AN: Well here we go... in honour of the 100th review (thanks everyone) here's another chapter with things going a bit better for our favourite duo

Chapter 15

"This is great Booth, we should do this more often" Brennan exclaimed jumping over several rocks and almost falling into the shallow water causing Booth to laugh at her. The excitement of the night before had not been mentioned and Brennan was glad, although she knew Booth was keeping a close eye on her, for once she didn't mind. It was nice, he was quietly and gently reminding her that he cared. An outsider would never notice and that was just the way she liked it.

"Sure Bones, when we get home we will get some boots and climb a mountain, if that's what you want" Booth agreed teasingly.

"Yes. It is" Brennan replied seriously continuing across the river.

Booth laughed again "Okay Bones, we'll go hiking again" Booth grinned enjoying the sight of his partner so relaxed as they hiked one of the many trails through Kakadu.

When they finally stopped for a lunch of chicken rolls followed by an assortment of the Wonka lollies they had brought in Movie World while they sat comfortable on rocks nestled next to a tiny stream.

"Booth? Are we good, you know solid?" Brennan asked cautiously.

"Yeah Bones, always, I've told you before I'm not going anywhere and I meant that" he affirmed, and although he still felt the pain of her rejection he would never leave.

"Good. I don't know what I would do without you" She admitted touching her lips to his cheek just for a moment.

"You know I think I'd be lost without you too" Booth decided. For a moment Brennan was torn between mortification and happiness, but happiness won out and she smiled broadly at Booth.

"So you're never going to leave?" she asked still looking for confirmation.

"Nope, you're stuck with me"

BB-BB-BB-BB-BB

"You want to drive?" Booth asked chucking the keys to Brennan.

"You serious?" she asked already grinning.

"Yeah, why not, Sweets said we were supposed to share the driving"

Brennan climbed into the driver's seat wondering why it felt so strange to sit there. It didn't take long for Brennan to realise why it was that Booth always drove.

"Bones, I'm bored" Booth complained before falling back into silence while Brennan drove down the highway seeing progressively less green and more brown the further they went.

"Can't we play a game or something" Booth whined a little later.

"I'd say pull out the deck of cards but I'm driving Booth, what sort of game can we play?" Brennan replied sarcastically.

"Truth or Dare" Booth told her "Well mainly truth, coz there aren't a lot of dares you can do in the car..." Booth added. Bones thought back to her childhood, she was fairly sure she had played the game once, the same night that she played spin the bottle for the first and only time with Russ and his friends and was mortified when the bottle had landed on her brother. Although the rest of the group had agreed to let her take her turn again the memory of the laughter seemed to reverberate between her ears.

"Sure" Brennan agreed, hoping she could remember the rules, but they couldn't be that hard she reasoned.

When Brennan didn't say anything more Booth asked "Shall I start?" to which Brennan nodded and he pretended to be considering his first question, after Brennan had responded to his 'truth or dare' with a 'truth'.

"When was your first kiss?" he finally asked, hoping to keep the topic off of work.

"1990" Brennan told him.

"Aaw, come on Bones, you got to give me some details" Booth begged.

"I was almost fourteen, he was sixteen or seventeen and one of Russ' friends, his name was David. He was over at our place after school and Russ had gone to help Dad with something, he said I was cute and asked very nicely if I would be upset if he kissed me." Brennan remembered relatively fondly. "What about you? When was your first kiss?"

"What if I wanted a dare?" Booth asked smirking.

"Did you?"

"No"

"Well answer the question then" Brennan prompted.

"I was fifteen, she was a cheerleader. It was a dare" Booth admitted awkwardly.

"Damn cheerleaders" Bones commented her voice harsher than necessary.

"Wildest thing you've ever done?" Booth asked when Brennan chose truth again.

"I don't know Booth... the other night was pretty wild" She admitted, wondering again what had possessed her to do what she'd done.

"Nope, that was just hot, Temperance"

"Oh, well in that case when I was in high school I spent a whole summer memorising the first two hundred and fifty digits of pie." She admitted.

"Oh, so you do like pie" Booth laughed.

"Wrong kind of pie Booth... you picking truth again?" he nodded and she considered her next question carefully.

"When did you lose your virginity?" Brennan asked bluntly.

"I was average... sixteen, with the school math's geek, she was smart and hot... I didn't tell any of the other guys though, they all thought I lost it to this snotty cheerleader. I always hated that I couldn't tell anyone how wonderful she was without being ostracised myself."

"You like your women smart?" Brennan asked shocked.

"Yes, I thought you knew that" he told her searching her eyes, attempting to convey what he knew he couldn't yet without having her run away again.

The questions continued until Booth suddenly asked the question that had been on his mind for over two years "What is the real reason you didn't go with Sully?"

Brennan sighed "It was only ever supposed to be a fling, he was a nice guy and it was very nice to have somebody involved in that capacity in my life but I guess he felt it more than I did. Plus he once told me that it was a fling unless you thought about the person when they weren't around or could still feel their touch. I didn't and I couldn't... Good enough reason"

"I'm glad you didn't go" Booth told her sincerely.

"I am too" she decided, taking her eyes off the road to glance at her partner who smiled back, studying her face carefully and concluding the Temperance Brennan could never smile enough. His eyes on her seemed to make her skin burn and flush red and they stared at each other transfixed until Brennan eventually pulled her eyes away.

"Who's turn is it?" she asked.

"Yours"

"Oh... If you could have sex with anyone in the world, who would it be?" Brennan posed.

"I can't answer that Bones, can I take a dare?" Brennan pondered his response for a moment concluding that if he would not answer the question it was because the answer was difficult, which it should not have been. She could only conclude that he would not answer because it was her.

"It's okay Booth, I already know the answer... I won't make you do a dare" Booth took a sharp intake of breath at this news.

"Oh well then I guess it's my turn... Have you ever been in love?"

"I don't know... I might have... actually I might be" she admitted, turning to her partner and there was no doubt in his mind as to who she might be in love with. Time however would reveal everything, and time was something he hoped they had plenty of.