The aftermath

It seemed like he couldn't stop kissing her. Not that she had any objections to that. And god, the guy could kiss. He was tender and passionate all at once and Lisbon felt like flying. Her brain wasn't functioning, her belly was doing funny things and her lips and hands seemed to have only one purpose anymore: kiss and touch Patrick Jane.

She still couldn't really believe he'd actually done it, had really, finally told her how he felt about her. Honestly and truthfully. Patrick Jane loved her, was in love with her. God, she couldn't even begin to really understand.

"Less thinking, more kissing," he mumbled against her lips and caught her mouth once more. This time he was a little bolder, allowing his tongue to touch her lips, to invite himself into her warm, kissable mouth. Lisbon couldn't stop herself from moaning, curl her fingers into his blonde hair and only the stupid table between them was stopping her from jumping him.

Someone clearing their throat broke them apart and while Jane grinned happily at Abbot, Lisbon blushed furiously and couldn't manage to meet her boss' eyes.

"Hey there, Dennis. Thanks for picking us up," Jane greeted him, his wide smile almost splitting his face.

"Well, Jane, to be honest, I expected to find you moping instead of kissing Lisbon, though I must say I'm not entirely surprised." He smiled crookedly at them and even though Lisbon felt mortified to have been gotten caught making out with Jane, she was relieved Abbot didn't seem too mad about the trouble they had caused.

Figuring they needed to get a move on, she walked around the table and looked at her boss. "We might need to get him crutches. I don't think he can walk on his own."

Abbot nodded. "Well, TSA wasn't so fond of his romantic move and wanted me to punish you two for your unprofessional behavior in order to let him go. So since you are off duty for the next three days, I suggest you take him to a hospital as soon as we land in Austin."

Lisbon blushed again, while Jane seemed to be quite excited about the prospect of three free days.

"Alright people, let's get a move on. Agent Fisher is waiting for us."

Lisbon and Abbot quickly decided to hold Jane up, one from each side and helped him to the waiting plane.

"So, Lisbon, still around I see?!" Kim Fisher grinned suggestively at her at and Lisbon felt her cheeks heat up again.

"Yes, as it turned out, I'd rather stay with you guys," she quickly answered and Fisher grinned knowingly at her.

"Sure, I'm glad."

Lisbon sat down between Fisher and Jane, who had a cooling pack on his ankle.

"You ready to play nurse for me?", he asked, grinning mischievously and before taking her hand and intertwining their fingers.

Lisbon blushed again, felt her heart beating ridiculously hard in her chest because even though Abbot had actually witnessed their kissing and Fisher seemed to be all but unaware of what had happened between her and Jane, too, she still felt a little embarrassed about all this public display of Jane's unexpected affection.

"I'm tired," Jane mumbled before putting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes.

Lisbon closed hers as well, even if merely to just process as privately as possible what the hell had happened over the last weeks, especially during the last few hours.

After Jane had come back to the states she had hoped once everything was settled, he would finally say or do something that would take their relationship to the next level.
Then Marcus had started pursuing her and because Jane hadn't indicated anything else, she'd thought he just wasn't interested. So she'd started dating Marcus, which had been fun and sweet at first. But then he had become so pushy and fast and while she had quite liked him, she'd still been in love with Jane and things had gotten really out of hand then.

And now, instead of flying to DC to her fiancé for god's sake, she was sitting in a plane back to Austin with Jane's hand in hers and her lips still tasting like him and if she was being honest, she hadn't felt like that in well, forever. She was entirely and truly happy and just so very much in love with this annoying, unbelievably frustrating guy that she couldn't fight the smile off her face for even a second.

She must have dozed off too, probably because of the emotional rollercoaster she'd been riding on for the last several months, because when she woke it was because Patrick Jane was gently stroking her face, before pecking her lips.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty. We're about to land."

Her mind still foggy and note quite aware of her surroundings, she pressed her face into Jane's warm neck and he wrapped his arms around her instantly.

"You alright?", he asked quietly.

"Mhm," she mumbled back, finally fully waking up. She looked around nervously when the events of the last few hours finally came back to her and couldn't help but gaze cautiously at Jane.

"Hey," he greeted quietly, unable to hide the love and affection he felt fir her and Lisbon's heart started beating madly when she realized he wasn't masking his feelings any longer.

"Hey yourself," she whispered back, her heart almost jumping into her throat when his eyes, so unbelievably blue-greenish, flicked down to her lips, before he leaned forward to press his mouth against hers.

His lips were soft and gentle, yet taking everything from her and Lisbon had to fight hard to stop an embarrassing moan from escaping her. She quickly freed herself, blushed furiously when she realized Abbot and Fisher were keenly avoiding looking at them.

"Jane," she admonished, "behave. We aren't off work yet."

He just grinned, not embarrassed in the slightest and Lisbon figured, working with Jane was going to be even more challenging from now on.

Somehow they ended up in Jane's airstream. After taking him to the hospital where he'd been the same terrible patient as always, the doctor had sent them on their way. His ankle was just twisted, so he'd gotten a pair of crutches and was sent home.

"I'm hungry," he'd complained in the car, so Lisbon had picked up some takeout and had driven to his airstream.

Jane seemed to get tired again and she figured she'd have to tuck him in soon. Her nerves were still a little fluttery, but all in all she had a grip on herself again. So, she and Jane were dating now, had caused quite the scene and everybody, except for Marcus, was aware of their changed relationship status.

Oh god, she really had to talk to Marcus. He was probably at the airport, waiting for her. Had her original plane already landed?

"What's wrong, my dear?", Jane suddenly asked, noticing that she'd stopped eating.

