A/N: Sorry I made you guys wait a while but I didn't know how to start this chapter. I've actually rewritten the beginning three times and even now I'm not even satisfied with it. Oh well. As long as you guys like it, then I'll be fine.

From the kitchen, Temperance could hear the chatter going on in her living room. As she rested against the counter, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by everything that was happening. She couldn't quite remember her last birthday party. It was probably when her parents had still been around. She tried to remember that wonderful day but found that she couldn't. Maybe she hadn't had one that year. It was possible.

Nevertheless, this was all a bit too much for her. She hadn't had so many people gathered around for her in seventeen years and everything felt a bit overwhelming. She had been sitting on the couch, chatting with Angela and Hodgins when she had felt the need to walk out of the room. Nobody had followed her and she was thankful for it. She didn't want to answer questions.

She opened the cupboard behind her and took out a glass. Her throat felt dry. She poured herself some water and drank it quickly. She filled the glass once again and was about to bring it to her lips when the sound of her name reached her ears. Frowning, he set the glass back on the counter and walked towards the voices.

Booth and Angela stood in the hallway seperating the kitchen and the living room from the bedrooms and bathroom. They stood close and their voices were so low that Temperance had to take a few more steps in order to hear what they were saying.

"So you're still going to do it?" She heard Angela ask.

"Yes." Booth replied, casting a quick glance behind him to make sure they were alone.

"Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah. There's no way I'm leaving that thing unattended."

"You really think it's a good idea?"

Booth sighed.

"Yes and, if I recall, you used to be all for it. I can still hear you squealing in joy."

"I've calmed down since then and had a lot of time to think. You know my opinion on the matter but if you still to go ahead and do it, then fine. Do it. But I'm not gonna watch. I would advise you to do it when no one is around. It'd be better."

Temperance stepped away from the wall and walked back into the living room, confused. What had her friends been talking about? What had Booth planned that he hadn't told her about? How come Angela knew about it? She sat down beside her brother and he smiled at her. She smiled back.

He was about to ask her a question when a voice got their attention.

"Okay. Present time!" Angela announced, loudly, as she walked towards the table, where all the presents laid.

With Booth's help, they brought all the presents to the living room and the guests grabbed their respective ones. Temperance fell to the ground while Booth sat behind her on the couch.

"Okay. Open mine first!" Angela said as she shoved a neatly-wrapped box in her best friend's hands.

Temperance looked up at her boyfriend. He smiled at her brightly before motionning the present with his chin. She rolled her eyes, her mind diverted from the weird conversation in the hallway by the thought that Booth reminded her of a kid when it came to presents. She turned her attention back to the box. It felt light and Temperance wondered if Angela had put something in there.

"What is it?" she asked, curiously.

"Telling you would suck out all the fun of opening the present. Now come on! Open it!"

Temperance chuckled as she carefully began to unwrap the small box. Memories of old birthday parties and Christmases flashed before her eyes. She could even hear her mother saying to be careful with the wrapping paper while opening her presents so they could reuse it the following year. Even though Temperance never did recycle wrapping paper since college, she had never lost the habit of being careful.

She could feel Booth's hands resting on her shoulders and she couldn't help but wonder what he had gotten her. She had told him she didn't want anything but, knowing him, he probably hadn't listened.

After a few seconds of struggle with the wrapping paper, Temperance finally freed the box from its shell. The box was brownish and the doctor wondered what awaited her inside of it. She felt a long-lost but still familiar feeling surging through her. She hadn't felt this excited about a present since her 10th Christmas where she had asked her parents for a telescope. She still remembered the huge box under the Christmas tree. It had taken all her might not to sneak down before dawn to open the present.

She lifted the cover of the box and her eyes grew wide in surprise. Inside the box laid a nicely folded, navy blue shirt. The exact same one she had seen at the store a few weeks earlier and had refused to buy because of its ridiculour prize. She looked up at her best friend and found her beaming.

"Angela, you shouldn't have." She said, unable to say anything else.

She unfolded the shirt and examined it at arm's length. She could feel Booth's eyes doing the same thing,

"I had to, Sweetie. That shirt looked marvelous on you."

Then, turning her attention to the crowd, she added:

"But Miss Temperance here didn't want to buy it because it was too expensive."

People smiled and Temperance found herself being defensive.

"Angela, that shirt costed more money than one of Booth's suits."

"Hey! What do you have against my suits?" Booth replied, from behind her.

She looked up to find him smiling at her. She rolled her eyes.

"Just accept the present, Bren. That's what birthdays are supposed to be for."

Temperance casted one more glance at the shirt before folding it back into the box.

"Okay, who's next?" Angela then asked, cheerfully.

"How about Booth?" Jack asked.

All eyes turned expectantly to him and Booth felt himself reddened under their stares. His face grew even hotter when he looked down and saw Temperance staring intently at him. He fought to find something to say.

"Actually, I'll be giving her her present later tonight. After all of you have left."

Hodgins and Jared, Booth's brother, oohed which earned them a punch on the arm from their neighbor. Angela and Jared's girlfriend glared at them before turning their attention back to the couple across the living room. Angela smiled at Booth but the agent looked away. Thanks to her, he was now having doubts once again.

Temperance squeezed his knee before turning back around.

"I'm next." Zack said from beside Angela as he pushed his present towards his boss.

Temperance pulled the box towards her and unwrapped it.

"Thank you for coming." Temperance said before closing the door behind the last guest.

