Hello! So, I think I'm finally getting the hang of this, and I finally decided to write good ol' B/B fluff. I find it rather satisfying, but I may be a little biased. ;) I kind of just started this spontaneously, so I'm praying you like it. I'm considering making this a multi-chapter fic, but I'm not really sure. Tell me if it's just one shot worthy. Reviews are more than welcome, in fact, they're begged for. Just press that shiny green button!

Sometimes there are simply no way to say things. There are always unwritten, unspoken messages that people harbor. Surely, they'd like to convey them somehow, but whatever the reason-- fear, inappropriate timing, anger-- there's always a reason. It can take minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years to come out with it, and sometimes it simply never does. Other times, it just gets lost in translation.

Speak up, when you can. It doesn't always hurt. Sometimes, it feels pretty good.

---

Seeley Booth stood in front of his partner's apartment, a rose in his hand. He had waited far too long to tell her what she meant to him. He couldn't help but laugh at himself for how cliche this was. Standing in front of a lover's door, leaning in for a kiss when it opened-- wasn't this in some Jane Austen novel? He smirked before raising his hand to the hard wood.

"Coming."

Footsteps pattered on the tile of Brennan's apartment, footsteps obviously not attributed to the naked foot. The noises were sharp, high heels. Was she going out? Was this the wrong time?

Booth hid the rose behind his back, twirling it with his thumb and index finger. The door opened suddenly, and he was hardly prepared to face his partner, his muse.

"Booth?"

"Uh."

He stood awkwardly, eyeing her from head to toe. She was beautiful. Her brown locks were curled heavily, falling just below her collarbone, and her eyes stood out from beneath thin black outlines. She wore a body-clinging red dress, and her foot tapped impatiently in-- he was right-- red high heels. Bones held diamond earrings in her hand. One was evidently in her ear, shining beneath the recessed lighting of the apartment building's hallway, and the other was between her fingers. They fumbled, trying to get them to dangle the correct way. Her fingers stopped as she let her hands drop by her side.

"Booth? Are you alright?"

He averted his mesmerized gaze, blinking a few times to get himself back into reality.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just-- a-are you busy?"

Bones' eyebrows furrowed, revealing the one prominent wrinkle that was always a tell tale sign she was concerned with something.

"I was on my way to a party my publisher arranged; to celebrate the success of my book," she replied, "It's been number one on the New York Times' bestseller list for quite some time."

Booth found his partner's lack of modesty rather endearing.

"Oh, uh, okay," he found himself mumbling, "I'll just, um, come back later. Go-- go to your party."

He tried to hide his disappointment, stretching his lips into his best fake grin.

Bones maintained her expression of confusion.

"No, Booth, to tell you the truth, I didn't really want to attend. It's not really a big deal. Or I would've invited you."

She looked up to meet his gaze, and found him smiling back at her in pride.

"And Angela, I mean. And Cam. And Hodgins, and Sweets, and--"

"Yeah, I get it."

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh!" Bones exclaimed, "Come in." Booth grinned as he walked inside, shutting the door behind him.

"Thanks."

Bones nodded.

"So, did you need to tell me anything?" Bones asked, her gaze obviously resting on the flower he held in his hand. He had revealed it when he closed the door. Grimacing, he wished he had never brought it. It made him feel stupid.

"Uh, yeah," Booth replied, holding out the flower to her, "I, uh. I brought this for you."

Bones smiled briefly, accepting the odd gift with her hand.

"I try not to indulge in romance's whim, especially accepting flowers, for I find them awfully temporary and a waste of income, but, this is..." She hesitated, trying to find the perfect word to explain her emotions.

"This is sweet, Booth."

She leaned the flower upright against some picture frames she had on the table near the entrance of her apartment, knowing full well she owned no vases. Flowers were tacky, but she didn't mind when Booth gave them to her.

Booth nodded his head, his chest puffing outwards.

Bones bit her lip. There was this awful tension between the two of them, although she and her lack of social knowledge could not exactly determine what would mend it. She began tapping her heel again, not in impatience, but simply because she needed something to fill the deafening silence.

"Would you like a drink?" She asked politely, walking over towards her liquor cabinet. "I have quite a selection. Here's a Pinot Grigio, organic red Italian wine, French champagne, whiskey, Bordeaux--"

"I love you, Bones."

She turned around.

"I don't have that kind, Booth." She squinted at him, trying to understand what he meant. Surely he didn't really mean...

"No, I love you, Bones," he continued, "I really do. I came here to tell you that. I've known for a while, for a few years at least. I love that you're smart, Bones. I love that you're independent. I love that you have absolutely no idea what MTV is. I love that Parker likes you, and that you like Parker, and I love the way you set your lab passwords to your favorite flowers, and I know that roses aren't your favorite flower, but I thought it would be rather chivalrous to bring you one, so I did, but you--"

She cut him off, walking towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Booth."

She tried to meet his gaze, but it was too intense, too real. Her eyes darted between his and the floor.

"Booth, I'm not good at this. I never have been." She reached for his hand, and their fingers intertwined.

"This scares me." She raised their mingled hands. "I don't know if I can do this."

He took a deep breath.

"But do you want to?"

She nodded.

"Then try."

She bit her lip, not allowing herself to be fully overcome by him, but it was too difficult. She did want this to some extent. She had wanted it for five years. Everything that had happened between them made their relationship strong. If nothing else, it was excellent foundation. She knew she could try-- for him...for them.

She leaned in, ready for the next step. He hesitated.

"Bones, if you're not ready..."

"I'm ready."

She sounded firm and definitive, but he wasn't sure.

"Bones." His tone was warning now.

She leaned in further, trying to close the gap that Booth was so desperately trying to maintain. Her lips crashed onto his, five years of longing coming together in sparks. It was gentle, slow, but it was frantic, as if there weren't enough minutes in the day for the two of them. He eased into it, surprised that Bones had made the first move. His hands found her hips, and hers found his neck. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, trying to get as close to him as she could physically be. The heat between them was immense, but everything felt natural, right. Her lips against his felt like they had been doing this forever, and that they could continue for eternity.

The moment ended, as all do, and both released their lips from the embrace, though not their grasps on one another. He held her just as tightly as she held him. There was some sense of peace that they shared, of definitiveness, of confirming what was arguably always there. Bones stared into Booth's eyes, and found herself swimming in her thoughts. It was all a blur, a terrifying, numbing blur, but she liked it.

"So where does this leave us?" Booth asked, reluctantly releasing his grip on her waist. Her warmth dissipated as his arms left her.

Quickly, she walked to the door, turning the lock. She walked back over to him, grabbing his hands, putting them back on her waist.

"I'd say this leaves us right here."

She leaned in again, but this time, he did too.

Please, please, please review! One shot, or multi-chapter? Thank you for reading!