AN: Well, here we go... took longer than i'd planned but here's another chapter. I got distracted watching Rose Red (forgot how long it was), it's hilarious i love watching the youngish Emily Deschanel as a nervous kind of annoying psychic who predictably disappears :)

Sorry that Booth's been going through such hell in the last couple of chapters... i know you're all feeling sorry for him but what's a story without a bit of drama, right?

mumrulz: I love the way Angela is tethered to reality when most of the other's aren't... plus she's a bit quirky and all good.

ncisgirl101: no i didn't see the interview, sounds funny though. You wouldn't happen to have a link for it?

Chapter 13

Brennan didn't know what to say to her partner the next morning, so she didn't say anything. Instead they awkwardly passed each other as she headed into the bathroom jeans and her new wonder woman t-shirt in hand, him freshly shaven, with still damp hair. It was only a few short hours ago that he had emerged from the shower, hair and skin damp and she had kissed him. When his hand had accidentally brushed hers as they passed she jumped away, fearing what might happen if they got too close.

Brennan realised she was not looking forward to spending the day cooped in the car with Booth. She slipped under the warm spray in the shower washing the last remnants of her night with Booth from her body, though she could feel his touch as if he was in the shower with her.

She slid into the passenger seat not even bothering to argue when Booth took his usual seat in the driver's side. It was going to be a long day of driving, though it wasn't the first of their trip, nor would it be the last. She wanted to sleep, for one it would mean that she wouldn't be aware of the tension between her and her partner, who was yet to mention the previous night and secondly because she had barely slept the night before between talking to Angela and the list and the constant reminder from her bed of Booth's body against hers. But she couldn't, sleep would not come to her, instead she pulled out Harry Potter and continued reading about the world where owls delivered letters and a piece of wood could do the unimaginable.

Booth didn't say anything until they were stopped in a tiny town in the middle of Queensland where the only thing other than a petrol station and pub was a tiny bakery. Booth didn't ask if she wanted to stop, he merely pulled over at the side of the road and waited for her to get out. He ordered a coffee and a tiny apple pie while she pointed out a banana muffin and juice. She followed him outside and to a small patch of grass where there was little more than a picnic table. Booth took a cautious sip of his coffee before deciding it passed his standards and began wolfing down his pie while Brennan picked gingerly at her muffin.

"Bones, can we talk?" Booth finally asked, when he received no response he continued talking.

"Last night, Bones, last night was wonderful. I thought it was the start of something new between us. But then you were gone... Why did you run? Don't you trust me? Or did us having sex mean nothing to you?"

He asked the hard questions, the ones she had no answers for.

"Booth, I... I... I'm not sure last night should have ever happened. I think it might have been a mistake. You're my partner and friend, not a sex toy" Brennan explained.

"Oh, right, so long as that's how you feel I suppose we should just pretend it never happened" Booth agreed, his voice wavering ever so slightly, as his heart clenched in his chest.

"I think that would be best" Brennan agreed not looking up from her muffin.

Temperance Brennan had listened to her head which told her that partners and friends should not be involved in a sexual relationship, and despite all the evidence to the contrary Brennan did what she knew how to do best. She pushed Booth away, she knew it was the right decision, the only decision really. But it didn't stop her from feeling like a double edged knife had been stabbed into her chest and twisted around by a sadistic murderer. If she'd made the right decision why did she feel so lousy?

The day continued in silence, Brennan realising that things had in fact not been resolved by their chat. Brennan wondered briefly that afternoon whether she had just ruined one of the best things in her life, one of the only things she could count on. If she had, could she fix it?

BB-BB-BB-BB-BB

"Bones, you don't look so good, are you okay?"

"Yeah Booth, I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well" Brennan admitted picking up her bags and brushing off her partner's concern as she headed out of the hotel room.

"You know Bones, I don't believe you" he stated simply as he picked up his own bags and headed out of the room locking the door behind him.

"You don't have to believe me Booth, just accept that nothing is going to change"

"You're wrong, everything has changed already. You'll see that sooner or later" he told her once again climbing into the driver's side of the car.

The day passed much like the previous day had, in a mostly awkward silence; though instead of continuing to read Harry Potter, Brennan pulled out her laptop and began to write the latest scene in her new book, finally in the right frame of mind to do so: utterly depressed. She didn't dwell on what was making her feel that way, but sighed and began channelling it into her work feeling empathetic towards her lead character. Kathy Reichs had just heard the news that her fiancé had been murdered and was in fact stretched out on the autopsy slab, nothing more than a pile of bones, his flesh having been stripped from his body by the murderer. It wasn't a pleasant thought but one that kept her occupied until long after the pair had passed into the Northern Territory.

Later that afternoon Brennan looked on as her partner assembled their tiny two man tent and she realised that it wasn't even two days ago that they had made their wager, yet suddenly it seemed stupid. Everything had changed since then, all that she was worried about then had been how to beat Booth, now all she was worried about was whether she was in love with her partner and whether or not she had just screwed up the best thing that could have happened to her. What if there really was one perfect partner for everyone? What if people were really like charged atoms, seeking out their polar opposite? Or like a jigsaw, a picture that could only be assembled in one way? What if Booth was her perfect match and she had just pushed him away? But Brennan didn't put much faith in ideas such as destiny and soul mates, she based her life on facts and science... and the facts told her that she had crushed her close friend and partner's feelings because she didn't know what she wanted.