Time leap! I wanted to catch up to the present, and what better way to do that than Halloween, when it's only two days away? :)

He set the framed picture back down on her desk, grinning at it as he did so, and then dropped into her chair and tilting it back so he could place his feet up on the wooden surface. She probably wouldn't be pleased when she came in and found him like this, but it was far too comfy for him to care. Besides, he was still pretending to be annoyed that she wouldn't tell him what she was going to wear tomorrow.

After all, it wasn't like she could go out trick-or-treating in that Wonder Woman costume she loved so much. The weather wasn't going to be very favorable towards that one, and besides, it wasn't exactly the kind of costume one should wear while walking the streets with an eight year old... even if he had no personal objections to it.

He'd already picked out his; this year he was going as Batman, since Parker had insisted on being Robin and he wanted their costumes to match. Bones had made it clear that under no circumstances was she going to play some sort of female role from the movie. He'd found it rather amusing, actually, that she'd immediately assumed that the female role was the damsel in distress. And she was mostly right about that one, even though she'd never seen any superhero movies. He'd immediately promised her a marathon of Spider-Man and some of the other favorites of his, to which Parker had exclaimed he wanted to be in on, while she looked like she wished she hadn't brought up any objection to the concept of helpless female characters at all.

Searching the apartment for the costume hadn't helped, and he was fairly certain Angela was in on it. Knowing her, she was probably making the outfit and storing it at her own place. And she probably loved the fact that Bones was keeping Booth in the dark about the whole thing.

He was rather tempted to go ask her about it, actually, but he knew that she wouldn't tell him even if he did, so he chose to stay put.

At least he'd convinced Bones to leave early today. It was a Friday after all, and he wasn't about to let her spend it all here. Not when he had plans to take her out to a nice restaurant and then watch scary movies together back at the apartment. He had no doubt she'd pick out all the factors that made them unscary, but he wasn't too bothered. It would still be fun and it would still be with her. What else really mattered besides that last fact, anyways?

"Booth!" her voice exclaimed. He glanced up, grinning cheekily as he saw her standing in the doorway, hands placed disapprovingly on her hips. "How many times have I told you not to sit in my seat?"

"Really? I thought you'd be more annoyed with my shoes on your desk..."

She'd reached him by that point, though, and promptly dumped the chair over sideways in that way that she could, where he never suspected it and where other people were usually quite confused as to how she'd even managed to do so. That was his Bones, strongest woman he'd ever known... inside and out.

He chuckled as he staggered sideways and caught himself against her bookcase.

She scowled and then sat herself down and brushed at the surface, removing whatever invisible damage he had done to her desk. Then she rearranged all the items, ending with the picture frame that he'd picked up to look at. He watched as a soft smile graced her lips as she straightened it. It was the picture he'd taken that day in the park, of her and Parker with the football on the ground after the kid's successful tackle. She was laughing with her arms around the boy, and he was grinning, his curly hair tousled.

"So, you going to be ready to go in a minute?"

"Yes," she answered with a nod, then frowned as she tapped at her keyboard and slid the mouse over its pad. "I just have to... check my mail..." she muttered.

"Anything from your publisher?" he questioned.

She smiled, "No, not yet. I just sent her the latest manuscript, I can't expect a response immediately."

"Yeah, well, I'd have read the entire thing by now if you'd given it to me this morning."

"Ah, but I didn't," she said, her finger pointed at him, "See the difference?"

He sighed and leaned against the bookcase with his shoulder. "Will you ever let me read one of your books before its published."

"No."

"Why not?" he said, pouting slightly, to which she laughed.

"Because, Booth, that's the way it works. I never let anyone read my work before its published. You're no different."

"Au contraire, you have let people read your books before they were available to the general public, Bones. Remember the creepy 'I want you to join my clan' guy?"

She glared at him. "His name was David. He was very nice, but he... had a different belief set than my own."

