A/N: So first of all, we want to thank all of the reviewers! You rock our world, so thank you very much! I forgot to mention that I hart Booth write the last chapter, whereas I wrote this one! Hope you enjoy!

They were sitting on the couch, Booth in the middle with Brennan and Parker on either side, watching Toy Story. She had never seen it before, although it was clear that Booth and Parker had watched it many times. She found herself drawn in by the simple story and parts of it made her smile, something she hadn't been doing much lately.

She felt Booth's arm around her and she sighed contentedly. Ever since the shooting, they were different. This was the most he had touched her in the last two weeks. She wanted to feel his hands on either side of her face, kissing her until she couldn't breathe and still wanting more. She wanted him to kiss her the way he used to, maybe then the knot in the pit of her stomach would go away

She glanced over at Parker, who was slowly nodding off to sleep. When Booth told her about Parker's panic attack, she felt like her heart had leapt up into her throat. She couldn't imagine how he was feeling.

A little boy shouldn't have to deal with any of this. She saw Booth shift slightly, and wondered about how he was holding up.

It was clear he wasn't sleeping. Like her, there were bags under his eyes. She wondered if he was having nightmares like she was. As she studied him she noticed, like so many times before, his strong, handsome profile. The way the light reflected off his cheeks and the planes of his face. He really was well-structured.

Handsome too. Suppressing a smirk, she shook the thoughts from her head and leaned closer to him.

"Booth?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" He turned to face her, careful not to disturb the sleeping boy next to him.

She placed her hand on his thigh and looked into his eyes, surprised to see the lust simmering there. Moving closer, she reached up and stroked his cheek. She tilted her head and felt his hot breath on her face. Her gaze darted between his lips and his eyes as she inched closer, parting her lips in anticipation. Her breath caught in her throat, more ready to feel his lips than anything else in the world, when he suddenly moved away.

"Umm….I'm tired and…" He said lamely, glancing over at Parker.

"Right." She replied moving away from him, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment. "If you don't mind I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Can we stay here?" Booth asked. "I mean, just until Parker wakes up?"

She nodded and rose from the couch.

"Wake me before you leave okay?" she said, heading into her bedroom and shutting the door.

Brennan sat down on the bed and let out a sigh. All she wanted was to curl up in his arms, to have him hold her like he used to and make her feel safe. But it seemed obvious that that wasn't going to happen.

Pulling back the covers, she slipped into bed, feeling exhausted. As she succumbed to sleep, her last thought echoed in the silence

I hope it isn't bad this time.

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He sat on the couch, gently running his fingers through Parkers hair and lost in thought about what had just happened. He could see the lust in her eyes and knew it was probably mirrored in his own, but he couldn't let anything happen. He needed to focus, it was the only way he knew how to keep her safe. And he needed to keep her safe, above everything else.

Booth struggled to keep his eyes open but sleep started to get the better of him. As he dozed off, he heard a sound, almost like a whimper. His eyes shot open and glancing at Parker he found him still asleep. He heard it again and realized it was coming from Temperance's bedroom.

Moving Parker off his lap gently, he made his way to her bedroom and quietly opened the door. Her body was moving restlessly and unintelligible words fell from her lips as she kicked the sheets off the bed.

Her face was contorted and occasionally a hand would come up as if she was shielding herself against an invisible attacker. She let out a cry and he was by her side in an instant, shaking her gently, trying to wake her.

Instead of waking, she began thrashing harder, fighting against his arms as he if were her attacker. He shouted her name to no avail, he watched as tears began trailing down her cheeks.

Just when he was about to shake her one more time, her eyes shot open and she gasped.

"Oh god." He said, expelling a breath and pulling her into his arms. His heart was pounding and he felt dizzy from the fear coursing through him. Seeing her like that, unable to wake her, scared him more than he would admit. He didn't need another reminder at how incapable he was at protecting her.

"No, Booth." She said, pushing herself out of his arms and moving back away from him.

"What?" He asked. "Are you okay?" Her hair was matted and her eyes were red from crying.

"No, I'm not." She stated simply.

"Well then let me…" He started to reach for her again.

"No." She replied firmly. "You can't have both Seeley."

"What?"

"I….I don't want you like this. Comforting me after a nightmare but not letting me hold you at other times." She said, her voice surprisingly steady. "You kiss me on the forehead but you won't kiss me on the lips. You are treating me like I'm some fragile piece of glass when all I want you to do is hold me and kiss me and make love to me." Her eyes turned glassy as she reached up to stroke his cheek.

"What's going on Seeley?" She asked quietly. "I want us to be the way we were before. I need that now more than ever."

He shook his head. "I can't." He choked out. They were the hardest words he'd ever had to say. He hated refusing her anything.

"Why? I don't understand." She said growing angry. "This doesn't make any sense." She quickly brushed away the tears brimming in her eyes. Looking at the man she loved push her away made her angry.

Yes, she did love him. She hadn't spoken the words out loud to him yet, she was too afraid of what they would bring. What he would expect of her. But when the shooting started, fear rose in her and crippled her for a moment as she watched the chaos encompass her world. Not only fear of death, but the fear the Booth would never know how she truly felt about him.

She took a deep breath.

"Seeley…I….I love you." she whispered, staring into his eyes hoping for something in return.

