STICKS AND BONES
Based on the TV Show "Bones"

Chapter Four: The Breaking Point

"It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, but what is most painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let the person know how you feel." - Anonymous


The slightly obscured night sky stretched as far as the eye could see, blanketing the capital city in a shroud of darkness. Only a few bright stars could be seen against the pitch black night, the powerful bright moon hidden away by the few wispy clouds present. The beauty of that evening did not go unnoticed by the city dwellers living beneath it, rather they each gazed up into the dark abyss with a look of wonderment in their eyes. Nothing could compare in beauty to the unpredictable and completely captivating nature of the night sky.

With only the fluorescent street lamps as a source of light, a couple made their way carefully through the abandoned streets of D.C. They walked side by side in complete silence, their gaze drifting between the beautiful view above them and the pavement in front of them. It was often that the couple found themselves in silence, silence seemed to surround them in many aspects of their daily lives. They were silent as they left the apartment in the morning, they were silent as they ate breakfast together, they were silent as they admired one another from afar and most importantly they were silent about their relationship.

They reached her apartment building after a few short minutes, the 24-hour Chinese takeaway being only a couple blocks away. This week they would be staying at her place, the couple rotated apartments every other week to keep it fair and allow them both to have their own place. That way should any friend or family member stop by they could run back home and their guest would be none the wiser. Also, it allowed them to perfect escape should they ever need any time apart.

Andy reached the door first and pulled out a key from his left pocket, juggling the box of freshly prepared Chinese food in his other hand. The couple entered the apartment as soon as the door opened, neither one pausing to turn on the main light by the entrance. Instead they made their way over to the couches in the center of the apartment and while he begun laying out the containers of food, she went off in search of candles to set the mood.

As their relationship was a secret they spent most of their time away from the public. Spending their nights in the company of each other and creating their own romantic setting. Sometimes he would come home in the late evening, after spending countless hours at a meeting in the bureau, to find she had spend those hours cooking. The couple would then lay out a white embroidered table cloth, light tall white candles, and use his expensive chinaware to recreate a candle-lit dinner at a 5-star restaurant.

Tonight, however, was simply Chinese food and a few candles to give their meal a more intimate feel about it, distinguishing it from the rest of the meals they shared simply as work partners.

The meal was quickly consumed and boxes of empty cartons littered the table and floor. After a moment of letting her food begin to digest, Kathy rose from the carpet and headed towards the kitchen in search of two glasses and a bottle of wine.

The bottle that she produced was a gift from an ex-boyfriend many years back, he immediately recognized it by it's unusual shape and stained green coloring. Yet, he avoided bringing it up, instead he merely fixated on it as he thought back to a time, before they had become romantically involved, when she was simply his work partner.

Kathy had dated numerous men during their initial years of partnership, yet only a handful were significant. Andy couldn't help but recall the jealously that filled him as he watched these hopeful men, with their bright smiles, their attractive physique, and unrestricted access to his partner, come in and out of her life.

Even now, that they were in a romantic relationship together, he did not have the same access to her that the men before him did. They were forced to pretend on an almost daily basis, that there was nothing really between them, that he had not given her his heart. He wanted to be able to call her his wife and to live together in a beautiful house with a large garden, where their children could play freely.

Simply put, he wanted more.

"Will you marry me?" he asked aloud, before he could stop himself.

Kathy froze, her heart started racing, her breathing became erratic and her instinct to run overwhelming. Not this again, she thought to herself.

"What?" she whispered, disbelief thickly clouding her words.

Taking a brief moment to compose himself he turned to her, mustering up every ounce of courage he possessed. "I want more, Kathy," he answered firmly, leaving no room for argument. "I thought I was okay with our current situation, I thought that it was enough, but it isn't," Andy continued, his eyes never leaving hers.

Speechless she stared back at him, she didn't know what to say, she knew that this moment right here and now could break them. This moment right now was one that would haunt her for days to come should she make the wrong decision. She could see it plainly in his eyes that he wanted this more than anything, that he wanted nothing more than to scream from the rooftops about their relationship.

Sensing her inner turmoil he moved closer before leaning down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. A sense of deja vu washed over her as she found herself pushing him away, her hands going to his chest to hold him back.

"No! No! No!" she pleaded, pounding her hands against him.

"Why? Why? Why?" he exclaimed, equally as desperate as she was.

"We've already talked about this, you said you would move on," she implored reaching out to cup his strong jaw in what was meant to be a comforting gesture. Her touch however was something he most certainly did not need in that moment, right now he wanted her to just give in, to finally accept that what was between them was real. That love really did exist, that not everyone leaves, that he would still be there 30, 40, and even 50 years from now.

"I tried! Believe me, Bones, I tried," he continued as he pushed her hand away. "I dated Katherine and Hannah, but neither one of them is you. I love you, I really do, you have to believe me. I know you're the one, I knew that from the very beginning, and that's not going to change. Ever," Booth pressed on, this time he would not let her go without a fight. This time it was all or nothing, he was laying everything on the line.

"Booth..." Brennan whispered, tears streaming freely down her face. She thought they had finished with this, she was certain that he agreed that he needed protecting from her, that she would only drive him away as she had done to so many before.

"Please don't do this to me again, I can't go through that again."

Kathy let out a shuddering breath, she was shaking now, with the sobs that she attempted to contain. "I can't," she answered, her voice barely a whisper.

