Hope you enjoy :) A little fun before leaping back into the angst.

Oh, and happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Bones.

The Three on the Trip

"Bones! Could you maybe hurry up a little? I'm growing a beard out here."

Booth looks down at Parker, who smiles knowingly back up at him. They silently count to three on their fingers before mouthing, "That's irrational" just as Bones shouts through the door, "That's irrational, Booth. No matter how much testosterone you have, it would be impossible for you to grow a beard in the time it takes me to get dressed."

"What's testosterone?" Parker whispers, pulling on his sleeve.

Looking down at him, Booth answers vaguely, "It's stuff that makes your hair grow." God knows he isn't getting any more in depth on that until Parker takes biology in high school.

Of course, Bones has no such inhibitions. "That's not entirely accurate," she says, opening the door. "Testosterone is the main male sex hormone and—"

"Bones!"

She looks at them curiously. "What?"

Over Parker's head, Booth makes a cutting motion across his throat and narrows his eyes at her. Thankfully, she seems to get the point and shuts her mouth. But the silence lasts only a split second before she realizes aloud, "Oh, we shouldn't be talking about sex around children."

He closes his eyes and lets out an exasperated groan.

"Dad," Parker asks brightly, "what's sex?"

Jeez, these two just bounce off each other perfectly to wear him out, don't they? With another groan, Booth slaps his hands over Parker's ears and says, "Nothing. Just pretend you didn't hear that." His son opens his mouth with another question in mind, no doubt, but Booth hurriedly speaks over him. "So, Bones, you ready?"

She nods and turns. "Give me a second to lock my door, and we can go."

As she locks the door, slips the key in her coat pocket, and wraps her scarf around her neck, Booth surreptitiously looks her up and down. She's dressed casually today in jeans, a pair of warm boots, and a nice white button-up coat. Under the collars of the coat, he can just see the top of the blue long-sleeved shirt he likes. Is there any way to dress Bones up so she will not look good?

"Okay," she says after a moment. "Where are we headed?"

"To the aquarium!" Parker shouts happily. "We'll get to see the sharks and the clown fish, and the—" He stops abruptly, staring at her wrist. "What happened to your cast, Bones?"

She smiles and holds up her completely healed arm. "I had it taken off a couple of days ago. I don't need it anymore."

"You didn't throw it away, did you?" Parker asks anxiously.

With a laugh, Bones shakes her head. "No, I kept it. A reminder."

"That it hurts to break your arm and you shouldn't do anything dangerous anymore?" Parker asks.

"Yes," she says. "A reminder of that." But there's something in her eyes that tells Booth it's so much more. He wonders what the cast means to her, what it's really a reminder of. That night? What happened that night, really? He still hasn't puzzled out the whole truth, even as often as he's dropped hints here and there around Bones and Angela. Angela, he thinks, really doesn't know much. Bones is clamped so tightly around her secrets he probably won't be able to get through with a bulldozer. So he figures it's best to wait. She'll tell him some time or another, when she's ready. When it's important enough. So he lets her keep her silence, for now.

They get into his SUV, and he makes sure they both buckle up before pulling out onto the street.

"I can't wait to see the sharks," Parker enthuses from the back seat. "Dad showed me some pictures and they look really cool!"

Bones turns in her seat. "Have you never been to the aquarium before?"

Parker shakes his head. "I went once when I was really young, so I don't remember much."

"Took him with Rebecca when he was four," Booth explains. "He liked the sharks then too."

Twenty minutes later, they pull up to the aquarium, and Parker bounds to the front desk in excitement. Booth has to keep one eye on his son as he pays for the tickets, and once they clear the entrance to the aquarium, Parker takes off like a loose cannon.

"He's very energetic," Bones observes as they follow behind at a slower pace.

"He's a kid," Booth answers. "I tell Rebecca she shouldn't give him so much candy."

"When I was little," Bones says, smiling at the memory, "I loved those butterscotch candies. I ate them until I got sick."

Booth looks at her skeptically and laughs. "I have a hard time imagining you doing anything unhealthy."

She frowns defensively at him. "What? I was a normal child."

"Except you told me you kept faking your own death."

"Only for a period of time."

"And you did creepy things in high school."

She shrugs. "Depends on how you define 'creepy.'"

He laughs again, shaking his head. "How could dissecting dead bodies with a shady custodian be anything but creepy?"