He sighed, rubbing his face. "I love you too Temperance. But I…...I just can't." he repeated, turning away from her, closing his eyes to the way his heart soared when she said those words. He knew if he looked at her he would give in. He couldn't allow himself to do that.

Brennan felt her heart sink like a stone.

"Then stop trying to protect me." She replied coolly, moving to the edge of the bed. "You can't have it both ways." Booth watched her eyes as she closed up to him and had to turn away. To see her retreating from him after he'd spent so long trying to get her to open up...it was enough to break him right then and there if he'd had to watch it for one more moment.

Brennan watch him shift in his seat, expecting him to protest and surprised when he simply nodded and stood, heading for the door.

"I have to go take Parker back." He said quietly.

"Right." She replied calmly. She got up and followed him out to the living room and watched as he gathered his things and picked up Parker.

"So….bye." He shifted awkwardly before finally turning and heading for the door.

"Bye." She said softly, arms crossed over her chest, watching him leave. Brennan sat on her couch with her head in her hands. She didn't know what was wrong with him. She had finally told him that she loved him and he had rejected her. Yes, he did say he loved her too but for some reason he refused to act on it, as if somehow the shooting changed his mind about their relationship.

She felt panic rising in her chest at this, that she'd been wrong about him, that he really would leave the way everyone else had.

"No." She said aloud, shaking her head and stamping down the feeling along with the thought. He wouldn't do that.

It did seem strange though, considering that only two months ago he was standing in front of her, begging her to give them a chance. Now she had done the same thing, but the results were not what she expected.

She was not the begging type, far from it. And she cursed her injuries because in that moment she just wanted to hit him and kiss him and make him understand that she needed him. He couldn't give her his love and comfort but then take it away when he chose to. That's not how it worked.

Lifting her head, she noticed Parker's jacket lying on the coffee table. She went to the window and saw that Booth was still there, pacing back and forth in front of the car, talking on his cellphone.

She grabbed the jacket and slipped on her shoes, if she hurried she could still get it to him.

"No. Listen, Travis, I'll be fine." Booth said again. "I'm taking Parker back to Rebecca's, so it's not a problem. Just let me know when I can get back into my apartment okay?"

She stood on the steps in shock, listening to what he had said. He wasn't staying at his apartment and she hadn't even realize it.

He must be at a hotel She mused to herself. Why didn't he tell me?

As she watched him paced back and forth, oblivious to her presence, she realized that they had come to visit her not only because Parker wanted to see her, but because they literally had no place else to go. Upon this discovery, she felt her anger beginning to melt away.

Booth hung up his phone and took a deep breath. He stretched his stiff neck and was about to get into the car when he heard a faint cough behind him. Turning Booth saw Brennan standing on her steps, a worried look on her face.

"Why aren't you staying at your apartment?" She asked pointedly.

"Crime scene." He said flatly. "Forensics are still investigating. Listen Bones…"

"Stay with me." She blurted out, before either of them had a chance to think.

"No, Bones I.."

"Stay with me." She repeated. "Please. What are you going to do when you have Parker? Hang out with him in a hotel? You can both stay with me."

Booth flicked his eyes to the sleeping boy in the car. Rebecca had called a few minutes before Travis and asked if Parker could stay with him for the night. He had said 'yes' immediately forgetting that he was currently without an address.

He looked back into her pleading eyes and found himself nodding in agreement.

At least this way I can keep an eye on her.

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They were sitting on the couch, Booth in the middle, Brennan and Parker on either side. After his long nap, Parker was too wide awake to go to sleep at a decent time, and they couldn't very well go anywhere with Brennan's mobility still so severely hindered, so they watched movie after movie until the five-year-old finally succumbed to sleep at eleven. It was well past midnight now and Brennan was asleep as well.

As Nemo was captured by the divers for the fourth time that night, Booth tried to close his eyes. But sleep didn't come, rather taunted him moving just out of his grasp every time he reached for it.

Slowly, he pulled Parker into his arms and carried him down to the spare room Temperance had made up for him earlier. He tucked the covers in close around the boy's small body, placed a soft kiss on his cheek and moved back to the living room.

She was easy to carry as well and he was surprised that she didn't wake up when he lifted her off the couch and placed her into her bed.

After a few moments of silent debate, he lay down next to her, and tried to force himself to sleep, but he couldn't. He rolled over, frustrated and angry. He was exhausted but yet he couldn't sleep, not even a minute. Looking over at Temperance's unmoving form, he wished for a few hours of that.

Slowly getting out of bed, he moved towards his bag and began digging through it. Finally he came across what he was looking for; a small bottle of pills prescribed to S. Booth. He popped the cap and shook out a small white capsule, paused and then shook out another one. The doctor told him to take one every time he was having trouble sleeping, but right now he needed two.

He turned on the bathroom light, the soft glow illuminating the bedroom. He poured himself some water in the glass that Brennan so conveniently kept on the counter, and tossed the pills into his mouth swallowing them with the water.

He put the cup down and sighed as he looked at his pallid face in the mirror.

Bracing his arms against the countertop, he let his head drop under it's own weight and closed his eyes.

It's okay now. He reassured himself. Everything's going to be all right.

He didn't see her watching him from the bed with a worried frown on her face.