A/N: Haha! New story. The sequel to Whiplash is here. It would be awesome if this was as popular as Whiplash itself...cos that was awesome. So many reviews! *insert dazed expression* But I hope you all enjoy anyway, and I hope it does justice considering how much people loved its prequel. Let's begin! :)

Chapter 1. Saying Goodbye.

It wasn't like one of those funerals in films, where it always rains to emphasise the sadness of the moment. The sun was shining, baking the ground. Thin, illuminating strings of light dazzled through the orange and brown leaves of the canopy above. The only water fall in the day would be on the faces of a few gathered around the graveside; tears salty and warm against their pale flesh.

Patrick Jane wrapped his arm protectively around Teresa Lisbon, as her gaze lay fixated on the mahogany wood casket containing her brother. An arrangement of red and white roses lay atop, their soft delicate petals painted with tiny droplets of water. Lisbon hated this. It wasn't her brother's time. It shouldn't have been. She regretted the time that she hadn't spent with him. Regretted the time she hadn't spent with all of her brothers. Tears trickled slowly down her foundation dusted cheeks. She pressed into Patrick's warmth. It was only a small funeral. There weren't that many people who needed to attend. The only family members left were Lisbon and her two other brothers, James and Anthony. Other than that, it was just Jane, Cho, Van Pelt, Rigsby and Minelli.

Dry leaves tumbled through the air in the light breeze, a few becoming trapped among the flowers adorning the casket. Just across the cemetery, the wind grew stronger, whipping up a miniature tornado of leaves, spinning them high into the air before they sprinkled back down to earth.

The minister spoke boldly against the soft swish of the breeze:

...When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free

Miss me a little - but not too long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss me - but let me go...

It was a poem that Tommy had chosen. Lisbon had never known why he had thought of his own funeral so soon. Maybe it was that his mother and father had passed away long before their own time, so he thought about his mortality long before he should have. But he had always said that he didn't want people to be sad on the day of his funeral. Lisbon was finding that hard. Not often did she spend time with her brothers, but she couldn't bear the thought that one of them was now gone. She had spent her entire childhood looking after the three like she was their mother. Now one of them was lost, and it was hard to take.

Her tears ran heavy against her face, soaking into the chest of Patrick's charcoal black jacket. She gazed across as best as she could through blurred vision at James and Anthony. There had been disagreements between the three of them before Tommy had died, but now, they were both devastated. Their heads hung low, staring down at their brother's casket with long, mournful expressions. They weren't usually the type to cry, but Lisbon could see single, silent tears escaping their matching hazel-green eyes. All four of them had been so closely knit as children, it was so hard to see one of them go, no matter the state of their recent relations.

Before long, the ceremony was coming to a close. The minister was saying his final words in the midday sun. When he finished, Lisbon stepped forward, out of Patrick's embrace and crouched by the casket, pressing a kiss to her fingers and touching them to the polished wood. A final goodbye. A sad smile brought the corner of her lips up briefly as she pushed back up again. She wandered back to Patrick, wrapping her arms around his waist, her head resting on his chest. His hand rubbed gentle soothing circles into her back as a few more hot tears trickled from her eyes. In turn, James and Anthony knelt beside their brother, placing a hand to the casket and murmuring their goodbyes.

It was then time to go. Lisbon nodded her appreciation to the minister, who nodded, a sympathising smile on his lips, before turning with Jane towards the cars. Her eyes fixed on the ground as she walked, watching small daisies and blades of grass pass beneath her feet. She began to blow out long calming breaths, her tears beginning to subside. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at Van Pelt. Tears had gathered in the red head's eyes as well. She offered a soft smile and wrapped her arms around Lisbon briefly, offering utmost sympathy for her.

Lisbon smiled back, 'Thank you for coming,' she said quietly.

'Of course.'

From behind Grace, Rigsby offered his own kind words before they departed for their cars. Cho walked up, 'Sorry,' he said softly, rubbing Lisbon's shoulder gently. She nodded, smiling at her colleague as best as she could. 'You'll be ok?' Cho asked.

'Yeah, thank you.' Lisbon looked up briefly at Jane, who gave her a reassuring squeeze, before Cho turned and began towards his car. Minelli was the last to offer his condolences before Lisbon's brothers slowly walked up.

'Hey,' James murmured softly, standing with his hands deep in his pockets in front of his sister. 'I-It's nice to see you again, Tess.'

'It shouldn't have been because of something like this,' Lisbon replied, sniffing and dabbing a tear away with her sleeve.

'Can't believe he had to go in the same way as mom...'

'Yeah...but he's in a better place now...right?'

'Right...'

James pulled his sister into a hug as Jane and Anthony nodded their greetings with a flicker of a smile.

'Love you, Tess,' James murmured, his chin rested gently on her shoulder.

Lisbon pulled away with a tearful smile, 'Love you too.'

Anthony was then the one to step forward, pressing a kiss to Lisbon's forehead and taking her into a warm, tight embrace, whispering a soft greeting of 'Heya,' into her ear.

