"Booth, where are we going?" Brennan said, attempting to keep up with him. Booth was bounding up the stairs, skipping two or three at a time.

"Just follow me!"

"Booth, there's not much up here besides classrooms."

He looked over his shoulder at her. "Trust me, Bren, there's something up here that you need to see." Booth kept running up the stairs, but this time, hitting each step. They made their way up toward the top floor of the anthropology building. Booth led them back to the same door he had found earlier.

"Booth, we can't be in here! We're not part of the anthropology faculty! Booth!" Brennan shouted at him as he opened the door. Again, it only opened a fraction of the way and Brennan practically ran right into the giant wall of cubby holes.

"What is this place?" She asked as Booth led her down the narrow passageway.

"Just look!" he whispered. He guided her into the large open space with the drawer-lined walls.

"Booth, this is…restricted area…how did you…do you know what's in here?"

He nodded. "Well, not really. What's in here?"

"This," she said, opening the drawer that Booth had partially left opened, "is Homo rhodesiensis!" Brennan had a giant grin on her face.

Booth beamed down at her. "I don't know what that means but I'm just glad you like it."

She nodded. "We really shouldn't be here but this is just so…fascinating."

"Ms. Brennan?"

Booth and Brennan whipped around to see who was there.

"Professor Stires, I'm sorry…" Brennan began.

Her professor shook his head. "Temperance, not to worry. I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic about unique anthropological finds."

Brennan was speechless. She had never seen a real Homo rhodesiensis before. She had studied them in her Introduction to Prehistory class and had taken several other anthropology courses that mentioned the species but to see a real specimen like this close up was unreal to her.

"Technically, you shouldn't be in here but I'm not going to tell. We'll just keep this between us?" Stires prompted.

Brennan nodded.

"Well, Bren, you know, I bet you're starving! Come on! I can hear the diner calling," Booth interrupted. Booth wasn't thrilled about the way her professor was looking at her.

"Booth, even you should know that the diner can't call anything…oh, you weren't being…serious…" Brennan trailed off, still not focusing on either her professor or her boyfriend.

"Tempe, you don't have to leave. Take your time. Look around. Just make sure your…uh, friend…doesn't touch anything," Stires said, keeping his eyes on Brennan.

"He's my boyfriend. He knows better than that. Booth found this place and he thought I'd like it."

The professor nodded. "Tempe, you can put the body on the exam table if you'd like," Stires offered.

Brennan slid the drawer shut. "Thanks, Professor, but can I take you up on that offer another time? I promised Booth we'd go to lunch now."

Stires smiled and walked away. "Come on, I'm hungry," Booth said, leading her toward the door. She looked over her shoulders at the drawers lining the walls, full of links to evolutionary chain, something Brennan was desperate to learn more about.

"Who was that guy?" Booth asked as they made their way down the stairs.

"Oh, that was Professor Stires. He is one of my professors. He has already offered to be my doctoral advisor when I get to that step. He says I show an extraordinary amount of potential."

"Really? Oh well, of course you do. It's just that…well, they way he was looking at you…you know, I thought that…" Booth put a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it nervously.

"What, that Dr. Stires and I…No, jeez, Booth, I'm with you," Brennan looked up at him and smiled.

"Oh, and another thing, I thought you didn't like titles? You know, like boyfriend-girlfriend stuff?" Booth questioned.

Brennan shrugged. "I guess I don't mind it too much. Plus, it's easier when explaining who we are to each other."

"Well…good," Booth said, pulling Brennan close to his side.

XXXXXXXXXX

The weekend arrived and Booth welcomed it with open arms. It was his last weekend before spring practices started and he was dreading spending less time with Brennan. The pair practically relied on each other for everything. Homework, food, naps, if one was gone, it didn't happen for the other.

Booth planned a long weekend full of fun things to do. He wanted to get in as many dates and chances to hang out with best friend and girlfriend before football consumed his life again. He decided to pull a Brennan and finish all of his homework on Friday night so he could be completely free over the weekend.

"So what are we doing tomorrow?" Brennan asked, shutting her cultural anthropology textbook.

"Whatever you want to do," Booth answered her. He leaned back on the futon and waited for her response.

"I want you to teach me to throw a circle," she stated. Booth looked confused and then realized what she was asking.

"You want me to teach you how to throw a spiral? Not a circle, Bren."

