Hi! First of all, I apologize for not making clear enough that this isn't meant to be funny (at least not yet). It isn't quite the most angsty piece out there, but it has a healthy dose of it. You should know that ending is happy!

Thanks for all alerts/reviews/favorites! Especially to: Boneslover10 for telling me this really shouldn't be funny and for final improvements and Lady-josie, Southunlady, Nertooold54 for suggestions! :D

Southunlady: I'm really sorry for not waiting on reply, but I noticed you disabled PM on your profile :-/

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

The call and the assignment:

Brennan's POV:

I just finished talking to my publisher, when my phone rang again. It was Sweets.

"Hi, Sweets!"

I think it was the first time I was happy it was him calling. My publisher called me every morning to hear about my book's progress and talked to me for at least an hour, so whatever Sweets had to tell me would definitely be better, than what she had to say.

"Dr. Brennan, do you have a few minutes to talk?"

"Yes."

"You know that book about you and Booth, I wrote?"

I nodded to myself.

"The one that has mistakes in it?"

"Yes, well I fixed most of those mistakes and accidentally sent it to my publisher, who published it, because we came to a misunderstanding, and we have a party to celebrate it in two weeks!"

He was talking really fast and didn't sound as excited as his words were… Did I understand him correctly? His Book is going to be published, scratch that. His book is published! The same book that concludes that me and Booth are in love with each other?

"Which mistake did you fix? The one I've noticed or the one that Booth has?"

"The one you've mentioned! Are you okay with the book being published?"

He sounded hopeful and somehow relieved.

I didn't understand why it mattered if I'm okay with it or not. I expected the book to be published as soon as the factual error would be corrected. Well, thinking of it: with everything going on now, it would probably be better if Sweets wouldn't publish it, but it didn't matter; I had nothing to lose anymore. That book already caused a lot of damage as an original manuscript. On the other hand, I'd never realize my feelings for Booth if it weren't for his book. If Booth and I wouldn't have read the book, nothing would have changed… That would be great; just the thought of things being the same that they once were, made me smile. Unfortunately, I couldn't change anything; what happened - happened… I was thinking about the 'what ifs' too much.

"Well, do I have a choice?"

"No, not really… Will you come to the party?"

I thought for a moment. If the book was published a year ago, before Hannah, we'd go to the party together – Booth and I - but now, he'll go with her and I'll go alone.

"Is Booth going to be there?"

"I didn't tell him the book is published yet."

There were a few moments of silence, he was thinking.

"So the conclusion is still that we're in love?"

I maybe sounded a little hopeful, because Sweets grabbed his chance to
psychoanalyze me.

"Well do you think you're in love? What I think doesn't matter; I'm just a person who deals with soft science for a living", he said sarcastically.

Well I know that I'm in love with him… I actually kind of told him that in the SUV a month ago. But it wasn't any of Sweets' business so I didn't mention that. Anytime Sweets got in the picture, things got worse and more complicated. Besides Booth has someone else in his life now and she's not just a consolation prize. If she wasn't a consolation prize, than why would he mention it? I never once said she was.

"It doesn't matter, he's not in love with me, he's with Hannah now and they 'love' each other."

Thankfully, he didn't keep pushing. Instead he gave me the worst assignment possible:

"You could tell him, right? I'm really busy with everything… just tell him about the book and that the party is on Saturday in two weeks. Thank you so much!"

And then he hung up. I didn't have any other choice, but to call Booth. As usual, when I called recently, he didn't have time to talk, and he told me to meet him at the Diner for a late lunch.

I was there early, thinking how he'd react. He'd be angry at Sweets, that's for sure. What if he brings Hannah with him? It wouldn't surprise me, regarding his recent behavior. I should have really stood up to Sweets in the first place and told him to call Booth himself! How is Hannah going to react? Did Booth even tell her about us, or what happened when he followed me in the middle of the night and saved my life? I was happy for him, but somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted both of us to be happy, including me, and I was not. I needed to talk to him. Telling him openly how I feel – taking a chance - helped me in a weird way. At least I now know that he knows that I made a mistake. Unfortunately all he told me was that he's with someone else, whom he 'loves', and that she isn't a consolation prize.

The Booth I knew did not move on that fast. After Tessa, or Cam he didn't have a girlfriend for at least a year. The way he told me he wants to spend next thirty, forty or fifty years with me sounded pretty serious. Did he really not care about me (at least) as much as he did about Cam? He just moved on, forgot everything. Maybe Hannah was the love of his life. Yeah, that had to be it! The only reason why he would move on that fast could be that he is sure Hannah is the one for him. I couldn't prevent him from being with the love of his life; that is something he's always dreamed of. I am jealous; jealous of him, for being able to move on and jealous of Hannah, for having him. But the one thing that will forever haunt me is that he was willing to take a chance on us when he didn't even truly love me, and that hurts.

Suggestions are welcome! Review and let me know what you think!

~K