(Season 6)

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Ooooooooooooooooo

Though she didn't normally go to bed early, she'd had a tiring day after a sleepless night and Brennan had gone to bed right after she ate dinner. She'd fallen asleep immediately and was having a pleasant dream when her phone woke her up. Groping for her phone on the nightstand, she pulled it onto her bed and accepted the call. "Brennan."

No one answered, but she could hear voices in the background. She considered ending the call when she realized that one of the voices she was hearing was Booth and the other one was her partner's grandfather, Hank. Normally, she would have ended the call, but lately she had begun to worry about her partnership. Hannah had left the District permanently and Brennan had thought her friendship with Booth might return to the way it was before they took a sabbatical from their jobs, but there seemed to be a wall between them. She wasn't sure if she was the one that was the problem or if Booth was and that had been the source of her many sleepless nights. She didn't know if he was still angry with Hannah, or her or just women in general and she found that she cared what the answer to that question might be.

Curious about what was being said, she raised the volume and listened. She didn't do it because she was nosy but because she realized this might be valuable research and it might give her insight into what her partner was thinking.

I'm sorry that Hannah turned you down, Seeley but it's been weeks now and you need to just move on and let it go.

Pops . . . I have let it go. I asked her to marry me and she turned me down. I should have known that was going to happen . . . no one wants what I'm offering, I get that, believe me I get it.

Seeley . . . Just because Rebecca and Hannah turned you down doesn't mean no one wants you. That's bullshit . . . Rebecca and Hannah are career woman. They're bright, intelligent women and they're wrapped up in their jobs. They just didn't want what you want. It happens.

Yeah, it happens to me . . . I asked Bones to take a chance on me last year and she turned me down too. I'm good looking, I work out . . . I have a cool job and I'm damned good at that too, but . . . I don't know. They saw something in me that they didn't like . . . You know it's hard to meet eligible women doing my job. I work a lot of hours and when I meet someone I really like . . . a lot of women don't want to date cops because what we do is dangerous . . . I don't know. Maybe I'm going to be single forever.

Seeley . . . you're just feeling sorry for yourself that's all. I dated a lot of girls before I got married. I remember the first time my heart was broken. I was shot down by Angelina Murphy when I asked her to marry me, but when I think about it now, I realize that she was right. I'd just graduated from High School and I was going into the Army. She hadn't planned on me doing that and she turned me down cold . . . Sure I didn't like it and I felt sorry for myself, but my father talked to me and made me realize that Angelina didn't want the same things I wanted and marrying her would have been a mistake. Angelina knew that and it took me a few months to catch up with her. She was right. She would have been miserable and so would have I.

Pops.

No, hear me out, Son. I went into the Army and I was trained as an MP. I knew when I got out I was going to apply to the Philadelphia Police Academy. I wanted to be a cop . . . I dated off and on while I was in the service, but no one was interested in taking me seriously . . . You know what happened?

You met Grandma Marie at a birthday party and you fell madly in love.

Don't be a smart ass . . . I went on leave with a buddy of mine and we went to a birthday party and I met Marie . . . and yes I fell in love with her, but not that night. It wasn't instant love. We became friends. She wrote to me and I wrote to her. It was nice and when I got out of the service I came home and we started to date. She knew what I wanted to do with my life and she was fine with it. I fell in love with her because she and I were on the same page and we wanted the same things. You just haven't found that person yet. Don't give up. She's out there.

Of all the women I've ever loved, I think Bones was the right one. I still think she's the right one, but . . . I don't know . . . hey, my phone is on . . . Shit . . . Hello? . . . Hello? . . . damn. After a few seconds the line went dead and Brennan had some things to think about.

Ooooooooooooooooo

It had been several days since Brennan had overheard Booth talking to Hank and she'd had time to think about what she had heard. Her partner was still upset about Hannah turning down his proposal and she knew that he had taken that rejection hard. What she had found more interesting was Booth had said he loved her.

In front of the Hoover, when he had asked her to take a chance she had told Booth that she didn't have his heart. What she didn't say was she had been worried that his dream was still influencing him and the Bones he loved was the one in his dreams, not her. She didn't trust his feelings, so she couldn't trust hers. Sadly, she knew that she wasn't the woman in the dreams and she never could be and she had surmised that once Booth realized who she really was, he would finally walk away from her. It was better to remain friends that to chance losing him.

Space, distance and time had made her realize that she had risked losing him forever by turning him down. It had been a gamble and miraculously, he had remained her friend. Through a long separation and his finding someone else, somehow they were still friends and though he was angry with Hannah and possibly her, he was still her partner.

He loved her and Booth thought she was the right one. What did that mean for them now? She wasn't sure, but she knew they had time to work on the problem. They weren't going to run away anymore. They had to make a decision someday, but they would make it together.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The Diner was busy, but Brennan had managed to claim their favorite table and Booth smiled when he entered the restaurant. They'd had an eventful week and being trapped in the elevator, forced to talk to each other had done them both some good. The night of the blizzard they had talked for several hours and she had slept in Parker's bedroom instead of trusting the snow filled streets. She had slept well and that morning, Booth had made her pancakes. They'd ate in silence and after the dishes were washed, Booth drove her back to her apartment. She had spent the day, doing mundane things like the laundry while she thought about her future and what that might be.

Now a new day was here and her partner walked towards her and she smiled a friendly greeting. "Booth."

"Hey, Bones." Sitting down across the table from her, Booth ordered a cup of coffee and a stack of waffles with bacon on the side from Jane who had walked over to the table. Once they were alone, Booth leaned on the table. "At least the snow is almost gone. How are you?"

"I'm fine." Brennan sipped some of her coffee while Booth's cup of coffee was placed in front of him. "I slept well last night and you?"

Ripping open two packets of sugar, Booth poured it in his cup and stirred his coffee. "I slept pretty good. I called Parker and he told me the snowman he built in the backyard is melting. I told him we'll build one together next year."

Both of their breakfasts arrived and they ate in silence for a while. Soon, satisfied that he wasn't starving any more, Booth placed his fork down. "I was thinking, this weekend . . . If you want to go, I know about this new bar that has a live jazz band. Rebecca told me about it and well . . . would you like to go with me? This weekend? If you're not too busy?"

"I'd love to go with you, Booth." Brennan placed her fork down. "Are we going on a date?"

"Do you want it to be a date?" Booth had no intention of pushing Brennan too fast. They had a plan, sort of and they knew that someday when they got past his and her issues they were going to be together. In the meantime, dating sounded like the right step to him.

Slowly nodding her head, Brennan smiled. "Yes, I think if we're going to name it, then we should call it a date."

"Then it's a date, Bones. We're going on a date."

Oooooooooooooooo

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