Booth raised an eyebrow, and she sighed.

"Seriously? You aren't jealous, are you? Booth, I'm dating you now, in case you've forgotten."

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten. Am I still amazed by it, though? You bet. And you know I love you." He grinned softly at her, reaching out a hand to stroke down her cheek. She leaned closer, and then he tilted his lips to meet hers softly, although it quickly became more forcibly. They broke apart, breathing heavily, and she grinned at him, laughing slightly as she caught her breath.

"No, you cannot read my book," she murmured softly, their faces only inches apart. Then she pulled back and slid her chair over closer to her computer, turning herself so her back was more towards him.

"So have you decided on a costume yet?"

"Seeing as I didn't give a favorable answer to the first question, I don't see why you bothered asking this one as well. I'm not going to tell you what it is."

"But you know what I'm wearing!"

"Because you told me, which you did not have to do."

"Hmph," he sighed, staring at the ceiling while he tried to think.

"Hey, Bren, I thought you were... Oh, hi Booth," Ange said, grinning at him as she stood in the doorway. Her eyes went back to Brennan. "So, you are leaving soon, right?"

"As I just told him," she gestured over her shoulder in his general direction, "All I have to do is just answer a few emails and we'll be on our way."

"Good. I always say staying later here right before the weekend is lame, and its nice to see you sharing my sentiment. Even if we can't really go out clubbing anymore."

"When did we ever go out clubbing?"

Ange shrugged, "Fine then, even if I'm not going clubbing anymore. Jack said he had plans for us tonight, though, which are probably going to be far better than a sweaty dance floor anyways. What are you two doing?" she glanced back and forth between them.

He smiled, but inwardly he was thinking about how it seemed like his relationship with Bones was under a microscope whenever Angela was around. Ever since she and Hodgins had gotten back from their honeymoon she'd been intently watching them, and she'd been giving him these looks that he knew meant 'get a move on'. To be honest, he'd been careful to avoid her for a good week or so after her return because of it, but he hadn't been entirely successful with that.

"Yeah, I can finish the sketch pretty soon... I've already got a start on it."

"Excellent. Thanks Ange," Bones said with a nod.

"No problem, sweetie. It's nice to have a case to work on again. Hey, Booth, can I borrow you for a minute?" The question was asked innocently enough, but he wasn't so stupid that he couldn't immediately see that she had much different plans than just a simple 'minute.' And it would certainly not be about any case either, as she probably wanted to make it look like to Brennan and to Hodgins, who was close by as well. Although... the bug man seemed to already be in on the plan. He cast Booth a half-amused half-sympathetic look as he and Angela went past and down off the platform.

Ange shut her office door behind her, and then went across the room with long confident strides, reaching her holograph machine and spinning on the spot. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the edge of it.

"So, Booth." He didn't respond, just raised an eyebrow. Whatever she wanted to say, she didn't need any coaxing from him, he was sure. Sure enough, she was rather quick to move onwards, "I was gone for a month, and yet I see no change. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing... you two are adorable together, after all, but how long is it going to take you to just work up the courage?"

He groaned. He'd guessed at it, yes, and he should have expected this was what she wanted to talk about it, but with the thought already plaguing him every waking minute he was with Bones, he didn't need any extra pressure.

"Ange, to be honest, I don't really think this is-"

She waved him off, "Yeah, yeah, it's none of my business. I get it. But, you know, I've known Brennan for a very long time, and... well, let's just say that I know she'll come around to the concept. Even if it's in some rational or logical form, she'll still agree to it. And she'll like it a lot more than she wants to admit she would. Just answer this for me, okay? It is in your plans, isn't it?"

He looked away, and then sighed and nodded dejectedly. Why was she always right whenever it came to these things? "Of course I want Bones to marry me, but it's really not as simple as you seem to think."

She nodded, "I get it, Booth. Don't give up, though, you got that? She loves you. A lot. And I know you love her too. That should be all you need. Plus a ring... maybe some kids down the line."

