I'm glad B&B are having this discussion...it was sorely needed on the show. One quibble...I don't think Booth ever really loved Hannah. I don't even like to think that he was infatuated with her. I think that everything he thought he felt for Hannah was really all about Brennan. To put it bluntly, Booth used Hannah to blot out his feelings about Brennan, and because he doesn't want to think he's the kind of man who could do that sort of thing, he insisted that he loved Hannah. He forgot about Hannah the moment she walked away after his proposal, and his sulking in the bar afterwards was all about him, not her.

Ok, so those last two paragraphs, where Booth tells Brennan point-blank that he never stopped loving her even when he was with Hannah, that he did a lot of stupid things and made mistakes and pleaded for another chance? All of that should have happened on the show. Instead we got vague statements from Booth about how you could love lots of people but you would always love one the most, and how he wasn't going anywhere, just before he proposed to another woman. Then we got angry pouty Booth crying in his milk about how no one wanted him. Not once on the show did we see B&B have an honest discussion about Hannah...we were cheated! Thankfully we have fanfics like this one to fill in the blanks. FWIW, I like your version better than the show.

Oh how I wish Hannah had departed like this on the show. I accept that S6/Hannah was necessary to provide the impetus for Brennan to see the light about her relationship with Booth, but I'm still troubled that he actually proposed to the woman. Thanks for giving us this more pleasant version!

Loving this story! Thank you for pointing out that the Booth/Hannah relationship wasn't very deep. It was apparent that there was a lot about Booth that Hannah never knew about...I think he presented a very idealized version of himself to her to keep the relationship light and fun. Bottom line Hannah has a fun wartime fling and it should have ended there.

Honestly, Booth was kind of untrue to Brennan when he broke "what's between is ours". It wouldn't have been a big deal if he hadn't expected that kind of loyalty from her knowing she didn't want a romantic relationship from him. But he did. So if he wasn't willing to pay the price for it a year later then he comes across as a very disingenuous person.

The problem is you can't apply conventional rules when for 5 years you've been applying unconventional rules with someone that you know doesn't understand the difference. Booth was clear to Brennan that there was a line they couldn't cross. The partnership was never built on the idea of romantic love. Yet Booth insisted on an "we are the centre" ideal. By saying that he was pushing Brennan to be emotionally involved with him as part of a partnership. He confused her about what a partnership meant by things like "guy hugs".

The truth is Booth kind of toyed with Brennan's emotions for 5 years by indulging in a surrogate relationship that he had no plans on continuing if he didn't get what he wanted. Brennan would never have gotten close to Booth if she had known that the relationship was contingent upon fulfilment of romantic love. So if she ended up in a mental breakdown because he misled her then he had to be there for her.

Love the "then he remembered that God hated him". Snickered out loud.

I love this.. I really think they needed to have a conversation about what happened. Brennan understood how she contributed to the mess but I think she had a right to be a little angry too. Booth kind of confused her for years about what their relationship meant with his whole we are just partners but then lay down rules that are typical for committed relationships like what's between us is ours. He even told her crossing the line would mess up the partnership. So it was only natural that she would be afraid of risking what they had on the fickle nature of love especially since she doesn't trust herself to be good enough.

The way Booth approached her- calling it a gamble. Talking about 50 years and then moving on in the same breath he didn't even give it a chance to work. Booth wasn't ready either. I think he was as afraid of love as Brennan. So he sabotaged himself in relationships. He found women from the outset who would never give him what he wanted and then asked for only that. No compromise, no patience, no keeping the door open to let them think about it for a while. He never let himself be in a vulnerable position. Obviously we saw that he changed with Brennan on the idea of moving in and marriage. But it would've been nice to see him verbalize his mistakes other than sometimes I lie to spare my feelings.

Personally, I never thought he had any genuine feelings for Hannah. It was rebound. As Sweets would say need can be confused for love and fantasy can convince us what we are feeling is love. Booth was desperate to prove Brennan's rejection didn't matter and that he could move on from Brennan. The idea of Hannah let him feel like that. He hadn't dealt with Brennan's rejection- he was just using Hannah to hide from it. If it was genuine he would never have felt the need to lie that it was serious as a heart attack when he was never gonna see her again. Just the idea that he felt something genuine would've been enough to cling to. No one moves in with someone without introducing their child first if its serious.

You can love a lot of people in the world but if that was the case Booth wouldn't needed to lie to Hannah about his feelings for Brennan. He would've been secure in what he felt for Hannah. He said something like "whatever feelings I had, I don't have them anymore except for you". It wasn't about being comfortable with the idea of loving 2 people- it was him trying to convince himself he was over Brennan. That's why he imploded so spectacularly in DitM- without the Hannah distraction for the first time he was forced to face the inadequacy Brennan's rejection had spurred- that's why he was so angry with Brennan. It was never about Hannah, it was always about Brennan.

It actually reminded me a lot of the gambling arc where one lie built on another and when Brennan confronted him he couldn't face the truth so kept lying. He just kept trying to convince himself his lies were the truth. He wasn't really thinking anything through. If he really thought things though and decided to focus on Hannah's happiness, he wouldn't have treated Hannah that way. I think he was angry because Hannah uncovered the wound from Brennan's rejection.

Thank you lovely B & B story, made me smile with every new chapter

Lovely way to end it. Thanks for writing.

Great story! Thank you.

Great writing and great story.

This leaves me with a goofy grin. Thanks for sharing... wonderfully done!

This final chapter is great. Naked Booth cooking Bones an omelet! Love some naked Booth! But even better is Brennan finding her sunglasses in the drawer! Blondie knew she was wrong when she took them, she had to leave them behind when she left!

Thanks for sharing this story with us!

Very sweet ending! Hope you have another story in the works!

Cooking au naturel. . . does that qualify as organic? Very enjoyable recounting of that event; referred to but not shown in an episode on TV; can't imagine why they didn't include that scene. . . with DB's physique, their ratings would have shot through the roof with female viewers! Cute conclusion to a well-written story!