Stuck In A Moment

by Biba79

An event tests Booth and Brennan's relationship. Booth kept telling himself that it would take time, and he needed to be patient. Will they be able to get through it? Booth/Brennan.

22. Dirty Little Secret

A/N: People have been asking me if I had lost a child, and I haven't, I don't even have kids yet. But this fic came to be because a friend of mine lost their newborn and I just thought that it would be really interesting to explore about Booth and Brennan and what they would do in a situation like this.

This is the chapter I have been waiting to post forever, I'm actually nervous about it. I'm sorry for the very long chapter, I was going to make it into 2-3 chapters, but this chapter is flowing well so much better as one, so I decided not to. So, hopefully this isn't too much for all of you.

Thanks to Angie and Hannah for their wonderful beta help.

Warning: This chapter is very emotionally draining. You should have tissues close by; you may shed a tear or two.

Song "Dirty Little Secret" by Sarah McLachlan

If I had the chance, love
I would not hesitate
To tell you all the things I never said before
Don't tell me it's too late

Cause I've relied on my illusions
To keep me warm at night
But I denied in my capacity to love
I am willing, to give up this fight

I've been up all night drinking
To drown my sorrow down
Nothing seems to help me since you went away
I'm so tired of this town

Where every tongue is wagging
When every back is turned
Their telling secrets that should never be revealed
There's nothing to be gained from this

But disaster
Here's a good one
Did you hear about my friend
He's embarrassed to be seen now
because we all know his sins

Chapter 22

He arrived at his home, his and Brennan's home. As he opened the door, it hit him. Before he had a single purpose, to get his son to spend time with him in his room, it was always at night. And when he picked him up during weekend days, Cooper would meet him in the driveway. He hadn't seen the inside by day in a long time. He smelled the scent of death as he walked in; the heavy-laden stale air was unmistakable.

Now he saw the house that had once been filled with golden sunlight in the day, laid as though a huge shadow was hovering over it. He looked at the darkened rooms wondering how he had been so stupid. He saw the dust settling over everything like ashes. He saw the living room, family room and dining room have not been used in months. The monopoly game that he began playing with Cooper and Parker still laid out as it was partially finished, the properties purchased and tucked under the edges of the board, the dice at the double three after the last throw that signaled Cooper's bedtime. All those months and not even touched or played? Could she be that far gone?

She had a child to take care of, and she still had him. How could Brennan be doing this to Booth? How dare she do this to him! He looked around the house that used to be his home, walking through it as if it was a haunted house. He felt the desertion of life echoing in the walls, he felt the abandoned happiness crying to be resurrected. He felt his heart longing to hear the laughter of his family, the joy of being together. He couldn't let them go; he couldn't let this happen to them. He wouldn't let her do this anymore. Enough was enough.

A surge of the long needed anger coursed through him and he found the impetus he needed to take action. He was going to end this now. He wouldn't sit by and watch his treasured family die.

The renewed fighter in him took over. He began to raise all the shades and open all the windows. He went from room to room loudly clattering them hoping to make her come out.

His plan worked.

He heard her scurrying down the stairs, and he braced himself for what was coming. He turned as he heard her feet hit the foyer floor. His eyes gazed into hers, blazing with stubborn resolve and decisive intent. But as he saw her, he was taken back; he had never seen her like this. His mind momentarily retreated to shock mode as he took in her appearance.

He saw it so clearly now, she was totally lost. What she looked like on Parents' night months ago was nothing compared to now. She was a ghost, a member of the living dead. And it killed him to see her like that. He hadn't been able to face this because watching her die like this was inconceivable. He had hidden himself from observing it, and by doing so, it was exacerbated.

This was his fault, he had been blind to anything, but his pain, he was responsible for the frail broken woman she had become. He felt as though he had already lost her. What had he done? What had he ignored? How did he bring her back from this now? What if it was too late? He was terrified that she had already retreated too far away from him to ever reach her again. He couldn't believe the woman that was once so vivacious and energetic and so amazingly radiant was standing in front of him looking like that. That wasn't his Bones; whoever she was, Booth barely recognized her.

The dark circles under her eyes, eyes that were once vibrant with life, filled with mirth and mischievous fun and now were dull and so empty. Her beautiful hair once was shiny and shimmering, now hung limply around her pale face. Her clothing was old and drab, not the usual chic carefully chosen garments. Her once beautiful figure was gone, the skeletal remains made him long to have his Bones back, his wife, his love.

The old sweats and oversized shirt that she wore were splattered with black and gray paint. The clothes hung on her like oversized dress up clothes. But what caused him the most concern was her once gorgeous face. Her cheeks were gaunt from the loss of weight, her skin pale and unhealthy looking. He stopped the impulse to run to her. He could see her disdain at finding him there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, gracious as ever.

"This is my house too, Bones." His eyes flashed his anger and his fear.

"We had an agreement, Booth." Even her voice wasn't the same. It was brittle and aged. This wasn't her. What happened to the woman he loved?

"I never agreed to this. You have turned this place into a crypt, it's time to crawl out of the grave and get back to the living." Booth shouted while pointing an accusing finger.

"SHHH, Cooper will hear you. You have no right to barge in here." She walked around the couch to the windows pulling them shut. "Why didn't you just drop him off as usual?"

"Because I'm not about to let my son live this way anymore."

"You have no right." She pulled another window shut, and he felt the months she shut him out. He felt the darkness descending, and he wouldn't let her do that to him anymore. And above all, he wouldn't let her do this to their son.

"No, damn you. You let the sun in again, Bones. Or so help me, I swear to God, I will take your son from you. I won't let you bury him along side you and Liz."

Her face blanched at the mention of her little girl's name. Brennan looked up. "Where is he?" She knew that Booth would never yell like that if he knew that Cooper could hear. "Where is he?" Her voice rose in panic.

"He's spending the night with Angela. He's fine or at least he will be fine." Booth's face was seething with his contempt for her and what she had done to their son. And his heart was freezing in fear because he would not be able to pull her out, or give her the help that she needed.

"I want him home now." She demanded. "You are not keeping him one extra day."

"NO! The hell I'm not keeping him, he needs to breathe, Bones! The poor kid needs to get out! What the hell are you doing?" Booth went to the window that she had covered again and loudly opened the wood blinds! "No more! Do you hear me? I want this house to live again. No more death. Enough!"

He yelled loudly and commandingly because he wanted her to be moved, he wanted her to feel his anger, he wanted her to feel his rebellion for what she was doing to herself, and most of all he wanted her to feel anything as long as it was real honest to God emotion.

