Chapter 5—"I Missed You"

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or anything associated with BONES.

Author's note: Thanks to everyone for reading (even if you aren't reviewing) and special thanks to those of you who taken the time to review. I hope you all are still enjoying this fic.

Booth stepped into his apartment with a heavy heart and sighed deeply as he looked around, taking in the emptiness. His home was always so full of life when Parker was there running, laughing and playing like any happy four-year-old boy. After a week with his lively son, Booth's home now felt lifeless.

He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter as he opened his refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. After overindulging on alcohol over a week ago, Booth had decided to have a beer-free fridge for awhile. Just the thought of the cold, frothy beverage made his head hurt. He opened the bottled water and allowed his gaze to rest on his keys—the keys that he had picked up, along with his SUV, at Wong Foos a few hours before picking up his precocious son.

"Hey Sid, I was told you have my keys."

"Yep, sure do." Sid paused as he looked at the young special agent. "You look like hell my friend."

Booth rubbed a hand over his face. "Yeah, I know. Hey, did I…did I do anything in here last night that I need to apologize for?"

Sid smiled as he tossed Booth's keys to him. "Not to me."

He watched as Booth's worried expression deepened. "Not to you?" Booth sat down at the bar as realization sank in. "Bones?"

Sid simply nodded his response, which irritated Booth greatly.

"You wanna help me out here Sid? Cause I'm a little hazy on the details."

"Hazy or completely clueless?" The smart ass comment earned the older man a trademark Booth glare. He simply chuckled as he continued. "Yeah, I'd say you probably owe the 'Bone lady' an apology…although she seemed to take everything in stride. She was nice enough to come down here, all concerned and then took your sorry drunk ass home."

"Oh man…Sid, what, um, what did I say…to Bones?"

Sid placed a large mug of steaming coffee on the bar in front of Booth. "Why don't you ask her?"

"One, I'm embarrassed and two, well…"

"Afraid if you bring it up while you're sober, she'll kick your ass?" Sid laughed at his observation and at Booth's response.

"Kind of, yeah," he replied sheepishly.

"Well, let's see. Before your lady got here, you were a sullen, brooding drunken mess. That pretty dark haired girl…"

"Angela?" Booth supplied as he picked up the coffee and tentatively took a sip.

"Yep, her. She tried talking to you, telling you to slow down on the drinking. Then she and the two squinty guys managed to wrangle your keys from you." Sid started laughing again. "You might need to apologize to all of them too…especially the short, angry guy. You kinda played 'keep away' with him, using your keys…"

"Bones, Sid! What did I say to Bones!"

"You raised your voice to her when she asked if you were okay. You mentioned something about her parents and then you blatantly flirted with her." Sid watched as a horrified expression took over Booth's face. "But as I said, your lady took it all in stride, except when you mentioned her parents."

"Shit," Booth mumbled as he placed his head in his hands.

"She had a real sad, pained look for a second…" Sid began.

"I get it," Booth snapped at the older man. "I'm sorry Sid, I just…ugh, I can't believe I did that." Booth reached into his pocket to grab some money for the coffee and found Brennan's key inside a crumpled dollar bill. He placed the money on the bar, picked up his keys and began to put the new key on the ring.

Sid studied the younger man's intense concentration on his current activity. "That key belong to your 'Bone lady'?"

Booth simply nodded but didn't respond. "Booth, I don't think you did anything unforgivable last night, okay? You and your lady…you two fight all the time in here and she still puts up with you. Now stop brooding and go pick up your boy. Parker was all you could talk about before you began your mass consumption of beer."

Booth smiled slightly as Sid once again referred to Bones as "his lady". He moved away from the bar and headed toward the door. "Thanks Sid," he said over his shoulder as he left.

Now, standing in his kitchen, Booth fiddled with his keys. He had found himself thinking how right the key to Brennan's apartment looked on his key ring throughout the week. Even as he spent time with Parker, thoughts of the pretty forensic anthropologist had entered his mind. He had pondered how she was doing every night after he had put Parker in bed.

He couldn't believe he had raised his voice to her after she'd simply asked if he was okay. The case had been terrible and had affected all of them, even Bones, although she would never allow anyone close enough to see. And he had compounded the effects of the case by bringing up the source of every ounce of pain Bones had felt for the past 15 years.

"Real smooth, dumbass," he muttered to himself.

Pacing between the kitchen and living room of his apartment, Booth debated whether he should call his Bones. He picked up the phone, ready to dial her number, a number that he knew by heart, but was stopped by the nervous twinge in his gut.

'No, no! She could hang up on me…or not pick up at all. In person, it's always better to talk to her in person,' he reasoned silently.

While a part of him was nervous about seeing her in person, another part of him was almost giddy. He had to admit that he had missed her over the last week. He had missed the way the light shone on her auburn-brown hair; the way her light blue eyes flashed with excitement, anger and understanding; the way her brow creased when she was confused or was concentrating on the task at hand; and especially the way she smiled at him—only him—on those rare occasions when she let her guard down.

He sighed again as he picked up his keys and then smiled slightly, knowing that he had the perfect excuse to stop by the lab first thing in the morning to see her. Booth knew that he would accept any consequences that his actions that night at the bar had incurred. He also knew that he would do anything to right any wrong that he'd done to Bones.

Booth removed his shirt as he made his way to his bedroom, determined to get a good night's sleep before facing a possibly angry or hurt Bones in the morning.