(The Truth in the Myth)

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I don't own Bones.

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He'd been trying to figure out what kind of relationship he had with Brennan for weeks. For years they had been friends and in a small locked portion of his heart, he'd kept his growing love for her hidden, mostly from her and sometimes from himself. The key had been carefully guarded and he rarely looked in the little room, but after he'd had brain surgery, it was as if he'd opened the door and refused to lock it anymore. Her friendship was his most valued possession and he feared what trying to change that would mean. He debated closing the door and locking his love away forever, but in the end, he hadn't. He'd took a gamble and being the former gambler that he was, he knew he'd lost everything by wagering everything at once.

Even after she'd crushed him outside the Hoover, he knew that she was hurting too and he would never walk away from her friendship. He understood the mistrust she had for love and he knew that there was nothing he could do to help her change her mind. He'd accepted that she would never give him what he wanted so he'd moved on. He told her he would making sure she understood that if she couldn't love him he would find someone who could. She had said she understood and Booth tried. He had tried and he had failed miserably in the dating game.

Brennan had also dated which confused Booth but since he was just her partner and her friend it was something he had to accept. She was willing to date anyone but him and for whatever reason, he had to accept that. His decision to move on seemed to be the right choice.

She was only interested in him as a friend and he tried to be the friend she needed.

Eventually he'd found his way to a war zone, alone and miserable with no contact from Brennan and little contact with anyone else except his grandfather and son. He hadn't gone looking for love but love had found him or so he thought.

When he'd come back home, he'd found his partner waiting for him and he was more than ready to renew his partnership. He never considered not working with her and surprisingly she had felt the same way.

Their friendship seemed to be strained at times, but the center seemed to hold until they were working on the Lauren Eames case. That was when Brennan seemed to come under a great deal of stress. He'd saved her from certain death and in his truck, she'd revealed an epiphany.

If he'd waited, if he'd guarded his heart would Brennan's confession have come like it did or did the fact that he'd moved on cause the confession? He wasn't sure. He was well aware that the world didn't spin around one Seeley Joseph Booth. Hell, he was barely in the solar system most of the time, so he tried not to put hope into her words since they were spoken when she was at her lowest point. He was her friend and wasn't that really what she wanted?

He'd agonized over her words but in the end he knew what he had to do. He was in a relationship and he couldn't walk away from Hannah. What kind of man would that make him if he threw away her love because he might have a chance with Brennan?

In the end, the love he had found in a war zone had been an illusion and he was just as alone as he had been when Brennan had told him no outside the Hoover. He still had her friendship but he also had a confession and that confession had caused him more pain and confusion than he thought possible.

After Hannah had left, he'd been angry with everyone around him until he realized that the one he was angry with the most was himself. He's made a mistake moving on, but it wasn't something he could admit to Brennan or to himself. She said she'd made a mistake and cried, but, he didn't know if he could trust her with his heart. She had captured his soul a long time ago and she would always be the sun he revolved around but when it came to his heart, he kept that well guarded. It had been crushed too many times and this time, he didn't think he could fix it. He was certain that all hope for a happy future had died in him and he wasn't sure he really cared anymore.

Their friendship seemed to flourish once the outsider was gone. Interestingly, Booth now knew that Hannah had been the discord in his and Brennan's song. It had surprised him when he'd realized that and in a way he had had his own epiphany. As much as he wanted to keep his distance from Brennan, he wasn't sure that was possible. When they were together, their music was harmonious. When they tampered with it they both suffered. They had been in discord ever since the Hoover and now they were finally playing the same tune.

What that tune was Booth didn't know. Friendship, yes. Partnership, yes. Something else, he wasn't sure. He didn't think she was sure either. He just knew that they were back to where they needed to be. He was there for her and she was standing beside him, just like she'd always been. A friend he could count on and really how many people are lucky to have that in their lives?

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So let me know what you thought of my ramble. Thank you.