"Leave me alone, Booth!" Her voice was deadly as she turned her back on him walking up the stairs to her office.

He took off his jacket and tie to be more comfortable, he knew this would take a while! He was so ready. He would not let her go without one hell of a fight!

He stood in the doorway of her office looking at the easels in horror. Who the hell was painting this? Not his Bones?

No wonder Cooper was afraid.

Her soul was coming through the paintings, there was no beauty. She snuffed it all out. How could she? How could she obliterate the happiness of their family? This was an abomination. He stepped in quickly grabbing the brush out of her hand viciously, throwing it at the wall, it clattered hard then fell.

"What in the hell is this? More funeral drudge for God's sakes! What has happened to you?" His anger mixed with his intensely growing fear. He had to shake her up. He had to get her to see! She needed to feel again!

She stood back. She had not heard him follow her. Now her face showed no emotions; she was like a stone statue. This was what scared him and infuriated him most; she had to feel something, anything!

Booth made the move. He could make her angry; he had always done that without trying. He started towards the monstrosities on the easels. Grabbing the first one, he broke it in two, tearing it over his bent knee. The fresh paint ran over his black slacks making a miserable morbid stain down his leg. His eyes glared at defiantly; he waited to see if she was aware of what he is doing.

She stood there. No reaction. He couldn't stop now; his own anger and frustration wouldn't let him. Booth was a human wrecking ball. He shoved the canvases off the easels and hit them hard with the heel of his shoe, stomping on them and damaging them beyond repair. His breathing was labored as he savagely destroyed all the dark and dreary menacing images before him. He wanted to get rid of it; he has to obliterate it from her. If he destroyed it all, maybe he could save her. She looked on as though she was watching some maniac, wondering what in the hell had gotten into him! Her mouth was partly open but no words were expressed.

Booth looked up at her still standing there blankly; there was nothing in her eyes. She made no move to stop him! Brennan would have fought him tooth and nail. His forehead beaded in sweat from the effort it took not to go and shake this horror out of her too. He would abolish this darkness. He mutilated anything and everything that he could get his hands on that indicated sorrow or darkness. And when he was done and there was nothing left, he saw that it had done nothing to motivate her, nothing to incense her, nothing to enliven her spirit.

"Where are you, Bones?" His voice was a strangled cry.

"Get out." She didn't shout it, like the old Brennan would have, she didn't have that fighting spirit that she used to. She didn't even look at him the way she used to. He couldn't handle how it made him feel to see her so empty, so bereft of emotions or feelings. This was not her! He felt the fear consume him; he had to do something to get her back. He knew she was here hiding in this stranger. How would he find her again? He stared at her desperately longing for an answer.

"I said get out." Brennan turned to walk out the door. He was frantic; she was acting like she was drugged or comatose; he had to wake her up. He grabbed her around the waist and pushed her towards the master bedroom, shoving her through the doorway, dragging her emaciated body into the bathroom.

"Let go of me." She screamed at him, at last with some of the ire that he was used to hearing when he was inciting her wrath. She was fighting furiously, and he wouldn't let her go. At least she was fighting his hold on her, and he would do whatever it took to make sure she kept fighting.

He fought her resistance until he was in front of the full length mirror. Something was guiding his actions; he was not thinking. He was so filled with rage, fear and desperation; his emotions had taken over. He pushed her towards the mirror. "Look at yourself! What the hell is wrong with you? Look! You are as good as dead. Wake up before it's too late, Bones."

She was panting with the effort of warding him off, and she struggled even as he ordered her to look. She didn't give an inch, her face was turned away, but he wouldn't allow her not to look! His body held her from behind and his hands went to her face twisting it towards her reflection.

She saw the man holding her and forcing her to look, she saw the woman, and she didn't recognize her own face. She wasn't even sure if he was really there. Maybe she was dreaming again, all her dreams were nightmares, so this could be one too. "Look at yourself, God damn it!"

She heard his hissing voice, but it didn't move her; nothing would. She could feel his anger a little, but she didn't care. She fought again to get out of his grip. She wanted him gone. She had gotten rid of him. Why was he back?

Booth could see her lack of response. He looked around the room desperate for something! His soul cried out for a way to reach her. He moved without thought, grabbing her along as she pushed and struggled to get away from him. She was screaming at him, kicking wildly. She felt the bruises start to form on her
arms, and she felt his strength holding her back.

"I hate you! Let me go, you bastard! Let me go!"

He settled her against him, holding her back against his chest. They were in the bathtub and he hardly knew how they had gotten there. He pulled her down into the tub, holding her firmly. His hand reached out turning on the cold water. It gushed forth from the shower head drenching them both, hitting them hard with spatters splaying every which way, drowning out her screams and his shouts.

"Get the hell out of my life!" She shouted her voice bedraggled and raw.

"No! You don't get to call the shots anymore. I'm calling the shots now, you are my wife, damn it! You are not going to crawl into some hole of self pity and die alone. I won't let you!" Booth panted with effort as the plopping water hit at them furiously sending down reverberating chills.

She squirmed around somehow, the fight in her spurred on by the shock of cold frigid water soaking her clothing. She struggled as the water drenched her hair and her shirt. She sputtered it out of her mouth, as she desperately clawed at his body trying to find a way to get away from him. She shrieked obscenities at him, calling him every name in the book, savagely wanting to hurt him to the point that he would let her go. But he held her, shouting right back at her.

He told her that he was disgusted by her; he couldn't believe she let herself fall apart. Where in the hell was the Temperance Brennan he fell in love with? What the hell was she doing? He chastised her in every way he could to get her to come alive, to get her to feel, to get her to hear and to see herself. She would never believe this could happen to her if she could see it; she would be mortified. She was such a scrapper, a fighter, a contender; and no one would best the Temperance Brennan he knew. He wouldn't let her be defeated now, no matter what it took; he wouldn't let her succumb.

She was exhausted and shivering. Booth felt the trembling through his own soaked clothing, he held her against him, his arms basking in the joy of holding her again, no matter what the circumstance were. His body held hers feeling the bones that had taken over the once lovely curvaceous figure. He rolled them over so she was under his body in the spacious tub, he didn't want to harm her physically, but he couldn't let her go on the way she was! The water was partially stopped up by a hand towel that has fallen into the tub during their battle.