She nodded, mentally correcting herself for future reference. "Yes, I want to throw like you do during games and such. It's quite impressive and people seem to get happy when it has a smooth spin to it. I'd like to learn."

"Are you sure? You really wanna learn how to throw a football?" Booth sat forward and put his elbows on his thighs, leaning closer to Brennan.

"Yes, why is that so hard to believe?"

He sighed. "Because, Bren, this is something you have to really practice. It's not some anthropology thing. You have to practice football. You're not just going to go out there and succeed like you do at everything else."

"Well…maybe I'll surprise you. Maybe I'll be better at it than you think," Brennan said optimistically, smiling at Booth. He smiled back.

"I hope for both our sakes you are better than I think."

XXXXXXXXX

Brennan packed a picnic lunch for them, or well, the waitress at the diner packed their lunch to-go and they sat in the park and ate lunch.

"Remember that first time you tutored me?" Booth said, his mouth full of sandwich, "We sat right here and you made me memorize the basic anthropological concepts!"

Brenan smiled at him. "Of course I remember. So are you going to teach me how to throw a football or not?"

"Can I eat first?" Booth said with his mouth full again.

She nodded and kept eating her salad but ate quickly. She was ready to prove that she was good at anything she tried.

Booth noticed she was eating at a faster pace than normal and finished his sandwich swiftly.

"Okay, Bren, let's try this," Booth said. He picked up his football and jogged a short distance from her. She followed.

"No, Bren, go back to where we were. I'm going to throw it to you, you'll catch it and throw it back, okay?" Booth told her when he realized she was right behind him.

Brennan nodded and ran back to their previous spot.

"Ready?" Booth shouted.

"Ready!" Brennan called back.

He lobbed a perfect spiral pass through the air and hit her square in the face, knocking her off her feet.

"Shit. Bren! You're supposed to catch it, not just watch it!" He said, running back toward her.

She rubbed her nose, making sure it wasn't broken and shook it off.

"I'm fine, Booth, really. I wasn't paying attention. I was watching your form and follow through on your pass," she told him.

"Just be careful. I don't want to be responsible for giving you a crooked nose," he warned. "You throw it back this time."

She retrieved the ball and attempted to recreate Booth's exact throwing form. She launched the ball and it landed almost three feet in front of her.

"Try it again, just release the ball a bit quicker," Booth called out, hoping the criticism didn't sound too harsh.

Brennan nodded and picked up the ball again. She followed Booth's instructions and threw the ball to him. It made it to him but it wasn't the spiral form she was hoping for.

She growled with frustration.

"Bren, it's okay. You don't have to get it perfect right away!"

Brennan ignored him and waited for the return throw. She caught the ball in a less than graceful manner but at least she was still on her feet.

"Hold on, don't throw it. Let me show you something."

Booth jogged back to her and placed the ball in her hands like she was attempting a throw.

"Okay, now the trick is to put your last three fingers," he took her pinky, ring and middle fingers in his hand, "and place them between the laces. That helps line up the throw. Okay, let me back up and then throw it."

Booth ran back to his spot and hollered for Brennan to throw him the ball. She released it, giving it a bit of a spiral. It began to wobble as it reached Booth but she had a hopeful look on her face.

"That was awesome, Bren!" Booth threw it back and she caught it with a bit more confidence this time.

After a few more throws, Brennan had her throw almost perfected. The sun began to set and the couple made their way back to Brennan's dorm room.

They walked in and Angela all but attacked them.

"Sweetie, there was some guy who came by and he said he was your brother! I told him, no way, Jose, there is no way sweet little Bren has a brother. I told him, I'd know if she had a brother. He left but he said he was coming back. He was cute, in a creepy stalker way, but I just thought you should know. Someone is going around campus saying he's your brother." Angela walked away and went back to her painting.

"Russ…" Brennan breathed.

"Bren, you okay? I mean, this is good, right?" Booth attempted to comfort her.

"I thought…I just assumed he was…dead. I…what…does that mean…mom…" Brennan could barely breathe.

"Come on, let's just sit down and I'll get you a glass of water." Booth helped her to a chair and sat her down. He brought her a glass of water and put it in her shaky hands. She sipped it and set it down on her desk.

There was a knock on the door and Angela got up to answer it.

A tall, brown haired man invited himself into the room, practically pushing Angela out of the way.

"Tempe, I've missed you," Russ blurted.

Brennan couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was confused. Brennan was thrilled that he was alive but incredibly furious for leaving her.

"Get out, Russ. Get out."