A/N: I wish I owned Bones… then Booth and Bones would just jump each other, like they need to. And Alex would be an actual character on the show. Anyway, please review!

Chapter 4

Zack didn't realize how much entertainment Alex truly provided until she was gone the whole morning the following day. When she wasn't at breakfast, he wondered where she was at first, before remembering that she had her psychiatric evaluation. Thus, he had been forced to eat breakfast alone, and lunch as well, when she wasn't back by noon. He was sitting in his room, reading a book Hodgins had given him about different types of bugs when she finally burst through the door, smiling broadly. "Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat!" she said happily, barely able to contain her excitement.

He looked up from his book to gaze at her, clearly amused. "I'm sorry, I could not understand a single word that emerged from your mouth."

She grinned and inhaled a deep breath. "Guess what," she said, speaking normally.

"Logically, there is no way for me to guess correctly from the millions of trillions of possibilities," he said. "So you might as well just tell me."

"I'm getting out of here," she said, hugging him tightly. "The psychiatrist cleared me to be released!"

Zack felt the world freeze in its movement. "What?" Zack asked, dumbfounded for once in his life. "When?"

"Next week!" she said happily.

"No!" He wrenched himself out of his grasp and jumped up from the bed, pacing about the room. She looked shocked at his sudden outburst, but he ignored her expression. "No! That's not logical! That doesn't make sense!"

"Zack," she said softly, but he ignored her.

Turning to face her, he yelled, "We're friends! You should not be leaving me; that's not logical! You said you loved me!"

"You heard that?" she asked in a whisper, growing pale. "I thought you were asleep."

"I don't know what love is, but if you think you love me, you should not be leaving me in here by myself! You c-can't-"

He closed his mouth and reopened it to say more, but he was cut off by her mouth on his. He froze in his surprise as her arms wound their way around his neck. When he failed to respond to her, she released him and pulled away, blushing a furious red color for the first time Zack had ever seen. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

"That's not logical," he told her. "One should only be sorry if one does something to offend another."

"Oh," she said, brightening. "So… that's your way of saying you wanted me to kiss you?"

"Yes," he said simply. "Why did you kiss me?"

"It seemed to be the most logical way to get you to shut up, short of slapping you, that is," she told him. "So you know I love you." He nodded. Sucking in a sharp breath, she asked, "Do you love me, Zack?"

"I don't know," he admitted, swallowing his pride. "I do not understand this love of which you speak. I can't claim to have something for you if I do not understand it."

"I guess that's correct," she said, the disappointment evident in her voice. He felt inexplicably guilty. He had hurt her, even he could see that written all across her face. Why couldn't he just lie to her and say he loved her, if that would make her happy? That's all he wanted to do, make her happy. Suddenly, he knew how to make everything better.

"I don't know what love is," he told her, taking a step toward her slowly. "But I do know that I have a very strong emotional and physical attachment to you."

Her brows knitted together in confusion as she said, "Explain."

"I'm very physically attracted to you," he admitted. "My body releases hormones in response to your attributes that indicate that you would make a good mate."

"Thanks," she said, "I think."

"It is a compliment," he told her earnestly. "As for my emotional attachment to you, I have begun to rely on you to make my day. My mood seems to feed off of yours. I only want what is best for you, or whatever will make you happy." Sighing, he said, "But I don't see how that relates to the feeling of love."

"Zack," she chuckled, "love isn't a feeling."

"It isn't?" he queried. "But-" She silenced him by raising her hand.

"That's a common misconception, spread mostly by Hallmark," she informed him. "But love isn't a feeling. It is a choice."

"A choice?" he echoed. "What kind of choice?"

"The choice to wish the best for someone," she said quietly. "The choice to put their well-being before your own."

"That's illogical," he said, and she resisted the urge to slap him upside the head. "Survival instinct tells us to put our own well-being before anyone else's. Then why do I want you to be happy more than I want myself to be happy?"

She smiled at his admission and said, "Zack, there is no one person in the world who knows everything, correct?" At his nod, she continued, "So isn't it within the realm of logic to say that love is one of those things that you just don't understand, even though you love someone and it exists?"

"That… does make logical sense, actually," he admitted. "I… I don't know if I can say it yet, though, Alex."

"That's all right, Zack," she told him. "I know that you do."

"May I… have another chance to kiss you?" he asked. At her smile and nod, he took another step toward her and slowly lowered his head to her. He paused when her lips were about two centimeter away, unsure of how to proceed. Rolling her eyes, she closed the remaining gap between them and pressed her lips to his. He felt her arms lock around his neck as she backed him up into the wall. He was surprised to feel her tongue trace the seam of his lips, and he moaned aloud when she slipped her tongue inside his mouth. He allowed his tongue to gently stroke hers and explore the cavern of her mouth, slowly allowing his arms to wrap tightly around her waist, drawing her closer to him. It made no logical sense, as no two objects could occupy the same space, but he wanted her as close as possible, even if that meant occupying the same space.

