**Hey yall! :) I have finally had some free time, so I've been trying to catch up on my writing. I'm SUPER grateful for all of the alerts/favorites and reviews! They make me very happy...true story! Anyways...this chapter is probably my favorite so far. Brennan starts to let her guard down a little bit while Booth tries to assure her of a few things. Things may heat up a little bit next chapter...hmmm :)

Anyways, I don't own them :( Oh, how I wish I did though!

Walking up the steps to her apartment building, Brennan's heart raced. She knew he was two or three feet behind her. She knew that she couldn't turn back now. She also knew that she had to trust him again. After all, her life was in his hands when they were at work…and as independent as she liked to be, Brennan knew that he would protect her until the day one of them died.

She shook her head quickly a few times as she stopped at the elevator. She had to quit thinking such thoughts. Booth took a few steps after she had stopped, eventually reaching her side. "Bones," he said as he looked down at her. Her clear blue eyes looked up at him, showing him her soul…her gorgeous, intelligent, amazing soul.

"Hmm?" she asked innocently.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to…" His brown eyes piercing hers, Booth was praying she wouldn't say no, but he had to double check.

She smiled as she glanced down at the floor, immediately looking back up and slightly biting her bottom lip. "I want to, Booth. I want to have a night where it's just us. No work, no interruptions."

As his heart fell to his knees…this time being a good feeling…Booth smiled back at her, reaching up gently and brushing an auburn lock of hair behind her ear. He nodded as the elevator dinged, stepping into the car after her.

The silent ride in the elevator made both of their stomachs twist. Once they reached Brennan's door, she smiled up at Booth as she juggled her laptop case, purse, and coat in an attempt to find her keys. "Let me," he told her, pulling a jingling set of silver keys out of his pocket.

"You still have my key?"

"Yeah…I, uh…I didn't want to let go," he admitted as he pushed the door open.

Once inside, Brennan sat her things down at the counter and slid her heels off. "I'm going to go change," she told him, trying to conceal her slight smile.

"Kay," he replied. "Want me to fix you a drink?"

"Yeah, sure," she called to him as she entered her bedroom.

Booth moved around the bar in the middle of the kitchen, reaching for the cabinet with the glasses. "What do you want, Bones?" he asked, not sure if she had heard him.

"Surprise me," she called back out. Booth smiled as he carefully pulled out two wine glasses. He reached for a bottle of red wine, filling the two glasses halfway. After he put the top back on the bottle, he carried the glasses to her living room and sat them down on the coffee table.

"Wine, huh?" she asked as she appeared behind the couch. "I didn't really expect you to be a wine drinker." Booth looked her over, taking a deep breath when he saw exposed skin.

"I'm full of surprises, Bones," he told her with a smirk. Not only did she have on a pair of cotton pajama pants that hugged her just right, she was sporting a tank top, baring her shoulders.

"Have a seat," Brennan told him as she sat in the middle of the big couch. Booth slid his suit jacket off, throwing it across the back of the adjacent chair, and sat down beside her.

Smiling as she saw the colorful tie that he was wearing, she slightly chuckled. "You and your ties."

"What about them?" he asked defensively. As she turned to face him, Brennan took a sip of her wine.

"Nothing, Booth." He rested his arm on the back of the couch as they both smiled at each other like third graders. Eventually, she fell into his side.

Booth slowly pulled his arm around her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm really glad that we're back, Tempe."

"Me, too," she admitted as she looked up at him with her big blue eyes. She noticed a strange look on his face as he sat his wine glass back on the table. Taking a deep breath, she knew this was her chance. As she looked up at Booth, Brennan bit her bottom lip as she grazed a hand across his chest.

His eyes widened as her touch pressed harder and harder against his muscles. Looking down at her, not entirely sure what the hell was going on, Booth's heart did flips. Moving to where her knees were under her, Brennan began pressing against Booth, running a hand through his tousled hair, her lips getting close to the skin on his neck. His mouth fell open as she got awfully close to what was lying…well, maybe not so much lying…underneath his pants.

Shaking his head, snapping himself out of the dream he must have been having, Booth found both of her hands and took hold on them. "Bones! Bones Bones Bones! Uh…" he stuttered, trying to calm his breathing down. "What exactly are you doing?" Narrowing his eyes, Booth held onto Brennan's hands as she sat back down beside him with a look of shock on her face, accompanied by tears filling her eyes.

As she pulled her knees up to her chest, Brennan placed her delicate hand on his cheek and moved his face towards hers. "I…I want this, Booth," she nearly whispered, beginning to sniffle between the words. "And I'm scared to death right now that…that you're going to leave again. And I just thought…" She wasn't sure if her heart had ever raced as quickly as it was at that point, nor had her stomach ever felt so full of 'butterflies' nor had she felt this extreme hot and cold at the same time. "I just thought that in case that does happen again, I don't want to regret anything like I did last time."

