Chapter 6... 'Passion'

"I don't have to..."

The words were still ringing in Booth's mind.

"What?" he asked, focussing all of his attention on what she would say next.

"I don't have to pretend, Booth..."

He was waiting for her to say something like 'because I know how you felt about me and how mad it drove you'.

"You mean...?"

Brennan gently nodded. She laughed a bit to herself.

"This is so silly..." she began. "I had this all planned out in my mind for when we were going to meet up after we got back. And now that I've got a chance to say it, I don't know where to begin."

Booth took hold of Brennan's hand. "Just start from the beginning" he whispered in her ear.

Brennan thought about her mumbling speech from the week before.

"Booth, I have to tell you this, before it's too late. I knew the moment that I stepped onto that plane to go to Indonesia that I'd made the wrong choice. I shouldn't have let you leave; I shouldn't have let you let me go. We belong together and I know that now." She was hesitant to continue, but Booth reassured her. "I care for you, Booth, in a way I've never cared about anyone before. It's not love, not yet, but I know that someday, it will be love. I need you in my life Booth. I need you to catch me when I fall, like you promised me."

Booth didn't know what to say. 'She loves me' were his only thoughts.

"Booth, it's up to you what you do. I just thought you should know... before it was too late to tell you."

Brennan stood up and started to walk away, but Booth grabbed her and pulled her back to him. He moved closer to her, their lips almost touching. Then, before she had the chance to make the first move, Booth's lips touched hers gently. It felt right. Brennan kissed him back, with more passion, heat, lust and tenderness than any kiss they'd shared before.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Brennan had taken off Booth's tie and was starting to unbutton his shirt. Booth's arms encircled her, but the moment was over too quickly.

Booth took a step back. What am I doing?

As quickly as the thought had entered his mind, it was gone, and he had Brennan back in his arms, kissing her tenderly.

This time Brennan was the one who stepped back.

"Booth... We can't... Jennifer, she's your..." Booth silenced her by kissing her again, and all rational thought left her mind.

It was everything Brennan wanted. He had let her fall, but he was there for her now. The only problem was, there was still someone else in the picture. If he can cheat on his girlfriend, does that mean he would cheat on me too? Brennan shook the thought from her mind.

"Booth... We can't... Jennifer, she's your..."

She stepped back from the kiss. It felt so right, and she knew Booth knew it too.

"You're right" sighed Booth, disappointment and desire both filling his eyes.

They both knew that they couldn't be together, not while Booth was with someone else. But hearing Booth say "You're right" brought her back to reality. He never admitted that she was right. Not on matters of the heart. She felt the tears forming.

"I have to go, Booth" said Brennan as she tried to rush away, the words struggling to come out.

This time, though, Booth didn't let her leave.

"I let you let me let you go once before, and I'm not making that same mistake again, Temperance!"

'Temperance'. He was serious this time.

But Brennan couldn't help herself. She had to get away.

"I'm Sorry Booth," the words stumbled out between sobs, and Brennan turned and ran as quickly as she could.

"Brennan!" cried out Booth, as he chased after her, the suit he was wearing making it more difficult to run at a fast enough pace to catch up to her.

She'd made it halfway down the length of the Reflecting Pool before Booth caught up to her.

"You can't walk out like that, after telling me what you did, Bones! I won't let you fall this time; I'm here to catch you. But I can't be there for you, Bones, not until I know what's going to happen between Jennifer and me."

Brennan's heart sank when she heard this. She'd opened up to him, and like a thousand times before, he could only comfort her in a 'partners' way.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked. The memories of the kisses they just shared filled her head and her heart, making accepting any answer much more difficult.

"I need time, Bones. I need time."

Booth turned to walk away, but then leaned in for one last forbidden kiss with Brennan.

"Soon..." he said, and as he walked away, Brennan disappointingly sighed under her breath "Soon!"