Hi folks. I wasnt actually going to post this at the moment as I am not particularly happy with it, but after watching the latest episode and how it ended I am in dire need of some cheering up - I literally got all teary and cry-y when she rejected him (I really shouldnt get this attached to imaginary characters!). Anyways, reviews will cheer me up!

Despite my misgivings, I think this chapter contains a reasonable amount of 'awwww' and 'oooo' moments for you to enjoy. Now, read on!

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The following morning, Temperance Brennan was feeling rather nervous.

Once again wearing a long sweater and her hair down to cover the bruises smattered across her body, Tempe entered the school slowly, eyes down and teeth gritted. When she arrived at her locker, temperance looked up in shock. She had fully been expecting the 'popular' students to attack her the moment she arrived, but they were ignoring her like they usually did. It seemed that Booth hadn't ousted her. Suddenly, Bren felt a rush of doubt for having doubted him. He had said that he wouldn't repeat anything that she told him, and she should have trusted him to keep his word.

"Hey Bones!" she heard a voice call behind her.

She turned around quickly and came face to face with Seeley Booth himself.

"And here he is," she murmured quietly to herself.

"Huh?" Booth asked, confused.

"Never mind," Tempe replied at proper volume before pausing.

"So," she continued, trying for a light, conversational tone. "Should you be seen talking to me? Won't your friends want to know why you were conversing with the 'foster freak'?"

"Who called you that?" Booth demanded quickly, his face clouding over with anger.

"It's nothing. Forget I said anything. I've dealt with much worse," Temperance said hurriedly, wishing she had never opened her mouth.

"I'll drop it for now but I won't forget," he replied finally, a deep frown still marring his face.

Thinking furiously, Tempe sought desperately to change the topic to something less personal.

"Anyway, I –"

"Your shirt –"

They both began at the same time.

"You first," Booth offered.

"Your shirt," she repeated. "I'll get it back to you as soon as I've washed it."

"Oh, that," Seeley replied casually. "Don't worry about it; I have a stack of them. You can keep it if you want."

"Um, okay," Temperance replied uncertainly. Although she would never admit it out loud, she was secretly very relieved. She had hidden the polo under her sweater before entering the house the night before, not wanting to get caught with it on by either of her foster sisters. By the time she had finished her evening routine she had been too tired to do anything more than take the scratchy sweater off and collapse into bed, still wearing the shirt. She wasn't really sure why, but the smell of him had comforted her greatly, and it was the best night's sleep she had had since her parents had disappeared.

"Bren!"

A voice from behind her startled her from her musings and caused her to jump slightly.

"See you later Bones," Booth said with a smile before disappearing into the crowd.

"What as that about?" Angela asked eagerly as she reached her friends side.

"We're assignment partners," Tempe reminded her. "He was organising to meet after school to work on it."

She wasn't sure why she was lying to her friend, but some part of her didn't feel like sharing whatever it was that was going on between her and Booth.

"Looked like her was standing a bit too close to be talking about school work," Ange said dubiously.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Maybe he has issues understanding personal space?" Bren responded. "Either way, the sooner this assignment is finished, the better."

"Okay," Angela conceded before changing the subject. "Guess who asked me out?"

"I have no idea," Temperance said absently, her mind still on a certain male.

"Jack Hodgins!" Angela gushed. "He's cute in a kind of dorky way. You know him from class don't you? What's he like?"

"Hmm?" Tempe murmured.

"Bren! Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry Ange," she apologised. "I'm listening now. Did you say Jack Hodgins?"

"Yeah!"

"Well did you tell him no?" Bren prompted.

"No! Why would I do that? I told him I'd think about it," exclaimed Angela feeling rather affronted.

"Relationships are ephemeral and are simply used by people in western society for stability and to gain regular sexual gratification. What people call love is actually a matter of brain chemistry, and attraction is based on how aesthetically pleasing the potential partner is physically," Temperance spouted.

"The idea of monogamy is a social construction that has only been passed down through much more recent generations, and polygamy is still legal in many countries today. Having only one sexual partner is actually detrimental to the continuation of the species as it limits the genetic combinations of future generations."

"Sweetie, slow down! Apart from the fact that I have no idea what half of what you just said means, I am a spiritual being. I believe in love, and I enjoy the connecting that comes from relationships, regardless how long they last. And anyway, no one mentioned anything about procreating!" Ange exclaimed. "We're not all asexual like you Bren."

"I'm not asexual Angela, surely you should know that. If I was, I would be able to reproduce through binary fission, which I clearly cannot," temperance said, rather confused by her friends statement.

Angela laughed and slung her arm around Bren's shoulders.

"Ah, I love you sweetie. You're the best," she said.

At that, the bell signalling the beginning of the school day range, so they joined the crowd in moving toward their first classes.

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"So, how was your day?" Seeley asked when he and Temperance met in their usual classroom for tutoring.

"It was fine. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know, but that's nothing out of the ordinary," temperance replied honestly.

"You already know everything you're being taught here? Booth asked in awe.

