(The Secrets in the Proposal)

A/N: Guest and kareneb wanted a little more. This is a sequel to chapters 76 and 77. I hope this is what you wanted.

I don't own Bones.

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The case was over and the arrest had been made. Booth knew that he and Brennan were at a breaking point and it was his fault. Pelant had forced him to turn down Brennan's marriage proposal and by doing that he had witnessed Brennan slowly turn away from him, falling out of love with him and it made him feel sick. He didn't know how he was going to get her to see that he was still the same Booth before she had made her marriage proposal, but if he didn't do something he was going to lose his one true love and he didn't know if he could continue if that happened.

He entered their house and found Brennan sitting at the dining room table, drinking a glass of wine. Somehow that hadn't been what he had expected and it seemed like she was waiting to tell him that they were through. He almost panicked when she stood up, placed the wine glass down on the table and faced him.

"Booth, I have to tell you something." She noticed that he was nervous and she wasn't sure why, but then again, she hadn't understood anything her boyfriend had done for the last few months let alone why.

As close to panic as he had ever been, Booth stepped towards her and held his hands out in a plea. "Uh, alright . . . look, Bones . . . please, just . . . you just got to give me a little more time, that's all, please." He was desperate. She was going to leave him and take their daughter from him and he was sure they were never getting back together after that. He had gambled and lost.

She saw the fear and she knew that he thought she was going to separate from him. She had been angry with him for months and that anger was now manifesting in Booth's reaction. "No Booth, I'm not leaving you. What I want to tell you is that I have absolute faith in you . . . I trust you. I know that you love me and Christine and I'm sorry I lost sight of that . . . temporarily. You're a good man. You have your reasons and when you can, you'll share them with me."

He felt weak with relief and was sure that his legs might buckle at any moment. Pulling her into his arms, he held her tightly against his body and let the flood of emotions coursing through him give him the strength to hold her. He had been so certain that she was going to leave him and she had surprised him. "I'm sorry . . . Look, I'm sorry. We'll be fine."

She kissed him and smiled. She had come close in the last few days to making a mistake and she now knew what a big mistake it would have been. The look of fear on his face was all the proof she needed to know that someone or something was keeping Booth from marrying her. Whatever the reason was, it must be horrible for Booth to go along with it. "But the next time, it's your turn to ask me to marry you." Whatever it was that was preventing Booth from marrying her would have to be solved by Booth since he was keeping the reason to himself. Perhaps she would berate him when this ordeal was over for not trusting her, but for now she would bide her time and wait for Booth to fix the problem.

"I will." His love for Brennan had always been strong, but these last few minutes just made that love more intense. She was trusting him when she had no reason to do so. "As soon as I can, I will."

And she knew he would. She knew he wanted to marry her and he wanted it just as much as she did. "I know." She kissed him and smiled. "I made dinner for you."

"You did?" He couldn't get over how much his fortunes had changed in just the last few minutes. Booth wouldn't have been surprised if he had come home that evening and found that Brennan had packed his bags and she was kicking him out of the house, so to find her in his arms, kissing him felt surreal. Surreal and yet the greatest gift she could have given him. "Thank you." It seemed inadequate. She was going to trust him and all he could say was thank you. "I mean, thank you for giving me a chance. I can't tell you what's going on. I can't tell anyone, but I will someday soon and this will all make sense. I promise you."

"Good." She kissed him once more. They hadn't kissed in weeks and the feel of his body next to hers reminded her that their physical relationship was just as important as their emotional ties. He was her standard of male perfection. His alpha maleness was what had attracted her in the first place and his ability to get her to let her guard down and trust him in situations that most of the time she would have denied just cemented their relationship. He was her partner, her lover and her friend and she had never loved anyone like she did him. "I forgot that you never do anything unless there is a compelling reason to do it. I should have questioned that right away, but I let my emotions get the better of me. I am sorry that I doubted you."

"What changed, Bones?" This was all so confusing. He loved her so much and he was glad she had changed her mind, but he couldn't understand what was going on. "Did I do something or did someone else do something or say anything?"

She didn't know what or who was controlling Booth's actions, so she felt it was important to be careful how she responded. For months, he had been careful how he responded to anything she said to him and there had to be a reason for it, whatever it was. "I had a talk with an old friend of yours. He told me that you want to marry me . . . Since he is an old friend of yours, I trust him. I'm not sure why I do except he was honest and straight forward when I talked to him."

Now Booth was confused. Who had talked to his partner? Was it Danny? He had said that the CIA owed him. Did he talk to her, but how would he know about him turning down Bones' proposal? He hadn't talked to Danny about what was going on in his personal life and his friend didn't hang out in the same social circles he did. Sure, he was a spy, but was he that good of a spy and if it was Danny how did he know about Pelant? The only one he had told about what was going on was Aldo, but Brennan didn't know about Aldo. He had never even mentioned Aldo to her and Aldo would know how dangerous it was to seek out Brennan. It was all so confusing and it just increased his anxiousness. "Um, okay . . . I won't ask who you talked to. I'm just going to be grateful."

She understood his caution and simply nodded her head. When this was over, they would have a very long conversation.

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They left the dinner cooling in the kitchen. It had been so long since they had made love that both were desperate to reconnect in an intimate way. Their love making had begun at a frantic pace, but after they had satisfied their basic needs they had slowed down and had made love to each other in a more loving and leisurely fashion. The night had been all that they could have asked for and more.

As they lay in bed, Brennan snuggled against Booth's body, his arm holding her against his side, they let the silence in the room lull them into a restful sleep. It had been the first restful sleep that they had had since Booth had been forced to refuse Brennan's marriage proposal. The last few months had been tense and filled with restless nights. Booth had known that Brennan's anger had been so intense that she wouldn't allow him to touch her and it had been agony to sleep so close to her and yet so far. Brennan had tried to overcome her anger and resentment, but as the weeks had dragged on she had become more reserved, more distant to the man she had planned on living the rest of her life with. She had proposed to him because that was what he had always wanted and when he had rejected her it had left her feeling crushed and confused. Her greatest fear had been that he was no longer in love with her and was seeking another mate. She now knew that had been a false assumption and she was now in his corner. Whatever he was fighting was her fight too.

Now that Brennan had decided to trust her man, they had found solace in each other's embrace in each other's body and they would not let anything interfere with their relationship again. Whatever Booth was going through, Brennan would allow him to finish it and if she could help she would. She had known him for a long time and she knew that he was an honorable man. She had briefly forgot that. That would never happen again.

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