Andy closed his eyes, waiting for the now familiar feeling of complete and utter heartbreak to overwhelm him. It didn't come. Instead he felt nothing, just emptiness. His heart had been broken so many times before by the very woman that sat in front of him, that he was incapable of feeling anymore. She had destroyed him and she had done so in the name of protecting him.

"You're right," Booth finally spoke breaking the agonizing silence that followed after her rejection. She looked at him with blurred vision, her eyes clouded with tears, her eyebrows knit together in confusion. She waited for him to continue, watching as he silently stood up and shrugged on his jacket.

"You do push everyone away, maybe that's why you're so alone," he finally finished, his words harsh but utterly true.

Booth made his way towards her front door, pausing only when he heard her voice call out to him. "Can we still work together? You said last time.." Brennan begun only to trail off in the end, she knew what his answer would be even before he did.

"No, we can't," he replied honestly, pausing to collect this thoughts. "I can't do this any more," he finished as he turned to her. She was now standing in front of him, her eyes downcast, her face emotionless.

He let out a deep sigh before he made his way over to her, taking a moment to run his eyes over her familiar beauty, forever engraining it in his memory.

Then tantalizingly slowly he reached out, taking the time to enjoy this final moment between the two of them. His fingers met the bottom of her chin and slowly titled it so that her eyes met his and she was angled up towards him.

Her breath caught in her throat as her pale blue eyes met his usually warm brown eyes. His eyes were dark now, almost black, and seemingly soulless.

His hand cupped her face as his thumb glided smoothly over her skin to trace her slightly parted full lips. He watched her carefully now, watched her eyes as they remained on him, watched her body as she shook ever so slightly beneath his gentle touch, and watched as her right hand went out to grasp the bottom corner of his black suit jacket.

Once his thumb had thoroughly traced her lips, forever engraving them into his memory, he lowered his head. His face moving closer to hers with each passing second. His warm breath on her lips causing her eyes to flutter shut without a conscious thought.

Softly he pressed his lips against her in a feather light kiss.

All too soon he pulled away, resisting the urge to kiss her deeply and throughly. Without glancing back he turned and exited her apartment, walking quickly to avoid turning and running back to her.

She couldn't move, she struggled to catch her breath, her entire body reacting to his simple caress as if were the first time.

The sound of footsteps followed by a door closing broke through her revere. Her eyelids snapped open as her eyes desperately sought him out. But it was too late he was nowhere to be seen.

He had left her.

Her back found the wall behind her easily, her body sliding down it until she reached the cold hard floor beneath her. Only now, did she begin to let herself cry. For only now did it register that not only had her partner and best friend just abandoned her.

The man she lov


"Bren?" a voice suddenly asked, snapping her back to reality and away from her computer screen.

Temperance turned towards the voice, her light blue eyes meeting the curious brown ones of Angela Montenegro.

Angela had been standing there for the past fifteen minutes, silently watching as her friend furiously typed, tears streaming down her face. Not only had Brennan been at her computer screen all morning and for most of the afternoon, but she had completely ignored the new set of remains that had arrived from Peru. Angela couldn't help but be worried, something was most definitely wrong. Ever since Booth's sudden departure, for whatever reason; Brennan hadn't been the same.

"Yes Angela?" Brennan responded as she wiped away the tears from her face.

"Sweetie, you've been in here all morning and I'm starting to get worried, you haven't even looked at the new set of remains that arrived from Peru." Angela commented as she made her way over to the chair on the other side of Brennan's desk, purposely not mentioning her friend's tears.

"Oh right, yes. It must have skipped my mind."

Angela blinked.

"My publisher texted me this morning; the first draft of my book is due in a week and all I have so far are a collection of moments between Kathy and Andy. I'm attempting to fill in the blanks, between the scenes, and create a proper story line," Temperance clarified noticing the stunned expression on Angela's face.

"I suppose I'll have to work on it later, I need to examine those remains," she continued standing up and reaching for her lab coat.

Angela remained seated in her chair, silently watching as her friend left her office and headed over to the main platform. Once certain that Brennan would be completely absorbed in her work for the next few hours, Angela rose from her seat and walked around the desk towards Brennan's laptop. She was curious more than anything. Not only curious as to what could have driven her friend to tears, but also about the scenes she had written between Kathy and Andy.

Usually Brennan had the case down and pat. It was the scenes between the partners that she had trouble with, even though she had plenty of those "moments" in real life that she could easily incorporate. Apparently ever since Booth had asked for their partnership to be severed, Brennan was able to come up with these moments easier than the actual cases. Something told her that whatever Brennan had written in those chapters would give her a better insight into whatever her best friend was going through at the moment.

After all, they do say you give up a little bit of yourself in everything that you write, Angela mused.

That was unavoidable and something she was all too familiar with when it came to Brennan's writing. On numerous occasions had she commented that the characters were based off of the team at the lab, and as much as Brennan tried to deny it, Angela knew it would only be a matter of time before she admitted it to herself.

Without wasting another moment, Angela Montengro scrolled to the top of the word document and begun reading. She was a woman on a mission, a mission to find out the truth and help her best friend no matter what, and nothing was about to stand in her way.


Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the delay with this chapter, I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to have happened between Booth/Brennan. Anyway, I hope that the length of this chapter made up for the huge wait. Also, just wondering, does anyone read the quotes that I put at the beginning of my chapters? Or do you just scroll down and read the story? No worries if you do, just curious. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to review!

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