Disclaimer: Don't own Bones.

A/n: Warning: possible speculation for the finale and spoilers for previous episodes, so if you haven't watched, turn away now! Not that I even dream that the finale will go like this, because I really don't think it will, but I kinda like this as an ending for this story!

Kiss Me Always

She looked at him through half lidded eyes, head falling back against the door in anticipation.

"I want to kiss you more than I want my next breath, but I've kissed you three times now and not once has it ended the way it's supposed to," he whispered, breath ghosting across her parted lips. "So I'm done kissing you, Bones."

Her heart hammered, stomach clenching as he stepped away and reached behind her to open her door. He seemed to be taking all the air with him and Brennan watched him walk into the hallway with something close to panic.

Taking only a few steps, he turned, piercing her with burning brown eyes. "The next time, it'll have to be you kissing me and you'd better be sure, Bones, because the second you touch me—" His voice went low and steely. "The second I taste you again … you're mine."

And he was gone.

--x--

He never brought it up again. It was like it'd never happened, but week after week she tortured herself with those words, with the danger behind them … with the alluring promise of them. They ruined every single date she went on and she really hoped they were ruining his damn dates as well.

The first time she nearly gave in to them was after finding out about his date with one annoyingly beautiful marine biologist. The woman's features were nearly as symmetrical as Booth's and there was no way to compartmentalize the distasteful feeling she got just from thinking about it. And she had hideous taste in ties, Brennan thought. That one flaw was nearly unforgivable.

Her fingers had itched to yank on that damn tie and, metaphorically-speaking, kiss the life out of him and remind him that he belonged to her. But as soon as the thought materialized she felt almost ashamed. She had no right, she had said no and he should be happy. God, he deserved to be happy. But when he stopped seeing her, Brennan couldn't deny that the pressure which had been squeezing her heart had suddenly lessened.

After that, she started thinking about it all the time. Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him. The words seemed to be playing on a loop inside her head.

During the Gravedigger's trial, the urge to wrap herself around him and imprint his scent on her skin was nearly irresistible. It had been impossible not to remember her absolute faith in him. Not once during those horrendous hours had she considered giving up, because she knew, she knew that he would never give up. Her nightmares nearly propelled her straight into his arms, but the out of control reaction scared her. For so many years she had worked to make sure there was never anyone to need and suddenly needing him was no longer a matter of choice. It just was. Like a damn fact, like one of the scientific certainties she so adored.

Brennan thought she might break when the possibility of spending an entire year apart stretched before them like an endless chasm. The urge to run was nearly irresistible. Ancient remains, hundreds of years old, instead of ten-year old boys with adorable smiles. Ancient remains couldn't haunt you the way innocent young victims did. The possibility pulled and beckoned and she knew what it would be, it would be running, plain and simple. From these feelings she could barely handle, from him.

But in the end, she couldn't leave; it was illogical to do so. She looked forward to seeing her partner every single day, why would she purposely spend an entire year away from him? She had run once, Brennan remembered, but those six weeks in Guatemala had only made her more desperate for him. What the hell made her think that stretching that time frame to a year would yield any different results?

Brennan knew he had his own choice to make and one night she couldn't help herself from trying to influence that decision. Maybe it wasn't fair, since she had been the one to consider running first, after all, but maintaining her distance was no longer an option.

"Don't leave," she asked him softly, sitting across that diner table, unable to help herself anymore.

"It would only be a year," Booth answered just as softly and she had nearly crossed the space between them and erased any thoughts of leaving from his mind. But it felt like coercion, she couldn't kiss him simply to keep him here; the next time she kissed him had to be because she was sure, he'd said that himself.

"Doesn't matter," Brennan replied, hoping stark honesty would be enough to keep him. "I'll miss you." Voice soft, vulnerability shimmering around her, she repeated, "Don't leave."

And when he couldn't even bring himself to pack, Booth knew he wasn't going anywhere. Why would he? His son, his partner, his job were all here and running away wasn't going to solve anything. He was still going to be waiting on the woman he couldn't help but love.

Everything is changing, she had said in that lost voice that always got to him and even as he tried to disagree, he knew it was true. How could it not be? She was still his partner, yes, but she was so much more than that and now she knew it; hell, everyone knew it.

