A Monday:

"Bones" Booth spoke through the phone. "Now that we're back from England, let's go to the diner, yeah? Are you unpacked?"

Brennan nodded to herself. "I'm unpacked, but I can't go now. I'm headed over to Angela's. She and Hodgins broke up, at the diner by the way, and she just wants someone to talk to, so I'm going to go to her house."

"Okay" Booth shrugged. "I'll catch you later, then."

--b&b--

Two months later:

"Booth?"

Booth looked up from his desk to see his partner standing in the doorway.

"Bones" he moved to stand up, a smile on his face. "Happy Birthday. Are you ready to go?"

She paused and bit her lip. "Booth, I know I told you I'd have dinner with you tonight at Wong Foos, but, I can't. Angela called me, and she's already drunk at Foster's, wondering whether she should just chuck it all and head to Fiji."

Booth's eyebrows rose as he sank back into his chair. "Wow…isn't that what started the whole mess in the first place?"

Brennan chuckled and leaned her hands against the chair a bit. "I guess." She looked down for a moment, then back at Booth. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to bail on you or anything, but…"

"Hey, I get it, Bones. You're just being a good friend. It's fine."

"You can come to Fosters with us, if you want."

Booth shrugged. "Nah, I'll probably just go home and catch the Phillies game. We'll go out tomorrow for your birthday, how does that sound?"

Brennan nodded. "Sure…thanks Booth."

--b&b--

The next weekend….

"I'm sorry, Booth, but Angela is feeling lonely, and she just wants to stay in. She kind of needs someone to be there for her, too…"

Booth eyed the salad he'd already ordered for her. "Nah, it's no problem, Bones. Although…I'm starting to think you don't want to spend time with me anymore." He joked.

"Booth, I already explained the reason to you. It's Angela" she restated.

Booth sighed. "I know Bones. I forgot for a moment that you're a truthteller, and that you wouldn't be the type to make up excuses. Now go braid Angela's hair or whatever you females do on nights like this."

Brennan chuckled. "See you on Monday."

"Yeah, see you Bones" He closed his phone and set it beside his pie, looking at it for a moment before taking a bite. He supposed he couldn't really be mad at her. She was just being a friend. And he knew that if he were in the same boat, he'd bail on her too, and she'd understand.

He understood. He was an understanding guy, he told himself.

--b&b--

A few weeks later….

Booth stood in her office doorway for a moment, watching her to see how long it would take to notice him.

"Are you going to come in, or what, Booth?" she didn't even blink, just turned a page on her case report.

Booth chuckled and strolled in, perching on the side of her desk. He took two tickets and slid them on her desk, over the paper she was reading. "Time to clock out and walk out, Bones…" he grinned. "Tonight's the baseball game."

Brennan frowned and looked at him. "Oh…well…"

"No" Booth stood and put his hands on his hips. "Don't give me an excuse. It's been three weeks since I asked you to come to the game, and you said yes. You are coming."

Brennan raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her chair. "I was going to say that I need to run home and get a sweatshirt, but that was an interesting reaction."

"No it wasn't" Booth swallowed and stepped back. "You just go home and get your sweatshirt, and I'll pick you up when you're ready, okay?"

Brennan smiled and nodded. "Okay…"

Angela walked in as Booth was leaving, and gave Brennan a curious look. "What was he hightailing it out of here for?"

Brennan shrugged. "I don't know. He came to remind me about the baseball game, and then practically jumped down my throat when I didn't…I don't know. I think he might be…" she trailed off as she considered.

"Might be what?"

"I don't know, asserting some sort of dominant behavior. Although this type is usually associated with jealousy over another male of the species."

Angela grinned. "You didn't tell me you were seeing someone else. Bren!"

"I'm not, Ange. That's what makes Booth's behavior so uncharacteristic." She cleared her throat. "Not if I were seeing someone else that he would display this type of behavior, but…"

"Yeah, right" Angela nodded. "Sure, sweetie."