He reached forward, still locking her to him, and changed the water to warm. Now it pelted them softly like summer rain spraying over them, chasing the chills away. The little bit of warmth penetrated her skin awakening something inside of her. He sensed a change as he turned towards her. His eyelashes were a dripping fringe over the blue intensity of his gaze. She stopped screaming finally and began to cry softly. He held her dearly to him as though she was some fragile work of art. She was so vulnerable and so broken; he only wanted to make her whole again, to bring her back to life. How he wanted her to be alive again, because being here without her wasn't living. He couldn't live like this anymore, and he couldn't let her die like this. His shouts turned to heartbroken gulping sobs. Their bodies clung together shaking with mutual grief and heartache.

Their faces were covered in a mixture of tears and water droplets. "I won't let you go." He said it over and over again, until it was merely a whisper, that melded with the beat of the water. "I won't let you go. I won't let you go."

Booth grabbed the towel out of the gurgling drain, he wanted the warmth now; he wanted her to feel warm. He took the towel in his hand and gently he wiped away her tears and the smudges of paint he had gotten on her face during the struggle. "It's okay, baby... it's okay... don't do this to yourself anymore... God please, Bones, come back... be here with our son and me. Come back... I need you to come back... I can't let you go... I won't let you go... I won't let you go..."

She saw fear in his eyes, as he repeated it as a sacred vow. His hand slowly released the vice grip on her; he knew now she wouldn't run. She was listening; they were both sobbing with all the emotions held back for too long. The shower tiles echoed with the throbbing, excruciating sorrow emitting from them. They didn't see the last of paint rushing off their clothing as the rivers of black and gray joined swirling and circling into a whirlpool descending down the drain.

The last of the hideous colors vanished, Booth hit the stopper with a single finger, and the water slowly filled the tub immersing them in the comforting warm cocoon. He knew she was ready to feel the warmth; she needed to be warm again so the blood could flow now, and she could feel again. He sensed a change in her.

Her hands grasped him to her now; they didn't battle him any longer. They gripped on to him, imploring him for solace and understanding. How she needed him, she realized how lost she had felt without him. Booth, he was here, he was really here, and he came to bring her back; she had been so afraid to come back. She felt him holding her, and she heard him telling her that he wouldn't let her go; he wouldn't ever let her go. She was so confused and heartbroken, she knew she was evaporating, vanishing, sometimes she had a little awareness of it, but she felt too weak to stop it. She thought it would just be easier to give in and let it take her. But now, she knew he was here, and she wept in relief that he had come; she had been sure he would never come. A part of her knew if he came, she would be all right, she would make it back, she wouldn't just fade away.

"Booth... oh Booth!" She sobbed, hiding her face in the comforting security of his chest, basking in the feel of his arms. Slowly she looked up into his eyes; the water was flowing over them calming the storm within.

Their eyes locked for what seem like eternity, she listened as he whispered tenderly into her ears.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here... I should have never left...Oh God, Bones. I never should have left! Forgive me. I didn't know, I didn't see, I was hurt. Bones, I was hurt." His voice broke in regret.

"I let you go... it's not your fault." Her voice was raspy as she found her caring love for him resurfacing.

"Yes, it is! I... You needed me… you did... I should have known..."

"I didn't want you here... I wanted you to be gone..."

"Why? Bones, Why?"

She couldn't speak, she couldn't tell him; it didn't even make sense to her. She was so exhausted and being in his arms was good, so very good. "Don't talk... Booth, please..."

She needed him; she felt this overwhelming desire for him again. His eyes glowed like blue flames into hers igniting something she thought was dead forever. The soul within shone in her eyes as she gazed at her reason to love again, to be whole again. "Please..." Her soft whisper wasn't needed because he longed to do as she asked. Sensations began that had lain dormant for months, little shivers that had nothing to do with the water ran up their bodies, familiar longing desires emerged in their fingers.

His blue shirt was suctioned to his body making little air pockets where the water had not drenched in completely.

Her own body was suctioned to his, her braless shirt once baggy, was now clinging transparently to her. Her breasts swooshed against his chest, creating a stirring of familiar feelings deep within him.

Her hands moved lightly over his shoulders, he felt her awakening to him, to them. He gasped as he felt her touch; he had longed for it more than any other sustenance in this world. He had almost forgotten how much he needed her touch to live.

His fingers slowly made their way up her back teasing and tantalizing her starved-for-affection-body. He saw her eyes change, deepening into passionate expectation. He was filled with desire for her, and only her. He changed his exploration to the front of her shirt. Slowly and tentatively, he caressed her, afraid to do more.

She laid her head against his shoulder as he gently continued to explore. Slowly, they broke apart looking deeply and longingly at each other. The water lapped against them like mini waves pulling them closer and closer, ebbing and flowing against them, beckoning them to touch and caress and love one another without end.

His hands cradled her face as his head bended down pulling her beloved face up to his. She could not tear her eyes from him, she felt as though someone had just thrown her a life preserver and that someone was him. He was finally here, her soul had been calling for him, her heart had been yearning even while her mind and her body rejected the idea she was nothing without him. She loved him; she would always need him, and would always love him, through hell and back again!

"I love you. Come back to me… Bones, come back… Please?" Booth said it so close to her ear that even the pounding of the showering droplets and the quietly swooshing water could not drown it out. "I love you, Bones!"

His mouth crushed against hers, siphoning out her pain as he passionately conveyed to her, the absence in his heart, and how much he needed her to fill it. She found herself responding for the first time, she didn't fight it. She leaned against him, bodies melding together as pain and the anguish were temporarily eradicated by the soft surrendering moans resounding in the tub.

He still moved carefully sensing things were still precarious between them. His fingers found their way to the front of her shirt. One button opened then two. Brennan felt the glazing of his fingers against her bare skin, she wanted this with everything she had; she wanted him to take away the sorrow, to take away the emptiness.

She wanted it, she longed for him, she longed to be a part of him again, to be alive with him again. Her eyes held his, it could happen, it had to happen. She wanted it to happen, she needed it to happen. But a
scolding voice penetrated into her head. She couldn't let it happen! Not ever again! She pushed him away.

"No! Get out!" Her voice was filled with painful sobs, as everything came crashing around her again, she took his shock at her rejection as her chance to escape him. She shoved him off her hard, and as his hands dropped she took her moment to flee.

