Sweets watched them all night, the perfect Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth. He watched them carefully, waiting to see what he somehow missed completely over the last several months. Of course they were at home, not his office, so they would be different, more comfortable. But still what he saw was nothing short of amazing. Their ease with one another almost dumbfounding. The little ways they connected physically, emotionally, a glance, a touch, a couple words, a soft smile, a wink, they were seamless as a couple. He always felt they were meant to be together but seeing it was nothing short of amazing. Silently, he high fived himself for calling it all those years ago. At the same time he felt kind of like that guy, sitting center field, best seats in the house, who manages to turn around at just the wrong moment and miss the biggest play in sports history. He was there, there for the whole damn thing, years and years of hits and misses between these two and somehow he looked away at just the wrong moment and missed it.

Maybe it was because he was so centered on fixing them. Maybe his desire to help obscured the obvious. Maybe it was Vincent's death. That threw everyone for a loop. It hit so close to home, proving they could lose one of their own at anytime. Or maybe he just sucked. He leaned heavily towards his own suckage tonight. The therapist that couldn't read patients that he'd been treating for years. Sweets leaned back on his barstool and let out a deep groan before lifting his drink and tossing it back.

It wasn't his first drink of the night. A drink or two before he went to Dr. Brennan's house, a couple or three beers with them, a few now, he lost count and was pretty sure he almost lost his balance on that last shot. He wasn't stopping though. A nasty text from Assistant Director Noble demanding a first thing in the morning meeting was the last straw. Sweets knew what that was about. Noble was blindsided when he went into that meeting with Cullen and Booth. It made him look bad, especially since his crack young psychologist was supposed to be on top of the situation between the partners. Sweets hadn't shared his suspicions that they were in fact a couple. Noble walked into that meeting, clueless. Noble was a control freak to begin with. The minute he took over for Hacker he wanted to know all the dirt on everybody under him. Even if Cullen didn't care Noble would. Something like this could make it look like his division was out of control. To add insult to injury Booth had gone over his head. Sweets was sure Noble wanted his pretty little head on the chopping block.

He motioned the bartender for another shot as his thoughts ran in circles. What was he going to say. "I didn't know either, sir. I've been working with them in therapy and on cases and I don't know." That made him look incompetent. But what was worse that or, "I knew but hadn't gotten around to telling you." Sweets hung his head letting out a sharp sigh of frustration.

"You ever been betrayed, Sam? Like your best friend, almost a brother, stab you in the back betrayed?" His words were slurred and spitty as he tried to make conversation with the bartender refilling his drink. "It's not right, man, it's wretched, you know?"

Sam nodded and listened. "Sorry, man."

"You know, I'm good, I'm good. I can tak- no, no, I am not good. It's wrong." His voice trailed off in a string of incoherent thoughts.

Mumbling, Sweets almost fell over as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Booth. Launching into a long drunken rant Sweets went on and on about friendship and Agent Booth's relationship with Dr. Brennan and Noble and his job. Only to redirect all that frustration back at himself and his own inadequacies before hanging up.

Booth looked on quizzically as Bones ran around the apartment slipping on shoes, gathering her purse and keys. She stopped short of leaving and looked at him. He watched with amusement as she obviously processed what to say and do next. It was that deep consideration that Booth found so amusing. She chewed on her lip and shifted her weight. Their life together had already changed her. A process she was still unsure how to react to, sometimes embracing the change, sometimes resisting it. Considering, momentarily, how she would have reacted if Booth wasn't already sitting there on her couch, in her living room.

Before they were together she would have just gone to the Founding Fathers to see what was going on with Sweets for herself. She probably would have called Booth at some point. He dealt better with most social situations than she did, but she did like to try, always wanting to learn. Of course, she reminded herself, this situation would not have occurred under those conditions because Sweets' personal problems seemed to be centered on the fact that they were indeed together. At least that's what he indicated in his call.

"I think Sweets is in trouble."