Brennan frowned at her sarcastic tone. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"Ah, Rox and I are headed to Chicago for an art exhibit. Should be great and very eclectic"

Brennan smiled at her. "Well, have fun…"

Angela brought over the papers Brennan needed to sign, and once she had, both women put on their jackets and headed for the parking lot.

"Have fun with Booth at the baseball game" Angela patted her on the arm, and Brennan nodded.

"Wait!" she called to Angela's retreating form. "How many strikes again?"

Angela grinned. "Three strikes, four balls. Three outs in each half inning. Nine innings."

Brennan nodded and muttered to herself on the drive home. "Three strikes. Nine innings…three strikes, nine innings…"

--b&b--

"Here you go, Bones." Booth handed her a pretzel and then bit into his own hotdog. "Oh yeah" he smiled at her, and she smiled, pointing to the side of his face.

"What, mustard?" he chewed, and she nodded.

"Here" she held up her napkin. "I'll get it."

Booth smiled at her. "Thanks, Bones. See how nice this is? You and me, hanging out, me buying you a pretzel, you wiping mustard from my face…it's nice, right?"

Brennan wondered why he was once again trying to reaffirm their partnership, but the crack of the bat called her attention away, and she looked out onto the field. "Wow. Was that a home run?"

Booth tore off part of her pretzel, then dipped it in his mustard and tossed it into his mouth. "Nope. It went far enough, but since it was past that pole, it's in foul territory, so…strike one."

Brennan nodded. "I see. So he has two strikes left."

The batter had just swung and missed, so Brennan held up her hand. "And now one."

"Yeah, Bones" Booth grinned, then laughed when she slapped his hand away from her pretzel. "One more strike. You're getting kind of good at this baseball thing."

--b&b--

They settled into watching the game, and a couple of times, Brennan caught Booth looking over at her. Their shoulders were pressed together, but the night was chilly, so the closeness was nice. Booth's expression was very pensive, and Brennan wondered what she'd done to upset him.

But he hadn't said anything, so she decided maybe she was just imagining it.

During the seventh inning stretch, Booth walked to get them a couple of beers, and Brennan let her eyes roam over the expanse of the stadium. She supposed she could just ask him if she'd upset him in any way, and as he settled back in his seat, she turned toward him.

"So, uh…" he began. "Angela and Roxie seem to be getting along pretty well."

"Yes, I think so" Brennan felt a bit jolted by the change in topic. "They are going to Chicago this weekend."

Booth smiled wryly. "Ah, Angela's stages"

"Those are fabricated" Brennan rolled her eyes and smiled. "She's always trying to get me to fall for some sort of relationship nonsense she's created."

Booth chuckled and nodded. "But…she seems happy?"

Again, Brennan was surprised at his questioning. "I suppose, yes. Why do you ask?"

Booth met her eyes quickly, then looked away, balancing his beer cup against his knee. "Ah, no reason. Just wondering."

He leaned forward, watching the game, and Brennan watched him for a moment, wondering what he was thinking about.

--b&b--

Two Thursdays later…

"So, Bren" Angela smiled at her as they walked through the flower shop. "Has Booth still been showing signs of a jealous boyfriend?"

Brennan shook her head. "No, actually he hasn't." she shrugged. "Whatever presumed threat he'd identified seems to have disappeared, and actually…"

"Actually what, sweetie?"

"Well, I think maybe I just imagined it." Brennan confessed, handing over a pile of baby's breath.

"Hmm…" Angela held the flowers up to the lilies in her hands and showed Brennan.

Brennan wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "No, they don't match."

"I agree" Angela set the lilies down. "I guess you could have imagined it, but that doesn't seem like you either, sweetie."

"True" Brennan conceded and offered some fresh tulips for Angela to compare.

"But if he's not displaying the signs, then that's a good thing."

Brennan nodded. "Yes. I like the yellow tulips best."

