The homecoming
She let out a deep sigh and took another spoonful of ice-cream. Despite having looked forward to that moment for years now, she had just found out that it wasn't all roses as she had figured it would be.
Not knowing where Jane was right now was the thing that upset her most. She couldn't make out whether she was actually angry at him or worried about him – both of those things, probably.
He hadn't even said goodbye. Was it too much to ask of him? They had worked together for almost a decade, for goodness sake!
She had never expected him to stick around Sacramento. A few parting words was all that she was counting on.
It had turned out that their friendship wasn't even worth such a little effort.
Damn the man and his selfishness. She should stop thinking about him. She really should.
Except that she couldn't.
She didn't notice at once that someone was knocking at her door. Nervously she wiped away her tears and went to answer – vaguely wondering why the unexpected nuisance hadn't rung the bell instead.
The sight of him on her threshold had her gaping for a full minute.
He gave her a small smile – by way of a peace offering.
"You… you pea-brained idiot…"
His smile broadened slightly. "I know. I'm sorry".
That didn't prevent her from smacking his arm. "What were you thinking? You could have told me where you were going, at the very least!"
"I just had… something to do".
These words finally got her attention. She studied his face more closely, as if she was looking at him for the first time.
In a way he was a different man now. Jane without Red John was someone she still had to get to know. She really hoped to have a chance to do that.
It was at this point that she simply let herself go – hugging him tightly as she had never dared before.
The fact that he was hugging her back didn't register immediately. Only when his hand started drawing circles on her back she realized how solid and warm he felt between her arms.
"This is where I belong now", he whispered in her ear. "I'm going to stay here – as long as you want me to".
That made her head spin. As long as I want him to…
"Stay with me, Patrick", she murmured against his chest. "Just stay with me…"
Her eyes fluttered shut as he placed a soft kiss on her hair.
"Okay", he promised at last.
And – for the first time – she really trusted him to keep his word.