hey guys! I know it has been a while since the last update, I've been really busy lately...but now I proudly present: the new chapter!!! Hope you like it!

Thanks to all of you, who wrote a review, it really means a lot to me!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the storyline and the few characters I created by myself...but obviously that doesn't contain Booth, so I don't
think any of it counts^^

Chapter 4

Booth entered the Jeffersonian at quarter past 11. He was looking for Bones, to ask her if they had already found out cause of death or something. Well, actually that wasn't exactly the reason for his presence at the Jeffersonian, because if he had just wanted information about the case, he could have called her. The truth was, he wanted to check if she was okay. He really was worried about her after yesterday's events, and pretending to care about the case – what he did, just not as much as he cared about her – was the perfect excuse to show up at the lab.
He found the platform nearly empty and headed towards her office, expecting to find her sitting behind her desk, doing paperwork. When he got there, he found an abandoned office, which got him concerned. Not the fact, that the office was empty, but when he looked around he saw that neither she nor her coat nor her bag were there, and that was the part which made him worried.

"She's not here." Booth turned around.
"Thanks for the information Angela, but I have eyes."
"No, I mean….she's not at the Jeffersonian."
"Not at the…where the hell is she then?"
"At home."
"Yeah, sure….nice joke Ange, but I'm really not in the right mood for joking, so…where is she?"
"Like I said, she's at home. She called Cam this morning and said that she won't be in today, because she doesn't feel well."
"Doesn't feel…but Bones never stays at home, because she 'doesn't feel well'…remember that bad flu a few months ago?....I didn't thought it would be that bad…I have to go, see her…make sure she's okay…" he turned around and started heading towards the exit, but was stopped by Angela, who grabbed his arm.
"Booth wait! I don't think it would be a good idea to visit her now. I talked to her a few minutes ago and she's fine – at least physically. I don't know what's going on, but I can tell you that she needs some time on her own to sort things out. Trust me, it won't do any good to disturb her, otherwise I would be at her place now instead of here, talking to you. "
"But maybe I can help her Angela; we always talk about everything…"
"I know you do, but Booth, the Brennan who spoke to me through the phone, wasn't the Brennan we know today. It was the same distant, blocking-everyone-out Brennan she was 5 years ago. At her current state she won't tell you anything. All you can do is give her some time…she will open up to you when she's ready."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left her yesterday."
"What do you mean, Booth? What happened yesterday?"
"Seriously Ange, I have absolutely no idea. We were at the hospital to visit Mrs. Palmer and everything was fine until we arrived at Neonatology. She froze in place and it seemed like it took all of her strength to walk out of the elevator. I've never seen that much pain and fear in someone's eyes before. I tried to talk to her, but she pushed me away. She told me that she was fine, but even a blind man would have seen that she lied. We started talking to Mrs. Palmer, but she fled out of the room after a few minutes. When I came back to the car I could see that she had been crying. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but when I looked into her eyes I just couldn't. She was totally devastated. I decided to let it go and ask her about it when she had calmed down a little. I drove her home and made her promise that she would call me if she needed anything. "
"That doesn't make any sense to me. Brennan has never had a problem with hospitals; she works with dead people, for God's sake! I have absolute no clue what could have caused her reaction."
"Neither do I. If I had stayed maybe she would have talked to me about it. Perhaps it was wrong to leave her."
"No Booth, you did everything right. She will talk to us, when she's ready. We just have to wait."
"I don't think I can do this Ange, I'm not good at waiting, I'm a man of action."
"Seriously? Booth you are now waiting almost 5 years, for her to realize that she loves you as much as you love her. Believe me, if anyone is good at waiting it's you."
"But Angela, this is different. I'm really worried about her. I just can't sit here, doing nothing, when I know that she needs me – even if she would never admit that."
He was aware of the fact, that he hadn't denied with one single word that he loved his Bones, and he knew Angela had noticed it, but he didn't care.
"I know it's hard Booth, but all we can do is wait for her to open up. If we push her now, she will block us out completely."
"Maybe you're right Ange…look, I have to go now, but call me if you have anything new."
"I will call you the moment I find out."
"Thanks Ange, bye."
"Bye. And Booth?"
"Yeah?"
"She will be fine. She's strong." He just nodded and left the Jeffersonian. It nearly broke Angela's heart to see him suffer that much. She really had to have a serious conversation with Brennan about this as soon as she felt better. This man was totally in love with his partner and she will find a way to make Brennan realize.

*****

Temperance looked at the watch and couldn't believe her eyes: 4 pm. Had she really spent the last 5 hours staring at this damn wall? She definitely had to find a way to deal with her emotions, because no way was she staying at home tomorrow. Absentmindedly she rose from the sofa, walked towards her bedroom and opened the door of her closet. She didn't quite realize what she was doing until she held a middle sized box in her hands. A box she had been hiding in the farthest corner of this room ever since she moved into this apartment.
She carried the box into the living room and sat down on the couch again. Her heart started racing as she took off the cover. When she was 18 she had put every little piece of memory inside this box and she hadn't looked into it since then. But everything was still there: the photos, the books and two other boxes. She opened the smaller one which contained a necklace with a ring hanging on it. Her ring. The only piece of her jewelry that still meant the world to her. Even if it was part of a broken promise. She put on the necklace and it fitted there like she had never taken it off. She knew it was irrational, but she felt stronger now and she needed to be strong if she really wanted to look through the contents of this box.
She took out the first book – a white one – and opened it. It revealed the fragments of her planned wedding – guest list, seating arrangements, some pictures of wedding dresses and flower arrangements. It should have been the best day of her life, but she never got that far, and most likely never will. She closed the book and took out the second one. It was red and contained every song she ever wrote – which were a lot. She started writing when she was 12 and it was easy to see the development from girl to teenager to young woman in her songs. Most of them were from the time between her 14th and 17th birthday, and there were just a few from the time after. It has always been her way to deal with her feelings, but she stopped completely when she was 18, because she didn't want to feel anymore.
She closed the book and looked through some old photos, which were laying spread across the bottom of the box. Smiling faces were staring back at her and she found it hard to imagine that she will ever be that happy again. Tears started to form in her eyes and she put the photos down. She had now looked at everything except that one little box. She knew what was inside of this box, but even after all those years she couldn't bear it to look at this pictures. She put everything back into the box; the only thing she kept was the necklace with the ring. She decided to wear it for a few days. She walked into her closet and put the box back to where it belonged. After that she returned to the living room and lay down on the couch. She looked at the ring and for the first time since yesterday she didn't feel like she would break down at any minute, which allowed her to drift off into a peaceful sleep.

hope you enjoyed it....let me know what you think!!!