TFTW Chapter 8! Yay for that. Yes you could have stopped reading the story but for those who wanted more fluff and more explanations, here it is. Consider yourselves warned, because it's mostly mushy fluff. I couldn't say no, to a guilty pleasure, now could I?

Disclaimer: Fox own Bones. Not I.

I have to again thank all of you for your reviews and kind words. They do really make my day and for that I would like to hand the control over to you once more. The next chapter can definitely be a smutty one, and we're talking M smutty. If you think that it doesn't suit the story then say so, and your wishes are my commands.
After deciding to head to his place, Booth had refused to let go of Temperance's hand unless it was so she could get in the SUV and out of it. The persistence didn't bother her as much as she thought it would though, and as she followed her partner in his house, she thought it was actually something she secretly craved. The safety of his hand never letting go of hers.

"Want something to drink?" Booth asked, turning to head for the kitchen.

"Don't you need both hands for that?" she retorted teasingly, her uneasiness gone for the time being.

"Yeah, I guess I do," he mocked with a smile, and turned to leave still clutching her hand in his.

"Booth!"

"What?" he replied with a chuckle, tugging her to the kitchen.

Handing her a bottle of water, when she asked for that, he grabbed himself a beer, and led her to the living room. For a while they sat side by side in silence, as Temperance surveyed the place for the first time, noting each object that screamed Booth's personality and the several photos he had on one wall. Most of the were Parker's from his baby years until more recent ones of the boy's school plays no doubt. The pictures of what seemed to be Booth's family peeked her interest, and she made a mental note to examine them further later, but what really surprised her were the photos on either side of the Booth family ones. The larger one showed all the squints together with Booth in the lab. It was the same picture they had posted in the paper when a reporter had done an article on the Jeffersonian team. The other picture, a smaller one was of the two of the alone. She had recognized it instantly since she had a copy of her own; one that Angela had sworn wouldn't fall into anyone else's hands but Brennan's. It depicted the two of them smiling at each other in her office, unaware of the camera. And though the size of the picture was smaller than others, the frame around it as well as the position –near the center of the wall- caught the eye immediately.

Feeling her hand –the one that Booth was still holding in his- moving, Temperance snapped out of her thoughts. She looked up to see him watching her as he raised their hands to his face, and gently rubbed her palm on his cheek.

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly, as if someone might overhear them.

"I was just looking at the pictures…" At the raised eyebrow she got in response, she chuckled wryly and shook her head. "I was thinking that I believed I was the only one who had a copy of that shot." She knew she didn't have to clarify which one she meant.

"Yeah, I was under the same impression, myself." He kissed her open palm, and she shivered, not knowing whether it was from the low words he just said or his touch.

"Are we going to talk, now?" she blurted, wincing after she realized what she had just said. The fragile peace she had made with her feelings of uncertainty and doubt would be definitely broken if they started talking, but inevitably it would have come to that, she decided.

"Yeah," he sighed, "Actually, I ―I don't know where to start."

"You said we'd talk about this point on…" she prompted, feeling like she was pushing a huge rock down a cliff, not knowing where it would land, or what it would take with it in the process.

"I know. I just…Okay." After exhaling slowly, his next words came out in a rush surprising Temperance. "What am I to you, Bones?" the whisper came out urgent and nearly pleading.

Her first instinct as it had been for the past few years when asked, was to deny every implication of anything more between them besides friendship. Instead, as she looked into his eyes, at the hopeful fire burning inside, one word came to her, and before she could allow her brain to filter it, it was out. "Everything."

At lightning speed, his free hand shot out, and grabbing her neck, brought her face to his for a searing kiss, but not before she saw joy shining in his eyes like a beacon. His lips molded hers for a never-ending moment, until he released her, only to tuck her snugly against his chest. Unable to resist, her mind swirling with what had just happened, she settled against him.

Silence reigned yet again, but this time it was unlike any they had shared before, until his quiet voice broke it. "Will you be my everything?"

"What are you asking?" Her mind was working once more, wanting him to explain everything to her, needing to know what he asked of her.

His low chuckle reverberated through his chest. "I want it all, Bones. I want to have you here with me, and I want you away, missing me as much as I'll miss you. I want your laugh and your scowl." He paused, and the next words came out a breathy whisper. "I want your past and your future."

"Won't my future disappoint you?" She felt him shift underneath her, and rushed to explain. "I think I can change some of it…what I thought it would be. You changed that. But ―"

"We'll figure it out when the time comes. We always do. Just tell me you want to be with me."

She raised her head and met his eyes. "I do." The bright smile he offered her was all it took to draw a similar one from her. Staring in his eyes, she couldn't resist and leaned up to kiss him, for the first time initiating the contact. However much she wanted to lose herself in the sensation o his lips on hers, she broke the contact as thoughts invaded once again her mind.