Booth's eyes went from nervous to protective in about half a second as he brushed her cheek with his thumb. "Temperance…" he whispered, pulling her into him and kissing her forehead. "Look at me for a second," he asked. She looked up, tears slowly and gently falling down her rose-colored cheeks.

"I'm not leaving again," he told her bluntly. His brown eyes searched her face for any sign of happiness or relief. "I swear…that with everything I have…I will NEVER hurt you again." He ran a finger against her cheek, catching a tear that was falling.

"You can't know that," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around her knees and changing her gaze to across the room. He noticed that her body was visibly trembling. She felt like a complete fool, her heart still not beating regularly.

"Temperance…" he whispered again, pulling her chin up gently to look at him. "I do know that. I may not be able to tell you what the forty-third element on the periodic table is…"

"Technetium," she whispered.

Booth smiled as he squeezed one of her hands with his. "My point, Tempe, is that people, emotions, and feelings are my thing. And just like I trust you that tech-whatever you said is the forty-third element on the periodic table…you have to trust me that I know my own feelings." His eyes searched for some sign of acceptance of what he was saying.

"But feelings aren't-"

"Scientific, yeah I know, sweetheart," Booth interrupted her. "But that bubbly feeling in your stomach right now…that's fear and excitement. The rush that's going on in your chest," he said and gently pointed his finger at her heart, "That is your mind telling you that you really do feel things. You do feel emotions…you feel the pain and nervousness that you're thinking about right now. And you're feeling that pull that tells you to stay close to me. I can see it, Tempe…"

Reaching up to wipe a tear from her cheek, Booth smiled as he leaned in closer to her. "And these tears…they're validating your fear, excitement, love, nervousness, and pain. They're all real, Tempe. And you have to trust me on that." Eventually, his forehead pressed against hers as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Tears fell out of the slit as she held her eyes closed. "Look at me, sweetheart," he whispered, his breath hot against her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open revealing the redness that was closing in on them. "I love you, Temperance Daesee Brennan, and I'm never leaving you. I. Love. You."

Without any more thoughts, their lips collided against each other. The room seemed to be spinning as time slowed down, both, of course, being impossible. Their foreheads still pressed together as they broke apart, they were both breathless. Her eyes jumped back and forth between his eyes and his mouth.

After she caught her breath and realized she really wasn't flying, Brennan found his gaze again and searched back and forth between his eyes for signs of him telling the truth. And after considering Angela's…and Booth's…advice on "gut feelings," Brennan concluded that they might have been on to something.

Her eyes ran back down to his chest, specifically his striped tie. "I'm sorry, Booth," she let slip out.

"What?" He tilted her head back up as he ran one of his hands through her long, auburn hair.

"I'm sorry…about this…"

Brennan softly put her head back down against his chest. Booth pulled her closer to him as they both sighed in unison. "Do you trust me?" he asked, his voice vibrating where her head lay.

"Always," she told him as her weak eyes looked up at him.

"Good," he said with a smirk. "So, it's time to quit all this crying business that I know you hate and live our lives the way we want." Brennan chuckled through her puffy eyes as she smiled. "There's that smile…" he said and grazed her cheek with his hand. "God, I love that smile." She smiled big again before she put her head against his shoulder.

As he toyed with one of her hands, Booth would randomly kiss the top of her head. She smiled every time he did it, thinking he didn't see her, but he did. Every time he saw her smile peek through, his heart fluttered more.

Before very much longer of just sitting on the couch, Brennan's eyes were shut as she began to doze off. Booth ran his hand across her back, knowing that she needed sleep. "Tempe…" he whispered into her ear as he kissed her temple.

"Hmm?" she asked, raising her head up.

"I'm going to go, okay?" Brennan's eyes got an instant look of worry in them.

"Don't go," she replied. "I want you here."

"Are you sure?" Booth pushed a curl out of her face as she nodded.

"Please don't leave," she nearly begged.

He kissed her forehead. "I won't go anywhere if you don't want me to. But let's at least get you in bed," he insisted as he stood up. Picking her up in one swift motion, Booth carried her to her bedroom.

Turning back the sheets, he sat Brennan on the bed and smiled at her. He leaned down, kissed her soft lips before she laid down, and took a step towards the door. "Where are you going?" she asked, her head immediately jerking back up.

"To the couch…" He didn't understand why she was asking. He had stayed at her place before and had always slept on the couch.

Shaking her head, Brennan curled her finger at him, signaling for him to come to her. He smiled as he gave in and sat on the edge of the bed. "Why are you shaking your head?"

"I want you in here," she told him bashfully as she took his large hand in her petite one.