Nothing to hide and nowhere to run. It was all out there now and it was her turn to make a decision. Holy hell, he sure hoped it was the right decision, the one that would send her straight to him and not to the other side of the world.

He knew, because he damn well knew her, just how close she'd come to running to those ancient remains. And to be honest, he'd come close too, a tiny part of him wondering if maybe a year away from her would somehow lessen the desperate yearning he could barely contain anymore.

But in the end he couldn't run anymore than she could and so here they were, still dancing around each other, still pretending nothing had changed; even when everything had.

With a tired sigh, Booth closed his eyes, resting his head back against the couch. The unexpected knock on the door made him jump slightly. He almost wanted to ignore the sound, but he knew the only person who knocked on his door at nearly midnight was the one person he couldn't ignore.

"Bones," he said softly, opening the door.

"I couldn't sleep," she declared, sweeping inside.

When she took off her coat, his eyes nearly crossed. She most certainly looked like she had come straight from bed with her mussed up hair and silky pajamas. Tiny blue silk shorts and matching blue camisole and oh my god, she looked delicious and …

Her words registered and he frowned.

"Nightmares?" Booth asked softly, taking an automatic step towards her. It had been months since she'd confessed to having them and the memory still made his throat lock and his arms tingle with the urge to wrap them around her and promise her something absolutely ridiculous like the vanquishing of said nightmares. Of course, then he remembered that Temperance Brennan did not need a man to vanquish her nightmares and she'd be liable to kick his ass should he imply otherwise.

"No," Brennan answered quickly and he relaxed for a moment before she added, "You and your ultimatum."

"Wha-?" His eyes widened in shock. "I've never …"

In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the space between them, fisting his plain black tee in a forceful grip.

"I've made my decision," she declared calmly, ignoring the wild-eyed look on his face. "I'm going to kiss you now."

And immediately, it clicked.

"The next time, it'll have to be you kissing me and you'd better be sure, Bones, because the second you touch me … you're mine."

The words had come just a few weeks after that disastrous night leaving Sweets' office, during late-night paperwork at her apartment. And he had promised himself he wouldn't touch her again, not unless she was ready to give him what he needed, because he refused to torture himself with something that might never be his.

His brain stalled as she moved her head, but before she could touch her lips to his, his hands cupped around her face, stopping her from breaching that last minuscule gap.

"You can't change your mind," he warned in a low, nearly horse voice.

"Neither can you."

And they both closed the tiny distance; two minds blanking, two hearts racing wildly at the contact.

For a second, they were both outside a pool hall in the sparkling rain, but then his arms went around her waist, lifting her. When her legs wrapped around him, he moved to his bedroom; they were no longer in the past and they knew it because six years ago, they'd never gotten to this stage.

Clothes fluttered across the room, silky pajamas and comfortable sweatpants flying unceremoniously until there were only two naked, writhing bodies falling onto the bed.

"Booth!" she sobbed his name, both in pleasure and heart-wrenching relief. There had been times that having him like this seemed more dream than reality, times when she thought she might actually have to go the rest of her life without it.

Buried to the hilt inside her felt like a warm, soft dream and he stilled every muscle, afraid to move, afraid to wake up and shatter.

"Oh, god," he whispered, his voice barely audible against the side of her neck. "This feels unreal ... I'm going to wake up and you're gonna be gone … and I …"

"No," she soothed softly, pressing her lips over the slope of one shoulder and holding him tighter. "No, Booth, it's real. Look at me."

He raised his head to look down into her eyes, a swirling mixture of blue and green he would forever associate with blissfulness. Experimentally, he moved, wrenching gasps out of them both at the sensation.

"So long," Booth moaned softly, trying to keep his eyes from slipping shut. "I've been waiting so long for this, for you … oh Bones, Bones, Bones."

Her name dropped like a prayer from his lips, his body finally taking over and overriding the fears of the brain.

"Kiss me," she said, her heart overriding everything else for the second time that night. "Kiss me always."

-x-

p.s. Because I had so much fun with this in Breaking, tell me if you had a favorite kiss and hope you've enjoyed this conclusion! :)