Angela nodded. "I agree. I think Cam will like them for her birthday. Thanks for coming with me to pick them out."

"Sure, Ange. Any time."

Angela smiled and looped her arm through her friend's. "This was nice. We haven't really done this for awhile."

"You're right, Ange. We haven't. Do you have time for lunch?"

"Well, you're my boss…do I?"

Brennan smiled. "I think we do."

--b&b--

The Wednesday after four Wednesdays after that….. 

Angela sank onto the couch in Brennan's office, putting her palms over her eyes.

"So it's over?" Brennan sympathized from behind her desk.

"I don't know. Maybe" Angela looked up at the ceiling. "Why do break ups hurt so badly? Why can't they get easier with each time, like eyebrow waxing?"

Brennan chuckled then. "I don't know. I don't know that eyebrow waxing ever gets easier either, but…"

"Hey Bones…" Booth walked in with a big smile on her face. "Oh, uh…hey Angela." He eyed her nervously. "Something wrong?"

Angela looked at Brennan and shrugged. "You can tell him."

Brennan stood and walked over to the other side of her desk. "Angela and Roxie have decided to go their separate ways."

"NO!" Booth shouted, then cleared his throat. "I mean, um…I'm sorry to hear that."

Angela eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "Thanks. It's rough, but I'm just so thankful to have Brennan as a friend. She's always there for me."

"Great" Booth's face said otherwise. "That's just great."

"We're going to get some dinner." Brennan shrugged on her coat. "Will you come, too, Booth?"

Booth watched as Angela slumped out of the office and he thought about the pizza scheduled to arrive at his house in less than thirty minutes. The pizza he'd ordered with half olives, and he hated olives. "Nah, I'd better just head home."

"Oh…" Brennan waited for him to leave before turning out the lights in her office. "Was there a reason you stopped by, Booth?"

He palmed the back of his neck as they made their way to the parking lot. "No, no reason" just olives. "Just on my way home." An idea struck him, and he grinned. "Hey, you have fun tonight…and I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure" Brennan watched as he tossed his keys in the air as he walked over to his SUV.

--b&b—

"Agent Booth" Sweets looked surprised as Booth entered his apartment. "Uh, hi. Can I help you?"

Booth tossed him a beer and plopped the pizza on the table by the door. "Hope you like olives."

"I do" Sweets looked back into the hallway. "Is there…a reason you are here?"

"Yeah, Sweets. There is." Booth nodded. "I need you to be best friends with Angela."

Sweets' eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?'

"Well, it's Bones, you see. And she and Angela are best friends" Booth paced. "Which is fine. It really is, when Angela is minding her own business, that is, but Angela broke up with Roxie."

"Ah, I see where this is going."

"You do?" Booth paused.

"Yes. You're afraid that now that Angela has embraced the lesbianism part of her sexuality that Dr. Brennan will do that as well, and they'll get together."

"What?" Booth's lip curled up. "No…damn it, Sweets…no I don't think that. Wait…do YOU think that?"

Sweets flushed. "No…I do not think that. But obviously you have some sort of issue here, and I'm just trying to identify--"

"Bones is my best friend" Booth blurted out.

After a couple moments of silence, Sweets nodded. "I see."

Booth leaned against the couch. "And we hang out, but when Angela is single, then…"

"Then she wants to spend time with Dr. Brennan."

"Yes. ESPECIALLY when Angela is brokenhearted. Then Bones is always cancelling our plans." Booth gritted his teeth. "And eating dinner with her, and all of that."

"Which leaves you lonely."

Booth held up his hand. "No. Not lonely. By myself maybe, but I'm not lonely."

Sweets raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you here with half a pizza you hate?"

Booth fell silent at Sweets' question. Okay, so maybe he was a little lonely. But he hadn't really realized how much time he and his partner spent together, outside of partnerly duties. And he had to admit that she was the first one he thought of when he was making plans.

