Thank you again to all those who reviewed. And to Melissa who help make this chapter sound better than it originally did.

Brennan

It's almost midnight by the time I unlock my door and enter the apartment. It is pitch black in there. Booth must be asleep. My hand reaches to flick the light switch on the wall, and I'm startled to see Booth sitting on the couch. The first thought that crosses my mind is that he has fallen asleep watching tv, but the tv screen is blank. I walk around towards Booth, his eyes are staring blankly ahead.

"Booth?"

He turns to look up at me, his face an unreadable mask.

"What are you doing sitting here in the dark? Are you ok?"

I try to recall the articles I had read about post traumatic stress disorder. A sense of dread settles over me as I search his eyes for understanding. Is Booth suffering from PTSD?

"Are you hungry? I could fix you something to eat."

I take off my coat and start towards the kitchen, I remember how having a meal together with Booth always seems to make us feel better.

"Where were you?" His voice pierces the air.

"I was out with Hank, we were chasing a lead. It turned out to be a dead end we – "

"Don't!"

I'm shocked by the anger in his voice.

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"I saw you!"

"Saw me what Booth?" I'm confused. I don't understand what Booth is talking about.

"Don't act like you don't know."

"I don't know!"

"I saw you and Hank. You guys were… he had his hands all over you!"

"What? When?"

"He touched you! No man should be able to touch you except me!"

"When did he touch me?"

"In your office, he put his hand on your back…. what I used to do." Booth's voice is cool and calm, his icy cool demeanor scares me.

"If he did, I didn't notice."

"Jared warned me. I didn't want to believe him but then I saw it with my own eyes."

"Jared? I can't believe he told you! That day I had just got news that you were dead! I was crying. Hank is my partner. He was doing what partners do, being there for me. He hugged me. Nothing more."

"He hugged you?" Booth smiles a bitter laugh. "Sorry for disappointing you and surviving the crash. Sorry for coming between Hank and you."

"Do you hear what you're saying?"

"I thought I was your partner."

"You are Booth, but you're also so much more than that now."

"Yeah? Am I?"

"You're insane!" If he didn't have both left limbs in casts, I'd have slugged him in the face.

"I may be crazy Bones, but at least my heart never changed. I can't say the same for you!"

"I've changed?! You've been home for three days, Booth. How can you judge what I've been through? I have done nothing with Hank."

"How the hell would I know? I've been thousands of miles away. How would I know what you've been up to? You never once Bones, told me you love me."

"If crying myself to sleep every night, if worrying about your safety, if refusing to believe that you were dead, if thinking about you all the time and wishing you were home, if missing you so much that it hurt, is not loving you, then I don't know what is."

Each angry word from his mouth cuts through me like a thousand knives. I can't believe Booth would accuse me of cheating on him with another man. I thought partners were supposed to trust one another. After everything we have been through; Epps, The Grave Digger, my father's trial, his shooting, and now the war; was our partnership really so fragile?

"Yeah, well you never believed in monogamy anyway Bones. Why start now right? I'm no good to you now. I can't do anything. I'm stuck in this stupid wheelchair! You probably married me out of pity."

"Did you even hear a word I said? Have a little faith in me… in us!" If I wasn't so hurt and angry I'd be laughing at the irony of the situation. It used to be Booth who believed in love and faith, not me.

Booth seems to be momentarily stunned by my words and stops his tirade.

I watch tears roll down Booth's cheeks. The pain I'm feeling in my heart intensifies. I want to hold him in my arms and tell him we'll work things out. But my pride gets the better of me. I still can't believe he can accuse me like that. If there was any chance I'd change my mind and simmer down, Booth's next action ruins it all.

He picks up the glass of scotch he had beside him and hurls it into the wall, barely missing my face.

"I don't know you anymore Seeley Booth. I don't want a monster sleeping beside me."

I storm away from him. Entering our bedroom I close the door. The sound of the lock clicking into place echos as if it's been amplified a hundred times. Booth would just have to sleep on the couch tonight. Exhausted, I collapse on my bed sobbing.

The sun shining through my blinds wakes me from my sleep. Is it morning already? I've slept in my clothes. I remember last night, the words that were exchanged between Booth and me. Sweets did warn me that when Booth got back he'd need some time to adjust, but I had been seriously unprepared for last night.

Wearily, I take my usual morning shower, scrubbing at my skin, hoping to scrub away memories of last night. I emerge from the shower. Perhaps Booth would be ready to talk. I open the door to our bedroom, expecting to see him lying on our couch. The couch is empty.

"Booth?"

No answer. I scan the apartment. No sign of his wheelchair. Booth is gone.

Sorry cliffhanger. It'll be resolved soon, I promise!