One of her hands wandered from his neck to his cheek, cupping it as she pulled away slightly. He opened his mouth to protest her withdrawal, but she said, "Zack, I love you."

"I know," he said. "And I know you want me to say it back, and I will. Eventually."

"That's not what I was getting at," she told him, shaking her head. "I'm trying to tell you that I'm not going to leave you in here. I know what's best for you, and being left alone in here after having me with you all these months is certainly not good for you."

"But…" he said, "you're leaving. And I can't possibly ask you to stay here any longer. I know how much you hate this place."

"I know, Zack, I know you'd never ask me to do that, and I know you'd be angry with yourself if you thought you were the reason I stayed," she said. "So I'm not staying."

"Then how are you not leaving me?" he asked.

"The apartment Seth bought for me is only about fifteen minutes away from here; I'll be here everyday to visit you, I promise," she said.

"You would come back," he said slowly, "every single day, for about three weeks, just to see me?"

"Yes," she replied simply.

Unsure of what else to do, he hugged her to him tightly, one of his hands gently stroking her long black hair. "What did I do to deserve you," he murmured. "I was the apprentice of a cannibalistic serial killer; I don't deserve you as a friend, much less as a- what are we exactly?"

"Why don't you tell me, Dr. Zack?" she teased, grinning up at him.

"I was hoping you could tell me," he said, looking sheepish. "I… I have no clue about all of these things."

"Would you like to be my boyfriend, Zack?" she asked, still grinning.

"Yes, I would like that very much," he replied earnestly. She smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

"I love you, Zack. I'm never going to leave you."

"I know. I wish I could tell you the same thing, but I still don't understand love and I do not like to make promises that cannot scientifically proven."

"I know, Zack. And that's good enough for me."

She didn't say it, so Zack set himself an ultimatum. It might be good enough for her in her eyes, but he believed she deserved better.

He would tell her loved her, and he would mean it.

And he would never leave her.

TLTBTLTB

Eight days later, Zack was extremely nervous. It was almost noon, and Alex had yet to show up to visit him. It was first day out of the asylum, and he was anxiously awaiting her visit. Finally, during lunch, one of the guards approached and said, "Mr. Addy? There's an Alexandra Simmons here to see you."

"Doctor Addy," he said, even though the guard wasn't listening to him as he followed him into the large visitation room. "It's Doctor Addy."

He saw Alex standing in the room, waiting for him. He was somewhat shocked to see her in normal clothes; he had only ever seen her in the uniform the asylum provided. She was wearing jeans and sneakers and a red-long sleeved shirt that clung to her curves and chest. He gulped. "Hi, Alex."

"Hey, Zack," she said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. The guard quickly left the room and stood outside the door. "How are you?"

"it has only been a day since you've seen me," he said. "I know it was irrational, because I trust you when you promise me something, but I was nervous that you would not come back."

"Of course I came back, Zack," she said. "I promised you I wouldn't leave you."

"I know," he said. "How's the outside world?"

"Better than in here," she replied with a shrug. Smiling, she added, "But it'll be even better once you get out."

"Have you started searching for a job?" he asked.

"No, not yet, Zack," she told him. "I've only been out for a day. Seth, Andy, and Kevin took me out to celebrate last night."

"What did you guys do?" Zack asked, taking her hand in his tentatively and stroking the skin of her hand with his thumb.

"We went out for drinks, and to a movie," she replied.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, he commented, "I didn't know your last name was Simmons."

"I didn't know your last name was Addy," she countered, grinning. "I guess, in here, you were just Zack to me. You didn't need a last name, because you were the only person I ever really spoke to. You were just… Zack. Not Dr. Addy, not Zachary Addy, just… Zack."

"Is there anything else I should know about you?" he asked.

"I have a second degree black belt in karate, my middle name is Lydia, I completed med school before I got committed, and I enjoy singing and writing," she told him, squeezing his hand. "And you?"

"I am deceptively strong, my middle name is Uriah, and I, too, can sing," he told her. She leaned in to kiss him on the lips, her mouth lingering on his before she pulled away, chuckling slightly. "What?" he demanded, looking offended. "What is so amusing to you?"

"I'm sorry," she said, bending over and gasping for breath, her blue eyes jovial. "I truly am, I should not be laughing. But Uriah?"

He smiled and allowed himself to laugh with her for a bit before kissing her on the forehead.

And he felt as though everything was right in the world.

He knew that wasn't logical, but he decided to just go with his gut, as Booth would, on this one.

Everything was going to be okay.