Millions of questions rushed her, as she nestled back against him. Until now, the moments they had spent had filled her with indeterminate peace, a thing she lacked for the past weeks, but now, she couldn't help but question things. She had to completely clear the waters, if she wanted them to proceed. Before she could select the least 'painful' subject she felt they needed to address, his question cut through the silence.

"Bones? How long have you been feeling like this?"

Temperance tensed, thinking of what an honest answer would betray. She remembered very clearly the first sparks she had felt upon meeting him, and then as the bond grew between them, how she fell even more under the spell of their chemistry, until her feelings became more than she could allow…and then, she was in love with him. Just like that. Not, of course, as romantic movies suggested. It wasn't love at first sight, because she certainly didn't believe in that. Maybe lust was a more accurate description, but love had sneaked up on her slowly, so slowly that she just woke up one day, months ago, realizing that however unwanted her feelings were true.

"It was… eventual. At first it was just an attraction, albeit a strong one, but then…I just knew at some point I guess. Caught me by surprise actually, when I realized what it was," she explained, closing her eyes, knowing he couldn't see her small smile.

She felt his hest expand underneath her head before hearing the next words he spoke. "What is it, Bones? I know…but I'd like to hear it." She could hear his heartbeat go faster, but she sighed knowing she'd have to disappoint him for now.

"I still haven't named it," she consciously evaded the question, however clumsily she did it. "At first, it was just enough that I could see that you felt the attraction between us, but then when my feelings grew, I started waiting for you to see it and do something. That's why I never put a name to it."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be," she laughed it off and raised her head to smile mischievously at him. "What you should be sorry is for terrorizing all of my boyfriends," she teased, but the expression on his face was completely serious.

"I hated them. All of them, and yeah, they weren't the nicest people, but I just couldn't stand the fact that you let them be with you."

His fierce tone, caused a wave of irritation to wash over her. "You could have done something sooner, then they wouldn't have been there in the first place," she pointed out, trying not to get too bitter about the past again.

The self-depreciation in his lop-sided smirk was enough for her to let the matter go for now. "I know. I was blind, okay? I admit it."

"Not to mention stupid," she muttered under her breath, suddenly enjoying the conversation, as their familiar banter chased away her doubts and bitterness without the sting she had expected.

"Hey! Why stupid?" The look of hurt on Booth's face was obviously more for show, rather than anything else.

This felt nice though, Temperance thought. The humor and the little jabs at each other resolved their personal problems as well as their professional ones apparently. "Need I name the sexual partners you had this year?" she asked sweetly, knowing she hadn't missed in her aim when he cringed.

However suddenly the light mood had come, it vanished in the best possible way, when booth abruptly placed his hand on her face, and drew her to meet his eyes. "I know I was stupid, but I swear, Bones. Nothing even came close to this. What I feel…what I felt even if I wasn't ready to see it. Nothing compares to it. I knew I was somehow wrong in what I did, the minute it was done but…"

"Why did you do it then?" The question came out in a breath and even though she tried to keep the accusing tone out of it, it came out if only a bit.

He hands kept framing her face, as his eyes willed her to understand and let go. "At the time it just seemed…necessary." The hurt she felt must have flashed in her eyes, because he brought her face closer to his. "No, hear me out, okay? It was just difficult for me to accept it. That I was done for, you know? So I thought that maybe I was wrong and I had to see if that was the case or not."

"That isn't very logical," she replied, trying to understand.

Chuckling wryly, Booth shrugged with a grimace. "It's a guy thing. Like I said, stupid, but a guy thing." His eyes turned serious once more. "Can you trust me? Believe me when I say it's just the past?"

"I always trusted you," she replied honestly, the words coming without hesitation.

"Can you trust me with your heart, too?" he whispered against her mouth, still looking deeply in her eyes, as his heart pleased with hers.

Temperance returned his stare, finally letting herself give in to him. "Yes."

Instantly his lips were crushing hers, hungrily drawing her tongue out to meet his. Moving her lips against his over and over again, Temperance shut off her brain to everything else, but the man she was kissing, feeling him reaching inside her and replacing the void she had been feeling for years.

Her hands travelled to his chest, and pushed down, so she could gain some control over the angle of the kiss, as he teased her neck with his fingers, playing with the soft tendrils of her hair.

Before she could get enough of him, however, he pulled back, smiling when she followed his mouth but even then indulging in jut a small kiss before he spoke, "Stay with me?" The rough quality of his voice sent shivers down her spine, and she instantly knew it was because she had never heard this tone coming from him before.

"If you'll have me…It's you and me now," she managed to get out before his lips covered hers once more.

Beyond that point, all semblance of rational thought abandoned her.

It was a sweet parting.

Too mushy you have a toothache? Want to throw me in a ditch for stopping where I did? Wanted me to stop even before this? I'm listening. LOL