"It was very educational," she says matter-of-factly. "It was a useful tool for learning basic anatomy, even in animals. In fact, if you want, I could show Parker some time—"

"Oh-ho, no!" Booth chuckles humorlessly and shakes his head. "There is no way I'm going to let you and Parker go dig bird corpses out of trees and dissect them just to learn about where hearts are and where lungs belong. You can learn all that stuff in a nice, bloodless book."

She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow. "Studies prove that hands-on experimentation and observation are more effective than rote memorization."

"Well, we're not going to be doing and hands-on experimentation if I have anything to say about it," Booth mutters. But he's already lost Bones' attention; she's drifted away from his side to stare at an exhibit of jellyfish, brought into visibility by black light. He takes a moment to marvel in how bright her eyes are, lit up with childish amazement. She looks so much like a little girl then, the little girl she never got to be, that he has to tuck his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching out to her.

"They're pretty," he says, watching the jellyfish drift from one end of the tank to another, their tentacles fluttering with the movement.

"They're very impressive," she answers. "See? It's a different thing, reading about them in books and now seeing them in person. For one thing, it's difficult for a scientific explanation in a book to evoke emotion. Looking at them now, I feel…awed."

"A different thing," Booth repeats, and he gets what she's talking about. For example, it's one thing to read about firing a gun, and it's another thing to actually be out in the field looking through a sniper's scope knowing you're about to take someone's life with a pull of your finger. And it's one thing reading about Andy and Kathy locking lips in a book; it's quite another thing to actually kiss Bones in real life, to feel her body pressed up tight against his.

And where the hell did that last thought come from? He knows, God he knows, he's still in love with Bones as ever, but seriously, it's way too early to be getting these thoughts again. Not that these thoughts ever stopped, now that he thinks about it, but he needs to keep them under wraps, or the next thing he'll be doing is kissing the living daylights out of Bones and probably earning a shiny black eye in the process.

He just says, "You're right," as normally as he can manage without getting all dry-mouthed at the thought of Bones' body pressed against his.

She nods. "Of course I am," she says in that completely matter-of-fact way that takes all the arrogance out of her words. "And imagine a different perspective: imagine being in the tank with them."

Booth shudders at the thought. "I've watching enough horror movies to get the gist of what would happen."

She shrugs nonchalantly. "You probably wouldn't be killed. Look, the placard says their stings, though potentially extremely painful, are relatively harmless."

He rolls his eyes. "Oh, that's so much better. I'll just be in agony for a week."

"That is better," Bones agrees, in that oblivious-to-sarcasm way she has. "It's better than being dead."

She'll never understand sarcasm, will she? He sighs. "Yeah, better than being six feet under. Now come on. Where's Parker?"

They find his son standing wide-eyed at the shark exhibit, too riveted to be bothered. So, with a shake of his head, Booth pulls Bones away to the nearby glass wall of swirling fish, near enough to still keep an eye on Parker.

"He's growing up fast," Booth mutters, casting a glance back at his son. "I mean, a blink of an eye, and he'll be a snarky teenager who's too cool for me. Say goodbye to those good ol' daddy days."

"That's common enough in adolescents these days," Bones agrees, and Booth shoots her an exasperated look.

"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" he asks.

She looks back at him quizzically. "No. It's a fact."

He decides it's too much effort to keep on the topic, so he turns to the tank and looks up at it, at the columns of swirling fish and mountains of coral. "So what is this?"

"French angelfish," Bones replies promptly. At his surprised look, she points to the placard in front of them.

"That's…interesting," Booth says, even though they look just like any other fish in the aquarium. Their exoticism is dampened by the exoticism of pretty much every other creature in the place, and he can't see anything that's special about them except their patterning, which gleams in the light.

"They are interesting," Bones agrees, sounding much more involved than he is. "Did you know that French angelfish mate for life?"

His gaze flickers over to her before returning to the myriad of fish. "That's not on the placard."

She shrugs. "Angela had an animal phase. She and I looked up all the animals that mate for life, and she drew pictures of all of them. It was quite romantic, actually."

"Romantic," Booth says slowly. "Can't imagine you doing much of that either."

She gives him a look. "Being romantic isn't particularly hard to do, Booth. You say and do sweet things, and you express your love in radical and sometimes ridiculous ways. It's simple."

"I think you're the only one who can make being romantic sound incredibly unromantic," Booth mutters with a sigh. "Being romantic is more than that, Bones. It's…loving someone your whole life, like that fish."

"I think people feel offended when compared to a fish," she offers.

With a sigh, he shakes his head. "That's not the point. Being romantic is…is cooking breakfast for the other person in the morning. Or sharing the covers on the bed when it gets really cold. Or watching a cheesy chick flick even if you'd rather be watching football."

