Thank you for reviewing my story. I really appreciate it.

I don't own Bones.

Oooooooooooooooooo

At first they were cautious about their relationship. Both of them were terrified that they were going to do something wrong which would not only destroy their new found intimate relationship, but their friendship as well. They were careful not to criticize the other, but all that did was make them tense and those around them felt that tension.

"What's going on, Honey?" Angela wasn't sure what was going on, but she didn't like it. "Is there something wrong between you and Booth? I mean you guys are just . . . I don't know . . . too polite."

Brennan knew what her friend was talking about and she wasn't sure what she or Booth could do about it. "What's wrong with being polite?"

Angela sighed and slumped down on Brennan's couch. "Bren, I've been back from maternity leave for four days and I haven't heard you or Booth argue once. You both . . . you're just too polite and it's kind of creeping me out and everyone else too . . . that isn't how you two work . . . ever."

A little lost about how to answer, Brennan stood up and moved over to the couch. Once she was settled next to Angela, Brennan glanced at the door to make sure they were alone. "What if I do something wrong and Booth decides that he doesn't want to be in a relationship with me? I don't want to damage our friendship, but . . ."

Angela placed her hand on Brennan's knee. "Honey both of you are afraid and I understand that, but you two need to be who you are. That's why your friendship works. Both of you are not acting like you normally do and believe me that could end up damaging your friendship . . . you have to stop acting weird. Just be yourself and let Booth be himself. You two are great friends and this new relationship thing you're doing now is just another layer added to that friendship. You don't have to be afraid to be yourself. Booth isn't going to leave you just because you argue. In fact, I think he might even consider it a kind of foreplay."

"Foreplay?" Brennan found that hard to believe. "I don't think so. When we argue we are hardly in a mood to have sex, at least I'm not."

Desperately trying to keep from rolling her eyes, Angela stared at her hand on Brennan's knee. "Honey . . . before you two allowed yourselves to have sex with each other you used bickering as a way to relieve the sexual tension between you two. That's all I'm saying. This not bickering thing you two are doing . . . it's not healthy. You both have strong opinions about things and if you're too afraid to voice them, well it's going to destroy your friendship, because no one wants to walk around someone like they're walking on eggs." She knew Brennan was confused. "You can't guard your speech all the time . . . it just can't be done . . . be yourself. That's all I'm saying."

Ooooooooooooooooo

Their day had been long and it didn't help that Booth had to get into a jurisdictional squabble with the Virginia State police which had delayed Brennan's access to a crime scene for over two hours. Both of them were exhausted, so Booth decided that they should use Brennan's apartment for the night. Her apartment was closer and he was just too tired to drive the few extra miles to his apartment.

On the way to her apartment, Booth stopped at a Chinese restaurant he loved and picked up a couple of buffet dinners and handed the containers to Brennan as he got into the SUV. "They didn't have vegetable Mai Fun, so I got you vegetable Lo Mein."

Irritated, Brennan opened her mouth and then closed it. "Fine." Pausing, Brennan decided that it wasn't. "No it isn't fine. I wanted Mai Fun. We can stop at Panda Diner and get some from them."

"What?" Booth couldn't believe she was being that particular about something to eat. "Come on. They're both noodles who cares about . . ." Stopping himself, Booth nodded his head. "Sure, we can do that."

"Don't do that, Booth." Brennan thought about what Angela had told her and she was worried that her friend was correct. "If you don't like what I said then tell me. Don't stop because you don't want to argue . . . You are putting stress on yourself and me when you do that."

Puzzled, Booth turned to look squarely at his girlfriend. "You've been talking to Angela . . . That sounds like her not you."

Determined to fix their problem, Brennan shifted in her seat so she could face her boyfriend. "Booth we haven't argued about anything since we started sleeping together. I think we've been avoiding confrontations because we're afraid to . . . Do you think arguing will cause us to break up our relationship?"

"No, of course not." Booth really didn't like this conversation. He was happy and he wanted to stay that way. "I just . . . we argue a lot and . . . um . . . isn't it nice not to argue?"

Brennan shook her head. "Not really . . . not when it doesn't seem right . . . we both have very strong opinions and we've never felt the need to suppress our points of view before. It's part of who we are. You say something and if I don't agree I tell you. You do the same. We can tell each other anything or at least we could before we started having sex . . ."

"Love . . . we make love." Booth was tired and he wanted to go home. "Bones . . . fine maybe you have a point. We have been off our game a little . . . from now on, let's just try to be honest with each other. I'm not saying I want to argue about stuff, but if we disagree we should just say so." He inserted his key in the ignition and started the truck. "So you don't want the Lo Mein?"

Brennan pulled the container out of the bag and looked at the contents. "To tell you the truth it looks delicious. You don't have to drive to Panda Diner."

"Well okay then." As he pulled out of the parking spot, Booth noticed Brennan staring at him. "What?"

"Angela says when we bicker it's really foreplay." Brennan laughed. "That's ludicrous."

His forehead crinkled, Booth shook his head. "Shit, everything is foreplay to Angela. Believe me arguing is not foreplay." Booth reached out and placed his hand on her side. Moving his hand slowly under her shirt, he moved his hand up towards her breasts. "Now this is foreplay."

Brennan laughed and grabbed his arm. "You're going to make me spill our dinner on the floor."

Quickly removing his hand from under her blouse, Booth pulled out in to traffic. "God don't do that. I'm starving."

Amused, Brennan gave him a fond smile. "You're always hungry."

"Not always." Booth protested. "Hey . . . once we eat I'll show you some real honest to God foreplay."

Brennan chuckled. "Maybe I'll show you what foreplay is." Holding the bag of food on her lap, Brennan felt relieved that they had talked. She felt less tense and more confident that their relationship was strong enough for anything that might threaten it. Even bickering.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

Let me know what you think of my story. Thank you.