She hopped out of the tub and backed away against the wall. She slowly sank to the floor; her once tingly body was now shivering again, chilled instantly by the realization his motives were not pure. Her body rejected his touch as she remembered what he had been doing during these months of separation. Her eyes deplored looking at him. She was filled with excruciating pain and immeasurable fear. She couldn't let that happen, there wasn't supposed to be any more pain. Slowly, she retreated, she moved her arms to hug her body, and she felt the bones jutting out, not even recognizing her own form. She saw him kneeling over the tub reaching his hands out for her, she wouldn't let him have her, and she wouldn't let him get near her. Her head shook with her silent resolve.

Booth felt as though he had lost his last chance. He saw the curtain falls back over her eyes again. The black shroud of nothingness. He knew she had to choose him. Choose life, choose them. He could not force her or make her. This had to be her choice. He wanted to beg her to pick him; he couldn't imagine his life without her now. How much more could they wait? He would wait a lifetime, but this was up to her.

"What are you doing here?" Her tortured voice asked plaintively. "You don't want me, you're having an affair. How dare you come striding in here acting as if you want me! What happened? Did she figure out you're nothing but a heartache too?"

Booth's eyes opened as wide as his mouth. "I'm not having an affair! Who told you that?" His arms were still outstretched longing to hold her again.

"Oh Come on, Booth, I saw you with her, in spite of Cam's best efforts to save your ass, I saw you with her. She's very beautiful; you make a striking couple... just your type. " Brennan's voice was hoarse with the aching throbbing intensity of this confrontation.

"I haven't had an affair!" Booth denied it vehemently. His hands dropped, he could see that she wasn't about to let him touch her now.

Cam was right, if he wasn't here one hundred percent, she would never come back. But he was, now that he was able to hold her again, he knew no one would or could ever be; what she was to him, he had been fooling himself to think anyone could.

"No? What do you call it then? Dating, kissing. I'm sure you've at least kissed her!" Brennan was in touch with her intuition when it came to him, and his eyes twitched away quickly so she knew.

She laughed. "I know you so damn well!" The pain was infiltrating her body, her heart and her soul. Her mind needed to take over and banish it forever, but she couldn't seem to stop it, no matter how hard she was trying, she couldn't stop the feelings snaking their way into her already defiled heart. "I know you! I know what you do! I know how you handle your problems! You ran right into her arms! Just like that!" Brennan flicked her fingers to show him how fast he did it and how disgusted she was by him.

"No, you don't. You don't know a damn thing!" He swiped back his wet dripping hair. "Okay, you are right. I did, I kissed her once, because my wife whom I thought loved me more than anything else in the world, didn't love me anymore. You shut me out, you left me to grieve all alone, you wanted to breathe, Bones, but you suffocated yourself. I decided for the first time in my life not to suffocate, not to wallow. I wanted a way to live again, I wanted to feel loved, and whole and appreciated and most of all, I wanted to be needed. Emma wasn't a tawdry affair; she was a lifeline for me."

"You can't even grieve for our daughter without being selfish. That's you, Booth. What? Are you pretending it never happened? That's what you always do." Brennan felt the heart-wrenching pain.

"How dare you accuse me of not grieving for my daughter? You don't know anything about what I feel. You don't know. If you did…" Booth's face was wretched with his grief, although Brennan didn't see it.

"You're pathetic, you have an affair and then you accuse me of not caring about you! Why should I care? Go have your damned affair!"

"She is not an affair, trust me, Bones. If I walk out that door and I go to her, I won't be coming back. So, you better be damn sure you really want me to go!" Booth's eyes blazed with the challenge. He knew it was not the truth, he knew now he could never walk away. His heart was Brennan's; it couldn't be anyone else's. He had just forgotten how good it was. He wanted what he had because it was beautiful and perfect.

"You've slept with her!" Brennan could see by his eyes he had not been bluffing.

"No! I told you, it's not an affair the way you think it is!"

"Call it what you want, it was still infidelity."

"I haven't done anything... I'm sorry about the kiss... okay, I know I shouldn't have let them happen… but my God! What do you want from me? I'm supposed to just sit around and wait for you to become whole again! What was I supposed to do, Bones? How was I supposed to grieve? You left me no choice!" His hands gripped the edge of the tub to keep him from getting out and going to her. He was afraid she would run or throw him out.

She laughed now, a harsh bitchy laugh. "I left you no choice now. You're blaming me for your unfaithfulness!"

"It never would have happened if you let me in, if you let me take care of you and love you. Damn you for shutting me out. Now you pretend you care! I don't think you give a damn about me!" He knew she did; he felt it in the tub, he saw it in her eyes, and he felt her responses. God, he wished he had done this a long time ago, but he had been too afraid to try.

"So, do you love her?" Brennan asked with her voice hardened, heart stilled for the response.

"I have feelings for her. Yes!" He didn't intend to soft pedal this, this was a matter of life or death, their marriage hung in the balance.

"You have feelings..." Her heart ached at his confession. "Well, then by all means, Booth, trust your gut feeling." She sniped at him.

"I don't want them… okay. I didn't ask for them, they happened, I didn't set out to…"

"To what? Fall in love? You're in love with her!" Brennan's heart stopped.

"I love you; I've always, always loved you! I still do, I want my wife back, I want my life back. I want to be with you and our son! That's why I'm here!"

"I don't believe anything you say! You go to her, Booth! Just... just get the hell out and go to her, she must be something if you've fallen so hard so fast!" Brennan tortured herself with the idea he had already made up his mind; he had only come here out of guilt.

"I started seeing her for one reason only, and that was you!"

"Oh really, I thought it was because she needed advice about FBI recruits! Please, Booth, stop lying! You don't even remember the last ONE you told!"

Booth was silent, he remembered, God, how he remembered.

"See I knew it, you're so transparent. Why haven't you taken her to bed? A man like you, passionate, as you are, what's stopping you?"

"I'm married to you! I haven't forgotten that! Though you sure as hell did! I want to stay a married man; I want to be with you! That's what stops me, that is what will ALWAYS stop me! I swear to you, I began to see Emma for you!"

"Oh God! You just don't stop do you? This was something you did for me! Booth! Please spare me the details."

"She knows what we're going through, she understands it."

"There is no we! We're not going through anything! So what can she possibly know about it!"

"She lost her son three years ago in a car accident, he was three and her husband died in the accident too."

Brennan's mouth stopped the insult she was about to hurl at the woman, because she knew just how devastated she must have been. She always thought Emma was just a single mom, making her own way, taking care of her son. She had never known Emma was ever married or had another child. My God, it struck so many people. Losing a loved one, and God forbid two!

