A/N: Second chapter of the new version of this story.

The halls of the museum were awfully quiet as Booth made his way to the lab. The weather was really nice, the sun had stopped playing hide-and-seek with Washington and the clouds had practically disappeared. It didn't surprise the agent that people would rather be outside enjoying the sun while they could than be stuck inside a museum.

The sliding doors opened and Booth stepped in the lab. The Medico-Legal Lab was already buzzing with activity and Booth almost hated disturbing them when he had no specific reason to be there. After all, he could have just called. There was no need to actually come down. He was about to walk back out the doors when the sound of his name stopped him.

"Agent Booth!"

He turned to see his girlfriend's boss walking towards him.

"Hey hey, Dr. Goodman!"

The archeologist stopped in front of him.

"Are you here for Dr. Brennan?" he asked. "Because she's really busy at the moment."

Booth shook his head.

"No, actually, I'm here for Angela."

"Angela?" Dr. Goodman asked, surprised. "Why Miss Montenegro?"

"Oh..." Booth replied, unsure of what to say. "Um... I need her to meet with a victim down at the Bureau. Our sketch artist is sick and we need a replacement."

Goodman nodded, satisfied by the answer.

"Well if Miss Montenegro isn't too busy, I'll be happy to let you have her for the afternoon."

"Thank you, Sir." Booth replied. "Would you happen to know where I could find her?"

"She's in her office with Dr. Brennan."

Booth thanked him before excusing himself.

He jogged down to Angela's office only to stop abruptly at the door once again at the sound of his name.

"So how are things with you and Booth?" He heard Angela ask.

There was a small moment of silence during which Booth held his breath. They rarely talked about their relationship and Booth was curious to find out how Temperance felt about it.

"It's okay."

Her answer disappointed him.

"Just okay?"

Angela's tone told him that she was as disappointed as him.

"Well, what else do you want me to say, Ange?"

"I don't know but I expected more than just 'it's okay'."

Another pause in the conversation.

"Things are great, Ange. More than I expected it to be. Are you happy now?"

"Well when you put that way!" Angela replied, sarcastically. "But you're thinking of how he acted after your abduction?"

Temperance nodded.

"He was just so caring and so patient with me. Nobody has ever been like that with me."

"That's because he loves you, sweetie. I don't know many guys who would wait three months for a woman to be comfortable enough to start having sex with him again. My boyfriend has trouble waiting a week every month."

Temperance chuckled softly and blushed slightly.

"Yeah. It's not only your boyfriend." She replied.

Having heard enough and wanting to stop a possible Angela-investigation, Booth stepped in the door and knocked softly. Both girls looked up, startled. A large smile spread over Temperance's face and Booth couldn't help being happy that he was the one making her smile like that.

He walked over to her and leaned closer.

"Hey you." He whispered before claiming her lips with his.

The kiss lasted several seconds before Angela felt the need to break it off.

"Let's keep it PG, people." She said as tongues began to make appearances.

"Sorry Ange." Temperance said, breathlessly after pulling away.

"No worries." Angela replied, fighting the grin that threatened to spread on her face.

"What's up?" Temperance then asked, switching her attention back to her boyfriend.

"I need to speak to Angela, if you don't mind." Booth replied, looking up at the artist. "In the hallway."

Frowning, Angela got up and followed the agent out in the hallway, leaving a puzzled anthropologist behind them. She then followed him further from the door.

Once they were out of earshot, Booth stopped and turned to his friend.

"I need you to do me a favor." Booth started, directly. "What time are you taking your lunchbreak at?"

Angela looked surprised. Booth ignored it.

"Umm... I don't know. One maybe?"

"Okay great." Booth replied, clapping his hands together. "I'll pick you up at one. Oh, bring your lunch!"

He was about to walk away when Angela grabbed his arm.

"Do you mind telling me what you're up to?" She asked.

"Uh yes, actually. I do. Listen, if Bones asks you where you're going, just tell her that you're going down to the Bureau to replace our sketch artist."

She opened her mouth to protest but she changed her mind. Instead, she nodded and walked back to her office.

Satisfied and somewhat relieved, Booth made his way back to the parking lot.

"Now do you mind telling me what you're up to?" Angela asked as she unwrapped her sandwich and placed it on her lap while Booth drove out of the museum's parking lot.

"You'll see when we get there." Booth replied, calmly.

Angela rolled her eyes in a very Brennan manner. Booth smiled.

"Fine." She replied, sighing. "And just so you know, I didn't enjoy lying to my best friend."

Booth chuckled.

"Trust me, you'll change your mind when you'll find out why you're with me."

Booth turned onto a quieter road, making Angela quite perplexed.

