He's not sure what possesses him to buy the ring. All he knows is that he feels like it's necessary. He knows that she doesn't believe in marriage and all of that. And he's told her he's fine with that, with not needing to marry her to be happy. And truth be told, he is. He's fine living the rest of his life with her without exchanging I dos because after all this time he's come to see her point. She's enough. They're enough.
But what does bother him is the lack of an expression of his commitment on his part. He feels like the proposal is necessary, even if just so she can turn him down. After all, if she were anyone else, he would've proposed months ago already. Something just so she knows that he's serious about his commitment to her, to them. Not that she doesn't know that already - but when they don't get married, he wants it to be because she doesn't want to be married, because it was her choice, not because he never told her he wanted to marry her.
Still, he doesn't understand why he's buying a ring. He's likely going to waste a month's worth of pay on something she doesn't even want and won't even wear or accept.
He takes Parker with him to pick out a ring. He explains to Parker that he's going to propose to Bones, but that she may not want to have a whole big wedding, she might just be content being with them forever without all of that. Parker is still young enough that he accepts this without a second thought, understanding that either way it means Bones is going to be in his life, and he likes that idea a lot.
Once he has the ring, he carries it around with him. He's not sure how he wants to do this. He knows, of course, that he isn't going to go about this in some over-the-top romantic way. It has to just be a quick, casual thing. But he has to pick the right moment for that, and in the meantime he's afraid she's going to find it. That's the worst thing that could happen. She would find it and pitch a fit about marriage and proposals and all that before he even got to say a word to her. If he's going to do it, he has get to her before her logical rational mind has a chance to jump in with all the facts she has about why marriage and proposals are archaic.
He's in her office one day, two weeks after buying the ring. He was supposed to meet her for lunch – a regular occurrence – but she's so wrapped up in something she's got going on and he's been sitting on her couch waiting for fifteen minutes already. She's got bones from a 17th century warrior or something equally boring and meaningless to him. She's babbling on and on about it, pacing around the room as she looks for her notes, hurrying over to the computer to check her research. She's wearing her lab coat even though she's not even doing anything in the lab and her hair is pulled back into the usual ponytail that often accompanies said lab coat. She laughs at something she's just said to him, as if it was ridiculous of her to think such a thought, and a strand of hair falls in front of her face as she crosses her arms over her chest.
And a thought occurs to him - this is it. This is the moment because this is her. This is the woman he fell stupid in love with and the woman he wants to marry, right here.
Or, he corrects himself, the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, marriage or not.
And he knows that's the truth. He loves her. He loves her and it doesn't matter to him if they have the ceremony and sign the paper, if they wear each other's rings and use the titles of 'husband' and 'wife.'
Before he knows what he's doing, he's grabbing the box he's been carrying around in his pocket for weeks. For all the times she doesn't understand things, she easily figures out what's going on, the small, black velvet box tipping her off.
"Booth…" she says. He wonders if she's about to stop him before he gets started, but really, it appears she hasn't thought out what she's going to say beyond his name. He realizes despite weeks of knowing he was going to do something like this, he hasn't really planned out what he's going to say either.
"Just hear me out," he insists quickly, and she looks down at the ring and back up at him and nods. "I know you don't believe in marriage. I know that. But at the same time, you know that I do. So for me to never propose to you, even if I know you're going to say no, that would be like… I need you to know, even if you don't want to say yes, that I want to marry you. That I want to spend my life with you. And I'm planning on doing that, even if you say no." She smiles at him shyly and glances down at her shoes before looking back up at him. "And maybe this can just be a proposal to spend our lives together, if you want." She's studying him intently, and he has absolutely no idea what's going on in her head and that terrifies him. "So. Here it is. You can turn down the proposal, we can toss the ring and we can forget this ever happened – while still living our lives together. You can turn down the proposal and take the ring as a symbol of my commitment. You can accept the proposal and take the ring, of course. That's fine, too. Or you can accept the proposal and we can still toss the ring. But no matter what you choose, you need to know I plan on spending the rest of my life with you." There. He's done. He's said it all. Almost. "I love you," he adds, even though it doesn't seem to fit right there.
She's quiet for a few moments, moments that seem longer to him than they probably were in actuality.
"Yes." She says it simply and easily, as if it's obvious.
"Yes… what?" he asks, unsure. Yes, she's going to turn him down? Yes she wants to toss the ring? Yes she'll… marry him?
This question makes her laugh, and she rolls her eyes at him. She steps forward, uncrossing her arms and playing with his tie. "Yes, I'll marry you."
He blinks at her, unbelieving. He had never really allowed himself to believe this was a possible outcome.
"You… will?" he mutters, allowing his surprise to be evident. Brennan laughs again, amused in the fact that the one who proposed had turned into the one who was taken aback and surprised.
"You said I can accept the proposal and get rid of the ring," she explained. "You want to marry me just to be with me, not to claim me with flashy jewelry or prove to other males that you won me," she explained with a shrug. "And I've learned relationships are about compromise and I know marriage is something you believe in, and there are a lot of rational reasons in favor of marriage. So, yes."
"So yes, you'll marry me and we'll toss the ring?" he asks, thinking of the ring going into a river or lake or some kind of lab experiment.
"No, I want the ring," she says quickly, looking down at it, and now it's his turn to laugh at her. "What? It's pretty," she says petulantly, like a child, and he shakes his head and kisses her before reaching down and sliding the ring onto her finger. She'd thought about her grandmother's ring and how she always wore it after her father gave it to her, to keep a connection with her family. She sees this ring the same way, as an object she can have on her at all times to feel close to him, even when he's not around. "Small wedding," she adds quickly. "Small. You and me, of course. Parker, your family, my dad and Russ, Angela and Hodgins and Cam. And Sweets, I suppose. Maybe a few other really close friends. A simple dress. A simple ceremony. Non-religious."
Booth chuckled at her list of demands. "Deal." She gave him a smile and allowed him to tug her closer, pulling her in for another kiss. "I was sure you would slug me."
She laughed. "I've never believed in marriage. I've always believed in you. There's a good middle ground in there somewhere."
He places a kiss on her forehead. "So, lunch?"
"Yes. I'm starving."
"Well you and your old 17th century bones slowed us down, Babe."
"My bones?" she retorted. "What about your whole little proposal here?"
"It was the only way I could get you to stop talking about the Dutch Revolt."
Brennan shook her head at her - fiance? There's a word she never thought she would use - but felt a sense of contentment wash over her. This was right.
"Hey, let's go out the back way. If Angela sees this ring we'll never get to eat."