AN: When I went to edit this after uploading, it was one giant paragraph with no breaks at all. I think I fixed it, but if it happens to go back for some reason, I'm really sorry and please let me know. So I know I haven't written anything in like forever, and summer laziness is partially to blame. But I just also feel like no one's out there reading anymore, so if you're out there, please let me know and save me from going into a state of depression. Haha Anyway this chapter takes place one year after chapter 2. Enjoy!

What is change? Why is change, change? Is it a good thing or is it a bad thing? Can it be both? Why does change have the power to switch everything? The answer isn't that hard. Without change, there would be no life. But just like anything else in life…to get through it, you have to face it. And facing it was not something Temperance Brennan was ready to do.

A full year had passed. She had spent 365 days with Daisy and without Booth. But as much as she missed her D.C. life, she wasn't prepared to go back and face the changes that had occurred. Cam had gotten pretty serious with the doctor she'd been dating and Brennan was sure it wouldn't be long before they got engaged. Angela and Hodgins were expecting a baby boy. And then there was Booth.

She had barely been able to talk to him this past year. They'd sent a few letters, but it wasn't nearly enough. Brennan knew that as soon as they were both back in D.C., Booth was going to want to start the relationship she had practically promised him. And even after a year, she still wasn't ready for that. She strongly disliked change and too much had changed already. So why should she let something change that she had the power to keep normal?

For Booth, she thought looking out the window of the plane. He wants this so much.

"Are you excited to go back home and see everyone, Dr. Brennan? I am. I just hope Lancelot waited for me, even though I told him it was okay if he didn't. I just want him to be happy, you know?"

Happy. It had been a long time since she was able to consider herself truly happy. Would starting a relationship with Booth leave her feeling happy or just trapped?

"Yes, Miss Wick, I understand."

"You know I was thinking, we have been together for a whole year now. Maybe it's time we drop the formalities when addressing each other?"

"Not until you've given your dissertation, Miss Wick."

Daisy sighed and continued to ramble on about Sweets. Brennan turned back to the window. Over the past year she'd been constantly arguing with herself about this whole Booth situation. She had ultimately decided that a relationship was something that she wanted, but as the hours until she was back in D.C. dwindled, she began to second guess herself.

"Dr. Brennan?"

"Hmm?"

"I asked you if you know what you're going to say to Agent Booth when you see him."

"Hello, most likely."

"I meant after that. I mean you being away from him for a year is like me being away from Lance. It's not a good thing at all."

"I don't know. I assume that once I see him, the words will just come."

At least, she hoped they would. Because right now, Brennan was afraid she wouldn't have anything to say at all.

(Insert line break here.)

Booth stood next to the coffee cart by the reflecting pool, her favorite drink in hand. He couldn't figure out why he was so nervous; it was just Bones he was waiting for. But maybe that was why: it was Bones.

And then he saw her. Her hair was longer, now skimming the tops of her breasts. Her alabaster skin had been tanned from the long hours spent working in the sun. She looked amazing. And that was going to make it that much harder to tell her what he needed to.

Brennan came up beside him; silently taking the drink she knew was hers out of his hand. The comfortable tension that had always existed between them was still ever present. A year apart had not changed things. The no longer recent admission of feelings had not changed things. It was like they were forever trapped like this.

"Solve the evolutionary puzzle?"

"Not quite."

She stared at the reflecting pool in front of her, refusing to meet his gaze.

"What, no welcome home, I'm glad you're not dead, hug?"

"You were holding hot coffee."

Booth put his cup down. "Not anymore."

Brennan put her cup down next to his and finally turned to face him. She took a step closer to him and snaked her arms around his waist. Booth pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her hair. God, how he'd missed the scent of her shampoo.

"Bones, I've got some bad news."

"What?" she asked, not letting go.

"While I was in Afghanistan, I started getting these really bad headaches. And then the hallucinations started again…"

Brennan stepped out of his embrace and turned back to face the reflecting pool. "So is the tumor back or were they completely incompetent when they tried to remove it the first time?"

"They're not sure yet. It all just…it's a recent development."

When she didn't say anything, he knew what she was thinking.

"Bones, this doesn't mean that I don't have real feelings for you."

She flinched like he had just slapped her, but still didn't say anything.

"I…I still love you. I –"

"No, you don't," Brennan said softly, twisting her necklace. "You just think that you do. The tumor…you don't really –"

Booth grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him. "How can you say that? You know how I feel about you."

"No, I know how the tumor makes you feel about me."

"You're wrong."

"Am I?"

"I told you that the guy always knows, and I knew. Knew it from the moment our eyes locked for the very first time. You may not believe in fate, Bones, but I do. Why do you think that I had that dream that we were married?"

"Because I was reading my book to you?"

"Because I believed that there was something there already."

Brennan shook her head and tried to get out of his grip. "I don't believe you."

Cam's words from two years ago echoed in his head. Be sure about your feelings because if you crack that shell, and you change your mind, she'll die of loneliness before she'll trust anyone ever again.

"Why not? What's not to believe? If you're still trying to run from this –"

"I'm not."

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know how to explain it."

"Try."

"Booth…" she buried her face in her hands, his hands still gripping her shoulders. "I can't go through this again…I just can't."

He let go of her shoulders and tilted her head up to his.

"The tumor should be easy to remove. They did it before," he told her.

"But they didn't. Booth, this past year has made me realize how tired I am of this, of us. I just…I'm done."

"You can't be done."

"You don't really lo…Avalon was wrong. I can't believe I actually listened to a physic."

"Bones, what did Avalon tell you?"

"The riddle you can't solve is how ... somebody could love you. The answer to the question that you're afraid to say out loud is ... yes. He knows the truth of you, and he is dazzled by that truth," Brennan quoted.

"I think she was spot on."

Brennan shook her head, this time staring at her own reflection in the pool.

"Are you going to cut your hair?" Booth asked over her shoulder.

"I like it longer."

"Me too." He fisted a handful of loose curls in his palm. Booth brushed them out of the way and placed a soft kiss on her neck. "You just have to have faith, Bones. I do love you and I will long after they finally remove this tumor."

"And if you don't?"

Be sure about your feelings because if you crack that shell, and you change your mind, she'll die of loneliness before she'll trust anyone ever again.

"That won't happen. There's no way that it could."

AN: This story definitely has a mind of its own. When I started writing this chapter, the ending was nowhere in my mind's eye. But what are you going to do? I at least know where I'm taking this now; unlike before when I was just feeding off of episodes. Remember reviews are love. :)