Hello committed readers! I am so sorry for the delay.

In between a pretty full on school week, and hockey grandfinals looming in the very near future, I have been at loss to write. I hope you still want to follow along, and, as always, I really appreciate reviewers so much. Please don't be shy; your words of wisdom are welcomed!

Here is your next chapter guys:

Xx G

9. Embracing the Differences

She slipped out so quietly the next morning, that she had honestly thought she had escaped his uncanny senses.

His dry shirt from the previous day hung unbuttoned over her lean form, and although the cold had the opportunity to bite, she didn't feel it. The hot tea she had brewed only moments ago, radiated warmth from her fingertips to the tips of her toes.

She massaged the floral mug thoughtfully and stared out at the open space in front of her, pondering against leaving. The sky coloured in pink tones, with dashes of orange and hints of glowing reds. From an artist's perspective, it was a masterpiece. Right now though, she was sure that the most beautiful thing slept peacefully in her inviting bed.

She closed her eyes.

So silently that she started upon his warm hands touching her waist, Booth pressed up against her backside and leaned into her head.

"What are you doing out here?" he murmured, nibbling at her ear soothingly.

"I'm inside..." she replied, meaning to sound logical, but lost at his affectionate good morning.

"I meant to ask why you weren't in bed." He kissed the area just below her ear.

"Have you come to convince me to return to bed with you?" She turned around to face him, and smiled invitingly. She wanted to. She wanted so badly just to give in, and welcome a passionate embrace.

"Oh, I don't think I'll have to convince you." He took her cup from her hands and set it down. He locked his deep brown eyes with her bright, electric blue ones.

She pressed her own warm hand against his toned chest, resting it above his heart.

Then she remembered what she needed to do. She remembered the reason why she had escaped bed early and decided not to stay in his arms.

"Booth...I can't do this," she sighed eventually, holding his eyes.

All at once, he looked crushed. Broken. Their moment was gone.

"What...what do you mean that you can't..." His face was rigid with torment.

"I...I'm still upset with you. You still have a girlfriend. You don't want to talk about the status of the relationship with your girlfriend. And I...I know that I have cheated in the past...but I can't live like that. I can't be second best-"

"Bones," he interrupted her, eyes hard. "I told you that you're the only one."

"But that could just be figure of speech. If you really mean that she is gone...then tell me. And even if she has only just gone...you have only just broken up with her, and I can't risk-"

"Bones. For crying out loud; I ended things with Hannah. Gone. Done. Dusted."

Brennan looked at him despairingly. "What if you change you mind? What if you go back to her...?" She trailed off upon him shaking his head.

"I caught her going through my memory box! She was looking for evidence that I was still in love with you."

"And..."

"And she found it. It was there. I suppose I could feel a bit guilty about being in love with you while I was with her, when I subconsciously knew it all along – but I was more hurt by the fact that she would betray my confidence in her so badly by abusing my boundaries. Not only that, but the way that she tried to pry her way between us; be the wedge. Bones...I couldn't live like that. That wasn't love. Our spark had begun to die out well and truly before you confessed that you still had feelings for me. But even then, I was too much of a coward to admit my feelings, because I was so afraid of losing yet another person – another chance - and not have you there for me when I did."

Brennan hung her head at his full explanation. "I'm sorry. I'm scared..." she said after a moment, voicing her worries. "And angry. I don't know what to feel. Tell me what to do."

He interrupted her with a gentle press to her lips with his own – a reassurance. Brennan stared at him another long moment, before almost surprising him with a passionate embrace. She wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face in his warm shoulder. He stroked her hair tenderly, and she parted her lips and brushed them against his warm skin.

"No problem is too big, Bones. We'll figure it all out. Each in its own time."

Brennan sighed sadly. "Well that's my problem," she mumbled against his skin. "Part of me still wants to be annoyed with you, but that is absolutely dampened by this...other side. I just...I can't do it yet. And I know that you can't do it either. Please, don't hate me for this."

She could feel him begin to pull away, and for the first time, she felt her heart thunder in panic, desperate not to let him go.

"But I don't want to let you go," she blurted suddenly in a hoarse murmur, utterly out of her character. She grasped his back tighter, fingers kneading the tone muscles that the clutched.

Almost as if responding to the wild current vibrating between them, he hugged her even more tightly in return.

- ~ B&B ~ -

He wasn't sure what to do. Neither was she.

She packed her bag soundlessly, whipping clothes into neatly folded piles, and huffing small sounds of irritation when she realised that she was missing something.

He showered, ran a towel over his hair, and slipped on his fire-dried suit pants from yesterday. Brennan brought him his shoes in one hand, and a pair of socks in the other.

