A/N: Sorry if I made you guys wait. Here's another fluffy chapter. See, no angst in this story! Simply fluff. :-)

Warning: Tiny warning for a tiny season 2 spoiler.

Day 5 - A Christmas Party

She knew she should have been going home to change for the party but she needed to finish her report. Cam had demanded, somewhat rudely this afternoon, that she finished it before she left for the night. It would take her hours, the fractures she had found on the victim's remains too many and too complex to sum up in a simple report. This was, no doubt, the weirdest case she was asked to work on.

Footsteps outside her office reached her ears but she didn't bother to look up. She knew it was probably only Angela coming to check up on her. She continued typing.

Left wrist: broken in three places. The…

"Here's the folder you asked me." Angela said as she dropped the purple folder on her friend's desk.

Temperance looked down at the file. Even before she opened the folder, she knew the information she would find inside. Booth would call it his gut feeling. Her reasoning had been done by logic.

"23-year-old Caucasian male." Angela continued. "The abnormalities you found on the skull come from…"

"Down Syndrome." Temperance cut in as she opened the file and stared at the young man's picture. "I know."

Angela sighed.

"Who could do this to a person with Down Syndrome?"

Temperance shrugged.

"Did Booth drop this off?" Temperance asked, as she quickly went through the victim's file.

"Yes. This afternoon. He also mentioned something about needing to see Cam. He went in her office. They talked for like an hour or something."

Temperance's eyes snapped up from the file, her heart racing in her chest. Booth had gone to talk to Cam? For an hour? He had told her the previous day that they had broken up. What was he doing talking to her?

Don't panic, Brennan. She told herself. You don't even know what happened.

"Why did Booth want to talk to Cam?" Temperance asked, hoping that her voice didn't betray the emotions running through her at the moment.

Angela shrugged.

"No clue. He simply asked me if I knew where Cam was before disappearing towards her office before I even had the chance to answer him. So, are you going to the Christmas party this year?"

Temperance nodded but remained quiet. She didn't feel like telling her best friend that Booth had in fact asked her to go with him. She didn't want anybody to know. As the fact that they'd find out the second Booth and her walked in the door dawned on her, she began dreading tonight's event.

"Are you going with Booth?"

Temperance frowned.

"Why all these questions about Booth, Angela?"

"What do you mean?" Angela asked as she shifted from one foot to the other.

Uh oh, she thought to herself. She just hoped that she wouldn't have to explain the bet to her friend.

"It's just that every time I tell you I'm doing something lately, you always ask me if it's with Booth. Coincidentally, it always turns out that it is with Booth. I just want to know what's going on."

"Nothing is going on, Brenn." Angela replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

She hated lying to her friend but this time she needed to. Her friend could never find out that her and Booth had placed a bet on her. She'd be way too devastated.

"It's just that you two have playing around each other long enough that now I'm beginning to see a change in your relationship. I just thought that maybe you two had finally realized that you were more than just friends and partners and were taking your relationship to the next level."

"There's no next level for us, Angela." Temperance replied, a weird feeling spreading through her. "We're just friends."

Friends. She hated that word.

"If you say so, Sweetie."

"I am saying so."

"Okay. Anyway, I have to get ready for the party tonight." Angela said as she began to walk away. "See you later tonight."

Temperance simply nodded. She waited until Angela had left her office before closing the door. She leaned against and closed her eyes, trying desperately to calm the racing of her heart. It had hurt. Telling Angela that Booth and her were just friends had hurt. But why? It wasn't supposed to be that way. She wasn't supposed to be falling in love with her partner. That stuff only happened in books. Besides, Booth was only being a good friend, making sure she wasn't alone on Christmas. It was all there was to it. Nothing more.

She couldn't help but think back at the previous day.

"We always eat at the Diner or at Wong Foo's. I just thought that this would be a nice change." Booth said as he looked up from his menu.

"It is, Booth. Thanks. It was nice of you."

"You deserve something nice, Bones."

At his words, she had looked up from her own menu, making Booth look back down, his cheeks slightly reddened. She had smiled, tenderly, at him before bringing her gaze back down.

They had ordered and talked, mostly about work. Then, he had begun to talk about Parker.

"He loves you very much, Bones. Every time he comes home, he asks me if you're there. I think he thinks we're a couple."

Temperance had chuckled.

"He was pretty good in that play the other day."

Booth had nodded.

"He was very happy that you came to see him. The next morning, he kept talking about you and how he wanted you to be with us for Christmas."

"How come he's with you for Christmas this year?"

Booth had taken a sip of his water.

"Rebecca is out of town for this… thing. I don't know even know what it is. She told me to take Parker over the holidays. It's the first time I'll get to see him for two weeks straight."

He had gone about his son for another twenty minutes. She had simply listened. She had listened intently as he talked about the love of his life. Her eyes had never left his face. As he talked, she examined his features carefully. For the first time since she had met him, she felt notice the small wrinkles on the side of his eyes when he smiled broadly. She found fatigue in his eyes and immediately realized that his eyes hadn't been sparkling like before lately. It seemed as though a shadow had passed in front of him, engulfing him in its arms. She immediately found herself feeling sorry for him. She should have been more careful. He was there for her so much that sometimes she forgot that he himself had needs. She was his partner. It was up to her to make sure he was okay, just like he did with her. She had been selfish.

She felt his hand on top of hers.

"Are you okay, Bones?"

He must have seen the guilt in her eyes. She pulled her hand away, immediately missing the contact of his skin on hers.

"Yeah. I'm more than okay. How about you?"