"What?" Booth sat quickly. "What's going on? Is that where you're going?" Already slipping his shoes on as the investigator in him continued to ask questions. "Is that who called?"

"Yes." Her one word answer was drawn out slow and even. She had a way of giving short answers when really he needed more information. His eyebrows up high on his forehead, head tilted, he was clearly waiting for more information. "I think he thought he was calling you, actually."

Rehearsing the conversation in great detail she processed aloud as Booth moved around her.

"I'm coming with you." Which really meant, I'm driving. They were fast, out the door in a couple of minutes and on the road.

"He'll be okay, Bones." He grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he drove. Giving only a little nod she was clearly deep in thought. His eyes darted back and forth from the road to her. "He will, I promise."

There had been too much loss surrounding the death of her young intern Mr. Nigel-Murray. As a team, a family really, they were still recovering. As Sweets words churned in her head the thought of not working with him suddenly didn't seem worth the few months of privacy she and Booth shared.

"Do you think we made the wrong decision in keeping our relationship a secret?" She finally mused aloud.

"No." Booth's answer was swift and firm and reassuring. He felt her exhale and her body relax just a little. "No, we made the right decision, Bones. I stand by it one hundred percent. We needed that time. We earned it after all these years."

She answered only with another nod of agreement.

"I promise you I will get this worked out, okay? I'm sure it's not as bad as Sweets made it out to be anyways. It'll be okay, it will."

Walking into the bar Sweets was easy to find. It was late and the place was already clearing out. Sweets was loud, too drunk to realize the spectacle he was making of himself. Sam looked relieved as the pair made a beeline for their drunken friend.

"Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan." Sweets raised his glass like he was about to make a toast. "My friends. No, no, not my friends, I thought we were friends, I thought that but no, no, no, friends tell you things, important things, like we're dating and shhhhhhhh..." Sweets looked around the room, brought his finger to his mouth and whispered the rest. "Like, like, we're having sex. Oh, oh and like we're going to have a baby." Slamming back the drink he let the empty glass fall back to the bar in his fist. "Guess we're not as good as friends we are." Frowning, he fell towards Booth who caught him. "No, no, I mean we're no as good friends as I..." He looked up at Booth sadly then patted his chest. "You know."

As Sweets continued to ramble Booth felt his attention divided between his drunken friend and Bones. Booth knew this face, it was her trying to be strong and unaffected when really she oscillated between hurt and indignant. Booth jumped in before she could.

"You're wrong, Sweets, we're friends." Booth words didn't seem to make a difference. Bones jumped in also trying to correct and reaffirm their friendship. For all his faults Sweets was one of them, he was theirs, and she wanted and needed him to know that.

It took a few tries but Sweets became a little more amiable. Booth pulled Sam aside and had him call a cab. Motioning across the room he called Bones to him across.

"You're going home, okay?" She looked resistant at first but he gave her that look, the one that said don't argue with me on this. "You go home and get some rest, take care of our baby Bones." His hand came to rest on her little baby bump, rubbing softly. " And I will take care of our baby duck, okay?" A slight nod on his part waited for one of agreement from her. It was hesitant but she gave it to him, she hated not being right in the thick of things and Booth knew that. "I'm going to get him out of here, take him to the diner, get some food in him, some coffee, sober him up a little. I'll call you from there and let you know what I'm gonna do with him after that." Knowing the plan made it a little better. She wasn't thrilled with the idea but agreed.

"Okay."

Booth kissed her and tucked her into a cab before turning all his attention back to Sweets. It proved to be a long night. First, he had to get the poor boy out of the bar and into the truck. Sweets was hard to hold onto as he staggered, losing balance over and over. Booth considered just throwing him over his shoulder and carrying him fireman style more than once. It would be faster. In fact, he may have actually threatened him with that more than once, a small detail lost in a long night.

