Dance With Me and Remember
A Jane/Lisbon Story
By Brown Eyes Parker
Author's Note:
I SO want to write something entirely fluffy and kissy-kissy. But I left Jane and Lisbon with a little bit of drama to deal with, and by golly, I will deal with it. . . even with the spoilers and the trailer. Hope you guys don't mind, I promise that the ending will be worth it this time. Warning, this chapter might be a little OOC. But I really had no idea where to go, because I am SO excited and writing angst is starting to wear on me. The title of this story taken from "In the End" by Snow Patrol.
Disclaimer:
I own nothing. And right now, I really DON'T want to own anything. For the time being, I'm glad to leave the rights in Bruno Heller's is capable hands. He's doing such a fabulous job at things.
.
Chapter 1
Watch my face as I pretend to feel no pain
Heartbreak Warfare_
"Table for one this afternoon Agent Lisbon?" Miranda asked as the petite brunette stepped out of the rainy Sunday afternoon and into the crowded diner.
"No," she replied, shaking her head as she looked around the room. "I'm actually meeting somebody— oh, he's already here!"
Miranda's mouth dropped open as she spotted the person Lisbon was talking about. "When did Mr. Jane get back?"
Lisbon shrugged. "About a month ago, I guess."
"Funny, you two still haven't been in together—"
Lisbon shrugged again, her eyes never leaving Jane's. "We haven't had time. Work is keeping us totally swapped."
Miranda nodded, tugging at her string of pearls and pursing her lips. "Well, come on and I'll seat you."
.
Jane's face lit up when Lisbon slid in the seat across from him.
"You're here! I honestly didn't think you were going to come."
"Why would you think that? I invited you to lunch, didn't I?" Lisbon replied, pulling her menu up over her face and pursuing it like it was the most interesting thing that she had ever read in her life.
"Doesn't matter, you could have still changed your mind," Jane said. "You could have decided that you still wanted to be mad at me, and called to cancel or made excuses to why you couldn't come and have lunch with me."
Lisbon lowered her menu and looked at him. "It was exhausting being angry at you. And I'm tired of being tired."
Jane smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad you're here."
Lisbon managed to return his smile as she snapped her menu shut. "I'm glad that I'm here too."
At that moment, Miranda came up to their table and grinned at Jane. "Good to see you again Mr. Jane, things weren't the same around here without you."
"It's good to see you too," Jane replied.
"Are you guys ready to order? Or do I need to give you a few minutes?" She asked, digging in her apron pocket for her ordering pad.
"I'm ready," Jane answered as Lisbon nodded.
"Okay then," Miranda said. "Who's first?"
"Lisbon?" Jane asked. "Would you like to go first?"
"I'll just have some coffee and a bowl of soup," Lisbon answered, afraid that she wouldn't be able to eat anything; her stomach was still a knotted mess.
"And for you?" Miranda asked, turning to Jane after she had jotted down Lisbon's order.
"The same for me, except I'll have tea instead of coffee," Jane replied.
"Coming right up," she said, tucking her note pad away and her pen in her hair.
Lisbon sighed as Miranda disappeared and toyed with the edge of the paper placemat in front of her. She looked at Jane and opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again not sure exactly of what to say.
Jane, sensing her discomfort, quickly spoke. "It sure is raining a lot out there."
Lisbon nodded, thankful for something easy to talk about. "It's the kind of day where I want to curl up under the covers and watch an old movie on TCM, or listen to Norah Jones and drink a glass of wine."
"Then why didn't you?"
"I told you. . . I'm tired of being angry. I'm tired of Rigsby and Van Pelt wincing every time we're in the same room—"
"So, then this is strictly business?" Jane asked, his eyes sparkling in the low florescent lighting.
"No," Lisbon admitted, looking down at her hands. "It's because I've missed you too."
Her last words were spoken so quietly that Jane didn't catch them. But he knew better than ask her to repeat them because she wouldn't, and he really wasn't in any mood to try and force her into saying something that she didn't want to say.
"Here you guys go," Miranda said as she returned with their drinks and set them down. "I realized I forgot to tell you the soup of the day. It's vegetable beef. I hope that's okay with you. If not, I can take your order again."
"That's fine with me," Lisbon replied as she finally looked up.
"It's fine with me too," Jane answered.
"Okay, I'll be right back then."
Lisbon drummed her fingers on the table and looked around the café before she dug around in her pockets for a quarter and slipped it into the jukebox, buying herself three minutes and thirty seconds of noise so that she could figure out something. . . anything to say him. But she found that she couldn't say or ask the things that she wanted to.
She would probably find out things that she didn't want to find out. Or maybe she wouldn't find out the things that she wanted to.
Either way, it was too big of a risk to take. True she had forgiven him, but she still wasn't ready to face some of their biggest problems. She didn't know if she'd ever be ready to face them, she didn't even know if she wanted to face them.
The song ended and the silence that followed was almost deafing and Lisbon was thankful for the neighboring chatter around them. It saved her from having to fill it too quickly.
She was about to try and say something when Jane was the first to speak again.
"I haven't really had a chance to talk to Rigsby since I've gotten back and everything happened, but I was wondering how Benjamin is and how things with Sarah are going. . ."
Lisbon smiled. An easy subject to talk about. "Benjamin's great, you won't believe how much he's grown. And things are getting pretty serious with Sarah; he actually mentioned something about proposing the other day."
"He dropped the 'M' word?" Jane replied, looking slightly surprised. "I do believe our little Rigsby is finally becoming a little man."
"Yeah, I was surprised to," Lisbon answered, surprised at how easy the conversation was suddenly coming to her. "To be honest, I thought he was still a little bit hung up on Van Pelt."
"Meh, she was his first true love. He's always going to have a special place in his heart for her," Jane said. "But Lisbon, any real man will find that there's room enough in his heart for two women."
Lisbon looked a little shocked by his statement and she wondered for a moment if he even believed what he was saying. She was just about to ask him about it when Miranda returned balancing two steaming bowls of soup.
"Looks good," Jane said. "Give my compliments to the chef."
Lisbon dragged her spoon through her lunch as she realized that she didn't really have the courage to ask if he felt that real men had enough room in their hearts for two women.
And she figured that it was one of the questions that she didn't know if she had permission to ask or not.
as she watched Jane eat his meal, she thought about how much she couldn't wait for things to really return to normal. She still felt so unsure of everything, especially of herself and where she stood with Jane.
TBC. . .
Author's Note II:
So, this probably is all over the place and not my best work. I had a good flow going earlier, but my father called me for family worship and ruined it completely. Plus the spoilers and promo for the new season of the Mentalist has totally thrown me through a loop. Tell me what you thought about this chapter, I'd love to know.
Love,
Holly, 9/6/2012_
