AN: CONTAINS SPOLERS FROM THE 100TH!!!! The 100th is forcing me to take this back in the direction I had originally planned, before the idea for chapter two broke. So I guess I just have to combine the angst I was looking for with the mystery of my recent addition. Thanks for all of the adds by the way. I love knowing people are out there reading. Wrote this after a very long day, so ignore any typos please. Enjoy!

He sat across from her at the diner, still trying to get a read off of her facial expressions. The call had been traced back to a disposable cell phone, and ever since, she'd seemed even more distant and distraught than she had last night when she called.

"Bones…you have to talk to me here. Seriously, I can't take this silence."

"That first night that we kissed, were we drunk?"

"Huh…what?"

"After you fired me," she said softly.

Booth thought back. Way back. 5 years and 13 months give or take a week back.

"We'd had a couple shots of tequila…"

"I know, but were we drunk?"

"Where are you going with this, Bones?"

"I'm assuming that since you won't directly answer the question, the answer is yes and you're simply trying to protect me."

"No, I'm just…lost."

"There was no dig in Guatemala, Booth. I just… I had to think. I needed to go someplace where you couldn't just call or come and find me."

"Wh– why?"

"Before I left, we were discussing my new acceptance of the concept of love and… well… did you read Sweets' manuscript?"

"Yeah…"

She fell silent. Again. Why couldn't she just say what was on her mind like she always did?

"Are you implying that Sweets was right in his conclusion, despite the fact that it was nothing more than psychological babble?"

"You're around me way too much," Brennan laughed lightly. "You're starting to talk like a squint. Another reason why this has to stop."

"What has to stop?" Booth asked, feeling like he was on that ride at Disney World that takes you all the way to the top floor and then plummets you to the depths of the basement.

"Us."

It was barely audible, but he heard it. The chord on his ride had just snapped.

"You can't be serious."

"I've done a lot of thinking and I really think this is what's…best…for both of us."

"I'm not really following your train of thought here, Bones. Our first kiss, being drunk, Sweets' book, now this? Where's the pattern? Where's that common denominator thingy you're always talking about?"

"We can't be together. As a couple."

"Why not?"

"It'll just blow up in our faces, so to speak. It did the last time."

"The last time? We were intoxicated. I had just fired you. We'd just met. We barely knew each other. That was six years ago, Bones. Back when we hurt each other with words we didn't even know were hurtful. For example, I feel like I made some comment about your dad, which now I understand was a touchy subject… We've come a long way since our first case. We're a team now. We're best friends."

"And I don't want to lose that –"

"So then, what's the problem?"

"Me."

"You?"

She nodded, fighting back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

"How are you the problem, when you're the only thing that I can think about?"

"I'm not right for you, Booth."

"You're perfect, Bones."

Why was she doing this to him? Of course she was right for him, he just knew it. He'd always known and she didn't have the right to try and take herself away from him. Not with the feeling of her soft lips still lingering on his.

"No, I'm not."

Booth felt his vision blurring over with tears of his own. God, only this woman could make him cry.

"Booth, you want this perfect happy ever after, you idealize it –"

"What's so wrong with wanting to be happy?"

"Nothing! I'm just…I'm not the person who can give it to you."

"Bones –"

"You want this big white wedding, and this huge family conceived the right way, and this disgustingly happy, blissful, monogamous relationship, and…that's just not me. It's not who I am."

"Bones, three years ago you didn't even want kids the artificial way. You didn't believe in love, but now you're starting to come around. You're capable of change."

"No, I'm not, Booth. I'm a scientist. I believe in the concrete. I don't change."

"Bullshit. Everyone changes, Bones, even you. You already have. When we first started working together for example, you were terrible with people. Look how much better you've gotten with them. Look how much you've loosened up over the years."

"I still don't believe in God."

"And you don't have to. I don't need you to believe in my faith, Bones, I just need you."

"Don't you understand that I'm just trying to protect you?"

"From what?"

"From me."

"From you?"

"I can't give you what you want and it's not fair to you. You want to be able to grow old with someone who loves you just as much as you love them. You're a romantic, I get that."

"You don't know that won't happen with us."

"I know me."

"So do I. You would never just walk out on somebody that you loved. You've been on the receiving end of that too many times to do it to someone you really cared about."

"When did I ever say that I loved you?" she whispered.

He felt like she had just slapped him. He knew that she loved him, she had to.

"You didn't have to say it. I just know that you do."

"That's illogical, Booth."

"The only thing illogical here is your damn reasoning."

The words felt bitter as they left his tongue. They hadn't fought in the longest time and he suddenly felt the calm before the storm.

"How so?" Brennan asked calmly.

"You've reasoned that we can't be happy together because you refuse to conform to this so-called 50's style lifestyle I supposedly want so badly. But did you ever stop to think that maybe there are other things I want more in life? I guess not, because if you had, your reasoning wouldn't be so flawed!"

"Dammit Booth, can't you just understand that I'm doing this to save you? You don't want me. I'll just end up hurting you!"

"Don't you see that you're hurting me now by doing this?"

"Booth –"

"Bones, I know that the coma dream wasn't real, but that doesn't stop me from constantly thinking about it. It doesn't stop me from thinking about how "disgusting, blissfully, happy" we were."

"That wasn't the real me."

"But you wrote it. You sat there giving Kathy and Andy this perfect life and I, in turn, took your book and turned it into us. I know you deleted it, but it was real. I remember hearing your voice reading it to me!"

A soft sob escaped her lips.

"You can't give up on us before you've even give us a chance."

"If he calls again tonight, I'll let you know."

"No, don't you do that. Don't you dare that. We're not done with this."

"Fine, I won't let you know if he calls."

"Forget the damn case, Brennan! We need to finish what we started!"

"I'm done. I'll see you tomorrow, Agent Booth."

She pushed back her chair and slipped into her coat.

"No, Bones. Wait!"

Booth got up and followed her out of the diner. He grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. She turned her icy eyes on him.

"I told you six years ago that I don't like being touched this way."

"And I told you six years ago that you were a cold fish. I guess you were right, Dr. Brennan. Some people just never change."

The ride had hit rock bottom.

AN: Feedback is always appreciated.