The diner was nearly empty, quiet, with the exception of the constant white noise created by the soft clinking of dishes and silverware. He ordered coffee for both of them and got Sweets a large meal and a side of fries. More than anything he just wanted to be home with Bones. It had been a horrendously long day and was turning into an equally long night. Sweets settled down, seemed a little more together as time and food dissipated the effects of the alcohol. At first there was only silence between the two with the occasional protest from Sweets. Booth fielded them gracefully, but firmly. He wasn't letting the boy out of his sight until he wasn't a danger to himself or his relationships. Drunks say thing, do things they don't mean. No one knew that more than Booth. They had been back to silence for awhile when Sweets finally interrupted it.

"Why? Why didn't you just tell me?" It was a loaded question. Sweets wanted so much more than a topical answer. Because beyond the simple whys, Booth knew Sweets wanted to know why he didn't consider him a close enough friend to share this monumental secret with.

Booth shrugged at first and took a long drink of coffee before answering. "Honestly?"

"Yes. Honestly." There was a sharp edge of hurt and anger to the younger man's voice.

"We work together, we have for years. You, me, Bones, the squints, long days and nights. We eat our meals together half the time or more than half the time. We celebrate our victories, mourn our losses together. Hell, we are each others' friends and family. You with me?"

Sweets gave him a brisk nodded and leaned back folding his arms across his chest. Booth leaned in.

"We are in every bit of each others lives." Booth leaned in. "For years pretty much all of you guys have been trying to get us together, right? Telling us to make our move, pushing us to make a move. Hell, Angela told Bones that if she wanted me she should just take me back from Hannah when we were together. Nagged and nagged and nagged her even when Bones told her to stop." Booth set his coffee down and picked up a fry and popped it in his mouth. "All of you have been meddling in our love life for years. We needed some time to just be us, just be together, no well meaning meddling friends."

Sweets stared intently at Booth before speaking. "Okay. I can accept that." It wasn't a warm acceptance but Booth would take it as progress. Sweets was very still cold and removed. "So, who all knows?"

"You, of course. Angela knows, which probably means Hodgins knows, though I don't know for sure. He hasn't said anything if he does. Cam found out today right after Cullen and Noble. I think that's it. We plan on telling the rest next week."

"When did it happen?" Sweets shot off another question barely having let Booth's last answer settle in. As much as Booth hated this invasion he knew he was going to have to share more than he wanted to if he was going to fix this. He shifted in his seat, bracing himself.

"You mean when did we get together?"

"Yes." With each irritated response Booth questioned his tactics but opted each time to stay calm and answer Sweets' questions.

"The night Vincent was killed."

"That night?"

"Yeah, Broadsky was still out there and I just couldn't let her be alone and unprotected." It was such a vivid memory for him, that night. "So, I told her she needed to stay at my place. It was all professional, you know, she insisted on taking the couch. I was in my room. The door was closed. We didn't start the night out together. We were very, very separate."

Sweets leaned in. Booth could see him soften. "What changed that?"

"God." Booth threw his head back and rubbed both hands over his face as he tried to figure out what to share. "She thought it was her fault." The memory of her tears, her broken heart, her confusion would never leave him. "She just isn't as cold and tough as she puts out."

"That's the real reason you had her stay, isn't it? You knew she would be alone and you didn't want her to be alone when she fell apart." Sweets had a soft knowing smile and a look of victory as he spoke. Maybe he was better at this than he thought. Maybe he knew them better than he was giving himself credit.

"No." Booth admitted. "I didn't want her to be alone."

"So."

"So?"

"Oh come on, Agent Booth, I think you owe me more details than that." Poking and prodding, this was exactly why they had wanted to keep this private. But it wasn't private anymore and if this helped Sweets, Bones would be happy. He would sweat out a few more details.

"She just needed to be comforted, we both did, that's all."

"Comfort sex? That's what did it? That's what brought you together after all these years? Comfort sex."

"No, it wasn't like that, okay?" Calling it comfort sex cheapened it. While Booth was tolerating the invasion of his private life to fix what somehow they had broken, there was a line and he would not let what happened between them be degraded.

"Well, what was it then?" It was so many things, so many emotions it was hard to pick one. Hurt, fear, confusion, loss, grief, a host of memories, need, love, that's what it was.