Did he want to go to the baseball game? Sure, I wonder if Bones was free, he'd think.

Was he available to teach a criminology class at the local technical school once a week? Sure, that was her night for devoting to writing anyways.

He looked up and met Sweets' eyes, expecting to see ridicule. Instead Sweets nodded. "She's your best friend. And right now, her best friend needs her. So the way I see it, you have two choices."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, Agent Booth. You can either be miserable and jealous, or you can help. You can talk to Angela too, and help her. Or you can complain."

Booth sighed. "I guess you're right, Sweets."

"I am right" the younger man nodded. "About a lot of things, by the way." He grinned. "And might I add that maybe, just maybe you're wanting to be more that 'best friends' with Dr. Brennan."

Booth rolled his eyes and went to the door. "Enjoy the olives, Sweets."

Sweets just chuckled and closed the door behind him. "Excellent."

--b&b--

Booth stood outside of his SUV, his phone against his ear.

"Brennan" her voice came through.

"Uh, hey, Bones. Where you at?"

"Booth?"

"Bones!" he spoke louder. "Where are you?"

"We're at Foster's. You should come." She practically shouted over the noise behind her.

"BOOTH!" Angela's loud drunk voice came over the line. "Get your buns over here and buy me a drink!"

Booth chuckled and got into his car. "Okay, okay…I'll see you soon."

--b&b--

Booth smiled at the bartender and ordered a scotch for himself. He turned and saw his partner sitting at a table with Angela, the artist's head lying on the table.

Carrying his drink over to them, he sat by Angela and hefted her up. "Come on, Angela" he grinned,
"Aren't you always talking about how much you love the carefree life."

"Mmmmrrrrmmm." She shook her head. "That's just something single people say…" she moaned.

Booth looked at Brennan and shrugged. "Has she been like this all night?"

"No" Brennan stood and motioned for him to follow her. Booth stood up and walked with her over toward the bar. "She's just kind of…crashed. I…" she paused and bit her lip. "I'm really glad you're here, Booth." Her face softened with a sad smile.

"You are?"

"Yes" she met his eyes. "I need your help. I never know what to say to Angela in these situations." She paused. "I'll never know why she keeps asking me to hang out with her. She never agrees with anything I say."

Booth smiled. "That's because she's not thinking straight. Bones…she asks you because…"

Brennan raced off then, just in time to catch Angela from completely falling off of the barstool. Booth helped her straighten the artist, and Brennan pulled Angela's hair away from her face.

"When did you get here, Booth?" Angela asked him. "Are you going to break up with me, too?"

Booth raised his eyebrows, and put one arm under Angela's legs and the other around her shoulders. "I'm not breaking up with you Angela, I'm just here to help you get home."

"No…I don't want to go home." She shook her head. "I don't wanna!"

Brennan stepped close to them. "Let's go back to my house."

--b&b--

Booth set Angela in the front seat of Brennan's car and then followed them back to her apartment, moving quickly once he got there to help carry Angela's now almost sleeping body up to Brennan's spare room.

Once he laid her on the bed, he left the room so Brennan could change Angela out of some clothes, but he stayed outside to listen in.

"I feel like I've lost my best friend all over again." Angela cried.

"I know" Brennan's voice soothed, and Booth leaned his head up against the wall outside the doorframe.

"But the worst part is that it makes me miss Hodgins too. I want to talk to him, and tell him how sad I am. And that makes me a terrible person, doesn't it" Angela wanted to know, and Brennan shushed her.

"It doesn't make you a terrible person. It just…makes you a person"

Booth had heard enough and shame propelled him toward her front door. He made it as far as the living room couch before he remembered Sweets' words.

Brennan was Angela's best friend. And she was his best friend. And maybe tonight was one of those nights where she needed a friend.

So he walked to the kitchen and pulled down the teapot he'd gotten her for her birthday.