"When you saw us on Parents' night, she was offering to help us both through it. I went to her to get help to understand you. But I got the help, I got what I needed, someone warm and caring and understanding, who wanted to hear how I felt. You didn't. You haven't the whole time, you didn't want me, and you shut me out. What in the hell was I supposed to do?"

"I don't care what you do. Go to her. Be with her. If she made you feel so damn good, then be with her."

"I want you back, Bones. I want our life back, not a life with her, a life with you."

Brennan looked at him wanting to believe it, but not daring to.

"What do you want, Bones?" For the first time, Booth realized he would probably have to let go. She would probably never be whole again, she would probably never let him in again, she did for a few minutes and it was bliss to have Brennan, the Brennan he loves back. But he wouldn't be able to live with her remains, he couldn't sit by and watch her wilt away.

"I want you out. I want you to go! I don't want this anymore! We never have anything but pain! I can't take it anymore... I won't open myself up again. Not to be filled with so much agony! I can't… You need to let me go! I want you to!"

"You wanted something very different, just a few minutes ago, I know you did." Booth couldn't give up.

"You need to hear this once and for all." She wiped her hand over her lips as if to erase that moment of weakness. She reached for her open shirt buttoning it as if to close the door on him. "Go Booth, leave now! I don't care! Go to her! I don't… I can't…" Her emotions spilled out, all that stuffed down came out overflowing.

"It's never stopped, not since we've been together… first… it was the gravedigger… I could recover from that… it wasn't easy. I was scared to death for so long. But I made it."

"We made it…" Booth countered softly.

"Then you got kidnapped by the gravedigger too, and I thought you were dead. I thought I'd lose you forever! And it killed me a little inside, while you were missing, a little of my heart died thinking you might not come out alive or we would never find you. And even when we got you back and you survived... I lost some part of me… but I tried to get it back. And then you had your brain tumor, and I was so sure I was going to lose you that time. Tragedy only strikes the same person so many times, and I was running out of mine, you survived again. We had another chance. We got married and I thought 'okay now it's going to be good.' I knew it wouldn't be easy… not with us… never with us! But I never expected how good it was, so perfect!" Brennan's eyes regretted losing that perfection. "It was so good, and then we got pregnant with Cooper and it was better, everything was good again. I didn't think it could be any better, and just when I trusted it would be... I almost lost you so many times."

"But we made it through all that, Bones… don't you see?" Booth's voice was cajoling.

She continued talking not willing to hear him. "Then finally the baby came, Cooper, so beautiful and sweet and everything was good. But every time we started to breathe easy. Booth, every time! Enough! I was ready to fight… for our life for our happiness."

"Then fight now, damn it, fight now." Booth's pleas went unanswered.

"Cooper is the best part of us. And we began to be so happy, I mean really happy again, gut-wrenchingly happy like you like to say." The emotions that she had held inside all this time came whooshing out and filled her eyes. The old Brennan was talking now, not the stranger with any emotions, tears were making tracks on her cheeks as she spoke. "I figured we couldn't have much more joy! And that was okay, I was content with what we had. But then we found out about Liz coming. I was so thrilled about her... but I didn't even tell you right away, I was so afraid to trust that things could be so blissfully perfect. And then when I began to trust it again, I told you, because I wanted you to feel the way I did. And you did, your face the night I told you... we were going to be the family I always dreamed about secretively, a family that could NEVER be broken. But Liz..." Her eyes showed the pain that saying her name brought.

"Bones…. " Booth felt his own pain more deeply.

"No!" Her woeful cry was heart crushing. "Liz! Losing her… after everything… I can't handle anymore. Maybe you and I are the reason, maybe we are NOT meant to be happy, at least not for long. You know maybe it's a good thing you've fallen for someone else… Maybe you're right; maybe I did push you to her. It would never have worked anyway if we stayed together… we'd manage to find a way to be miserable, and if we didn't find a way, I think it would find us! I can't do it anymore. No more! I want you to go and don't ever come back! Do you hear me? It's over!"

"I haven't, I haven't fallen for someone else… not the way I love you, never the way I love you. I just needed her. Because I needed you! I've always needed you before I even knew it. And I still do! God, Bones, I'm begging you! I didn't want this! I didn't want to go, I never wanted to go, and I didn't want this! All I wanted was you, baby! I needed you, I need you!" Booth pleaded with tears cascading down his cheek.

"Don't! Don't ask me for what I don't have anymore…I can't give anymore. I'm drained. I'm tired. I need peace. I just need peace!" Her voice was a high-pitched plea.

"I need peace too! You are never going to have peace the way you're going, Bones! You're dying. You're killing yourself with grief! You can't keep doing this!"

"I can't stop. I don't want to stop, if I stop thinking about her, if I forget… I have to keep her here." Brennan touched her head with her hand. "If I let her go… she'll be gone… I can't LET her go… I can't live without her! She's my baby! She's my baby!" Brennan's motherly cried wrenched Booth's heart in two.

"I know…. I know, baby! But you have to let me help you, you won't lose her ever, she'll always be in your heart, the way you, Parker and Cooper are in mine, will always be in mine. We need each other, Bones, we always have and we always will!" Booth pleaded for his life.

"No! That was true once, but it's not anymore! We just aren't meant to be anymore, I know it, you have to know it too, a part of you does, or you could never have kissed someone else… you don't love me anymore… you only feel guilty, that's not love!"

"No! Don't you see, Bones? We are meant to be together. For all the reasons you are saying, not because we have so much pain, but because we need each other to get through it, together. Not apart, we were meant to be. Nothing and no one will ever convince me that we are wrong… ever!" Booth's eyes were on fire with his conviction.

"No!" Her voice broke and she put her hands up to stop his approach to help her up. "It's over and the sooner you accept this, the easier it will be on every one, Cooper included."

"I won't let you take my son with you on this path to disintegration! No way, if I go, he goes with me!" Booth's eyes bored into her, he meant every word. All the fear and anger he was feeling took over.

"You won't let it happen? Who the hell are you to decide? You've been unfaithful, or as close to it as it gets! No judge in the world will give you full custody!"

"The hell they will! And let me tell you this, if my kissing someone is unfaithful, then tell me what you have been. You've been unfaithful too, by shutting me out and shoving me away! You turned your back on me! I'd never have been anywhere but by your side, going through this nightmare with you! You didn't want me! You blame me but I didn't bring this on us! I didn't ask for this anymore than you did!"

"I only have enough love left for our son, do you get that? I'm empty, Booth. When she left, she took so much of my love with her... I don't have anything left for you."

