A/N: Holy long one-shot. I might have gotten a little carried away with 3,000 words, but the muse was apparently in a good place when I wrote this.

Usual disclaimer: I don't own it. Wish I did.

Usual begging for reviews: Please review!

Tag for 05x04 Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Parker: Couldn't you be his girlfriend?
Booth: Buddy, you're gonna have to quit that.
Bones: That would be inappropriate.
Parker: Why?
Bones: Because... we work together.
Parker: That's a stupid reason.

So it turned out that Parker's quest to find his father a girlfriend was actually a quest to get the young boy a pool. Nonetheless Booth couldn't seem to shake his son's earlier statement. 'That's a stupid reason.'

Yeah. Booth thought. That is a stupid reason. You know what else is a stupid reason? The fact that I can't actually tell her how I feel because she'd bail. Or she'd think it was the tumor. That would almost be worse than her running.

Booth had dropped his son off and headed home for the night. He'd retrieved a beer from the fridge and settled on the couch only to find himself restless again minutes later. He was sure that if he didn't stop pacing he was going to pace a hole right through his floor. He couldn't go to the FBI gym; it was closed for the weekend to be disinfected. I was a little late for the shooting range. A little too warm and humid to go for a run. Then he remembered the key to the pool at Brennan's apartment. 'If you go late at night or early in the morning the pool is usually empty.' She'd advised him.

Booth grabbed his swim trunks and a towel and headed toward his partner's apartment complex. When he arrived the place was empty just as she'd said it would be this late at night. He dropped his towel and keys on a table and padded over to the side of the pool. Booth dipped his foot in to test the water temperature. It was perfect, just cool enough to take the edge off.

Just as Booth dove into the water the door to the pool room swung open and his partner walked in. Brennan wasn't surprised to see him here. The FBI gym was closed for the weekend and it would be too hot and humid for him to want to run outside. The only other option left was the gun range and it was a little late for that. She smiled as she watched his body glide through the water. If it was possible he looked even better than she'd imagined. Parker was definitely correct in his assessment that working together was a stupid reason as to why the partners couldn't date.

Brennan was lost in her own thoughts when she suddenly became aware of someone splashing water on her. She looked down to see that her partner had become aware of her presence.

"Heya, Bones." He smiled up at her from below.

"Hello, Booth."

"Fancy meeting you here."

"That doesn't make any sense, Booth. Of course it makes sense that I would be here. I live in this building and own a key to this room. What's more interesting is that you're here." And boy is that interesting. Please don't go.

Booth's smile faded as his mind processed her comment.

"Do you want me to go?" He hesitated. Please don't say you want me to go.

"No!" Brennan's mouth betrayed her.

Booth flashed his trademark grin again, "Then come on in, Bones."

Booth had gone back to swimming laps; trying desperately to burn off his excess energy. It turned out to be an exercise in futility. It was nearly impossible for Booth to concentrate on anything other than the sight of his beautiful partner gliding gracefully through the water. Just when he thought he'd worn himself out for the night he found himself tensing in anticipation again. Anticipation of touching Brennan, telling her how he felt, and doing things to her that were decidedly unpartnerly.

Once Booth had decided there was no way to rid himself of this nervous energy he sat back and watched Brennan as she swam. If he was going to be miserable he might as well enjoy himself.

Brennan, for her part, had also come down to the pool to expend some nervous energy. Their afternoon conversation had had much the same effect on her. It had nearly killed her when Booth awoke from his coma and had no idea who she was. It had cut so deeply that the only way she could process the whole situation was to run away from it. In fact she had run—or, more accurately, flown—all the way to Guatemala in typical Brennan fashion. Rationally Brennan knew that Booth's reaction was to be expected. He'd just undergone brain surgery and had a bad reaction to the anesthetic. In reality a memory lapse should have been the least of anyone's worries. However, in the six weeks she was gone Booth had regained his memory and Brennan had gained some insight into her reaction.

She loved him. She was in love with Booth. Her partner. She'd realized this about three weeks into her trip. The next three weeks proved to be the longest of her life although she understood that time was simply a construct and could neither move faster nor slower no matter the situation. She'd wanted to tell him as soon as she returned. Despite her inability to judge situations in terms of when it was appropriate to bring up a particular topic Brennan knew she couldn't just blurt out her revelation. What if Booth still didn't remember her? What if he didn't feel the same way?

Brennan was once again jolted out of her ruminations, this time by a muscle cramp in her leg. If she'd been paying attention to her body she'd have known 5 laps ago that the muscles in her legs were not going to hold up much longer. She stopped at the shallow end and stretched the cramp out of her leg. As she was stretching she noticed that Booth was watching her, a crooked grin on his face. She wondered briefly what he was grinning at, but assumed he'd figured out she was suffering from muscle cramping and found it amusing.

