She sat beside him silently, content for the moment to just exist. He was safe. He was alive. It was exactly what she had wanted for the past 39 hours, since the moment she heard that automated voice tell her she was close to losing him.

Her curiosity over his statement at the cemetery suddenly shifted into overdrive and she looked at him, struggling with herself--if he wanted her to know, he would've told her, but…

"What was the message, Booth?"

His eyes darted momentarily from the road to meet hers, then back once more to the rush of mid-day traffic. "He wanted Claire to know he loved her."

She swallowed hard, the painful memories of the past two days resurfacing at the thought of everything that has gone so long unsaid. "Didn't he tell her?"

Booth shook his head, his Adam's apple bobbing roughly, "Said he was too young--just 20." He let out a small chuckle, "I told him age didn't matter. You felt it, you say it… but… you don't always."

She could feel him watching her out of the corner of his eye. She nodded, "No, you don't always say you love someone, even if…"

"Even if you do." His hand shook slightly as it left the wheel and reached for hers. His fingers were cold--to be expected, really, he wasn't out of the woods yet.

She threaded her fingers through his and gripped his hand firmly. Closing her eyes tightly to fight the onslaught of tears, she whispered, "I do love you, Booth."

She didn't open her eyes when she felt the car jerk to a stop, nor when she felt his weight shift the car slightly as he moved. She felt his free hand cup her face, turning her to face him as his chilled fingers wiped tears from her warm cheeks. "I love you too, Bones. Have for a long time…" Her eyes sprang open, catching his wide, toothy grin before traveling to see his warm brown eyes welling with tears. "I just didn't want to scare you, to lose you…"

She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her, sobbing into his shoulder. He rubbed gentle circles across her back and whispered softly into her hair he was sorry he hadn't said it sooner, that he hadn't told her every day since he first realized the truth, and that she had ever gone a moment feeling unwanted or unloved. "Promise me you'll never leave me, Booth. Promise me…" She pulled back, frowning, "No, don't promise that."

His eyebrows knitted together, "But, Bones…"

"No. It's a promise you'll break eventually, Booth. One day, you'll leave." He started to protest, but she pressed her fingers gently against his lips, "Shh, listen to me. No one can live forever… and if you promised you'd never leave, you'd break it the second you took your last breath. So promise me you'll never give up on me, that you'll never walk away… that even on days we don't say the words, we'll know the truth."

"I promise, Temperance. That and more…" He pressed his lips firmly to hers and pulled her tightly against his chest. As she slowly, reluctantly pulled away, he whispered, "I promise that I will stand by you no matter what happens, that I'll always be someone you can count on and confide in. I promise that even when you're angry--livid and dangerous and raging--I will not leave you. And I promise you that even when we're angry and arguing and need our space, I will still tell you how much I love you. Nothing will ever change that, I promise."

She blinked away tears again, "Do you think they'll ever believe that a ghost's words brought us together?"

"We've got a thirty minute car ride to come up with a more reasonable explanation…"

She grinned and wiped her cheeks, "Can we blame your near-death experience?"

He laughed and reached for her hand again, "If you'd like."