New Love Chase Away My Past

A Jane and Lisbon Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Rated: K+

Author's Note:

The title comes from Winter Dreams by Kelly Clarkson.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Kelly Clarkon's Wrapped In Red album.

For angrylittleprincess, this is the canon Christmas you mentioned to me all summer. I love you.

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Everything has to be perfect, Lisbon mused as she fixed a crooked ornament on her tree. This would be the first Christmas that Jane would be celebrating in years and she wanted it to be one of the best ones ever for him. She moved on from the tree and to setting up the antique Nativity scene her mother had used when she was a little girl while she hummed All I Want for Christmas is You under her breath.

A knock on her door stopped her from unwrapping the porcelain Joseph from the tissue paper. She got to her feet and padded to the door, cracking it open to peek at who was visiting her. She grinned when she saw it was Jane and slid outside, closing the door behind her and leaning against it.

"Hey there," she said. "I didn't think I was going to see you tonight, I thought Abbott had you on stakeout with Cho."

Jane beamed at her, his hands tucked behind his back. "He let me off early because we already caught and interrogated the suspect."

"That was done in an impressive amount of time," Lisbon replied. "I think you broke records."

"Me too," Jane answered, pushing one hand up against the door and holding something over her head with the other. "So, I thought we'd celebrate."

Lisbon glanced up. "Is that mistletoe?"

"It is," he replied. "I thought we'd fulfill one of my long-standing fantasies."

Lisbon giggled. "Are you saying you fantasized about kissing me under the mistletoe?"

"Every time they started to tote out the mistletoe around the CBI," Jane admitted. "Now, are you going to let me kiss you? My arm is starting to hurt."

"Okay," Lisbon said, closing her eyes and tilting her face towards his.

There was a second and then he pressed his lips to her's. After another second, he had both his arms around her and he had deepened the kiss. She sighed inwardly as she took in the taste of the Christmas-y tea and gingerbread men cookies he had probably drank and ate on the stakeout. It was sweet and sexy without being too lusty.

She smiled at him when he pulled away. "Is that the way we kissed in your fantasies?"

Jane shrugged. "It depended on the night. I'll tell you one thing though. . ."

"Oh? What is that?"

"The real thing is definitely better than any of my fantasies,"

"It usually is," Lisbon agreed. "Um, do you want to come in? I was planning a surprise for you but now that you're here it seems kind of silly to send you away."

"I'd hate to ruin your surprise."

Lisbon pushed him playfully. "Don't lie. You're dying to know what the surprise is. I bet you already know what it is actually."

"I have a few guesses."

"Wait here, okay? I need to do something, and then I'll come and get you. And don't you dare peek in the windows."

"I wouldn't dream of peeking in the windows!"

Lisbon gave him a look. "I have a feeling you're crossing your fingers right now."

"I am not!" Jane insisted, giving her a show of hands. "I promise, I won't look."

"Okay," Lisbon answered, having to take his word for it as she slipped back into the house.

She hurried around, turning off lamps and plugging in the white Christmas lights that she had festooned the tree and her house with. Then she went back to the door and pulled Patrick in as she instructed him to close his eyes.

When they were in the middle of the living room, she told him to open his eyes. There was a sharp intake of breath when he did and then he had turned to her, looking at her with disbelief in his features. "You did this for me?"

"Yeah," Lisbon answered. "Because I know it's been a while since you celebrated Christmas. And I really wanted you to celebrate Christmas this year."

"It's perfect," Jane told her, looking at the tree. "Are those presents for me?"

"Yes," Lisbon replied. "You can open them on Christmas morning though and not a minute sooner."

"So, we are doing gifts to each other this year then?" Patrick asked.

"You don't have to do anything for me," Lisbon told him.

"Well, I sort of already did," Jane answered. "But I just wanted to make sure we were doing gifts or anything at all before I told you about them. Do you mind if I go and get them to put under the tree with my presents?"

Lisbon beamed. "Of course I don't mind. Do you mind if afterwards you help me finish decorating the tree?"

"You left some tree decorating for me?" Jane asked, looking a little touched by the gesture.

"It's all part of giving you back the Christmas experience," Lisbon answered.

He kissed her again then, without mistletoe and because he was so thankful for her. But he couldn't find the words to tell her, so he showed her again. After a few seconds he eased away and promised to be right back as he sprinted out of the house and to his airstream. A while later, he was placing the wrapped packages next to Lisbon's as she got out the rest of ornaments.

They spent the rest of the night decorating and watching Christmas movies together and Jane kind of couldn't believe it had taken them so long to get to this point in their lives. Part of him wished it hadn't. But as he placed a sparkly candy cane ornament on a branch, he decided not to dwell on the past and to look forward to the future.

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Christmas morning came faster than anybody expected. Jane and Lisbon were up with the sun, anticipating opening gifts almost like they were little kids. They exchanged toothpaste kisses over boiling water, making coffee and tea before they faced the living room.

Once they were properly caffeinated, they congregated to the living room and traded gifts one at a time. After all the presents were open, they both curled up on the couch together and took a nap before they woke up and got dressed before starting to make their Christmas dinner.

When the day was over and they had crawled into bed, happy and content with the turns of events, he whispered words of thanks in her ear. She turned over on her stomach to look at him, her eyes glowing in the dim streetlight filtering through her shades.

"Thank you," she replied. "Today was. . ."

"One of the best days of my life," Jane told her, pushing the hair away from her face. "One of the best Christmases I have had in a while. And you made it possible. I think I love you even more tonight."

Lisbon smiled. "I love you too. Merry Christmas Patrick."

Jane smiled back at her. "Merry Christmas Teresa."

She lay back down next to him, snuggling closer as he wrapped his arms around her and they shared dreams of Christmas present and Christmases to come.

For the first Christmas in a long time, they had something to look forward to.

_The End_

Author's Note II:

This is kind of all over the place and kind of written in a hurry, but I hope it didn't stop you from enjoying it. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts in reviews! Thank you for reading.

Until Next Time!

Love,

Holly, 12/19/2014_