She bit her lip, not quite knowing what to say. I'm so sorry I'm hurting Marcus? It had been a really emotional day for all of them, so she didn't want to ruin the mood.

"I need to call Marcus," she said quietly, not daring to meet Jane's eyes, but he surprised her when he gently took hold of her hand.

"Look, I know you felt something for him and that you hate to hurt him and I know this is all my fault because I've been too much of a coward to tell you how I feel long before you and him even met, but he is a good guy. And therefore I think he deserves a proper explanation because no matter what you say, I'm positive he wants to marry you."

Instantly guilt overflowed her and she looked down at their clasped hands. "He asked me to marry him," she admitted quietly, "I said no at first because things were just going too fast, but after you tricked be today, I called him to say yes."

She felt Jane's fingers freeze in hers for a moment and when she looked up, his eyes were glassy.

"I came so close to losing you, Teresa. What kind of idiot am I?"

She squeezed his hand reassuringly, before slowly standing up. "I need to make a call now," she told him and he nodded, smiling encouragingly at her.

"Hey sweetheart, where are you? I've left you dozens of messages." Marcus' voice sounded soft and concerned and she felt even worse for doing this to him.

She'd seen his messages before she had called him, and god, she couldn't even imagine how hurt he'd feel any minute now. Not knowing where to start, she stayed quiet for a minute, which was apparently long enough for Marcus to figure things out.

"You aren't coming, are you?", he asked and the worst was, beneath the hurt she could detect resignation. As if he had anticipated this.

Her heart beating a mile a minute, she slowly forced herself to answer. "I'm so sorry, Marcus. It was never my intention to hurt you and I really thought we could have something. I wanted us to be something, but I…," she trailed off, tears streaming down her face. She had cried so much today and in this little love-triangle she'd created, everybody had gotten hurt so very bad.

"The heart wants what it wants, right?", Marcus said quietly, and she agreed, her sobs barely audible.

"I wish you the best, Marcus. You are a great man and you deserve someone who can give you her whole heart. I'm sorry this can't be me."

"Take care, sweetheart. And tell him I hope he knows what he lucky bastard he is." He hung up after that and then the dam broke for a second time today and she couldn't stop her tears any longer.

When she reentered Jane's airstream, she found him sitting on his bed, his suit jacket thrown over a chair and his shirt open. Seeing his naked chest and belly, did really bad things to her stomach and she paused for a minute.
How could she have thought, getting over him was even an option?

When he noticed her, he flashed her another blinding smile, before extending his hand and pulling her towards him.

Lisbon stumbled a little and almost choked when she found herself on his lap, straddling him. After all these years of longing, finally being intimate with him felt surreal and kind of awkward.

"I can't believe it either," he murmured, his fingers caressing her face gently before he leaned forward to nudge his nose tenderly against hers. "I've been in love with you for so long, but I never even once considered this day would actually come."

Lisbon nodded, losing herself in his eyes and scent. The urge to kiss him was getting stronger with every second, but she couldn't bring herself to be the one how crossed the line, especially since they were sitting so intimately now.

Nervously, she bit her lip, unable to stop her eyes from flicking down to his lips multiple times. Jane's grip on her waist tightened and seemingly unconsciously, he pulled her flush against him. Without really knowing she did it, Lisbon wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands slowly knotting themselves into his curls. Her face was hovering right over his, they were so close, their lips almost touching. Jane's eyes became darker and suddenly the love which had been evident in his gaze for hours now, vanished. Instead she could see unmasked lust and passion and instantly her belly was flooded by arousal.

Then things happened pretty quickly. Jane's hands wandered up her back, pulling her down so that her mouth crashed into his while he simultaneously pushed her down into his lap, so that she could feel his hard length right between her legs.

A moan escaped them both, the kids got heated and passionate rather fast and it didn't take very long until Lisbon felt his hands at them hem of her shirt, pulling it up over her head.

Taking this as her cue to take things further, she pushed his open shirt down his shoulders before she lost herself in another mind-blowing kiss.

When she woke up, it had to be rather early. Lisbon felt Jane's arms wrapped around her, his hands intertwined with hers on her belly. Even though she was afraid things might be awkward once they were both awake and coherent, she couldn't stop the content smile that was stretching on her features.
Stroking his hands gently with her fingers, Lisbon suddenly felt the familiar cold metal around his ring finger and panic crept over her.

What if he really wasn't ready for this? She believed him that he loved her, she really did, but that didn't mean he had to be ready to actually act on his feelings. What if he felt like he was betraying Angela? What if he needed more time? Would she be able to wait again? Was she willing to? And how long would it take? Would he ever be ready?

Overwhelmed with doubt, she removed his arms from around herself and grabbed her clothes. For once, Jane actually slept and she thanked god for that. Quickly, she grabbed a pen and paper to leave him a note, before vanishing the airstream, hoping she had done the right thing.

Jane,
I'm sorry if you are confused or hurt to find me next to you anymore and believe me, I'd have rather stayed with you, too, but I think we both need a little space to process things.
I believed you when you said you loved me, but I fear once you really understand that I'm not leaving you'll realize you aren't ready for this. Don't get me wrong, loving and missing your family is something I'd never want you to stop, but I need to be loved equally. To be honest, after Red John I hoped you'd be able to remove your ring, but you're still wearing it. I want you to be committed to this, to really want this and not force yourself to do this, to be with me, because you think I'm leaving. Because I'm won't. Texas is my home now. Even if you decide you aren't ready or might never be, I won't leave, but I need to know where I stand with you.
So once you figure that out and decide you're ready to face the consequences of this decision you have to make, you know where to find me.
With all my love,
Teresa