"Whoa! Uh, you don't think you could... stick to your own future planning?"

She grinned, "No problem. I'm here to help you, though, don't forget that."

"I don't think you'll let me," he said seriously. "Can I... go now?"

She ushered him towards the door with shooing motions, "Go ahead, go back to your girlfriend," she said, still smiling widely.

Freed, he escaped back to the platform, receiving a slightly confused look from Bones, to which he made no response and quickly distracted her with questions about the remains in front of her.

"Hey, Booth?"

"What?" he pulled himself out of the stupor, having gotten distracted in the midst of the conversation the two women had been having.

"You weren't paying attention at all, were you?" Bones said reprovingly, her eyebrow arched.

"Sorry. Got distracted. What were you..?"

"I just promised Ange I'd be at her place tomorrow morning at eight to do some stuff."

Stuff meant finishing the costume, whatever it was, obviously. "What sort of stuff?"

"Girl stuff," Ange cut in, her tone definitively stating that it was the end of the matter. He chose not to argue or ask again.

"Well, since you're kidnapping my girlfriend tomorrow on me, I think it's about time I took her out of here. I'm starving, and I'm sure she is too."

"You know, I am right here. And you aren't taking me anywhere without my consent."

He grinned. "I know you're right here," he murmured, leaning towards her to kiss her quickly. They both glanced at Ange, who had just broke into an even wider grin and looked like she might want to hug someone, maybe even both of them.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "I still just can't believe you two actually..." she broke off, shaking her head. "I've got to go, Hodgins and I have plans, too." Her eyes lit up suddenly as she said the words. With a quick wave she hurried out of the office, and through the glass door they saw her reach Hodgins and him wrap his arms around her and kiss her soundly. Then the two of them made their way out of the lab entrance doors, laughing together loudly enough that Booth could hear them even from behind the closed door.

"Shall we get going, then?" Booth suggested, holding his arm out gallantly.

She laughed, and then stepped into his arms and allowed herself to be led out of the office and then out of the lab. She even let him drive, which was rather impressive.

"Why the sudden willingness to go along with everything, Bones?" he questioned as he put the vehicle in park back at the apartment and undid his seatbelt.

Her shoulders shrugged slightly, "I thought it would make you happy since you were so annoyed earlier."

"I wasn't actually annoyed, Bones, but thanks for the thought."

"Well, you were all bent out of shape over not knowing what I was being for Halloween, and I thought-"

"I'm just curious," he cut her off, waving a hand to dismiss what she'd said. "So I'm assuming that's what you're doing with Angela tomorrow morning?"

She laughed softly, "Yeah. To be honest, it was actually mostly her idea, although I had the starting concept. She got really excited though; I think it was mostly because she really wanted to spend some time together after she was gone for so long." She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully as she climbed out of the vehicle, and he shut his door and went around to meet her so they could walk inside together. "It's really nice having her back around... Hodgins, too. The lab feels..." she struggled to put together the rest, but he let her do it on her own without any help. He wanted to hear what she had to say. "It feels like home again," she said softly. "Is that silly, to think of it like that?"

"Not at all," he promised her warmly, "I'm glad you think so, actually, Bones. And you're right about it, really... the place seemed really empty while they were gone."

She nodded agreement.

"So, where exactly are we going tonight?"

"Ah, see, that's for me to know and you to find out."

"Booth," she groaned in complaint.

"Hey, you won't tell me what you're being for Halloween."

She rolled her eyes, but remained silent.

With a thump her bag landed on the ground next to the couch, and she turned to face him with an eyebrow raised. "You are going to tell me what sort of clothing I should wear, aren't you?"

"Nothing too fancy, Bones."

"Well, what are you wearing?"

"Me?" He shrugged, "A tux."