"Or the latest anthropologic documentary."

He rolls his eyes. "Or the latest anthropologic documentary. Being romantic is doing what makes the other person happy. It's a lot more than saying sweet things and declaring your love in outrageous ways."

She smiles, her eyes on the fish swimming high above them. "I think that was very romantic, Booth."

He turns and gives her a little bow. "Thank you."

By that time, Parker's gotten bored of the sharks and pulls them along to the lionfish. And then to the sea turtles, and then to the sea snails, and all the animals start to blend together. Booth smiles at all of them and lifts Parker onto his shoulders (something that's getting harder to do) when he can't see something, but his attention is split between his son and Bones. Parker's wide-eyed amazement will never fail to bring a grin to Booth's face. And Bones' delighted exclamation when the manta rays drift by waving to her makes him just want to take her into his arms. God, he loves both of them so much it's almost unbelieveable. One makes him smile and laugh like an idiot; the other makes his heart ache.

"I'm starving," Parker groans after nearly three hours of scampering around the aquarium.

Booth snorts and checks his watch. "It's almost one. No wonder you're hungry."

"I saw a few restaurants within the aquarium," Bones offers. "I think it was back that way."

She points, and Booth shrugs. "Sure, let's go that way."

He takes Parker's hand on one side and is surprised when his son reaches up to take Bones' hand on the other side. He's struck by the imagery: the three of them holding hands like a real family, like Parker had drawn on Bones' cast. It makes a shiver go through him, a shiver of longing. If only it were real.

They find the restaurant easily enough, and as they wait for the orders to arrive, Booth and Parker make lemonade out of the water and slice of lemon they've been given. Bones laughs and rolls her eyes at them like they're so immature for making their own lemonade instead of ordering it, but Booth smirks at her. They're immature? Who was the one stuffing fries in his mouth and squirting mustard at him a couple of days back?

"Let's go to the gift shop next," Parker suggests brightly as the waitress comes with their meals. He picks up a chicken nugget and takes a huge bite.

Booth groans and pretends to glare at him. "You're cleaning me out today, buddy."

They spend the next hour lingering over their meals, and Booth can't help but smile every time Bones reaches for the salt. She seems to remember their food fight too, because every once in a while, her eyes flicker up to his and her lips curve up into a secret smile. When Parker's not looking, Booth picks up one of his fries and mimes throwing it at Bones, and she pretends to spill her drink in his lap in response. He glares at her in mock-outrage and reaches with exaggerated slowness for the salt shaker, and Bones' grin widens. They touch the salt shaker simultaneously and pretend to wrestle with it for a moment before Bones, that knowing, teasing look in her eyes, licks her lips tantalizingly. And just like the last time, Booth's grip slackens as he stares at her lips, at the way her tongue caresses them ever-so-slowly, at the way her upper teeth just barely graze her lower lip…holy hell…

"Daddy," Parker interrupts curiously, "why are you and Bones doing all that stuff?"

"What? Huh?" Snapping out of his daze, Booth straightens and coughs. "What?"

"You and Bones," Parker repeats. "You're doing some funny stuff."

"Nothing," Booth answers quickly, suppressing a grin. If he tells Parker about the food fight, next thing he knows, he'll be hearing from the school principal about food being flung in the cafeteria, courtesy of Mr. Parker Booth. And that isn't happening on his watch.

Bones, thankfully, doesn't add anything, though she does continue to lick her lips oh-so-innocently throughout the rest of the meal. She has no idea what it does to him, does she? He eyes the ice in his lemonade to keep from staring at Bones. He can feel her teasing gaze on him the whole time, which makes it that much harder to keep from looking at her.

Finally, Parker finishes off his chicken nuggets and lemonade, and they head off toward the gift shop. Through a concerted effort on the part of both Bones and Parker, Booth is coerced into buying ice cream for all of them on the way. Bones studies her cone in delight and says, "It's been a long time since I had ice cream."

Booth grins at her. "It has? I should buy you some more some time." He licks his own chocolate cone sprinkled with rainbow dots and looks at hers. "Well? Take a lick."

Well, that's almost the stupidest thing he could have said, because she obediently takes a long, slow lick of her ice cream, flicking her tongue upward at the top of the scoop. And she's smiling at him the whole time, which tells him that yes, genius, Bones really does know what she does to you. And she's exploiting it. Painfully.