He remembered back to how his original plans to take her out had been interrupted by Angela's break up with Hodgins, but how he and Bones had had an even better time the next night as he'd challenged her to the climbing wall at the sporting goods store.

"Booth?" her voice cut through his thoughts, and he turned, leaning his back against her stove.

"Hey…" he shrugged. "I was just making you some tea."

She nodded and sat down, and he noticed for the first time that she looked very, very tired. "That sounds really nice. Thank you, Booth."

She pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. Booth watched her for a moment, but was interrupted by the whistling of the teakettle. He turned back around and reached up into her cupboards for a mug, pulling it down while taking the kettle off of the burner. After turned the burner off, he poured the hot water into the mug then brought it over with her box of teas.

"You okay, Bones?" he asked as he sat across from her and passed the sugar her way.

She sighed, dipping her tea bag into the water. "I'm just really tired. It's hard work being a friend sometimes."

Booth chuckled and nodded. "That's true"

"I don't know how you do it, Booth."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She swallowed, and didn't meet his eyes. "Well, I've…I've realized throughout all of this with Angela that I've been pretty selfish when it comes to our friendship."

If she'd looked up, she would have seen the total shock written across his expression, but she just kept her eyes on the way the water turned to tea. "And I've realized that I still have a lot to learn about being a friend, I guess."

"Bones…" his voice was low. "I'm the one who's sorry."

She looked up then. "For what?"

His heart broke a little at her obvious self deprecation. She didn't even think she deserved an apology. He leaned forward. "I've been the selfish one. I've…I've been jealous of Angela."

"Jealous?" Her eyes widened. "Oh…so that's why you asked about her and Roxie. You were interested in Roxie?"

"No…Bones" he smiled. "You…I was interested in you."

They both paused.

"Uh, I mean…I missed you. I missed your friendship." He flushed and it was his turn to look down.

But he didn't want to be like that anymore, so he looked back up to see her still looking at him with her head tilted slightly to one side, her eyes inquisitive.

Pressing his hands to the table, he slid to the chair closest to her and kept his eyes locked with her gaze.

"Bones, I missed you. I wanted you to hang out with me, and I was jealous when you would spend so much time with Angela." He cleared his throat. "And…to be honest" he leaned a little closer. "I was afraid that you wouldn't need me anymore."

"Booth" she shook her head. "That's…"

"Let me finish, Bones. You…you've come so far in interpersonal stuff. Way farther than I've come with the science stuff, believe me." He grinned and she chuckled, then bit her lip shyly.

"Bones, you don't really need me anymore. You obviously know the right thing to say to Angela, when she's sad, and well…you don't need me."

Brennan understood that this was what had been bothering him at the baseball game. "I'll always need you, Booth" she leaned closer to him too, the scent of peppermint tea rising between them.

"And…" she swallowed, but didn't back away. "I want you around. You're my best friend." She admitted. "And this stuff with Angela, all that emotional overload just proves to me how much I need you around."

Booth's heart kicked into overdrive. Kiss her, his mind encouraged. Kissherkissherkissher…you can do it. She's kissed you twice, just lean in and…

"Brennan?" Angela's voice called from the back, and Booth and Brennan both blinked, their foreheads resting against each other for a moment.

"I'm coming" Brennan stood up, and Booth did too. "I'll come back too. Maybe I can help talk to her."

Brennan nodded. "Okay, thanks."

And Booth followed her back to her bedroom, then pulled her desk chair over to the bed. Brennan curled up beside her friend and began brushing Angela's hair as she cried and talked.

"Well, Angela, you've always got us" Booth smiled after awhile. "We're never going to break up with you. Even if you want us too."

Angela nodded and smiled, reaching for Booth's hand, then pulling it to meet with Brennan's in the middle. "I know. Thanks, you guys." She laid back down onto the pillows. "You guys together makes me happy."

Brennan looked at Booth and smiled. He smiled back at her and squeezed her hand. "Yeah, me too" he nodded. "Me too."