Booth smiled, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Are you sure?" She nodded and flipped down the covers on the other side of the bed. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but he went with it. After he flicked the light switch off, he walked to the other side of the bed and sat down on the edge. Kicking his shoes off and lying back against the pillow, he smiled as Brennan rolled over towards him. He saw her beautiful blue eyes in the moonlight that crept into her window.

"You're sleeping in that?" she asked, noticing he was still in his suit pants and shirt.

"Looks that way, Bones," he told her and attempted to pull her closer to him.

"Get up," she told him. He looked down at her with a strange expression on his face. "Bottom drawer over there," she told him and pointed. "There's a pair of men's pajama pants that'll fit you. Get them."

"I'm not wearing someone else's pants, Tempe," he said with a chuckle.

"Nobody has ever worn them, Booth." Brennan propped herself up on her elbow. "I got them for Russ when he was supposed to stay with me one time, but he never showed up. They'll fit you."

Taking a deep breath and kissing the top of her head again, Booth got out of the bed, once again playing along with what she wanted. He pulled the drawer open, found a pair of still-packaged pajama pants, and pushed the drawer back in as he took a step towards the door. Brennan smiled as he walked out of the door and towards the bathroom.

Within a minute or two, Booth reappeared in the plaid pajama pants and the wife-beater he wore as an undershirt. "Better, Miss Brennan?" he asked and climbed back into the bed.

Brennan smiled and curled into his side. "Much." Booth wrapped his arms around her tight after he covered them both with the comforter on the bed.

'How did I get so lucky?' he asked himself as he ran a hand up and down her back.

Within a few minutes, Brennan had quit moving. Her breath flowed warmly and evenly against his skin as she tucked herself between his arm and his side. Looking down, Booth smiled and brushed one last strand of hair out of her face. "Booth?" he heard her quietly call out.

"Hmm?" he asked, running a finger against her jawline.

"I love you." Her voice was so soft that he almost didn't hear what she said. But thankfully, he did hear it. The three words that left her lips set his soul on fire, but he knew he had to say something in reply. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Booth took a deep breath and tried again. "I love you, too, Temperance. I love you so much."

"Uuugh," Brennan groaned the next morning as her phone blared beside her bed. She flipped it open without looking at the caller ID. "Brennan…"

"Hey, sweetie!" Angela shouted on the other end of the phone.

"What the fucking hell, Ange…what do you want?"

"I want to talk about you and Agent Sexy…" Brennan groaned and covered her eyes with her spare arm.

"Angela, it's six-thirty on a SATURDAY morning. We can talk about this later," Brennan nearly snapped.

Almost asleep again, Brennan shook her head as she realized Angela was still talking. "We can talk about it now, too…" Angela tried informing her sleepy friend.

"No, Ange. We can and will talk about this later." Brennan snapped the phone shut, held the power button until the phone's light went off, and tossed it back on her bedside table. As she blinked her eyes a few times, Brennan began remembering the previous evening.

'Holy shit,' she thought to herself, her eyes getting wide. 'Did that really happen? Maybe I should talk to Sweets about hallucinations…' Scared to turn over and actually see if he was still there, Brennan's heart jumped as she felt an arm snake around her waist. A smile formed on her face as she took a deep breath. 'Okay…So I'm not crazy…'

Brennan rolled over, pushing herself further into Booth's arms, and smiled at the barely-awake man lying next to her. "Hey you…" he whispered, his voice creaky.

"Hi," she whispered back, biting her bottom lip as she smiled bigger. "I didn't think you would be here," she admitted as Booth kissed her forehead.

"Why not?" he asked, kissing the space between her eyebrows.

"I just thought…" she spoke as he kissed the tip of her nose, "that it was too good to be true."

Booth placed a final kiss against her supple lips, once again making the room spin, as he cupped her face gently with his hand. "I told you, Bones…I'm not going anywhere."

After lying with her in his arms for a while, showering Brennan with kisses, Booth smiled as he finally formed a plan in his head. "Hey, Bones…" he asked, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

Brennan looked up, as content as ever. "Hmm?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me tonight?" he stared down into her big eyes as a smile grew across her face.

"Yeah…I'd like that, Booth." Placing her hand against his cheek, she leaned up and pressed her lips to his, afterwards seeing a genuine smile form on Booth's face. Brennan chuckled as she put her head back against his chest. "Where are we going?"

"Can't tell you that, Bones," Booth replied with a smirk. Brennan shot him a look. "Just be at my place, 7 o'clock."

Pursing her lips, Brennan sighed. "Well, what do I wear to this surprise date?"

"Something nice," he said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Like, work-nice, date-nice, or formal-nice?"

Booth chuckled as he kissed her forehead. "Date-nice." She laughed at the smirk across his face.

"Okay…date-nice dress at your place at 7. Got it." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, trying to calm his heart down a little bit.