She gave a noncommittal snort, "Oh yeah, not too fancy," she said, shaking her head as she went into the bedroom. He chuckled to himself as he followed behind her.

"Here, let me just grab mine, and you're free to sort through your options while I change."

"Booth, just get changed in here. Besides, I might actually need some help picking one out," she added, scowling at the row of dressed, most of which she'd never worn but had, he knew, been donated by Angela.

He glanced at her back, not entirely at ease with the concept. They still weren't quite on that level yet. Thankfully she hadn't been worrying about it, at least not out loud to him in the past month, and he didn't want it to come back out again. It felt like she was doubting him every time she insisted that she must not be good enough for him or something. And she was so much better than anyone else ever could be, no matter what the circumstances were or what she thought. It was just so hard to convince her of it, even still.

She turned around to face him, and from the way her expression changed he knew his face had been too readable; she'd picked up on it.

"You aren't comfortable," she said, making it a statement rather than a question. Her eyes flashed briefly, but he was still able to read the emotion in them before they changed. She was hurt. He sighed.

"Bones, it's not that I don't..." he stared up at the ceiling, trying to think of some way to explain it to her. "I just don't... Bones, please don't take it wrong, okay? You always seem to think the worst of a situation and I really don't want you to this time. Can we... not do this now? Please?"

She stared at him for a long moment, her face blank, and then she nodded quickly and turned back around. He ran his hand over his face and then around to rub the back of his neck. He hesitated over whether or not he should just address it all right now, tell her how much he loved her and how he didn't want to do anything to hurt her, but eventually he decided to just remain silent. He stepped over behind her rather than getting into his tux, though, and he reached around and pulled out a dress from the center of the rack. It was black and sleeveless, and length-wise would fall just above her knees.

"This one would look beautiful on you," he murmured softly. She simply nodded and took it from him. Then she headed for the door, assumably to get changed in the bathroom. Now he grabbed her arm and stopped her. She turned back, staring at his hand around her wrist for a long moment. He released his grip on her, but she stayed where she was, clearly waiting for him to speak. He obliged quickly, stumbling over his words. "We can... just change in here, okay?"

Another long stare. Another nod. He stepped away from her, going around the bed to collect his tux from where he'd lain it on the other side earlier. She was watching him; he could tell from the feeling of her eyes following his back as he went.

Silently, the pair undressed.

He wasn't sure whether to turn and face the opposite wall, but somehow he knew that, no matter how much he might want to avoid the awkward situation, she would not appreciate that.

He hadn't seen her so exposed since... he didn't want to think about it, and yet it came to his mind unbidden. He forced the image away, shivering internally and focusing on getting his belt threaded through the loops the right way.

A moment later she'd pulled the dress on and a pair of shoes, and he'd just finished adjusting his bowtie. They stared at each other, and he felt like he should say something but at the same time that he shouldn't. Quietly, she stepped across the room and then turned around in front of him. Gently, he reached out and carefully did up the zipper on the back of the dress, his fingers just barely brushing her skin. They both shivered slightly in response, and then she stepped away, her eyes conveying more than words probably could have anyways. He wondered if she was reading as much from his.

But then the moment was broken by the chiming of her clock from the other room, and they both glanced towards the door.

"We should..." he said, trailing off.

"Yeah," she agreed, although it was a bit too quick of a response. He pretended not to notice, and then took the risk of placing his hand on the small of her back to lead her out. She glanced at him, and this time a smile shone in her eyes and tilted up the corners of her lips. He couldn't help but smile back, relief calming him. It was all going to be okay. They'd go out to dinner, relax, have a good time, come back, watch some movies... she'd probably fall asleep on the couch, then he'd carry her into the bedroom and tuck her in beside him. Tomorrow they'd go trick-or-treating with Parker. As a... family. Because that's what they were, as irregular and confusing as their situation was.

"So, you still aren't going to tell me where we're going?" she said. The question was somewhat forced, but he appreciated the effort and latched onto it immediately, laughing to lighten the mood.

