Dear readers, I'm bored and the summer semester hasn't started yet, so I decided to write a sequel to "Too selfish". The other tags to "Violets" are probably better but I just wanna write this :)

I don't own The Mentalist and I don't make money with fanfiction.

Please read and review!

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Although the case was solved, Jane still hadn't got rid of agent Pike. Last night, when Lisbon went on a date with Pike, while he and Cho had a beer, Jane thought that swallowing his pain with alcohol would make him feel better. But of course,it didn't.

Cho realized that Jane wanted to be alone in the bar, but thought his friend shouldn't be alone right now. He wasn't in the mood to talk about someone else's feelings. However, this was a different case:

"Jane, you ok?"

"Honestly? No."

"You're too stupid sometimes, you know?"

"What? You came here to insult me?" Jane snapped.

"No. I came here to tell you what an hopeless idiot you are when it comes to Lisbon."

"There's nothing between me and her worth talking about."

"That's what I mean."

No answer.

Cho hated the way this conversation was going, he didn't want to dig further into Jane's feelings, but he needed this kind of push to make his move on Lisbon.

"Everybody sees the way you look at her. Even Pike noticed it. He asked Wiley if you two were in a relationship. You-"

Jane cut him off. "Could you leave that alone? I've lost her and I can't do anything about it. And since when do you care for anybody's feelings?"

"I don't care. I'm just telling you that you haven't lost her yet. But if you don't hurry up, you might. I'm going home now, good night, Jane." Cho paid his beer and went out.

Jane felt alone, just like when he sat down on his couch after Lisbon and Pike left the office to go on a date earlier that evening. He knew that Cho wanted to help him and it actually made him feel better that he had kicked his ass like this. Cho was right, Jane hadn't lost Lisbon yet, but right now, he felt like he had.

xxxxx

He lay in his Airstream; unable to sleep; struggling with insomnia again. Jane was trying to sleep for hours, but everytime he closed his eyes, he saw images of Lisbon having sex with Pike, so he got up early and thought about ways to avoid Lisbon the next few weeks like she had avoided him before Grace was abducted. Their relationship had just started to improve again, maybe because of being with the old team for a while. Then she met Pike...and it's my fault. Another woman I lost because of selfishness and being too sure of myself.

His alarm clock rang. It was 6 AM. Probably she's waking up in Pike's arms right now...

Maybe he should just let this run it's course and wait until this affair was over, but then it could be too late because Pike could have proposed to Lisbon and she might actually say yes. He seemed reliable and honestly and trustworthy. I am lacking all of these character traits...I've been so dishonest for too long.

xxxxx

8 AM:

Jane could see the sex afterglow that surrounded Lisbon when she appeared in the bullpen. Her eyes were greener and brighter than usually and whispered and chuckled with Kim about something. He could guess what they were talking about by the way they stopped talking when someone else passed by. He was afraid that he would lose his best friend to Kim and his possible wife to Pike. Yes, this morning, Jane had taken his wedding ring off. He thought about marrying Lisbon some day, he just had to prevent that Pike asked her first.

During the briefing for the next case, Lisbon sat down between Kim and Wiley. She hadn't looked once at him this morning, and he knew why. She was feeling guilty, because now that their relationship was recovering again, she went out with Pike. He was sure they already had a second date this week. He and Cho sat behind them.

"Stop staring, man."

"But her hair is so beautiful."

"She hasn't even noticed that you took your ring off!"

"Thanks for reminding me."

"She hasn't looked at you today, normally she can't let her eyes off you."

"Shut up, damn it! I know!"

Cho glanced at him as if he was waiting for an apology.

"I'm sorry."

"Hm. I'm just saying. Last chance."

