A/N: YOU'RE BACK! Hahahaha… I knew you would be.

Okay new chapter, and thank you for the reviews.

"Why are you laughing?" Brennan demanded. She didn't see the humor in this situation she was far too distraught over the events to make a joke out of it.

"You care SO much…" he explained.

"So what?" she challenged. "That's what friends are supposed to do isn't it? Care about each other!"

"Yes," he nodded. "It's exactly what they're supposed to do. But you, Bones, you care more than you think you do, and when you insist you're a brain person and NOT a heart person, I have to laugh!"

She frowned. "Why?" She still didn't understand what he was trying to say.

"Because you ARE a heart person, you care about me. You get irrationally angry about a situation because I was hurt…"

"I wasn't being irrational," she denied. "It was righteous anger!"

Booth only smiled.

It took a moment for her to bring her own smile to her face, and when she did, she felt better. He was still the same man; the events of the past few months had not altered his personality too drastically. He was still Booth… HER Booth, the man who continually watched out for her, made her opinion count for something, changed her thinking and understanding for the better.

He made her love him even more, and he didn't even know it.

"I missed you," she told him openly.

He grinned. "Yeah, Bones… I missed you too."

For a moment time stood still as they locked eyes, everything she had wanted to tell him, all the emotions she had felt for him over time went into the way she looked at him, as if he were the only man in the world, the only person in the world. Then and there, she considered all the things he had asked of her, all the times he wanted something more than what she was able to give.

I love him, she told herself. In all the ways that matter, I love him. Maybe that's all that matters.

"Booth, I…" she began, the words caught in her throat and she could barely breathe.

An expression of sadness crossed his eyes then, and he broke eye contact, looking away and staring at a spot on the wall. She felt her chest tighten. It was now or never. It was the words that he had been so desperate to hear from her, the move she had been so scared to make, and the barrier she had been unable to break down… until now.

I can do this, she told herself. She took a deep breath.

"Bones," he interrupted her thoughts before the words would come out.

She looked at him, cautiously, carefully, waiting.

"I have to tell you something…" he said. "I been meaning to tell you for an hour, but I just couldn't-"

"It's okay," she smiled. If he said it first then it wouldn't be as hard to tell him she felt the same. The words would roll off her tongue. "You can tell me, Booth… you can tell me anything."

Brennan waited.

"In Afghanistan, I realized that all the things we went through and what I was waiting for… I know you can't give me what I need from you and-"

"Booth, I-" she didn't want him to think that now… not now.

He held out his hand to silence her, and she instantly stopped talking. "I shouldn't have pressured you to feel what you didn't, I never… I make a mistake. I care about you too much to hurt you Bones, and if that means that I can only ever be your partner and friend, then it's worth it."

"But Booth, I-"

"No. Let me finish," he looked pained as he went on. "I found a way to let go, Bones, I… I brought back someone from Afghanistan."

Brennan felt a crushing blow to the chest.

I know you all hate me… but it's my story, and if you know me at all, you know that I don't believe in BAD endings, so relax… and review. There will be more about HER in the next chapter. WHO exactly is SHE? You might be surprised. :)