"Nope. It's a surprise, Bones. Telling you would kind of spoil the point, now wouldn't it?"

"And yet you protest so much when I'm the one who wants to surprise you?"

They returned to the previous debate, falling into it easily as they made their way down the stairs. By the time they were leaving the apartment her eyes were sparkling with amusement and they'd moved on to discussing Parker's excitement about tomorrow as well as their own previous Halloween experiences.

They kept up the conversation as he drove, and soon they were pulling into the parking lot at a familiar location.

"Really?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Yup. I thought it would be nice, you know... to come back here."

"I... thank you, Booth." Her eyes conveyed just how much she meant it, and he smiled back at her before he got out and hurried around to get her door for her before she could do it herself. They hadn't been out on a formal date, truthfully, since Ange had pulled them out on that first one. They'd gone out plenty of times, to the movies or on trips similar to their first weekend with Parker, but none of them quite as romantic as he'd have liked. This was a chance he'd been hoping to have, and with both of them out of work directly before a weekend with plans to spend it with Parker, he'd been quick to latch onto the idea of taking her out... showing her how much she meant to him. What better way to do that then to take her back to the beginning, and dance on this same floor again, together... only by themselves this time, with no one watching them specifically or arranging things for them. It was just them.

They were seated quickly after Booth gave his name and was found in the reservation book, and they sorted through the menu. He insisted that she get whatever she wanted, despite her clear qualms about ordering anything expensive when he'd made it obvious that he'd be paying the full bill.

While she sipped the wine that had been poured for them he fingered the metal object in his pocket, wishing he could ask the question but knowing that it wasn't possible. Not after the conversation they'd just had at her apartment. He didn't want to risk ruining their weekend by upsetting her with this now.

It had already taken quite a bit to just get himself to go out and buy the ring, which he'd had to do by taking time off from the FBI, because otherwise there would be no way for him to explain where he was going to her. So, while she'd been busy with work at the Jeffersonian and he'd been 'doing paperwork,' he was actually out trying to sort his way through all the options and find something suitable that wouldn't freak her out just as much as the question itself probably would. At least he'd gotten a good deal of sympathy from the clerks at every place he went to, who saw guys like him agonizing over his same predicament pretty much every day. He even saw a few himself, and spoke to several of them as they tried to figure out how they were going to pull off what they had to do. They were all considerably better off then him, though, since from what he could gather all of their girlfriends weren't likely to be opposed with the reason that they hated marriage itself.

He'd gotten wishes of luck from more people than he could count after he'd explained to them while they were swapping stories. Most of them simply didn't know how to ask... they were hopeful towards a positive answer, though, which he tried to be but could never really succeed at it.

It was a fairly simple ring, nothing incredibly fancy. It wasn't that he hadn't wanted to get her something elaborate and beautiful, on the contrary that was exactly what he'd have gotten her if she'd have wanted that. But he'd settled for something that he knew she might actually like... it was a thin gold band with one diamond. It's purpose was to propose the idea and hopefully have it accepted; for the wedding band, if he was so lucky, he could have it be more detailed and personalized towards her.

"Booth?"

"Yeah, Bones?"

"Have you finished with that?" she asked, nodding towards the menu that lay forgotten in front of him.

"Oh... oh, yeah... I'm going to get the steak," he said with a nod. "Um... have you decided on yours yet?"

"The pumpkin ravioli with steamed vegetables," she said, sliding the menu over to the edge of the table to be picked up by the waiter whenever he came around to get their orders. He placed his on top of hers.

They got into a discussion about the latest case while they waited, something he'd been hoping to avoid, since work wasn't exactly a romantic topic, but it was easy to talk about, and she seemed to be enjoying discussing their latest leads and the different forensic evidence Hodgins had recovered yesterday... so he didn't pull the topic in another direction but simply let it continue.

