Sorry it took me so long to get this final chapter up. At least now the story has a proper ending. Thanks so much to all who reviewed this last chapter: colonelheather, ElLivFan4Ever, Kia Grrl, GabbyWonka, beaglelvr93, Jay200484, YouAndMe Kelly and Mana. Please keep the reviews coming. I love them! (Disclaimer: You know I didn't get Bones this holiday season, so just don't sue.)

"Hey, Hodgins. Zack." Booth nodded in their direction as he entered the lab. "Is Bones around?" he asked.

"I think Angela took her out for a coffee break," Hodgins replied.

"I guess I'll just hang out here for a while." Booth's discomfort at being in the lab hardly showed anymore, but he was never one to spend much time there.

"You should go wait in Brennan's office," Hodgins said a little too forcefully.

Sheepishly remembering the kiss that had occurred there a week earlier, he told Hodgins, "I'll just chill out here. You won't even notice me."

"I really think you should wait in Brennan's office," Hodgins reiterated.

Now Booth was annoyed. "What? Are you two doing some super squinty experiment you can't let me in on?"

Zack finally looked up from his work. "I believe Dr. Hodgins is referring to the fact that Brennan still hasn't taken the mistletoe down from her office and Angela has postulated that she left it up because she's waiting for a certain male to join her under it."

"Oh."

Seeley Booth had taken the squint's advice and went to wait in his partner's office. Sure enough the mistletoe, only slightly withered, was still hanging from the ceiling. Booth felt as though the mistletoe was watching him, challenging him.

Booth didn't have a clue as to what he was supposed to do next. Really the trouble was that he didn't know what she expected him to do next. "Should I kiss her?" Booth wondered. The mistletoe seemed to say he should kiss her. And then there she was.

Nervously Booth addressed Brennan, "Hi, Bones. How was Peru?" He wondered if it was too impersonal a greeting.

Brennan lingered in her doorway. "I never made it." Brennan wasn't sure if she wanted to make the first move and so she kept with the easy questions, "How was Christmas with Parker?"

"It was great. It wouldn't have been the same without him." From the just-friends line of questioning, Booth wondered if he had been misreading the signs. What if the mistletoe was wrong?

But then, Brennan took a step into her office. "It was really great of you both to bring over that tree." Her voice caught, "I really did love it."

"I wanted you to," Booth smiled. "It's your office. You do know that you could actually enter it."

Brennan grinned back, taking a few more steps into the room until she was directly under the mistletoe. Not breaking his gaze, Booth took another step until he felt the mistletoe brush the top of his head. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I guess tradition dictates we should…" Before Brennan could finish her thought, Booth's lips had found hers. And this time it lasted well beyond five steamboats.

FIN