"Well, I can't say whether I know everything as I have not had all of the classes yet. But I do tend to be familiar with most subjects taught at this school," Tempe explained.

"My Bones is a genius!" Booth said with a smile. "But if you're so smart, why are you still in high school?"

Temperance frowned and turned away from him, walking toward a desk.

"I used to go to a school of excellence, back before..." she trailed off as she sat down. "There's no funding in the foster system to send kids to special school. I just have to make do with what I have."

Booth was silent as he moved to join her at the low table.

"I'm sorry Bones," he said finally.

"It's okay Booth, there's nothing that can be done," she replied before forcing a more cheerful tone. "So, hat so you want to start studying today?"

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An hour and a half later, both Booth and Bren were feeling tired and so decided to finish up for the day. Without saying a word, the pair headed across the deserted parking lot to Seeley's car and got in.

"Hey Bones?" Booth asked as he started the car.

"Yes Booth?"

"I can't tomorrow and Thursday is football practice, but on Friday do you want to study at my house?"

At Temperance's alarmed looked, he hurried on.

"I know you didn't like the idea when I suggested it the other day, but it wouldn't just be us there – my pops and little brother will be around; we can have some afternoon tea and the table at home is much more practical, we don't have to go out of the living area –"

"Booth!" Bren exclaimed with a chuckle. "You are rambling. Studying at your house seems like a wonderful idea. I shouldn't have jumped to such rapid conclusions about your motives last week."

"Oh," Booth said, surprised that he didn't have to convince her further and feeling a little guilty in knowing that the conclusions she had reached earlier probably weren't that far from the truth – sure he had had no intention of trying it on with her, but he had planned to charm her into doing his work for him. "Okay, cool. Great. Awesome."

Brennan shook her head in amusement. This was the person the cheerleaders couldn't stop gossiping about? The smooth talking sex god that simply oozed confidence? It didn't seem likely.

"You don't happen to have a mental illness do you?" she blurted out without thinking.

"What?" Booth exclaimed, flabbergasted. "What on earth makes you think that?"

Temperance, who had started turning bright red with embarrassment as soon as she realised she had spoken out loud, shrunk down in her seat wanting to make herself as tiny as possible. Of it wasn't for her knowledge of physics, she would have wished to disappear altogether.

"I was just thinking that you are nothing like that cheerleaders and popular girls say you are," she mumbled, barely audible.

"Okay..." Booth said slowly. "What does that have to do with me being mental?"

"Well, I decided that either you must have Dissociative Identity Disorder, or those girls don't know the first thing about you," she explained with growing confidence.

"Social what disorder?" Booth asked, still confused.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as Multiple Personality Disorder. I was wondering if you have it, because the way you behave around me is nothing like what I have heard," Bren continued.

There was a pause before Seeley responded.

"I don't have multiple personalities, and I'm not who they say I am. They don't know me Temperance, not at all," she said seriously.

"So why do I?" she asked curiously.

"I don't know," Booth responded softly. "You're different from all the rest. Special."

There was a moment's silence, and Temperance realised that they had reached their destination. Feeling impulsive, Tempe leaned over and quickly placed a soft kiss on Booth's cheek.

"Goodnight Seeley. See you tomorrow," she said quietly as she got out of the car and disappeared around the corner.

Still frozen in his seat, one hand touching his cheek, Seeley Booth could only stare after her in amazement.

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Temperance closed the front door with a smile on her face.

"Where have you been?" someone asked snootily from behind her.

Her smile disappearing, Bren whirled around and came face to face with her oldest step sister, Camille. Cam didn't give Tempe a chance to speak before continuing in her dangerous tone.

"I saw you with my boyfriend," Cam spat out, poking her finger into Tempe's chest. "You stay away from him. He's mine. If I ever see you with him again I will make your life a living hell."

"I have to talk to him," Temperance tried to explain without making things worse. "We are partnered together for our chemistry assignment."

Cam wasn't impressed with her explanation and continued to stare down at her, blocking her path to the stairway.

"I don't give a shit what your excuse is. Stay. Away. From. My. Boyfriend!" Cam ranted.

"I can't!" Tempe replied desperately. "I need to get good marks if I want to get a scholarship to university."

"Still not caring," Camille retorted.

Suddenly Temperance came up with an idea.

"Well, I'm sure you will care when your boyfriend gets kicked off the football team," she said clearly.

"What?" Cam snarled.

"If he gets lower than a pass in anything subject he can't be on the team, and so far he is failing chemistry – I heard Mr Reid say so himself," she explained.

An alarmed look flashed across Cam's face at the mention of Booth getting kicked off the team and she was suddenly back in Bren's face.

"He had better pass. If he gets kicked off the team and embarrasses me, it will be your fault," Camille threatened. "But if I see you with him when you are not doing school stuff you will wish you had never moved here."

Cam then pulled away and started back up the stairs. As she reached the top she called out a final comment.

"It's not like he would actually want to spend time with a freak like you anyway."

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There you go. As i said up the top, Im not a fan of this chapter. All the same, please leave me a review and make me smile! Oh, and what did everyone else think of the episode? Im curious to know reactions.