Thankfully it wasn't another Halloween themed murder... he'd had enough of those with that single one two years ago. No, it was one body found in the woods, tucked under the roots of a large oak tree. So far they'd interrogated a few people, but nothing really surprising had surfaced that might lead them to a solid suspect. The ones that they had questioned provided some insight, but all their alibis had checked out, which was leaving both of them rather frustrated.

"Ange got the facial reconstruction finished, and she ran it through the system, but we didn't get any credible matches. There were a few that were close, but they didn't match in age or height to the victim that we found..."

"What about the bugs that Hodgins found?"

She sighed, "Well, he was able to determine time of death to be roughly two months ago, but other than that nothing that might help us. Mr. Nigel-Murray is still looking for cause of death, and I have confidence that by Monday he will have some interesting new evidence ready for us. We might have to go in tomorrow or on Sunday, though..."

"Hey, let's not think about losing our weekend, shall we?" he said lightly. "I'd like to be able to relax and just be with you... not have to think about what we need to do for a case."

She smiled softly at his words, and gave a thoughtful nod of agreement, although he could see that she might disagree with him slightly on just how important free-time, the concept in general, was when there were murderers on the loose.

The waiter came by at last, in the middle of the silence at the end of the conversation, and they both placed their respective orders. Their wine glasses were refilled, as well.

The silence extended once he was gone, and he could tell it was almost contemplative on her part. She was staring off slightly to the side, that little crease between her eyebrows which indicated she was deep in thought. He remained silent as well, letting her work out whatever it was; she would tell him as soon as she figured whatever it was out, he knew.

Or, as the case was, when she decided to voice the question she'd been pondering. "Booth, about... earlier." He looked up at her in surprise, immediately getting an unpleasant feeling as he braced himself for whatever she'd come up with on the topic. "I'm... sorry I put you in that situation. I understand that you... feel uncomfortable in such a situation..."

"Hey hey, no, Bones, okay? It wasn't that, exactly... it's more like..." He might as well just try to explain it all to her, and get it out there. Once it was on her mind, after all, it wasn't like it was going to just float away and let them enjoy their dinner in a carefree manner. And it would keep coming back, too, until it was correctly addressed. "Bones, I need you to understand. It's not that I don't... want to." He felt like he'd said this before, and he had, but he still felt the need to restate it, just in case she'd managed to forget it, or she hadn't fully understood the first time around. "I just don't want our relationship to change so suddenly into... being more physically based. I want it to be able to be like this, you and me, just being happy together, with nothing else there." He realized a bit too late that he was almost helping her argument against marriage, but he shook the thought off and went onwards, "And you know that I want you to be fully comfortable with everything that we do, as well; for a long time I was more worried about that instead of other reasons... but now..." he frowned, not really sure what else he could say, and feeling like he'd actually not made a good argument at all. At least not one which would withstand her logical reasoning.

"We've been dating for months, Booth," she said calmly. "And I don't need time to figure out that I love you. I accepted that a long time ago. Nothing is going to change that, no matter what happens between us in other aspects of our relationship." He wondered if she realized that she had just done exactly what he'd done... given reasoning for the side of the marriage debate that was not one which she was in agreement with. "And..." she continued, "I'm ready."

She left it at that, and he knew that she was right.

He nodded in agreement, and she smiled slightly in response, knowing that she had gotten through to him. He wondered whether he might ever get through to her with his question and reasoning, but that was something for another time. It looked like tonight they were going to be focusing on something else far more immediate, especially given the way she kissed him on the dance floor later while they twirled around, lost completely in one another.

God, he loved her so much.

You're thoughts would be greatly appreciated on this chapter.

Oh, and it happens to be my birthday today :) You're welcome to guess at my age if you'd like, I'm curious to see what you all think. xD

P.S.- Any guesses on Brennan's Halloween costume? I think I've come up with a pretty awesome idea, and I'm hoping you'll all agree after the next chapter.