"Wear a pair of mine," she told him quietly when he had accepted her grey socks. "They're clean."

He smiled gratefully, before lacing up his shoes over his woollen-covered feet. Although his shoes were slightly dampened still, they weren't a hassle. He could change them when he arrived home.

"Any updates on the case?" he asked, when her BlackBerry buzzed.

"I think that Cam's a bit annoyed that I didn't return to the lab yesterday, given that was one of the requests upon my leaving. She wants to know whether we found anything out last night."

"Which we did."

"And she also wants to know when we'll be returning."

"Which we will."

"Okay."

"Okay." Her nonchalant reply had slightly irritated him.

Brennan dropped her phone on the bed. "Booth..."

"And nothing Bones. C'mon, we should get back."

She nodded. "Give me a moment." She ducked into the bathroom.

After changing into clean underwear, she gathered her toiletries bag and re-entered the bedroom, Booth's shirt in hand.

Ignoring the fact that she stood only in her underwear, she crossed the room and passed him his shirt.

"Bones..." he stumbled, trying to keep his eyes on her face.

She looked up at him earnestly.

"You need to...ah...if we're going to not...you need to..." he desperately struggled, lost for words. "Clothes..."

Frowning slightly, she stepped away. She pulled her clean jeans off the bed, and wiggled her way into them. Fastening the button, she reached out for her blue blouse.

"Have you got everything?" she asked, giving him a diversion.

"Well, I didn't bring anything else."

"Your blazer?"

"Kitchen table."

"Car?"

"Five minute walk. Restaurant car park."

"Right." Brennan nodded, having pulled her buttonless blouse over her head, and now reaching for the strings to tie it up.

"Here," Booth offered quickly, "let me." He reached over, and efficiently tied the ribbon strings into a bow.

Her lips curved upwards as he lifted her suitcase off the bed.

"Have you got everything?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Booth grinned, amused by her slightly expressed exasperation. "Let's go."

- ~B&B~-

"So how did Max take it?" Booth asked after they had been on the road for about fifteen minutes.

"Take what?"

"You know...finding out that he has a bachelor's pad and car, all to himself for a couple more days?"

Brennan smiled and sighed. "I didn't really give him much of a choice for otherwise. He understood though, and he also understood that my car had to return in prime condition."

Booth chuckled. "Yeah, I heard you lecturing him on that. Lecture by daughter; I can imagine his expression."

They drifted into silence, and Brennan couldn't prevent her soft smile from fading.

"Is this real?" she asked, in the same quiet tone she had used almost a week ago. "What's happening to us?"

Booth frowned, heart thumping fearfully at her doubtful sentence. "What do you mean?"

"Well we can't just jump into things," Brennan explained. "Last night was all...fireworks. We confessed claims of love, when we really haven't figured anything out-" She cut off as Booth pulled over to the side of the quiet road. "What are you doing?" she then asked, on tenterhooks.

"Last night was special, Bones. It felt right," he told her surely, feeling the flush of temperature in his cheeks as he spoke.

"But it shouldn't have been." She looked pained.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm worried Booth," she told him, eyes careful, guarded. "You and I haven't been the friends that we used to be, for months now. You claim to have stepped out of a relationship with Hannah. You and I both know that you didn't just leave her for me."

"That's right. I didn't just leave Hannah for you."

She was taken back at his blunt response. She had expected a defence, or at least otherwise. Not agreement or confirmation.

"I left Hannah for me," he clarified, seeing her stunned person. "And I know that things haven't been great between us for long while. Would it make you feel better if we tried to get our friendship back on track before...anything else?"

She nodded. "Y-yes."

Suddenly, he reached out and brushed the length of her cheek with his fingers, before cupping the side of her face in that same, warm hand.

"I know that you're scared," he whispered hoarsely, "and I know that I've hurt you, and that I have lost your trust."

She closed her eyes and leant into the groove of his hand, fighting the moisture that stung behind her eyelids.

"But I promise you," he continued, in the same, thick, weighted tone. "I will earn your forgiveness. Even though I don't deserve it." He encouraged her eyes open with the thumb of his free hand. His throat ached upon seeing the unshed tear in her eyes. "I promise."

He leaned in towards her, and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I promise," he repeated, as she rested her cheek against his.

Chapter nine - I really hope it wasn't a disappointment. More is coming: more talk. Heartfelt. All the missed words that these two haven't had for a long time. And, Hannah closure, dearest readers. You have been patient - and you won't have to wait much longer.

Thank you so much to all who have followed me, and read. Alerts, favourites - you have been really generous!

Please let me know what you think.

XxG