"Really, you don't have anything left for Cooper either? Because the mother you were is gone! You're not the loving sweet woman you were, Did Liz take that too? I can't do this anymore; I can't allow my son to suffer the way you're making him suffer! I won't have my son torn in two!"

"I would never hurt him. How can you say that?" Brennan's voice shook as the cold consumed her.

"You hurt him every day! You have isolated him here in this mausoleum that used to be a home! Look at what you are doing to him!" Booth needed her to hear him; he needed her to feel something again. He had almost gotten through to her, he couldn't let her go, not after touching her again, holding her again, feeling her lips on his one more time. How could he ever let that go?

"I love him! You won't take him from me!" Brennan found some strength in needing to protect her son.

"That's where you are wrong… I will take him. You want to know, fine. You go ahead and cut me out of your life, Bones. Then you'll see what I'll do!"

"You wouldn't be that cruel. That's not you!"

"Try me. Cooper deserves better than you!" He wanted to bite out his tongue when he saw the pain he inflicted at those words.

Brennan's sobs reached the base of her throat as she held onto the sink for support. "Get out!" She told him so quietly.

He lifted his hand to reach out to her, but he remembered the agony he felt at her every rejection, and his hand dropped.

"Fine… yeah I'll go. Goodbye, Bones." His words hissed at her with all the anger he had held inside for months. He no longer wanted to try; he had his own pain, his own loss to deal with. "You're as good as dead, I don't have a wife anymore, and the woman I knew is dead!" He couldn't stop the final crushing blow of words.

He walked out about to head down the stairs. His hair was plastered to his head still dripping, his slacks made sloshing noises as his soaked shoes made squeegee sounds along the floor. But something propelled him to her door. One last look was all he wanted. He wanted to feel close to her again.

He stood in front of the door much as he had months ago the day he had moved out. His hand reached for the handle, and he found it was locked. Something inside of him exploded. His dripping shoe kicked at the door. In ONE furious shove, he plowed through it. No one would keep him from feeling close to her, no one could deny him what little was left of his little girl.

He ignored the splintered door, as he walked in slowly. The room was dark kept in the grave, like the rest of the house. Not his little Liz, she couldn't be in the dark, not ever. He went to the windows and opened the shades, letting the light rays filter in.

Brennan heard the crashing door. She sat slumped down on the bathroom floor crying softly. She listened for more banging, knowing Booth was filled with anger and rage. She rose slowly, walking across the now flooded floor, and risked further inundation by leaning in to turn off the still running shower. She walked out the doorway towards her bedroom to change when she heard his harsh tortured sobs. She stopped, listening to them, unable to block the sound of his grief from her heart.

She took a few tentative steps then she heard him speaking, taking gulping breaths as he cried out.

"I'm so sorry, baby… Daddy is sorry. I never meant to let anything happen to you… I was supposed to protect you! That's what Daddy's do."

Brennan took a few more steps to the broken room, what used to be a room filled with love, laughter, giggles and nightly tickle sessions.

Booth was on his knees by the bed as if in prayer. His hand was wrapped around the white bed post, for support as he rocked on his knees, his body wet and shivering as he continued to talk to his baby girl.

"I loved you… I was in a meeting… and I didn't have a phone on me…" He gulped as his words were muffled. "I would have been there sooner, Liz… I would have… God, I would have!"

Brennan was standing a few feet away. Booth didn't hear her.

"I was on my way princess. I swear I was… the damn traffic. I got out... I ran and ran...I wanted to be with you so much… I wanted to save you, but I couldn't."

"Booth…"

He turned slowly, not really registering her presence.

She took in his haggard face, the droop of his shoulders.

"You were right, Booth," her voice broke at the thought of going on without Cooper at her side. "You should take Cooper… you were right…. I'm not fit to take care of him, not now anyway! I wasn't there for Liz… "

Her teary voice incriminated herself as her thoughts had continuously. "I wanted to be so much…. I can't
give Cooper what he needs…. I'm not even sure he knows how much I love him. I wonder if Liz did."

Booth heard her recriminations, he couldn't bear to see her so unsure of the love her children had for her. He managed to compose himself a little.

"Bones, she knew. How could she not?" His voice was raspy with emotion. "You showed it to her every day. I remember you would comb her hair and put in her favorite butterfly clips." He smiled through the tears as he remembered. "She would smile that big, big grin. After she would look at herself in the mirror, then I would see her eyes looking at you, when you didn't notice. They were full of love for you."

Brennan was softly weeping leaning against the jammed door.

"She loved you. Every time you sat on the floor and played dolls with her. Don't you remember how she would suddenly burst out with 'I love you, Mommy! Can I kiss You, Mommy?' Don't you remember that, Bones?"

"Yes." Brennan walked a little further into the room. Her eyes took it all in. The shelves lined with all the books and trinkets Brennan had painstakingly chosen, making sure everything came together, a symphony of color and light to make her little princess happy. She had loved every moment with her. How she had cherished her baby girl! How she longed to see her in this room again, to hold her, to cuddle her and teach her everything. So much was left unspoken, so many things yet to do together. The sorrow of being in this room without her was almost too much.

"You are the best Mom in the world! No one would have been better for our children. No one could have loved them more or better. No one."

"Then if that's true, why do you want to take him away from me?" The torturous look in her eyes made it impossible for him to hurt her. He didn't want to take anything more from her, she had had enough taken.

"I don't." Booth's eyes told her, his hands wanted to touch her so badly. He fought to stop them from moving involuntarily, instinctively he knew how she felt. He had memorized each soft curve, and he longed to return to her.

"Booth… I wasn't there." Brennan looked at him defying him to say that it was okay. It wasn't okay, it would never be okay. He was silent. He wouldn't look into her eyes, she wondered again why whenever she said it, he couldn't look at her. Was it because he blamed her too?

Booth heard all the aching blame in her voice self directed. He could hardly stand it anymore.

"And now with Cooper, I know I'm screwing it up, but I can't stop. I have to protect him. You don't
understand; you were there. You are handling it. You will survive it. I'm not so sure I can. Not even for my son!" She said it again. "You were there. I couldn't be there." The devastation of that day would never leave her. "I hate that you were there and I wasn't. I wanted to be the one!" Brennan admitted the most horrifying truth of all.

Booth's eyes registered shock. He knew he had to tell her. He shook his head, as he was about to enter his own coffin. This would bury them forever. He had done it out of love and love only. But would she ever understand that? He got to his feet feeling as though he was in another realm, this couldn't really be happening.

