A/N: I just wanted to thank all of my faithful reviewers! There are a few readers who review almost every chapter! So, thank you! You guys are wonderful! :D


End of summer before senior year

"Adam, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, buddy, what's up?"

"Listen, I need you to take me and Jack to the mall. And I need your help. I'm…picking something up for Bren."

"Yeah, no problem. What are we getting?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Jack's at my place and we're meeting Ange and Bren at the diner later. We gotta go quick though."

"Okay, I'll be there in a few."

"Thanks, man."

Booth hung up the phone and sat on the couch next to Jack.

"So, you never did really tell me why we're going to the mall," Jack said. Booth was hesitant to tell him where they were going exactly.

Angela and Brennan were in the bedroom getting ready for a night out. Since Angela had just turned twenty one, she was itching to get into the bars with her real ID instead of her fake.

"Okay, I'll only tell you if you keep your damn mouth shut," Booth warned, his voice barely above a whisper.

Jack nodded and leaned closer to Booth.

"You know that jewelry store in downtown Chicago right off of Michigan Avenue?"

Jack nodded again.

"That's where we're going."

Jack kept nodding, not sure exactly why, besides the fact that he was getting a present, Booth wanted to keep things hush-hush.

They heard Adam honk the car horn out on the street below.

"Bye, girls! Have fun tonight!" Booth shouted, pushing Jack out the door.

Angela and Brennan stuck their heads out of the bedroom door to see where they were going. Booth slammed the door shut without looking back.

"So where are we going exactly?" Adam asked when Booth slid into the passenger seat.

"Head downtown. We're going to that swanky jewelry store," Jack answered for Booth.

"Are you for real? Can you even afford that place, Seel?" Adam looked at him, his eyes darting back and forth between his friend and the road.

Booth shrugged. "I've been saving up for a while and Pops is helping Bren and I with the rent so I can probably get almost anything for her…within reason, of course."


The minute the boys walked into the jewelry store, the manager assumed trouble.

"Can I help you?" the short, skinny man said as he approached them. For the most part, the trio could've taken out the manager in one fell swoop, which was the man's worst fear but as soon as Booth spoke, all of his fears went out the window.

"I need to get an engagement ring and these guys are here to help."

"Oooooh! How exciting! Okay, so tell me what she's like? Is she, you know, sort of high maintenance or is she down to earth?"

"Down to earth," Adam spoke up, "Bren's not high maintenance at all. She's the opposite, really."

"Shut up, man. You're making her sound homely," Jack said, punching Adam lightly in the shoulder.

"Both of you shut up and let me find something," Booth growled.

"She's…simple. I just want something simple. Nothing flashy or showy."

The manager nodded and moved to a display case. "You'll want a plain band, then. And maybe, a single diamond?" He pulled a few rings out to show Booth and the quarterback immediately saw the perfect one. It was a white gold band with a round diamond perched on top. Booth pointed to it and asked for the price.

"This one specifically is five thousand two hundred."

"Dollars?"

The manager nodded and gestured for Booth to keep his voice down.

"Um…do you, uh, have anything like that? I can't afford that," Booth said once he had his voice under control.

The manager nodded once more and pulled out another set of rings identical to the first, just with smaller diamonds.

"This one is about eighteen hundred. This is probably about as low as you're going to find here for an engagement ring," the manager told him.

Booth looked to his buddies for help but Adam just shrugged and Jack nodded his head in encouragement.

"Man, I honestly don't know why you brought us with. We're no good at shit like this," Adam told him.

"Booth, if you think Bren's gonna like it, then she will. She'll love anything you pick out," Jack added his two cents.

"I'll take it," Booth told the manager. The man wrapped up the box and took Booth's money. They walked out to Adam's car.

"What now?" Adam asked.

"Now, I just gotta figure out how to propose," he mumbled.

Adam and Jack started hypothesizing about how Booth would propose.

"Man, how awesome would it be if you had one of the coaches on the sideline hang onto it for you and then, as soon as we win the title again, you proposed, right there, right in front of everyone, the news and everything? Just like that guy from Boise State when they won a smaller bowl game a few years back!" Adam got excited.

"No, he can't copy some other dude!" Jack shouted. Booth tuned them out, especially Hodgins, who was going on about how he should do something late at night on the beach of Lake Michigan.

"It has to be perfect. Something that will show Bren how serious I am about us," Booth said.

The other two laughed. "Well, of course you're serious about you two," Adam said.

"Otherwise, why would you have gotten a ring?" Jack added.

Booth rolled his eyes. They didn't understand. For Bren, it needed to be perfect, or she might not say yes.