Almost certain his face is an interesting shade of red, he glares at her, but she doesn't seem to notice, of course. Her eyes on the ice cream, she takes another tantalizing lick and smacks her lips loudly. "This is very good."

He wrenches his eyes violently away from her because another second of that and he'll be mauling her right then and there in the middle of the aquarium. The thought's enough to make him shove back all the not-so-nice stuff he'd like to be doing with Bones right now, and concentrate on his ice cream instead.

They reach the gift shop, and Booth lets Parker run off in search of a souvenir while he and Bones wander a bit more slowly through the aisles of stuff.

"Look, Booth," she says with a laugh.

He turns to find her with a purple octopus hat on her head, the tentacles flailing around her face. It's so cute he can't help but laugh, but she glares at him.

"Don't laugh. You'd look ridiculous too."

He shakes his head. "Probably. But you aren't getting me into one of those."

He's barely finished his sentence before Bones uses her free hand to fish a sea turtle hat out of the container and plop it on his head. He looks up to try to catch sight of the hat on him, and she chuckles.

"See? You look silly too."

He tries to glare at her, but it's impossible with that ridiculous hat on her head. She loses the battle too, and soon they're giggling like idiots in the middle of the store.

"Hang on," Bones laughs, handing him her ice cream cone. "Let me get a picture of this." She digs her phone out of her pocket and holds it up in front of them. Booth leans in as close as he dares and lets her snap the picture before stepping back quickly.

She looks at the result and shakes her head. "No, I only got half your body. Get closer, Booth."

He swallows and wonders just how close he's brave enough to get. Too close and he'll spook her off, he's sure. He'll do something incredibly stupid because he can't help himself, and that barrier of tension that's been gone for a couple of blissful days will slam back between them. He can't trust himself around her, that's for sure.

"Come here," Bones orders, seemingly oblivious to his hesitation. She pulls him flush against her, her left arm wrapping behind his back. She's so warm. Too warm. He holds his breath as he smiles into the camera, praying he doesn't lose control of himself.

She snaps the photo, and he pulls away in relief, as much as he wants to just hold her closer. Clearing his throat, he says, "Let me see."

She turns the phone around and shows him the picture. They look for all the world like a silly couple on a date, what with their bright smiles and matching animal hats. With a grin, he says, "That's good. Send it to me later."

She nods and tucks her phone away again before taking her ice cream back from him. They leave the hats in the container and slowly browse through the rest of the store, Booth craning his neck from time to time to keep an eye on Parker. Bones finishes the rest of her ice cream quickly (thankfully), freeing up her hands to get into everything. She picks up picture books and stuffed animals and bouncy balls, everything delighting that child in her she never got to be. He's only rarely seen this side of her, this fun-loving, not-so-analytical, smiling side of her. It makes him warm inside, to know he's brought this part of her out. The part he loves as much as he loves the scientist in her.

"I want to get something for my nieces," she muses, staring at a rack of stuffed toys. "The seal or the platypus?"

Booth looks at both and says, "Seal. It's cuter."

"But the platypus is less well-known," Bones argues. "I think it's better to expose children to less familiar things to educate them."

"Okay, then take the platypus."

"But I have to admit, the seal is strangely attractive."

He laughs at her word choice. "It's called being cute, Bones. Unless you mean it has a nice, symmetrical facial bone or whatnot."

She considers it, brow furrowed. "It is symmetrical, though that's from the generic manufacturing and assembly lines rather than any real genetic advantage."

Oh, she's priceless. Booth snorts. "Wow, Bones. Are you really analyzing genetic advantages in a stuffed toy?"

She shrugs, scrutinizing the toys. After a moment, she says, "All things considered, I think I'll get both." So saying, she grabs both of them and proceeds to wander the rest of the shop. Booth follows on her heels, finishing off his ice cream and wondering if anything can get any cuter than Bones as she is now.

She gets engrossed in a bunch of scientific books on the marine life in the aquarium, so Booth wanders off to find Parker. He finds him considering an aisle of gifts near the other end of the shop.

"What do you think?" Parker asks solemnly, holding up an orange shark.

Booth stares at him in confusion. "You hate orange."

"I know." He sighs and looks down at the stuffed animal. "It's just…I wanted to buy something for Jordan."

Booth's eyebrows shoot up, and he asks incredulously, "Who's Jordan?"

Parker sighs again, his eyes on the ground. "She's this girl in my art class. And my math class. And my English class. She's really pretty, and she draws really well, and she likes orange."

For a moment, Booth just gapes at him. His son has a crush. His son has a crush. He doesn't know whether to congratulate the kid (rite of passage?) or ask for Jordan's last name so he can do an immediate background check. Either way, Parker looks embarrassed.