And he had gone on, for another twenty minutes, about how stressed he was about work and the holidays.

Unconsciously, Temperance began to rub the hand Booth had taken in his. It felt as though she could still feel his burning touch.

A loud knock behind her startled her. Her eyes snapped open as her heart skipped a beat.

Taking a deep breath, she turned around and opened the door.

She fought the urge to simply jump in his arms. Instead, she greeted him with a nod and a smile.

"Hey." She said, feeling a bit shy.

Shy?

"Hey."

They simply stood at her door, neither one saying anything. Their eyes locked and Temperance found herself wishing he would stop looking at her this way. There was something in his eyes, a passion that hadn't been there two days before. She had seen it at the skating rink and was seeing it again at the moment.

"Are you ready?" He finally asked, after a few seconds of silence.

"Ready?"

"For the party." Booth replied, a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Oh, yeah, right. The party."

Booth smiled.

"I just have to stop by my place to change."

"I'll drive you."

"I can drive myself, Booth."

Booth sighed.

"I'm offering you a ride. Take it."

It was Temperance's turn to sigh.

"Fine."

He couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. The black dress she was wearing reminded him of the similar dress that she worn in Las Vegas the year before. She had curled her hair and applied subtle make-up that made her look radiant. He had felt his face grow really warm the second she had stepped in the living room and he had been pretty sure his knees would be giving out under him the second he began to walk. Something his therapist had told him the previous year had come to his mind.

"You have the hots for your partner."

He had denied it then but today, as he watched all heads turn in his partner's direction and felt proud that she was at the party with him, he knew he couldn't deny it. He was falling, and quickly, for his partner and he knew, at that instant, that the bet couldn't go on.

Excusing himself from his date, he joined Angela who was busy talking to Hodgins and Zach. He gently took her arm.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked as he dragged her away.

"I guess I have no choice." Angela replied, sarcastically. "What's up, handsome?"

"Don't call me that." Booth warned. "It's about Bones. I can't go on with the bet."

"Why not?" Angela replied. "It's not like she's ever going to find out."

"But what if she does?" Booth argued. "If she does find out, she'll be so mad she won't even want to talk to me anymore."

"Hey, it was your turn." Angela said, defensively. "I just didn't disagree with you."

"I know but things changed since then."

"Things changed since four days ago?"

"Yes. They did. Four days ago, if someone would have told there was a possibility I would lose my partner forever, I would have been sad, yes, but I would have come to accept it later on. But now, today, I don't think I can."

Angela gasped.

"You've fallen in love with her!" She squealed.

"Yes. I've fallen in love with her."

Angela stared at her friend in shocked. To have him admit such thing so openly was surprising. She certainly hadn't expected that from him.

"I told Bones I had broken up with Cam. I hadn't but I was planning on to when I told her. Then, when we were in New York yesterday…"

"You brought Brennan to New York?"

"Angela, focus please."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, when we were in New York, I began to realize that the city was much more fun when I was with Bones than when I was with Cam. I broke up with her this morning."

Angela nodded, suddenly understanding why he had needed to talk to her boss so badly.

"I see."

"But I think I really got her into the Christmas spirit. She listened to Christmas music on the way here."

Angela smiled.

"So I guess you win."

Booth nodded.

The two of them turned around to find Temperance staring at them from a distance. They waved. Temperance waved back, slightly frowning.

"I think you better go back to your date before she thinks something is going on." Angela said, winking at him.

Squeezing his arm gently, she walked away.

They met halfway through the room. Booth couldn't take his eyes off of her as she stood in front of him. His hands felt sweaty, his knees shook lightly and he was pretty sure his heart was going to pound out of his chest. But he smiled. He smiled because now there was no denying. He smiled because, at that moment, he knew exactly what he wanted for Christmas.

A loud gasp startled them. They looked around to find all of the Jeffersonian staff staring at them, eyes round, smiles tugging at their lips.

"What's going on?" Temperance asked.

A squeal behind them made them turn around.

"Mistletoe!" Angela squealed as she clapped her hands together.

Temperance's eyes grew round and Booth felt himself blush.

Uh oh. They thought simultaneously.

"You two have to kiss." Angela announced, excitedly.

As their colleagues began to chant the word "kiss", Booth and Temperance turned to each other. Booth felt his face growing even warmer and red was starting to appear on his partner's cheeks. Uncomfortable, Booth slowly leaned forward and kissed her quickly on the cheek. Cries of protest echoed off the walls of the room.

"On the lips, you guys. It's tradition." Angela said.

"Seems like we have no choice." Booth said, lowering his voice.

"I guess not."

Slowly, he leaned forward again but stopped only millimeters from her lips. Her breath was warm on his lips and he found himself shivering.

Finally, after a split second of hesitation, Booth pressed his lips against her. In an instant, he had pulled her flush against him, all the years of tension finally melting into a kiss. He felt her arms snake themselves around his neck, pulling him even closer. Everything around them disappeared. The gasps of the crowd fell on deaf ears as the kiss continued. When they finally broke apart, Booth rested his forehead against her, panting mildly.

"Wow." Angela said, speechless. "That had to be the hottest mistletoe kiss ever."

The two partners opened their eyes and stared at each other. The reality that they had kissed in front of the entire staff of the museum slowly dawned on them. As they pulled apart, both of them averted the gaze of their coworkers, their face both flushed from the kiss and the embarrassment of their actions.

Sorry, just couldn't resist the kiss under the mistletoe. Hope you liked the chapter. Only two left.