"I lied, Bones." His eyes stared straight into her soul; he was facing his final judge and jury. He had done it out of love.

"What are you talking about?" She had no idea.

"I didn't tell you everything about the day Liz died." Booth's throat was parched as he tried to find the courage to tell her. Knowing he would be making her worst fears a reality, hoping she would understand how much he had tried to protect her.

"I didn't make it." He swallowed the lump that had been growing in his throat ever since that fateful day.

Brennan's eyes widened in shock as she realized what Booth was saying. She inhaled in a deep gasp as she came to understand what he meant. "What do you mean you didn't make it?"

Booth head was downcast but he forced himself to look straight into her eyes. "I wasn't there… she died without either one of us." The heartache he had been hiding cracked in his voice. The anguished tears fell down his cheeks. He stopped wondering if she had heard him.

"How could you let me think… Oh… you let her die alone?" She was furious.

"Yes." His one gasping breath of confession and truth hit her like an avalanche.

"She was alone?" Brennan's felt his betrayal as if the knife handle was sticking out her back. "How could you not tell me? Our baby died all alone? How could you not get there! Booth, was that meeting so important? You Coward! Not telling me, all this time… you bastard!" She backed away feeling the most protective blinding fury at the knowledge that her daughter had not had him either! She went away all by herself; no one to hold her hand and to say goodbye to. No one to tell her everything would be okay.

"I'm sorry, Bones. I'm so sorry." His voice broke with all the pent up emotions, he had held for months, he was prepared to hold for years to protect her, forever if it was necessary.

"She had no one!" Her eyes consumed his, wanting answers.

"I tried, God… I swear to you, I tried!"

Brennan's eyes emitted the betrayal she felt. Her heart broke as she realized her worst fear had happened, her baby had been alone. No one to hold her or whisper words of love; no one to wipe away the beads of fever from her brow. Only strangers, no family, no loved ones. She had come into their world to be greeted by joyous cheers and happy smiles. She had been cuddled and treasured beyond words. And now, to find she had left their world with nothing, no one to make the transition easy or to help her go without fear...

"Why in the HELL didn't you tell me?" Brennan was feeling a rage she hadn't felt before; she didn't think it was possible to be angrier. But she was crazy with rage, white hot fuming fury!

"I had to call you and tell you Liz was sick." Booth's eyes were haunted by the memories. "You were gone because of me. I was in at that stupid meeting, Caroline had to come and tell me, when Maddie called but she was already at the hospital with Liz. I don't know how much time passed before Caroline got the call and got to me. It was maybe an hour before I even got the message. I ran to my car, I got on the freeway to get to the hospital. There was a traffic jam, awful, maybe it was a pile up, I don't know."
He was talking fast because he had to get this out once and for all and it was as if he was so shaken inside it was spewing it at long last his deception was over!

"I called the hospital to tell them and they told me to hurry." Booth's voice was cracked and raw with emotion as finally he admitted what he had needed to share with her.

Brennan stood there her hands molded into fists as she heard his confession. Her eyes on him were cold, and unyielding.

Booth looked around the room, eyes not focusing as he was drawn back into the nightmare. "I got out of the car so fast. I don't think I even turned it off. I could hear people yelling and screaming and horns honking, but I didn't care. I ran. I cut through all the damn cars; I didn't know what to do. I just had to get
to the hospital. I had your car, so I didn't have any way to get to the hospital faster. I finally found a cop car in the middle of the mess. I explained that I need to get to the hospital. I don't remember what the hell I said exactly, but he believed me. He was able to get me out of the mess, and he called the traffic helicopter to take me to the hospital. I got to the hospital, I ran to an elevator. I was so relieved to be there, I thought everything would be okay, it had to be okay."

Brennan felt the weakening in her legs as she heard the truth.

"I got off on the floor where they said she was. I was yelling telling them I was her Dad! They wouldn't let me in. I didn't see their faces, I was going crazy. If I had looked into their eyes, I would have known." His eyes were dripping with tears as he relived the most heartbreaking moment of his life.

"Finally, two of the orderlies held me back, and they told me." His face reflected the same horror he felt in those moments. "They told me that Liz was gone!" Booth's cries of desolation rang in Brennan's ear as she heard the words. "I was too late. She was gone. They couldn't save her!" He moaned as the pain reverberated over him once again.

Brennan wanted to reach out to him to comfort him, but her anger at his deception was too strong. How could he have kept this from her, she had every right to know.

"I went into shock, I couldn't believe it. How could she be gone?"

Hot tears were coursing down Brennan's face.

"How could she leave us?" Booth questioned for the millionth time.

"I called you from the plane." Brennan's own memories were fresh and raw as if it was only the day before.

"Yeah, I knew then." He looked up into her eyes, his head tilted in sorrow, his eyes asking for mercy. "I couldn't tell you, not on the phone. I mean you were going out of your mind as it was. I knew that you would be alone. I couldn't let you know when you were alone!" Booth shook his head as he remembered the call and how he barely managed to utter the lie that he knew would hold her together till she got there. 'She's not responding to treatment.' It was as close to the truth as he dared to get, and even then he was afraid she would see through it. "I wanted to be there to hold you; I wanted to be there for you. I wasn't there for her." His guilt sounded so familiar, she knew it so well.

"This is the most callous cruel thing you have ever done! You let me believe I was the one who failed her! You let me hold on to all this guilt. You never said a word!" She backed further away from him. "How can you even look at yourself in a mirror? You are a hypocrite!"

Booth felt the force of her anger. It was almost a relief to hear her yelling at him again, even if it was over. It was a relief. His eyes stared straight ahead she knew now, no more secrets. But now he couldn't look at her, he couldn't face the wounds he had inflicted yet again.

"I couldn't, I just couldn't. Do you think I want you to have anymore pain? Do you think I don't know what you've been through? I know, I caused some of it, the things with faking my death, I know I did. And this time, I could spare you; I could be your protector for once. There was nothing I could do for our baby girl, but for you, I had to do it for you!"

"You should have told me, I don't need you to protect me!" Brennan wouldn't listen. "You were the one protecting yourself, not me. How dare you say this was for me? I have been going through hell."

"You have been going through hell?" His anger returned at her words. How could she be so cold? "What about me, Bones? Do you really think this has been a walk in the park for me?"

Brennan remained silent, her eyes boring into him waiting for him to tell her the rest.