"Joan's Jewelry Store?" Angela asked, even more confused.

"It's the nicest shop in all Washington." Booth replied, proudly, looking up at the sign over the door. "Expensive, but really nice."

"And why are we here?"

Booth opened the door and the artist stepped inside the small shop, Booth following behind her. A woman walked out a backroom and went to stand behind the counter. Booth nodded politely in her direction and the young woman smiled in return.

"Next week, it's Bones' birthday and I wasn't quite sure what to get her. Yesterday, at the crime scene, I finally found something."

Angela looked at him, confused.

"You do know Bren's not much into jewelry, right?"

"I know. But I'm not getting her jewelry."

Angela frowned.

"Then why are we here? More importantly, why am I here?"

Grabbing her by the hand, Booth led her to the left corner of the small rustic shop. Angela's eyes immediately fell on the sparkling rings in front of her. She gasted as the reason why they were here dawned on her.

"So?" Booth asked, expectantly. "Which ring do you think she would like?"

The search for the perfect ring barely took thirty minutes. Angela had helped him immensely (despite all the squealing every time he showed her a ring) and she seemed to love the one he had picked out in the end. As they walked out the store, Booth could feel his heart racing in his chest. He had bought a ring. He had bought a ring for his girlfriend to whom he was going to propose. He was happy when they reached the SUV. He needed to sit down.

They climbed in and, after buckling up, left for the Jeffersonian.

"I still can't believe you're going to propose." Angela said, after a few minutes of silence.

Her voice sounded different but Booth didn't think much of it.

"I know."

"I mean, you're really going to propose."

"Yup." Booth replied, his smile stretching from ear to ear.

Angela looked outside, suddenly feeling apprehensive. She knew that she should be honest with him and tell him wha she really thought about this now that she had calmed down but a part of her didn't. He looked so happy about his decision that she felt bad to have to bring him down from his 'high'.

"Angela? What's the matter?" he asked, unable to ignore his friend's change of mood anymore.

Angela sighed before facing him.

"Have you even thought this through? I mean, you are being a bit impulsive and it is a big thing."

Booth shrugged.

"That's what I want so why not? I love her, she loves me. What more is there to say?"

"I wish I could say you're right but you're not. This is Brennan we're talking about. If it were any other woman then I'd say give it a shot but it's not. It's Tempe. She doesn't even believe in marriage. She doesn't even want to have kids but I know that you do. You two are so different. Do you even think it would work out? A marriage finalizes everything. There's no turning bakc afterwards."

Booth paused before answering. He knew Angela had a point.

"When I was in Seattle," he started, "all I could do was think of her and how I missed her. I never missed anyone as much as I missed her and I was only gone for a week. That's when I first thought about proposing."

Angela looked truly surprised.

"That's what made you decide that? The fact that you missed her?"

"No." Booth replied, irritated.

He didn't understand why Angela had suddenly gotten a change of heart about the whole thing when she had been so excited about it not even fifteen minutes earlier.

"There's not only that. I love her with all my heart and I don't want to be with anybody else. You don't know how hard it was for me when she was abducted."

Angela opened her mouth to reply but Booth cut her off.

"No, let me finish. I was really scared, more scared than I have ever been in my entire life. The whole thing, I was convinced that I wasn't going to see her again."

"You don't have to say anything, Booth. I know how tough it was for you. You don't have to talk about it."

"I have to, Angela. I haven't talked to anybody about this."

"Okay."

Booth cleared his throat.

"She only disappeared for like forty-eight hours but, to me, it felt more like forty-eight days. When I found her, all tied up and bleeding, I thought I was going to die. And when I found out what that asshole had done to her, it took a lot of convincing on her part to keep me from going after him and killing him with myself."

Angela saw him clutch the steering wheel and watched as his knuckles turned white.

"What happened to her back then? She always remained vague on the details with me. He didn't rape her, did he?"

Booth swallowed.

"No." He replied, after a few seconds. "He did touch her but I can't say we could really call that rape. It was more like a sexual assault. Anyway, it scared her a whole lot and wouldn't even let me near her for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"Five weeks."

Angela nodded.

"So you see Ange, it's not just the fact that I love her and that I can't live without her that makes me want to marry her. I just want to be there with her, to protect her, to love her and to make sure that she's okay, for the rest of my life."

"Well when you put it that way..." Angela replied, smiling. "But Booth, I don't doubt your love for her. I just think that maybe you should think about this a little bit more. Talk to her about marriage once again and see what she has to say. And if after that you still want to marry her than I'm not one to stop you."

Booth padded the little box in his front pocket.

"A little late for that advice, Ange. I already bought the ring."

Angela shrugged.

"You can always bring it back."

Booth looked at her and rolled his eyes.