alarm truly was.

"I can't believe we stayed out all night." She said with a laugh as he dropped her off at her door. "I'm sorry you didn't get to sleep." She told him, glad that she'd be able to squeeze in a few hours at least before she'd have to head into the lab.

"Today is definitely going to suck." He said with a laugh. "But I don't regret it for a moment. I'll just take it out on some unsuspecting agents fresh out of Quantico." He joked, and she leaned in once more, stealing a final kiss before handing him his jacket and watching him walk away.

"That was, like, the sweetest little love story ever. You guys are way too cute." Ange squealed at her. "I bet you dollars to donuts he's very attentive at… oral presentations. The sweet ones always are." She commented, and Brennan had to think over her words for several moments before understanding the underlying meaning.

"I certainly hope so. I find I do, very much, enjoy receiving cunnilingus." Brennan commented thoughtfully.

"Who doesn't?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway of Brennan's office and both women turned, startled by the intrusion. "Sorry to interrupt. I was actually just meeting Seeley here, but he's still talking evidence with Dr. Saroyan." Hannah told them as she wandered further into the room. "I was actually hoping to bump into you Temperance." She added, and looked at Angela pointedly.

"Well, you have succeeded, though I believe it was a very easy task as this is my office." Brennan commented, unsure how to respond to that comment. She liked Hannah as a person, though she knew Angela, out of what she called loyalty, had made the conscious choice to dislike Hannah.

"Would it be ok if we talked in private?" Hannah asked, glancing briefly at Angela who was still comfortably settled on the couch. Brennan glanced over at Ange as well, sharing a silent conversation before her friend rose from her seat and left. "Nice seeing you again." Hannah said pleasantly as Angela left. "I don't think she likes me very much." Hannah added as she walked further into the office.

"You are correct." Brennan agreed, hoping this wasn't one of those things she was supposed to lie about. "Though, I'm unclear exactly why." she added with a thoughtful expression.

"I might have an idea as to why she doesn't like me very much…" Hannah started and Brennan gestured for her to have a seat as she took her own seat behind the safety of her desk. "Temperance, Seeley told me about your conversation with him… about how you feel."

"Booth told you?" She asked, shocked by this revelation. How could he betray her? She felt like he was continuously dragging the remaining shreds of their friendship through the metaphorical mud.

"He had to. We're a couple. Without loyalty and trust for one another, what would have?" Hannah explained, as if that was enough of an answer for him betraying years of keeping each other's confidences.

"He told me he loves you, Hannah. You have nothing to be worried about." Brennan tried to reassure her. "I didn't mean to hurt you." she added, because frankly she hadn't. When she'd revealed her feelings to Booth, she didn't even give thought to Hannah or her feelings. She was a variable that Brennan hadn't even accounted for until Booth had reminded her that he was involved.

"Are you sure? That I have nothing to worry about?" Hannah asked, her face wrought with concern. "Your friendship means a lot to me, Temperance, and I know you mean a great deal to Seeley, but you have to see how what you told him could make us all a little uncomfortable." she explained, and Brennan swallowed around the lump in her throat. This conversation was making her uncomfortable, that she knew.

"Of course. I understand. Angela said that I should move on." she told Hannah, hoping this would assuage the woman's concerns. "And I have begun seeing someone romantically. I find I am very much looking forward to seeing where this relationship goes." she added slowly. Was she in a relationship with Andrew? Would he consider it a relationship? They had agreed to take things slow, but their date had been satisfying.

"Really? That's great! I'm happy for you!" Hannah exclaimed, and she did, in fact, seem quite relieved by this revelation, like a great weight had been lifted from her mood. "Hey, we should double date!" she said suddenly, and Brennan felt panic begin to rise.

"Though I pride myself on being quite open minded sexually, and I obviously find Booth sexually appealing, I believe Booth is very strict in his views on monogamy, and I sincerely doubt he would be interested in any sort of sexual partner exchanges…" Brennan told her, trying to be as tactful as possible. She was the one who people had to correct for social faux pas most of the time, so she was quite surprised to be on the other side of things. Hannah had been rather brazen in her suggestion.

"No… I didn't mean… I think you're thinking of…something else. Double date just means we go on a date, the four of us, and we stick to our regular partners." She explained, and Brennan nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. Though she was sure she'd have enjoyed intercourse with Booth, she was quite certain he would object to Hannah and Andrew engaging in any sort of sexual activity with one another.

"I'm not sure-" Brennan started, but Hannah interrupted her, tilting her head to the side and pouting exaggeratedly. Brennan wondered if that worked with many people. Perhaps she would try it to get her way with Cam next time they'd had a disagreement.

"It'll be fu-un." She said, trying to entice a better answer. "C'mon! Then we can meet your new guy! Scope the goods." She said with a wink, and Brennan found herself wishing someone else would interrupt their conversation. Where the hell was an intern when you needed one. "I'm going to make a reservation for next week. You're going to come and then we can get together and gossip about your boyfriend once I've had a chance to give him the once over." Hannah said definitively, and Brennan found herself agreeing despite her better judgment.

She did enjoy girl talk, as Angela had coined it, and perhaps being out as a couple with Andrew in a friendly setting with Booth and Hannah would help with the whole 'moving on' process. It would probably help in repairing her partnership with Booth too.

"Hey… am I interrupting?" Booth asked, standing cautiously at the door of Brennan's office.

"Not at all." Brennan said with a tight smile. She wanted to talk to him, but the tension still felt uncomfortable. Perhaps at dinner they'd be able to bury the axe.

"Nope! We're all done here! Let's go get lunch. I'm starving!" Hannah chirped as they wandered away. She was always so bubbly. Perhaps that was why Booth enjoyed her company. Brennan knew she was not personally bubbly. Taciturn. Cold. Blunt. She'd been described in many ways, but never bubbly.