After the briefing, Jane didn't know if he should help them solve the case his way, which meant having a little bit fun and distraction from Lisbon or solving the case by the book. He realized that doing things his way had a lot to do with getting Lisbon's attention, so he decided to let the others solve the case like they would do without them. They stood up and Jane saw that she quickly casted an apologizing glance at him, but without really meeting his eyes. When she saw he didn't wear his ring, she couldn't help but raising her eyebrows a little, as if she was seriously surprised. Then she practically ran away, without looking at him again. He wondered what she would have said if they weren't in this 'situation'. Well, almost no reaction was a reaction, too...

xxxxx

1 week later:

"I haven't talked to him the whole week."

"God, Teresa, what's going on? I thought he's your best friend. You can't do this to him just because you have a boyfriend."

"I know, Kim. It's just...I can't describe it. I'm feeling guilty for not talking to Jane and ignoring him completely and at the same time I'm happy with Marcus because he's so different. He's honest, he says what he wants straight out, he's...damn, I don't know."

"Have you seen the look on his face when you didn't say anything about him not wearing his ring anymore? I thought that was a little too much, you should have said something."

"Yeah, you're right. But what? I just came back from Marcus, I slept with him that night. And then I came to work and Jane wasn't wearing his ring? What do you think I should have said?"

"He feels more for you than friendship and you know that."

"Of course I know that! Me, too."

"Then why don't you do anything about it?"

"It's been too long. There was enough time for him to make his move. But instead, everytime when I thought the time was right, there was something more important than me. He broke my heart so many times, betrayed me and I don't wanna wait anymore."

"As far as I know, he wanted to protect you from Red John. He didn't want to lose another woman to him, but of course, I'm not in the position to talk about these times because I wasn't there. Then he was two years on an island too hide from the police. Well, actually, from us. I saw your jealous look at me when you found out about my undercover operation back then. You need to do something. I know you like Pike very much, but I think Jane is better for you."

"I don't know if I can do this. We're so happy at the moment and I'm not sure if I could deal with it if a romantic relationship between Jane and me wouldn't work and I'm alone again in the end."

"Try it. I think he's planning something with Cho. They talk a lot these days, and Cho rarely talks at all. I think they're up to something."

"Do you wanna know what I did last night after I came home from a date with Marcus? I ate tons of ice cream and then cried myself into sleep. The last time I did this was the first month after Jane disappeared to South America."

"And you didn't weigh a hundred kilo past that month?!" asked Kim, trying to make a joke, and Lisbon actually cracked a smile.

"No, I was at the gym three hours a day to forget everything else for a certain time. It was terrible."

"You still think it's a good idea to date Pike? You can't have a wonderful date with someone and even have sex with him and cry yourself into sleep afterwards because you love another man."

"What am I gonna do if I break up with Pike for Jane but it turns out he doesn't feel what I do?"

"He does feel what you do."

"Hm, I don't know, I think I'll stay with Pike and see what happens."

"What's the point of this? Ok, he's good looking and may be a welcome change because he's honest with you, but in fact, you know he's not the one."

"Do you know what's weird? I think of Jane when I sleep with Marcus. I mean, he's a great lover, but I can't stop fantasizing about Jane. All day, all night."

"You two really never...you know?"

"No. We haven't. I don't know why everybody thinks that."

"Oh please, sometimes you look at Jane like you're gonna eat him!"

"You noticed that?"

"Sure. Hasn't he told you you're a bad liar?!"

"More than once...I feel like betraying him when I'm with Marcus. That's why I can't talk to Jane or even look at him when he doesn't see it."

"You need to stop that. It's about time."

"Yes, I know, but not today. Next week, or the week after that..."

"You're complaining that Jane didn't make his move in 12 years and now you're telling me you'll wait another two weeks?! I can't understand you..."

"Me neither. That's the problem, I'll end up this evening crying alone in my bed because I don't have Marcus to have fun with and to feel loved and I can't have Jane at all."

"There's something else, isn't it?"

"Well...yeah. Part of me wants to see Jane suffer a lot and make him feel what I felt so many times. I know this is stupid, but it's even kind of fun to see him being sad."

"Teresa, you really do have a problem..." said Kim and smiled.

They both exited the diner where they spent the lunch break and went back to the office, realizing they just had become best friends.

xxxxx

To be continued! Thanks for reading!