Sorry for the delay, the site was down, then I had a hissyfit and deleted half of this chapter and the next because I didn't like it! but it's all rewritten, so I hope you like it! And a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed, added it as a fave or even just read it! Thank You. x

3.

"What?" Brennan looked up curiously; Booth was apparently attempting to impersonate a fish.

"I, uh, Bones, I'm not going to move in with you!" Booth mock whispered, the higher than usual pitch of his voice giving away his discomfort with the topic and her scrutinising stare.

"You just said that if I bought this place, you would also live here. You were joking?" Brennan looked directly at her squirming partner, giving him the out he needed.

"Yeah," Booth exhaled, "This place is nice Bones, its perfect for you; you should buy it."

"It's far too oversized for me to live here alone," Brennan rationalised. "I have no need for four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two lounge areas and a barbecue. I don't actually need to move."

"But you like it," Booth argued quietly, ignoring Mrs Adams and the way she was staring at them, "You want to live here, I know you do."

"Booth, regardless of whether or not you have knowledge of my appreciation for this apartment, I actually have no need to move, so it would be pointless to go through the hassle of relocating all of my belongings for no good reason."

"But you would if I'd move in with you?" Booth was beyond confused, she was hiding her emotions behind her rationality and she knew how much that irked him.

"That's irrelevant now that I know you were joking," Brennan turned away, walking back through the apartment, resolutely not looking into any of the rooms as she strode down the corridor, "What time do you need to meet your Realtor?"

"No need to move?" Booth called after her as he followed swiftly, catching up with her in the reception room, "What about all the creepy stalkers, serial killers and sociopaths that know where you live?"

"Would you be moving if your apartment was not going to be demolished?" Brennan demanded, spinning around to face her partner, her face a mask of indifference; "Taffet knew where you lived. There is a multitude of ways to locate someone, none of which are dependent on whether or not that person is a stalker, sociopath or serial killer."

"What?"

"If a stranger wanted to find me, then they would." Brennan watched Booth's eyes darken at her declaration, "I can take care of myself, Booth." She reminded him, turning away from his intense gaze, "So what time is your appointment with the Realtor?"

"We have about an hour," Booth admitted, taking a final look around the room they were in, he knew she wanted this place, it was obviously up to him to convince her that this was a good idea. "We should probably get going; a place like this will be gone by the end of the week. Thank you for your time Mrs Adams."

"Thank you." Brennan called over her shoulder, walking away from Booth and the apartment, her head held high and her shoulders set. Booth followed silently, punching the button for the lobby a little too hard as the elevator doors slid shut, trying to figure out how to make Brennan buy the apartment without having to explain that he couldn't afford a place like this. He could barely afford the rent on the place he was going to look at later, but since his rent agreement had been signed as a favour years ago, he supposed he should have realised how much inflation was going to cost him.

The walk back to the Jeffersonian was made in peace, Booth's hand resting as usual on the lower curve of Brennan's spine, their synchronicity comforting in its familiarity. No words were necessary to fill the silence caused by the thoughts echoing around their heads. The parking structure was reached all too quickly, and the lack of conversation followed them into the Jeffersonian, both nodding their greeting to those that passed them by.

"What are we doing here?" Booth asked, once they reached the security of Brennan's office. Watching her root through her desk drawer, moving aside neat stacks of files, Booth smiled when Bones obviously located what she was searching for, slipping the small object into her pocket and placing the files back neatly. He would have to remember that hiding place e thought to himself.

"I'm done, is your new apartment far?"

Booth shook his head, falling back into place at her side, his hand on her back, the silence enveloping them once more as they made their way, uninterrupted, through the halls of the Jeffersonian, down into the underground parking lot, into the SUV and out into the traffic.

Booth gripped his steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white with the strain as he focused on navigating his way through rush hour traffic. Brennan sat in her usual seat, her attention on the road as she sat stiffly, staring straight ahead. She hadn't said anything since they had left the Jeffersonian.

"What'cha thinking about?" Booth asked gently, flashing a smile when she glanced in his direction,

"My book." Bones answered carefully, her eyes back on the ever-changing view from her window.

"Are we good?" Booth asked softly, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at Bones,

"Why?" Brennan asked immediately, her own head swivelling to face Booth,

"Because I made a bad joke and you thought I was serious," Booth summarised whilst changing lanes, "I'm sorry."

"You have no need to apologise, I simply assumed you had considered all the logical reasons why cohabiting would make our lives simpler," Brennan spoke to the windscreen,

"Logical reasons?" Booth queried, taking the next exit and heading out of the city towards the suburb his ex girlfriend and son lived in. "What logical explanations are there for you only agreeing to move if I join you?" Booth glanced across at his partner quickly, "How is that logical?"

"It's logical because an apartment of that size would only be appropriate for me if someone else were to cohabitate with me, if you were to do so, that would use up two more bedrooms, which would be a valid reason to purchase such a large home," Brennan reeled off, watching the buildings pass by as they cruised down the streets, "It's close to the Hoover building, therefore saving time and gas, it's close to places to take Parker to, it's central to everything we do in this city, and I also understand that it would be logical for us both to benefit financially by paying only one set of domestic bills, and saving money on gas and take-out and-"

"Bones," Booth interrupted, slowing down to stop at a red light and taking the opportunity to reach out to his partner, "I get that, but there's other things to consider, like Parker, our jobs," he trailed off, looking ahead at the road, "I don't earn half as much as you, I don't think Parker would understand it, I don't think it's worth the gossip."

"I don't-"

"Yes, you do." Booth interrupted once more, knowing they were nearing their destination and running out of time before this discussion would be filed away with every other unfinished conversation, under to 'awkward to deal with'. "You know exactly what I mean by that, Parker will want to know why we live together, so will Angela, Sweets, Cullen, your Dad," Booth tightened his grip on the wheel once more, "They all think the same thing,"

"Just because people always assume we are in a sexual relationship doesn't mean their assumptions will change if we cohabited,"

"If we lived together, it would make people assume that they were right about their assumptions." Booth shot back, pulling up outside a small store selling hardware equipment. "This is it."

Brennan didn't answer at first, looking over at Booth as she undid her seatbelt and opened her door, her face a picture of confusion as her mind raced through the facts.

"I don't care what people think."