"It was love, Sweets, that's all it was and I am not going to give you any more details than that." Everything that happened that night from the moment he insisted she stay had been all about love. Every tear, every touch, every strong stroke into her body had all been about love.

Sweets only nodded his approval before moving on. "And when you got the letters about re-starting partners therapy?"

"I was pissed, but you know that already."

"And Dr. Brennan, did you two plan your response?"

Booth laughed. "No. No, that was all real. I had no idea she got a letter too. I was just hoping to deal with it before she found out. Look, Sweets, the reason we were so opposed to therapy was because we knew we would have to lie to you or, you know, withhold the truth." Booth leaned back in making sure he had his attention before he continued. "In that apartment I could have, we could have, continued to hide our relationship. I knew you were standing there. I knew you saw that things had changed. I let you see that, understand?"

"And all those activities we did in partners therapy?" Sweets had visions of them laughing at his expense. Booth saw the shift from angry and distant to accepting and now to a hint of insecurity. The boy needed reassurance that he was important, that he made a difference in their lives. It was something they rarely gave him outright, something they hid behind protests and gabs at his process.

"If you ever tell another living soul this I will deny it and then I will end you, understand?" Sweets agreed. "They helped, okay, in their own weird way they helped us make this transition from partners and friends to more." Sweets smiled, it was affirmation he needed and Booth could see it play out across his whole demeanor. "Okay, it's late and I have to beat you to Noble's office tomorrow morning so whaddaya say we call it a night, huh?"

Sweets let out a long breath before agreeing, he was tired and sure to have one hell of a hangover to deal with in the morning. He started to stand but sat back down to lodge one last protest. "You don't have to meet with Noble, Booth, I can handle it."

"I insist. I caused this mess. I will fix it." The doe eyed young man smiled. The gesture alone meant more to him than all the explanations and insight Booth had offered up all night. Almost like clockwork Daisy walked through the doors of the diner.

"Lancelot, are you okay?" Bouncing ponytail and a pouty worried look, Bones must have received his text and called her as planned.

"Yes, Daisy, I'm fine."

Booth stretched and let out a huge yawn. It was finally time to go home.

The click of the lock turning, his keys hitting the dish on her huge antique hutch, the fall of his feet across the living room floor were such comforting sounds. In her sleepy state there was no denying how absolutely she needed and wanted him in every part of her life. Curled up in the blankets she listened to him change, strip down to his boxers, heard his clothes as they brushed against the back of the chair a couple feet from the bed they now shared. The movement of the bed as his weight fell upon it followed so quickly by his hand spreading it out along her body, wrapping it around her from behind then pulling her in. Nuzzling into her he spoke softly.

"It's all worked out. Daisy's got him now." Booth was making it hard to care about Sweets or Daisy or anything but how much she loved and needed him.

"Hmmm." She hummed. "Good." Booth smiled.

"I have to go in early tomorrow. I've got to do some damage control with Noble."

"You're a good man, Booth." Rolling over she raised herself up just a little letting her face fall into his hand as he palmed her hair out of the way. She was beautiful sleepy and when she whispered her love to him as her hands played across his chest he couldn't help but feel that no matter how complicated life was with her she, was worth it.

"I love you too." He whispered back. "Do you want me to prove it to you?" There was a playful tone that danced in his words.

"If you're not too tired." She leaned down letting her words brush across his lips. "I know it's been a long day." Booth's low deep laugh vibrated through her as he rolled her over and settled between her legs.

"Never too tired." He offered between kisses. "This is exactly where I have wanted to be all day."

ooooo0ooooo

A/N: I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter of Hindsight up. Between the holidays and a relentless battle with bronchitis I have been kind of out of it. Then add a complete re-write of the chapter (and a few distractions - the start of a new Bones story, not posted yet, and the start of non-Bones project) Well, you get the picture.

Anyways, I am excited to post this chapter and to see what you guys think of it. Thank you for all your support in reading and reviewing!

~DG