Finally Booth swam over to his partner. "What's the matter, Bones?"

"Muscle pain caused by insufficient oxygenation causing…" She was cut off.

"Muscle cramp?" Booth clarified.

"Yes."

"You want some help rubbing that out? I've been told I have magic fingers…" He smiled at her.

"No. I'm fine now, thank you." Great, now I'll be thinking about what his fingers can do all night.

The partners stood in the shallow end of the pool looking at one another in an awkward silence. Neither wanted to break the stalemate though both knew they should. They spoke at the same time. "Booth…" "Bones…"

"Oh…sorry. You go first." He offered.

"No, it's okay. What did you need to say?" Now is not the time to bring this up.

"I…uhhh." Booth's hand reached up to cup the back of his neck. "Thanks." He smiled.

"For what?"

"For the pool key. For…uhh…For letting me and Parker use your pool."

"You're welcome, Booth." She smiled.

Booth pulled himself out of the water while surreptitiously adjusting his swim trunks to hide the raging hard on he'd been sporting since Brennan had walked into the pool room. He was about to grab his towel and dry off when he noticed a hot tub.

"Hey, Bones. You know, a soak in the hot tub might help with that muscle cramp."

Brennan watched her partner walk over to the hot tub. As she studied him, Brennan noticed a prominent bulge that her partner had obviously tried to hide. Yes, but soaking in the hot tub with you is liable to lead to other muscles cramping.

"I suppose that sounds like a reasonable idea." Brennan replied.

Brennan never used the hot tub. She didn't see the point. The pool room was heated and usually rather warm, so there was really no point in getting into even warmer water where several other people had been when she could just as easily go upstairs and soak in her own Jacuzzi tub. If she had regularly used the hot tub she would have realized that it was barely large enough for two adults. Nevertheless she climbed in and sat down opposite her partner.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Booth noticed that Brennan was clearly still suffering from leg cramping. "Are you sure you don't want me to massage that for you, Bones?"

You have no idea how much I want you to massage that for me…among other places. "Fine, Booth."

Booth smiled and reached for his partner's leg. He could feel the muscles tensing under his fingers. He slowly and methodically worked from just below the knee down to the ankle and up again. The feel of Booth's hands on her leg did things that partners shouldn't do to one another. Every time he moved his hands it sent a jolt straight to her core. She had all she could do to keep from moaning at the feeling of his hands on her body.

Booth shifted Brennan's leg into his lap and her foot brushed the very prominent hard on he'd tried to conceal earlier. He froze and she just stared at him wide eyed with curiosity. They stayed that way for what felt like hours to Booth before Brennan made her move.

Booth was sure she was going to deck him. Lay him out flat to drown in the hot tub. Oh well, at least I'll die knowing what she felt like under my hands.

To his utter surprise she took his hand and moved it further up her leg hoping he'd take the hint. Not one to miss an opportunity to touch his partner Booth leaned in and smoothed his hand up her leg until he reached her hip. His other hand supported her upper body as he pulled her to straddle him.

Brennan traced the hard lines of his body under the water and smoothed her hands over his chest and shoulders as she reached up to cup his face. She looked into his eyes for a brief moment before softly covering his mouth with hers. Booth responded immediately; his tongue tracing her bottom lip seeking access. Brennan granted that access and what started out as a chaste kiss quickly became a war for exploration of one another's mouths.

Brennan's hands slid down to grip Booth's shoulders as she ground herself against him. His moan was swallowed by their kiss as he arched into her.

When lack of oxygen finally became a priority Brennan broke the kiss reluctantly. This time it was Booth's turn to stare wide eyed. When Brennan was no longer light headed from lack of oxygen she began again. This time she started at the spot just behind his ear. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do this?" She questioned as she pulled gently at his earlobe with her teeth.

"Not nearly as long as I've wanted you to do this." He let out on a groan.

Brennan continued kissing him along his jaw line, down his neck, and along his collarbone causing Booth to squirm beneath her.

"God, Bones." He said breathlessly.

Eventually Booth remembered that he had two working hands. His hands encircled her waist and eventually found their way up to her breasts. He thumbed her nipples through the material of her swimsuit causing her to moan his name in pleasure.

Brennan's hands snaked down his body and found the tie to release his swim trunks. Just as she was about to pull on the draw string he stopped her. "We should go somewhere more private." He breathed into her ear.

Wordlessly Brennan climbed out of the hot tub and took Booth's hand pulling him out with her. She handed him and extra towel to cover up his now painfully hard cock. He followed her back to her apartment. She opted for the stairs thinking the elevator would only invite trouble. She hadn't bothered to lock her door since it was late and the building was keyed entry only.

"You should really lock that." Booth growled into her ear. "You never know who might just walk right in here." He grabbed her hips and pulled her back into him sighing softly as she ground against his erection.

