A/N: I haven't written in awhile and then when I watched the last episode of this fantastic season I couldn't help but get inspired. I started typing and well, this came out. I hope you enjoy it. I know I had fun writing it.
Disclaimer: Much to my jargon I'm not Hart Hason and have no rights this fantastic show or characters. But I do enjoy having a bit of fun with them in my own imagination.
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She felt his hand on the small of her back as they walked back up the stairs to the main auditorium. She had about ten minutes before her speech would start, and she hadn't been lying when she told Booth that she hated these things. Giving speeches, standing up in front of people, that wasn't her thing. She much prepared to be in the lab or even in the field with Booth, but there she was hidden behind remains and her lab coat.
She spotted Angela across the room with Hodgins and Cam and rose a hand in a wave.
"Ah," she heard Booth whisper in her ear, "there are those pesky squints."
"Pesky squints?" she questioned, feigning the ignorance she painted across her face. She knew why he was irritated. She had to say that she was irritated as well. There had been a passion she'd seen in Booth's eyes as they leaned closer together and she knew that she would have felt his lips against hers if the group hadn't interrupted them.
"Never mind Bones," he answered with a shake of his head. "You're going to be amazing up there tonight. Just relax."
"Thanks Booth."
"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?"
"Champagne?"
"You got it," he answered and she watched his back as he walked away.
"So sweetie, spill."
She heard the voice of her best friend in her ear and jumped slightly at the sound. She turned to see a smile stretching across her friend's face.
"Spill what?"
"Oh please," Angela sighed with a look of exasperation on her face. "I know that we interrupted something down there, which I apologize for by the way, but you can't try to brush it off now."
"You didn't interrupt anything…"
"You're lying."
Brennan took a deep breath and tucked the strand of hair behind her ear, the same strand that had felt Booth's touch earlier, and looked at Angela.
"I don't know what you interrupted, Angela."
"You two were awfully close."
"I know."
"And yet you don't know what we interrupted?"
"I think…"
"Here you go Bones, champagne, just like you ordered." Booth held out his hand with the flute of amber liquid and with a smile to Angela placed his hand on the small of her back once again. "I think they are about ready for you."
Temperance nodded and allowed Booth to lead her away from her nosey best friend.
She wasn't ready to answer the questions that Angela asked her. She knew that something had changed between her and Booth. The dynamic between them had been altered so much in the past year she wasn't sure that the line he'd so carefully drawn after Epps' death was anymore. She wasn't sure who had been the first to blur the line, but it was blurred now and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
"If you get nervous just remember to imagine everyone naked," Booth told her.
"I don't know what that means…"
"Never mind Bones, just have fun. Remember, this is your first love, the reason you became an anthropologist."
"Thanks Booth."
He flashed her a giant smile as he left her at the base of the stage. Her heart was beating rather quickly, the endorphins flowing through her veins.
Her speech was over before she realized it. The crowd seemed to enjoy it but her eyes had stayed focused on her FBI agent close to the front of the stage. The warmth that radiated out of his eyes washed over her body and she stepped over to him as she walked off the stage.
"Great job!" he exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around her quickly. She was out of his arms within a blink and missed the warmth that she had felt.
"Thanks Booth," she answered with a shy smile. "It wasn't all bad…"
"Fantastic sweetie! You sounded so great up there!" Angela's arms found their way around her neck and she was again surrounded by her friends and colleagues. Daisy was expressing some sort of enthusiastic response but she couldn't hear anything with the heat from Booth's hand against her back.
She was sure the line wasn't just blurred anymore, but gone completely.
"We're going downstairs to see the exhibit," Cam directed, "are you guys coming?"
"We'll be down there in a moment," Booth answered for her and she turned to look at him with a short nod. "You guys go ahead."
"Got it," Cam answered with a knowing smile as she led the group away from Booth and Temperance.
The room was eerily quiet as the crowd made their way into the exhibit, leaving Temperance and Seeley alone in the auditorium.
She felt Booth take a step towards her and her breath hitched. This was it, the moment she knew that could and would change the status of their relationship. The feelings that she had for her partner and friend were stronger than she'd ever felt before. They weren't the same feelings she had once shared with Michael or Sully or any of the other men she'd had relations with.
She wasn't sure what do with them.
"We need to talk."
"I agree."
"About earlier…"
"You were going to kiss me, weren't you Booth."
It wasn't a question and the shock in Booth's eyes confirmed her suspicions. The line was gone. She was pretty sure she was okay with that.
"I would have let you."
"Bones…"
"Well, you were, weren't you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why were you going to kiss me?"
"Are we really going to do this right now?"
"What?"
"Bones," Booth said exasperated. "I don't want to fight with you."
"I don't want to fight with you either."
"Good," he said with a grin and stepped forward. "Why would you have let me kiss you?"
"You and I share a bond, your features are very attractive…"
"Temperance…"
"I'm not sure why I feel what I feel…things have changed between us…"
"They have."
"But I'm not sure why, or how…"
"But they have."
"Yes."
Booth took another step towards her and Temperance answered by taking a small step towards him as well. She felt his hands rest on her hips and her breath hitched again.
The only thing that could describe her feelings towards him was love. As irrational as it sounded she knew that this is what people felt when they said they were in love.
"I love you."
The shock in Booth's eyes were evident as the words that she'd spoken sunk in.
"You…you what?"
"I have feelings of love towards you…"
The weight of Booth's lips on hers surprised her but it only took a moment before she responded with equal enthusiasm. She couldn't be sure how long the kiss went on, but she knew she didn't want it to end when Booth pulled away slightly.
There was a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear and if she could look in a mirror she was sure she'd have a matching one across her own face.
"I love you too, Bones." His voice was deep and breathy and Temperance swore her heart skipped a beat. She was sure that this was the feeling Angela had always tried to explain to her. "I always have."
"You can't say always…"
"Just go with me Bones, just go with me here."
His lips found hers again and she answered with an enthusiastic response.
"It's about time." They heard and pulled away to find Angela, Cam, Hodgins, and Sweets standing a few feet away from them. Angela's was smiling as big as Temperance imagined she was and Bones couldn't help but laugh a little bit.
"It is about time, isn't it?"
"It is Bones, it really is."
Booth's eyes smiled in ways that his mouth couldn't and Temperance moved closer into his side with a sigh.
Booth had been right all those years ago when he told her there were different kinds of family other than a biological family.
And this was the family she always had wanted.
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A/N: This was un-beta'd…so, I'm sorry if it is incorrect grammatically or otherwise, but it was all for fun. I really hope you enjoyed and can take a moment to let me know what you think. It's my first Bones fan-fic. So yay!