He decides to go for the less embarrassing route. "So, are you going for the orange shark then?" he asks casually.

Parker nods. "I think so. Or the dolphin."

"Dolphin," Booth says automatically. "I think a girl's more likely to go for a dolphin."

Parker picks up the orange dolphin and holds it up next to the shark. "You think so?"

Booth nods confidently. "Yeah, dolphins are cute and cuddly. Sharks are rougher, you know? Don't you think a girl would like something cuter?"

Parker eyes the dolphin in consideration and bites his lip. "I guess so…"

"Hey, Parker. Booth." Bones returns to them, her stuffed animals in one hand and a thick book under the other. "That's a nice shark."

"Parker's trying to buy a gift for this girl in school," Booth whispers to her. "I told him to go with the dolphin."

"Dolphins are nice," she murmurs back, her eyes suddenly darker. Booth realizes belatedly that she must be thinking about her mother and mentally kicks himself for rousing bad memories.

"Never mind," he says hastily. "Parker, pick either one, and let's go. It's getting late."

They leave the shop ten minutes later, spend another thirty minutes wandering through the last few exhibits of the aquarium, and leave a little before four. In the car, Parker falls asleep in the back seat almost instantly, and Bones drifts off a little while later. Booth glances at both of them and smiles fondly.

She's still asleep when he drops Parker off at Rebecca's, and he lets her doze, wondering what time she got into bed last night. He'd been busy with paperwork and hadn't had the chance to run to the Jeffersonian to make sure she left on time, but he wishes he'd just taken ten minutes to at least call her. She looks exhausted.

When they pull into the parking lot of her apartments, he reaches over to nudge her gently. "Bones? We're here. Bones."

With a yawn, she stretches in the seat and blinks sleepily. "What?"

"We're at your apartment," he repeats, pointing up at the building.

"Oh." She sits up and looks in the back seat. "Where's Parker?"

"I dropped him off already." At her slightly disappointed look, he adds, "He said goodbye, but you were asleep."

"Oh." She yawns again and opens the car door. "Thanks, Booth. I had a lot of fun."

He opens his door too and gets out. "Wait, I'll walk you."

She frowns in response, pulling her coat in tighter as a wind whips up. "You don't have to. I'll be perfectly safe."

Hands in his pockets, he shakes his head and moves with her as she heads into the building. "It's not about your safety, Bones. I just want to."

In silence, they take the elevator up to Bones' floor, and he waits as she unlocks the door. "Do you want to come in?" she asks, pushing the door open.

Eyeing her sleepy eyes, he shakes his head. "Nah. You should really get some sleep."

"I'm not that tired," she protests. "You can come in for a little while."

After a moment of consideration, he nods and follows her inside. It's warmer in the apartment than in the hallway, and he lets out a little sigh of contentment. Bones strips off her coat and lays her nieces' gifts and her new book on marine life on her coffee table.

"Do you want something to drink?" she asks, moving toward the kitchen.

"Sure." He follows her and opens her fridge as she riffles through her cabinets. "Jeez, what do you eat, Bones? There's barely anything in here."

Pulling out packets of hot chocolate, she shrugs. "There's fruit and bagels. If I need to, I can always go any number of restaurants or diners around the Jeffersonian."

"Yum," he mutters, swinging the fridge closed again. He helps her stir the hot chocolate powder into boiling water, and a few minutes later, they settle on her couch with steaming mugs.

"Today was fun," Booth says after a moment, sipping his hot chocolate.

Bones nods. "Yeah, it was. I'm glad I went."

He looks over at her, tracing the lines of her nose and eyes slowly. "I'm glad you came."

She shifts under his gaze, and he looks away, swallowing. They both sip their drinks and sit in comfortable silence, each lost in thought. Booth is already thinking of the next week, wondering if he can clear up any days so he can take Bones out somewhere again. Their rediscovered friendship feels great, feels right, and he wants to revel in it as many times as he can. Where to next time? Amusement park? Zoo? Parker's next soccer game?

"Thank you," Bones says quietly, not looking at him. "For taking me. I'm glad you asked."

"I'll always ask," he says. He promises. No more of leaving her alone when he has other things to focus on. She's the most important person in his life, barring Parker, and he seriously needs to start treating her that way. Treating her special, like she deserves.

She smiles. "But hopefully not next week. I really do need to start on those remains from Maluku, and the Biology Department wants my opinion on some files."

