By the time Brennan made it to the Poconos it was after midnight. Her car drove down the dark and windy roads swerving in and out of towering pine trees. As she pulled off the main road onto the dirt one that went up to Lake Idlewild, her heart began to race. What if Booth wasn't here, what if something had happened to him in DC and she was wasting time by driving all the way up into the mountains.

She managed to calm herself down as she parked her car in the driveway and climbed the rocky hill to the front door. There were two, one for the upper unit and one for the lower. She rationalized that Booth's friend would keep the upper half with the better view for his family and give the lower one to Booth, but then on second thought she knew that if it were Booth's place he would insist on giving the better view to his friend and she figured that a close friend of his might do the same. She took a deep breath and pushed the doorbell for the top unit. A light went on and a few seconds later she heard someone walking towards the door. Then it was open and there stood Booth in boxers and nothing else looking quiet sleepy.

"Bones, what are you doing here?" he said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Just happy to see that he was ok and standing before her Brennan stood frozen for a moment.

"Bones?"

"Sorry Booth, it's late and the drive made me groggy."

"Is everything ok Bones? Did something happen?" Booth said in a sudden panic.

"Everything is fine, well not fine, but you see I saw Parker, and then I wasn't sure if you were still in DC, and then the logical thing seemed that you'd be up here, but I wasn't sure, and so I got in the car…"

"Bones! If you're not going to get to the point anytime soon can we go inside?"

Booth ushered Brennan into the house and over to one of the chairs in the living room. He sat down next to her and rubbed his eyes.

"Now," he said, "Can you explain to me what you're doing here?"

"Are you coming back to work Booth? "

"Bones, I told you, I'd be gone for two months. It's only been a month and a half."

"Yes, I know, but you also said that you were taking Parker away for two months and I saw him in DC with Rebecca."

"Bones," Booth smiled, "Were you worried about me?"

"What? No. I was just trying to solve a mystery. Rebecca had said that you were in DC on Saturday, and when I went to your house and you weren't there and the stack of mail was piling up I just wanted to make sure…"

"Wait, you broke into my house?"

"I didn't break in, I used the key, and I was just making sure you weren't lying on the floor dead Booth."

"So you were worried about me?" Booth said, sly smile still beaming from his face.

Brennan opened her mouth to protest but then closed it giving Booth a half smile.

"Are you coming back to work Booth?"

"I don't know Bones. I mean I'll go back to the FBI, but it might be time for me to get a new assignment?"

"But why? Are you tired of homicide, or is it that you don't enjoy working with me anymore?"

Brennan felt sick as the words came out of her mouth. Was this really it, did he not want to work with her, had he ever enjoyed working with her or was all the time he spent with her just Booth being the kind and reliable Booth. What if they weren't really friends, what if all that was between them was Booth's attempt to make the best out of a work situation. She had missed social cues before, what if she had misread their whole relationship?"

"Listen Bones, it's not you, well not exactly, I just feel like I need a change, you understand. I spent years as an army ranger, moving from place to place, always a new assignment, but always the same thing, death. And that's what it is now too, people tossed into wood chippers, thrown off of overpasses, melted in a tub of lye, but always death, I was thinking that missing persons might be nice for a while, when we solve the case hopefully there's a live person at the end."

Booth knew he was mostly lying. He just didn't have the strength to tell Bones the truth, not now, not here, not at 1:00 in the morning.

"Sure, I guess I could see that," Bones said slowly. "Sometimes I feel like I need to go on an archeological dig for a month or so, just to get some perspective, but I always enjoy coming back and working on our cases, solving our mysteries, righting the wrongs that have been done to these people."

"I don't want to talk about this now Bones, let's get some rest and we'll talk more in the morning."

"Ok, where do I sleep?" Bones looked around noticing there was no couch in the living room, just the two armchairs that she and Booth were sitting on.

"I would say that you could sleep in the room where Parker slept, but the bed is small. My friend Steve works as a carpenter and built most of the furniture you see in the house. The bed in the extra bedroom is for a child. He carved it out of tree trunk to look like a canoe. Parker loved it. You can bunk with me though, the bed in the master bedroom in gigantic."

Brennan wasn't sure how she felt about this, but she was so tired that all she could think about was climbing into bed and getting to sleep. Plus, although she didn't like to admit it to herself, after not seeing Booth for six weeks she wasn't ready to be separated from him yet, even if he was just in the other room.

"Ok, sharing it is," she said.

Brennan went into the Bathroom and came out in one of Booth's old t-shirts. He gulped a little as he saw her. Man, how am I going to get through this he thought? I came here to get away from her for a while, and here I am sharing a bed with her. Smooth move Seeley, you had to say let's share a bed. I should have offered to sleep on the floor.

Brennan climbed into bed next to Booth and turned off the light. Although she was on the other side of the bed, Booth could still smell the scent of her hair as she lay her head on the pillow next to his.

"Goodnight Booth."

"Goodnight Bones."

Feeling semi-relaxed for the first time since Booth had left for the lake, Brennan fell asleep right away. Booth didn't think he'd be able to sleep with her so close by, but he eventually must have nodded off because when he awoke her arm was lying across his chest and her head was tucked into the crook between his neck and shoulder. She was so close he could barely breathe. He knew he should roll her back to her own side of the bed but it felt so good to have her near him, her soft skin pressed against his chest, her hair caressing the side of his cheek. Instead of pushing her away, he did the unthinkable and boldly pulled her closer. Hey, if she could wrap her arm around him by accident in her sleep, he could pull her into his arms while he "slept".

But now it was just too much for him. Every inch of her body was pressed against him making every nerve in his own body stand on end, and all the blood seemed to be rushing downward towards his groin. Booth tried to close his eyes and just enjoy the sensation of sleeping this close to her.

Brennan woke up to find herself fully entwined with Booth. She wasn't sure how she had gotten there, but she knew she didn't want to pull away. His warm breath was on her neck and his arms were wrapped around her. She was usually not a cuddler, but she had to admit to herself that nothing felt quite as good as being thins close to her partner. Ever since that day in her office when he had told her he was taking some time off she had been afraid that he would leave and she would never see him again. Being this close to him now, wrapped up in his arms while they slept, she felt secure, he almost felt like hers.

Booth stirred and his hand slid down onto Brennan's bottom, where he proceeded to pull her closer to him. She could feel his hard-on pressing against her through the thin material of his cotton boxers. She wasn't sure what to do. She knew the signs, elevated heartbeat, breathing rapidly, her pupils must be dilating, she was most certainly aroused. This wasn't a surprise to her, she had always known that she was attracted to Booth since they first became partners, but here was evidence that he was attracted to her too. She lay there frozen, not knowing what to do when suddenly Booth's hand moved from her bottom up to her head. He pushed the hair away from her face and moved his own so his forehead was pressed against hers, his lips just millimeters away from hers. Then suddenly there was no longer any space separating them. They kissed slowly and sensually. His lips felt so soft against her own. And electric shock ran through Brennan every time his lips touched hers. She could barely breathe let alone think, but then she did, and she panicked. What was she doing? This was Booth, her partner, her friend. What would this mean? This could ruin everything between them.

Brennan pushed Booth away.

"I can't, I'm sorry Booth."

"What's wrong Bones?"

"I'm sorry, this was a mistake, I shouldn't have come here."

Brennan quickly got up and ran out of the room.