Ignoring his impromptu public service announcement Brennan took Booth's hand again and led him to her bathroom. He quirked an eyebrow at her wondering why they had stopped here instead of the bedroom.

"I need a shower. The chlorine makes me itch. You're more than welcome to join me." She leered.

Not one to refuse an offer like that Booth quickly stripped and followed his partner into the shower. She grabbed her shampoo only to have him take it out of her hands. He squeezed some of the jasmine scented soap onto his palm and rubbed his hands together to create a lather. He worked the soap through her hair gently massaging her scalp as she leaned into him. He repeated the process with her conditioner before allowing her to do the same for him. When they had both thoroughly rinsed their hair he reached for Brennan's body wash. Again he squeezed some into his palm and worked it into a lather before simultaneously washing and exploring her body with his hands. She returned the gesture letting her hands languidly run over his body.

As soon as they had both rinsed the soap from their bodies Booth backed his partner up against the tiled wall of the shower. He brushed her hair back behind her shoulder and started placing hot open mouthed kissed along her neck and shoulder. He made his way down to her breasts and took one into his mouth. He alternated gentle licking with hard sucking causing her to writhe beneath him moaning his name.

Booth's lips moved back up to her neck while his hands explored further south. "I've been dreaming of this for years." He whispered just loudly enough to be heard over the shower. His fingers parted her folds testing her. He wasn't surprised to find her totally soaked and ready. She sucked in a breath as he dipped one then two fingers into her core.

Brennan's hand moved from its place at her side to grip his straining cock. She pumped him once, then again, before gently knocking his hand away replacing it with his dick. She felt his whole body shudder as she dipped the tip of him inside her.

"Bones, baby…" He moaned and then froze for an instant. When she didn't correct him he relaxed again.

Booth reached behind her and pulled one of her legs around his waist allowing him to slip deeper inside of her. She was hot, tight, wet, and perfect. Booth would have been fine if he'd never had to move again. Brennan had other ideas and she reached around and grabbed his ass pulling him further into her. "Ahhh! Booth!" She cried out at the sensation of him filling her.

"Oh, god, you're so tight." He breathed into her ear.

"Don't stop moving." She pleaded.

Booth thrust up into her and began to set a rhythm. Soon he felt the tell tale tingling at the base of his spine and knew he wasn't going to last much longer. He tried to slow down, but Brennan's nails dug into his back urging him on.

"I'm gonna…oh, god…baby… I'm gonna come. You gotta let me slow down." He knew he was begging, but he wanted it to last.

"Almost there…just…harder. Harder." She panted.

With that Booth pulled almost all the way out before thrusting back into her. He repeated the motion three or four times before he felt her start to come apart beneath him. She began chanting his name mixed with other unintelligible sounds as she came. "Uhh…Booth…I…Booth," she moaned. Then breathlessly and so softly he almost missed it "I love you, Booth."

That was his undoing and he came hard inside her. He panted her name as he came down from his release.

It was then that they noticed that the water had run cold and Booth reached with lightning speed to turn off the water. He pulled his partner into his arms, buried his face in the crook of her neck, and whispered, "I love you too, Bones. God, I love you so much."

When Booth was fairly certain he could stand up without promptly falling back over he pushed himself off of the wall. The partners were stilled wrapped in one anothers' arms and Brennan clearly had no intention of letting go. Funny, I never pegged her for a snuggler.

He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel for Brennan and another for himself. He draped one towel around her shoulders before wrapping the other around his waist. She led him back to her bedroom as she dried her hair. She slid beneath the sheets and gave him an expectant look as he watched her. "Stay." It wasn't a question.

Booth climbed into his partner's bed and just lay there for a moment taking in everything that had happened into the last few hours. Never in a million years had he expected this. His mind was running at what seemed like a million miles an hour, but his body—sated—had other ideas and he began to drift off to sleep.

"Booth?" She called softly.

"Yeah, baby." The filter between his brain and mouth that would've prevented him from calling her that temporarily disabled from a combination of exhaustion and pleasure.

She chuckled, finding the normally juvenile endearment oddly pleasing coming from Booth. "I love you."

"I know, Bones. I love you, too." He reassured her as he threw an arm around her waist and pulled her into him.

"I just. I wanted you to know that it wasn't just the sex. You know…" She trailed off.

Despite his drowsiness, Booth's brain caught up with the situation. "I just wanted you to know that it wasn't the brain tumor." He chuckled. "I've been in love with you for a long time. Almost forever, I think."

Brennan smiled at the thought. "I don't think that's rational, Booth. But I think I've also loved you almost forever."

She felt Booth smile against her shoulder and snuggled back into him pleased to have seemingly said the right thing for once.

The newly entangled partners—in more ways than one—finally fell into a sated, peaceful sleep for the first time in months.