She turned around and leaned back against the door, letting out a long sigh of relief. Booth, who was already picking up the forgotten wrapping paper from the floor, chuckled.

"Are you glad it's over?" he asked her, a smile tugging at his lips.

"You have no idea." Temperance replied, pushing herself away from the wall. "I mean, I know it was my birthday and all but I'm glad it only comes once a year. I don't think I'd be able to do that often."

Booth set the paper on the coffee table before walking up towards his girlfriend. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he then pulled her to him and kissed her on the forehead. Her arms wrapped themselves around his waist.

"Well you did great. And my parents absolutely loved you."

"Did they?"

She sounded surprised.

"Of course they did. My father even told me you looked really pretty and he never said that about any of my other girlfriends."

"What about Tessa?" she asked, knowing that Booth didn't like to talk about it.

"I thought you were over your obsession with her?" He replied. "But if you must know, my parents never met her. We didn't date long enough for them to meet her."

Temperance nodded.

"You still owe me my present." She said, a playful smile spreading on her face. "I wonder what you got me."

Booth let go of her, suddenly uncomfortable. His heart raced a thousand miles an hour in his chest and he was pretty sure if he didn't calm down, he would have a heart attack. He felt himself start to shake and he was pretty sure he was sweating. He just hoped Temperance didn't notice any of it.

"Why don't you clean up and I'll be back with your present in a couple of minutes."

Temperance nodded and watched as Boot disappeared in the hallway. She immediately began to pick up the wrappers.

Darkness engulfed him as he stepped in the room. He reached for the switch beside the door and turned on the lights. He headed straight for the bed and let himself fall onto it. He closed his eyes and tried to calm the pounding headache taking his place in his head. The ring suddenly felt heavy in his pocket. He reached inside and took out the small box.

He looked at the dark purple velvet box and sighed. Was he doing the right thing? Was he heading towards the hugest mistake of his life? Angela seemed so dead set on the scenario where Temperance would reject him. Was it possible that she could be right about it? After all, she had been friends with Tempe longer than he had.

But then again, he and Temperance were closer than the two women had ever been and knew stuff about her that most people didn't. They had a connection, they shared a very deep friendship and profound love and respect for one another even though they had only been together for a year. As he opened the little box and stared at the ring, he realized that it was worth the shot.

He closed the box before sitting up.

This is it. He thought.

Taking a deep breath, he got up and walked out of the room, tucking the ring back in his pocket.

She had long ago finished cleaning up the living room when she heard the footsteps coming her way. She couldn't help but the huge smile that spread over her face and lit up her features at the thought of finally getting this 'mysterious' present from her boyfriend.

She turned to see him standing in front of her, empty-handed. She fought the disappointment that threatened to appear on her face. He motionned to her to sit down and she did. He followed her seconds later.

As they sat facing each other, Temperance wondered what was going on. It wasn't like him to be acting like this. She was about to ask him what was wrong when he finally spoke.

"Temperance, I... I love you, with all my heart. I'm sure you know that by now."

She nodded, unsure of what else to say. What was going on?

"We've known each other for three years and over the years, you truly became not only my partner but my best friend."

She felt pressure on her hands. She looked down to see that Booth had envelopped her hands in his. She looked back up at him and saw something in his eyes that made her feel worried. The previous conversation between Angela and him sprang in her mind and she immediately knew that there was a connection between the conversation and his current weird behavior. She found herself wondering if Booth was dying. She pushed that thought aside. It was illogical.

"When we first started dating, I considered myself to be the luckiest man on Earth. I was proud to be your boyfriend, to be the oneyou had let in your life after years of shutting people out."

"I hope you're going somewhere with this." Temperance said, frowned.

Booth chuckled.

"But I didn't know how much I cared about you until that madman kidnapped you."

"Booth," she immediately warned, "let's not go there."

"We have to, Temperance. This thing is a part of our history together. We will never be able to forget about it. We can try, but it will never disappear completely."

He paused and cleared his throat.

"What I mean to say is that it took that to make me realize how much I loved you and how I wanted to be with you. Then I went to Seattle a few months after and I was really scared to leave because I was sure that something bad was going to happen to you. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if something happened to you and it almost made me not want to go. During the whole week, I could only think of you and nothing else. I had trouble concentrating on my job and the only thing I wanted was to go to my hotel room and call you. Just to hear your voice."

Temperance felt her heart beat faster and the familiar urge to run away crept back up. She blinked a few times, unable to say anything else and barely aware of Booth letting go of her hand to rummage through his pocket. She didn't notice when he took out the box.

"You complete me in every way, Temperance, and I just love every little thing about you. You're the perfect woman for me and I don't want anybody else."

His hands trembled as he slowly opened the velvet box.

"This is your birthday present."

Temperance slowly looked down from his eyes to his hands. She gasped softly as her eyes fell on the ring and her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know how long she had been staring at the ring, silently, but she soon felt a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Temperance, will you marry me?"

The soft music didn't drown out the three loud knocks at the front door. Angela dropped the paintbrush she had been holding and, wiping her hands on a towel laying beside her easel, she walked towards her door.

The knocks were heard again, irritating the artist.

"Relax, I'm coming." She said to whoever stood on the other side.

She unlocked her door and her heart nearly stopped when she opened the door. She was about to speak when her visitor cut her off.

"I really thought she'd say yes." He said, his voice cracking.

Nodding sympathetically, Angela gathered her friend in a giant hug.

Gulps and runs away...