"I wanted to tell you then and there, but you asked to go in and see her! Remember? I hadn't gone in yet. I knew if I had gone in to see her. If I spoke with you over the phone, you would know. I wouldn't have been able… " His voice crumbled at the heartbreak renewed inside him. "I knew. I could never keep it from you."

"You knew she was already dead when I called… you knew!" Brennan didn't get his logic. She had a right to know about her little girl! How could he have let her go on hoping when it was over? How could he let her believe when there was nothing left to believe in?

"I was going to tell you, but you were, Bones, it was too much for you to handle. You were on the plane for God's sake, what would you have done if I told you? It wouldn't have been right."

"Who the hell are you to decide what's right?"

"I'm your husband! You were alone; I wanted to tell you myself in person, not on a damn phone! Hate me if you want, I don't care. I would do it the same way again! I did what was best!"

She felt the tears burning in her eyes.

"You don't remembered everything, Bones. There is no way you could." Booth informed her.

"Suppose you tell me what happened then, Booth that I have forgotten." Brennan doubted very much she had forgotten one moment of that nightmare!

"We were in the waiting room and you asked to see her. I took you in, you were hysterical. You grabbed her into your arms and you wouldn't let her go." Booth's eyes focused now on her face, he saw how intently she was listening. It gave him a ray of hope. "You held her; you were talking to her about how sorry you were not to be there. You were insane with grief. Then you looked at me and you said it over and over. 'Daddy was here. It's okay. I'm so sorry, but you had Daddy. I'm so glad you didn't go alone.' You were in bad shape, Bones. The doctor had to sedate you to get you to let go of her. I couldn't take that away from you. It was too much, I was afraid you would have a breakdown if you knew."

Brennan vaguely remembered what he told her. But the memories were foggy. "Go on." She wanted to know everything.

"I wanted to hold her too! I wanted to say how sorry I was, I wanted to, but I couldn't. You believed I already had, so I let you go on. I decided not to ever tell you when I saw how much comfort you took in believing I was there. I wanted to harbor you from it, I wasn't protecting myself I swear it. It was for you, Bones. I couldn't protect Liz anymore. I had to at least try to protect you, baby." Booth's eyes implored her to believe him.

She remembered the times he had gone way overboard, and how much it had nearly cost them. She knew this was Booth; take him or leave him, it's him.

"Bones, I love you. That's the reason for everything, my love for you. You have to believe that. No matter
what pain I have caused you, no matter what we have gone through, even Liz. I wouldn't trade one moment of my life with you. I wouldn't." Booth's voice trailed knowing she didn't feel that way.

"You lied to me that day, I understand why, but it's been months! You've kept the lie, the deception. Did you really think I'd be able to forgive you after all this time?"

"The doctors were very concerned for you; they said you needed to be kept as stress free as possible, not to expect too much. No stress! They recommended grief counseling. I told you, but you refused. You fought everything I tried to do; it was like you already knew! The way you treated me sometimes, it seemed like my just punishment."

Brennan remembered all the fights well. She was glad she punished him, he deserved every bit! He let her go on believing the lie, and he knew what it was doing to her. He let it continue so he could escape.
And what better escape than a good old-fashioned affair with someone who would give him the sympathy he thought he should be getting from her!

"I had to protect you. Losing Liz... " Booth's voice was a whisper now. "I couldn't bear to lose anything else."

He laughed somberly. "I've lost everything now, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. Because I love you, Bones. If you never believe another thing I say, you should believe that! You, Parker and Cooper, I don't have a life without my family."

"No!" Brennan wouldn't give him what he wanted. She couldn't, and she wouldn't ever be able to forgive him for this! "I hate you for doing this to me. You should have told me. There's no excuse for this, I had a right to know about it. You had no right, you lied to me. You didn't do this for me; you did it because you are so damn guilty. And now you have gotten yourself another woman, who understands your grief. So, get the hell away from me and be with her. I don't need your kind of love and I never have." Brennan was panting with the wrath of her hate, she would never forgive him.

"No, Bones. No!" Booth felt like the floor was opening and he was being swallowed by one hundred hungry monsters. He fell to his knees. This couldn't be happening; she was doing what he had feared she would do all along. She had trusted him; she had taken his word. And he had lied. In the name of love, he had kept up the pretense. He hadn't realized it would hurt her in the long run; he had never wanted to hurt her. "I didn't do it to hurt you. You have to believe that!"

"And you didn't kiss Emma Foster with that in mind, I'm sure. I mean what's one lie on top of another? For all I know, you've slept with her too! I can't believe anything you tell me anymore!"

"I love you. I love you, Parker and Cooper and I wish Liz hadn't died." Booth was despondently hearing her say she hated him, it took his spirit away. He feared that the most. He couldn't live with Brennan hating him.

"Yeah, well, we can't all get what we want, can we Booth?"

"Don't do this, Bones. Please, I didn't do anything willingly to hurt you; I didn't want to leave this house, leave you or Cooper and I still don't!"

"You get the hell out of my house." She screamed until her body was trembling with the effort.

"I don't want Emma, I want you."

"You don't get to choose me, because I don't choose you. I will never choose you again. You have worn out your welcome here. It's over. I want you out of my life, and if you try to take my son away, I will fight you with every last breath I have. And make no mistakes, Booth; it will get dirty. Don't forget I know things about you no one else knows. You are unfaithful, not a year after our daughter's death. What kind of moral example is that for raising a child? At least I'm honest about my feelings, Booth. Get out of here, and don't ever come back." Brennan's eyes were burning with hatred. "I'm glad Liz is not here to see what a sniveling coward her father is. I'm glad she can't see you now. She looked at you as though you were her hero and you let her down. You let us all down. Don't make me drag you through the mud, Booth. Because it will get uglier than you can even imagine. There are witnesses, neighbors who have seen you in public with Emma. And there's Cam. I will subpoena her." Brennan took a deep breath to control her sobs, "You could have told me a hundred times, and you didn't. I find that reprehensible and unforgivable. Get out. I hate you." She cried out over and over again.

Booth got to his feet slowly, he felt like he was in a drunken stupor, all the emotions have left him drained and exhausted. He stumbled past her through the broken doorway, heading down the stairs, leaving Brennan all alone just the way she wanted. She crumbled on Liz's bed holding the comforter to her mouth to block out her wailing sobs.

A/N: I know it seems like the end of the world, but it isn't. You all gotta trust me on that. I made a promise and I intend to keep it. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter? I'm anxiously waiting to read your reviews, so review away and thanks for reading it, we are almost to the end.