Doesn't anyone love Booth?

I was driving home from work the other day (I have 30 minute commute these days) when I started thinking about BONES. Now I'm sure there are some of you out there who are rolling your eyes and asking, "When do you not think about BONES?" My answer is this: I haven't had too much time to think about BONES as well with the fact that the hiatus has sort of taken away my BONES- centricisms. (Does that even make sense? Oh well!)

But back to the point at hand. I was thinking about BONES, more specifically last season (season six) when Seeley Booth proposed to his live-in girlfriend, Hannah. And Hannah turned him down flat with the excuse "I'm not the marrying kind." (This is paraphrased, of course.)

When this episode first aired (The Daredevil in the Mold), I will admit that I shed a couple of tears for  the spurned FBI agent as he sat at the bar with his drink. My heart broke for him. All he wants is the American Dream: A wife, 2.3 kids, and a white picket fence. But every time he goes for it, the woman in question says no; they're not the marrying kind.

Can I give him a hug?

The first time Booth asked a woman to marry him, she was pregnant with his baby and she said no. This led him to believe that she didn't think he would be a good father (and maybe husband?). His pride and his heart was shot down but he was able to pick himself up and keep moving on.

Even after breaking his heart, they walk away arm in arm.

The second time Booth put his heart on the line (this wasn't a marriage proposal but I feel that it's important enough to include) he confessed that he could see 30, 40, 50 years with his partner Dr. Temperance Brennan. She said she couldn't do it. She couldn't love him the way he loved her (once again, paraphrasing and putting my own interpretation in). This led to a bit of strain in there relationship, both personal and professional. But they got over it... but not really because Brennan, the next season, realized she had feelings for Booth. Their personal relationship suffered but they kept up their professional relationship although there was still a hint of strain around the edges.

Third time is not the charm for our beautiful Seeley Booth. Hannah flat out said no and then expected everything to remain the same. Uh, is she daft?! The man just spent a fortune on a ring and when you say no, you expect him to let you stay in his apartment knowing the whole time that you don't want to be with him for the long haul?! Hannah really was stupid! She left Booth a broken man and we were forced to wait many episodes until we saw even a smidge of the Booth we fell in love with.

Okay, so I've explained, in a nutshell, the three [most important] different times Booth has been rejected. My thought, as I drove, was why did they all say no to someone as awesome as Booth? I know that if he had proposed (or confessed that he knew we would last 30, 40, or 50 years) that I would be doing a jig as I shouted "YES! Yes, yes! A thousand times yes!"

I remember after watching "The Daredevil in the Mold" that I asked the question on twitter "Doesn't anyone love Booth?" (Yes, just as this post is titled). The answer, I have decided, is that yes. Booth is loved. And I don't mean by the fangirls of BONES. He is loved by Rebecca, Hannah, and Brennan. They just didn't love him enough to marry him (or in Brennan's case, take the step over the Partner Line and be in a relationship with him.)

I just like this scene. It think it helps move their relationship forward-ish.

What I think is awesome is that, although he was bruised and heart-broken, Booth didn't completely give up on his idea of love. He took a hiatus from is, yes. I mean, he didn't immediately become an item with Brennan even though he was now single and he knew that she had deeper feelings than just a friend and a partner. He took time to let his heart/pride heal before he even took a step closer to her. That doesn't mean he was going to be the one to make the first move. Even in the episode "The Pain in the Heart" he had his gun trained on her for longer than necessary (as a way of protecting his heart maybe?) It took her urging to finally get him to put the gun away and comfort her. He had been burned too many times to take that kind of chance again.

I keep coming back to my original question. Doesn't anyone love Booth? Or maybe it should be: Why doesn't anyone love Booth enough to marry him? This could stem from my own background of living in Utah (the marriage capital of the world!). Marriage here is a big deal and I was raised knowing that one day I would get married and start a family. And in this day and age, marriage isn't that big of a deal. Even Booth has lived with women without marrying them (Hannah and Brennan). He has a child with Rebecca and is having another one with Brennan- still not married to either one. (Why would we want him to be married to Rebecca anyway- she's icky!) ;)

What a perfect picture of domesticity. :) Yes please!

I guess the fact that Booth still wants marriage is a good sign that he still has his American Dreams. The evidence is found in season seven, episode one: "The Memories in the Shallow Grave". He and Brennan have a conversation about marriage (despite the fact that Brennan claims that she doesn't believe in marriage... but then later in the series she does say that she hasn't found a good reason to get married so maybe the previous statement has changed in her mind?). I guess this gives me hope that one day, Booth and Brennan will one day reach the ultimate goal of [many] Utahns: MARRIAGE!

If a guy (or Booth) looked at me like this...

Ha ha ha. I didn't mean for this post to be all marriage-centric. My thoughts are marriage-centric (yet!). But my mind was focused on this on my way home and I thought it would be fun to try and explore it. I'm not sure if I succeeded but it was nice to write.

 Also, I thought I'd share the awesome pictures of David Boreanaz that I saw on Bones Theory today.

*drool* ...Uh what were we talking about again?

Until Next Time,

The Hopeless Romantic.

P.S. I forgot to reference my pictures. Thanks to Sarah and Bones Theory for the awesome pictures. It makes my life so much easier!