Disclaimer: It still stands. I don't own anyone or any past events that may be mentioned in my writing.

Author's note: I want to apologize for my lack of writing in this story. My past summer was completely filled up with online classes and work every day so my writing took a back seat. However, I found out that I already had this chapter typed up and saved, it just needed a bit of tweaking. So, to hold you guys over until I find the third song and write another chapter up, here you go! I want to thank EVERYONE who took the time to reply to my first chapter. I didn't think this story would go over that well, but it did and I have you guys to thank for it. I usually PM everyone who replies, but I haven't had time as of lately. I hope that will change. :) Enjoy guys!

Chapter Two
"That's How You Make Me Feel"

Song: I Like You – Christina Perri

He thought he could handle it, seeing them actually have a conversation that didn't deal with arguing about which of their studies was the best and more useful. He thought he could get over the fact that one night between the two people he was watching now had brought them closer. Two weeks ago he had watched them converse from across the room. She seemed happy for once, not expressing the usual pained expression he saw when she looked at him. No, she looked differently at the young shrink, especially the last two weeks after Angela and Hodgins' wedding. Maybe no one else noticed it, but he did.

And he couldn't handle it.

Booth wanted to handle it; he wanted to be that strong man everyone took him for. He wanted to be happy for her, happy that someone else could make her laugh and forget how much he had been hurting her, even if it was just temporary. But he found it harder to pretend he was okay with it than to be that angry man he had been at the reception. He was stupid to say what he did on the dance floor, to push her further to the ground with everything he had been throwing her way. He had told her he wanted to be with her, then he left for a year, then came back to be with her, or so she thought, and instead told her he was in a serious relationship with someone else. Then if that wasn't enough, he had to blurt out he loved her. Of course she got angry, it was selfish of him to do it but he couldn't help himself.

He saw the way Sweets was looking at her, how happy she looked with him just for that brief period of time. He got scared – he didn't want her to be that way with anyone else but him. He did it with Sully, with his boss, and now with the kid of the group. But when he saw her the morning after the wedding, he realized he had to ignore his own feelings and think about hers.

So was he changing his mind now? Well, not necessarily. For those two weeks he had been fighting silently with himself. He wanted to let everything out in the open, threaten Sweets, and tell Temperance she was being ridiculous. That's what he would normally do. But things were different now than they were before, and if he didn't want to lose his partner and best friend, he would keep it quiet and let it eat at him.

If he would protect her from any kind of harm brought on by other people, he needed to learn to protect her from himself. But at the same time, he wanted to be that selfish guy if it meant things would go back to normal. It was a constant battle for him which was wearing him thin.

"Booth!"

Hearing his name, he turned his head away from what he was staring at and toward the owner of the voice. His lips parted, showing his pearly whites, and he took a few quick steps toward the brunette walking toward him, the dark-haired shrink close behind her.

"I've been trying to get your attention. Any luck on our suspect?"

Booth looked over her shoulder and caught eyes with Sweets. He kept the smile as best as he could but ignored him for the most part. "We got a lead on the car he supposedly stole; road blocks are being set up as we speak. All we have to do is wait."

"Don't you usually wait with them? Bust the bad guy?" Sweets chimed in, stepping up to be side by side with Temperance, hitting Booth softly in the shoulder as he did so.

The agent looked down at his shoulder before looking back at the man. "Don't you usually take a bottle and a nap around his time?"

Sweets raised an eyebrow slightly and shoved his hands in his front pockets. "You're being unusually hostile today, Agent Booth."

"I'm always hostile to you. What are you talking about? C'mon, Bones."

The brunette was jerked in the opposite direction of where she was facing, her arm now linked with Booth's. "Where are we going?" She asked, taking a quick look back at the psychologist.

"Lunch. I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too."

Temperance stopped and retrieved her arm from her partner's grasp. "Well, I was going to go with Sweets and talk about another book he's writing."

