Dislaimer: I own nothing, sadly.... =[

A/N: Thanks so much to Dr. Temperance Brennan for beta-ing this story for me!! I hope you guys like this one; I'm a little rusty. You're comments will be greatly appreciated. Well, on that note...ON WITH THE STORY!!!

One thing she always found interesting about chemistry was that almost all of the elements were constantly trying to become stable. They tried to find the perfect combination to become like the few noble gases out there. Those gases didn't need or want a partner; they were fine on their own. However, all the other elements wanted and needed a counterpart to become stable. Once that fateful moment happened reactions would be created and they'd have unique properties all their own. Unlike the noble gases though, they could still form sparks when the circumstances were right. But in order to reach this desired state, they'd have to give and take elections, sacrifice part of their own being to become one with another.

However, when an element cannot find their compliment, when one other element cannot fulfill the other's needs, it will try to bond with two or more. For example, when oxygen can't find any element in family two to bond with it will get two hydrogen atoms to bond with and it will form water. She felt like water once before. She needed two hydrogen atoms - two men - to satisfy her needs, like one calcium or barium molecule could all on its own. Yet sometimes oxygen bonded with itself when no one else was there. It was a covalent bond and when this bond happened, two elements would trick themselves into believing they were stable even though they both knew what was really going on. When she was by herself of dating someone too much like her she felt like that. She fooled herself and took the second best thing, trying to convince herself she was happy without him. But covalent bonds are easy to break and she counted on that every time she got closer to believing that this bond would work out. She'd break off and continue looking for her barium, in hopes that one day she could become one.

Chemistry was a science, and she understood science. So, when she took her life with Booth and compared it to oxygen and barium she finally understood. Booth was willing to give his two electrons as long as she was willing to take them. If she could accept his heart then he could have hers, and they could finally become stable. It was at this point when love finally made sense. It was about giving and taking, sacrificing and receiving a gift more powerful than two elements could ever be by themselves. That ionic bond was unbreakable. She hoped to forge that bond with Booth. She had to. She was putting her heart on the line for this. Science had never failed her before; that was why she was standing at his doorstep, Thai in one hand, the other jammed in her pocket, contemplating whether or not to escape from its safe haven and take the final step that would undoubtedly change her life. There was fear in her eyes but it was gone in an instant when she heard the door open revealing a shirtless Booth, that stupid smile that drove her crazy plastered on his chiseled face.

"You gonna stand there all night?" he asked with a chuckle.

'Cocky bastard,' she thought.

"I just..." she started. She was just what exactly? Oh, Booth, I was just about to confess my undying love to you? I think I'm about to throw logic out the window so I can jump into your arms and stay with you forever because that's the only thing in this world that feels right?

"I just..." she said again. Her mind was blank. Instead of coming up with a response she brushed by him into the room, effectively sweeping the smirk off of his face.

"Bones, are you ok?" he asked, his demeanor changing instantly. He followed her to the couch where he sat down beside her, only to watch her get back up and start pacing the room.

"I'm ok," she reassured him. "I've been thinking." Well of course she was thinking.

"About what?" Booth asked, rubbing his hand over his sleep deprived face. She really did feel bad about keeping him from sleep; he was stressed out at work lately and she felt all he needed was a good night's rest. Well, not tonight.

"Us," she replied simply.

The look on his face was priceless. "Oh." Yep, she was finally the one to bring up that so called "elephant" in the room. However, there was no elephant in the room this time, and she decided she had to be more specific to wipe the confused look on his face.

"I've come to realize that love can be rationalized," she started. She held a hand up to Booth's lips to stop him, but didn't expect her breath to hitch as electricity shot through her fingers. So the reaction begins, she thought. Soon, a compound will be created.

"Before you disagree with me, can you just hear me out?" she asked. With a nod of his head, she removed her hand and continued. "You know how you told me about two becoming one? I get that. While it is impossible for two elements to occupy the same space, they share electrons; in which case two become one compound. And I get how two elements need to find each other and since I think of myself as oxygen and you're kind of like barium, I found that I need you to be complete and -" Her sentence was cut off by Booth's searing kiss.

'She's oxygen alright,' Booth thought to himself. She was the only oxygen he'd ever need ever again. As he pulled back, he buried his head in the crook of her neck. He breathed her in like his lifeline, like his oxygen.

As she pulled his head up to meet her lips again she concluded her hypothesis was correct. He was strong; he was reactive. Sparks were flying as they made their way to his bedroom and they finally combined to make the strongest compound the world had ever seen. The bond was unbreakable and as she looked into his eyes she uttered the three words she never thought she'd say again. "I love you."

As he responded with his own "I love you," she felt herself going over the edge. This was chemistry. This was what she understood. This reaction was forming sparks and flames and something unfamiliar but phenomenal inside of her. And now, now she was closer to understanding how love worked. She realized that no amount of reasoning and science could ever explain what she was feeling now that two had become one. And that, she realized, that was love.