He smiles too, glancing over at her. "Sure. Nothing planned next week."

They talk quietly about nothing important for a long while, and Booth relaxes into the couch, into this atmosphere of warmth and happiness. He could stay here and talk to Bones forever, sipping hot chocolate and watching her eyes shine as she talks about anything and everything in the world.

Eventually, though, it gets too late for him to stay much longer. Bones is looking like she's half a second away from passing out, so Booth takes their mugs back to the kitchen and collects his coat. Bones walks him to the door, and he pauses in the open doorway, suddenly shy.

"Listen, Bones, I saw this at the aquarium, and I wanted you to have it." He fishes the gift out of his coat pocket and hands it to her.

It's a couple of dark earrings shaped like leaping dolphins, their dark blue gleaming in the light. They're simple but pretty, and he thinks of her eyes when he sees that color.

"Booth," she breathes, staring at them in surprise and wonder.

"It's nothing," he answers embarrassedly, because it really is nothing. They didn't cost much, and it's not as if she hasn't seen dolphin earrings before. It's just a gift from one friend to another.

"Thank you," she says, looking up at him. And her eyes are shining in a way that surprises him. She just looks so grateful and happy, when all he's done is buy her some earrings from a gift shop. The brightness in her eyes makes his breath catch, and all of a sudden he wants to kiss her. Badly.

There's something in her eye that makes him think she wants the same thing. His gaze flickers down to her lips quickly before locking with her eyes again. The logical side of him is screaming, It's too soon! Too soon! The rest of him thinks, So what?

He's leaning in ever-so-slowly, his eyes riveted on hers, and he can almost taste her lips on his. His breath quickens in anticipation, and he's almost touching her, but at that instant, something shifts in her eyes. Suddenly, there's fear there, fear and a silent, resounding no.

He's so close. So, so close. But he can't do it. Not with those scared eyes of hers, that scared look that makes him freeze. He doesn't stop to think about what she might be afraid of; he only knows that she is afraid, and that it's because of something he's doing.

With a gasp, he wrenches himself away from her, stepping back with all the willpower he has. They both stare at each other, wide-eyed, wondering what happened and if it's changed anything. He searches her eyes for a long moment, wondering if he's stepped over the line. Praying he hasn't.

"I'm sorry," he says, as steadily as he can, but his voice still shakes a bit. "I'm sorry, Bones. I—I don't know…I don't know. I'm sorry."

She stares at him, and he can't read anything from her expression. He stands there on her doorstep, holding his breath, hoping everything will be all right.

Finally, finally, she smiles at him and says, "Nothing happened, Booth. What are you sorry for?"

Relief makes his knees go weak, and he lets out a long breath. Even though her smile looks forced, even if she's ignoring what almost happened between them, he'll take it.

"Right." He clears his throat. "So I'll see you Monday then?"

She nods and smiles again. He's relieved to see it looks a bit more genuine this time. "I'll see you Monday, Booth."

He waves to her and walks down to his car. Sitting there waiting for the engine to warm up, he blows out a breath. He almost crossed the line tonight. And so soon after Hannah, too. Damn it. He can't be doing this. He and Bones have barely gotten back to friends, and he wants to go and ruin it all over again? And back there, she'd looked scared. Scared of him? Hopefully not. If she is scared of him, he doesn't think he can take it. But he doesn't think so. Scared of what then?

He shakes his head with a sigh. There are just some things—most things—about Bones that he'll never figure out.

With another sigh, he pulls out of the parking lot and heads home.

He almost kissed her. Almost. But he pulled away in the last instant, and…

And she was disappointed. Afraid, yes, but disappointed. Why?

There's something about them, about their partnership, that just won't let them stay friends. What is it? She hates it because it confuses her, confuses her like nothing else has in her entire life.

She looks at the earrings in her hand and feels the irrational urge to cry. Cry because it reminds her of her mother, cry because the dolphins seem to smile like her mother did once, cry because it means Booth still cares. Of course Booth still cares. She always knew that. But this…he cares. Like the good friends they once were and still are. He cares about her in a way that confuses her to no end, because she came to rely on him, and then he left her for Hannah and didn't once look back, and now he's back again. And despite everything, despite her promises to stay independent because if she lets herself go, she always gets hurt, she's come to rely on Booth again. So quickly, to easily. She's come to care about him again, if she ever stopped at all.

With a quiet sigh, she pushes back those emotions and rises. Placing the earrings on her bedside table, she undresses and gets into bed.

It's a long time before she falls asleep.

Thhhoooughttts? :)