Booth looked back and forth briefly between the two people in front of him and he let his shoulders sink just a bit. He could feel his blood begin to heat up just a bit, his teeth grinding together as well. The battle inside of him had started again. Green, blue, green, blue. He looked back and forth between the eyes of the people before him, trying to find something, anything, to calm him down.

As his brown eyes settled on the pale blues of his partner, he sighed heavily and straightened up his posture a bit. This was for her and her only. Only she mattered as did her happiness. "Right, of course you are." He took a quick glance at his watch and acted surprised to see what time it was, not even really reading the small hands and the numbers they were pointing to. "Wow, I really should get going to that road block, huh? I'll let you know what goes down."

"I thought you weren't going?" Temperance asked, turning back around when Booth quickly walked past them.

"I wasn't, but hey, you guys talked me into it. A guy like me can't miss the action, eh?" He followed his words with one of his usual, quirky hand gestures before making his way quickly to the exit of the Jeffersonian.

He didn't look back because he knew they would both be watching him leave. It was best for him to just walk out, cool down, and concentrate on the work he had to get done before approaching his partner again.

"That's the third one you've had. I thought you were taking me out to lunch."

"I am," Sweets said, putting a piece of chicken in his mouth that he had taken off of Temperance's plate.

"So why are you eating the food you bought me?"

"Because I bought it," he said matter-of-factly before giving his usual crooked smile. A laugh escaped her lips, and as he watched her poke at her food with the chopstick she was holding, he tilted his head just a bit. "What's up?"

Shaking her head, the smile still apparent, she stopped poking at her food and set the chopstick down before turning her full attention to the man before her. "I like this."

"Like what?" Sweets asked, speaking from the rim of the glass before taking a sip of water.

"This, just two friends having lunch, joking around with no stress."

Sweets set the glass down and sighed softly. "We're friends, hm?"

"Well, I will admit at first there was a bit of maternal instinct on my part given our age difference and your somewhat childish habits."

"Childish?" He asked with amusement in his tone.

Ignoring his comment, but letting a soft laugh escape, she continued. "But, after the events from the past couple of weeks, that instinct is gone and there is more of a companionship now."

"Thank you, Brennan."

"You're welcome." Reaching forward, she grabbed a piece of his food and brought it back to her plate. "I'm getting your full money's worth," she said, arching an eyebrow before eating the piece she had taken.

Leaning back in his seat, Sweets folded his arms over his chest and stared down at the floor for a brief moment, gathering his thoughts together. Ever since the moment he started working with Temperance, he had always admired her. Of course it was more of a family admiration and Booth had been included with that. But during the year apart from everyone and the almost immediate distance between her and Booth, his admiration changed quite a bit.

He wasn't examining her as much anymore and instead just listening to her as a friend, a confidante. Watching her and Booth's relationship slowly disappear worried him. He didn't want that family he had gotten so used to fall apart, but more importantly he wanted Temperance to be happy, and he knew losing Booth would make her anything but.

He wasn't trying to fill that void in anyway, but he could tell something was happening. It was probably just their friendship getting stronger, things like that happened. They no longer really bantered about which profession was better and instead had meaningful conversations about personal matters. It was different to experience her in that light, but he liked it. He enjoyed her company, which was why he continued to ask her to join him whenever possible.

"So I was wondering-" he began, but the sound of Temperance's phone ringing and her hand gesture for him to hold on made him stop abruptly.

"Hello? Okay…no, I'll be right there. Bye." Hanging up on the caller, she placed her phone back in her purse. "That was Booth; they caught the suspect and they're bringing him back for questioning. I have to go meet with him beforehand." She began to gather her things and get out of her seat before she stopped. "Oh, you were saying something before. What was it?"

Sweets waved his hand and shook his head, placing a smile on his face. "It can wait, I'll see you at the agency."

"Great," she said, moving closer to him and bending down to his left, giving him a quick hug, something they had grown accustomed to in the two weeks they had been spending time together. "Oh, and thank you for lunch," she said, turning and walking away from their table.

As he watched her walk toward the front door, the shrink took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply. It wasn't the right time right then.