Once the hugging was finished and Lisbon had wiped away the rest of her tears, her arm snaked back round Jane again, finding his smell and warmth comforting. She felt far too vulnerable just standing, without feeling someone close.

'We've got to see each other more often, ok?' she told her brothers.

They both nodded their agreement.

'And keep contact between yourselves. I don't want your relationship to end up like it was with Tommy.'

James' head bowed, he stared at the floor, pushing a blade of grass with the toe of his shoe.

'Do it for him.'

James and Anthony nodded again. 'Ok. We promise,' James said, meeting eyes for a flicker of a moment with his brother. They both gave a soft smile to their sister and her companion, before turning to leave.

Jane gave a soft squeeze, 'Alright?'

'Yeah...let's go.'

With a brief glance back at her third brother's resting place, she let her head fall against Jane's chest as they slowly wandered back to the car.

With a trail of coats, jackets and shoes lazily strewn across the floor, from the door to the couch, Patrick and Teresa sat cuddling on the sofa, a simple silence hanging between them, with no need to be filled by complicated words. The golden streams of setting sunlight twinkled through the half pulled curtains, sparkling off picture frames and sending showers of light crystals around the room. Patrick gently pressed a tender kiss to the top of Teresa's head, his eyelids fluttering open and closed, a soft, peaceful smile giving his mouth the gentlest of curves.

His hand travelled up and down Teresa's arm with the weight of a feather, soothing, and creating ripples of calm and peace enough for both of them. These were the kind of moments that Patrick had missed out on for the past six years, and now, to be with the woman he truly loved, in an embrace that couldn't be broken by the harshest storm...it was the only place he wanted to be. This was a healing for both of them...to be finally held, loved...and to be able to put their past away, because this was a new beginning.

Patrick could feel a soft stroking sensation dance across his hand as Teresa ran her finger softly along the line of wrist to thumb. He couldn't tell whether it was a subconscious action from beneath a haze of sleepiness, but he took her hand in his own, rubbing his thumb gently over her skin in small ovals. Teresa snuggled her head a little further into Patrick's chest, a feather-light smile tracing over her lips as she watched his thumb draw circles in the back of her hand.

She could hear herself saying she never wanted this to end...this thing between them. For so long she'd wanted someone by her side, someone who would love her and keep her safe, no matter how many times she said she didn't need to be saved. Now it had happened, and nothing before had come even remotely close to this immense feeling of calm and love. He was like a drug to her...

She felt Patrick shift beneath her and slip off the couch. His hand lingered briefly over hers as he got up, before wandering across the room to the stereo system. Teresa's head tilted softly with a curious smile as she watched his finger trace over the rows of CDs above the CD player. He picked one out, she couldn't tell which, and rested it in the tray, pushing it in and pressing the play button.

She heard guitar strings tumble out gorgeous, almost hypnotising notes, as Patrick returned to her, offering his hand out. Teresa smiled, taking his hand and standing from the couch, being led to the centre of the floor. His arm wrapped round her, his other hand carefully holding her hand by their shoulders. Teresa let her head rest on Patrick's shoulder as they began a slow dance, much like their previous dance, but so much more feeling was involved now.

The gentle sounds of Peter Bradley Adam's Under My Skin played slow and soft in the background as they turned, in a world of their own, feeling each other's comforting warmth. Patrick lowered his lips to Teresa's neck to place a gentle kiss to her skin. Teresa looked up into his soft green eyes, reaching up a little to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

'Love you,' she murmured softly, resting her head just underneath his chin.

Patrick considered those words for a moment, savouring the sound of them, for it was such a long time since those words had been said to him.

'Love you too.'

He smiled to himself. That smile grew wider as he suddenly spun them round faster in a 360 degree spin, before holding his arm out, letting Teresa pirouette beneath it. A soft laughter broke from her lips as she spun, seeing Patrick's wide grin lighting up his features. He pulled her back to his chest, spinning round and round. He lifted her off the ground, turning to place her down on the other side as her laughter continued, making her face glow with happiness - something which needed to be seen after the first half of the day. Eventually, they slowed to a stop when the final strings of the guitar played, and simply looked at each other, with wide smiles plastering their faces. Patrick leaned down briefly, placing a soft kiss on Teresa's lips. A blush crept up into her cheeks as he continued to look at her.

'What?'

Patrick seemed to study her face intently.

'...I'm hungry,' he murmured.

'Huh?'

Patrick grinned, moving off towards the kitchen, receiving a playful hit on the back as he moved away.

'Stay there,' he told her.

He looked over his shoulder briefly, the grin still there as Lisbon fell back on the sofa, sitting sideways so that she could watch Jane suspiciously. Turning back to the kitchen before him, he looked around, figuring out what they could eat. Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he looked at each appliance in turn, thinking of what it could offer them...

Moving with a small skip in his step, he chose the fridge, opening it up wide and studying the contents.

After searching each shelf, he seemed to have a squint-off with the carrots before muttering a, 'meh,' and switching to the freezer.

'A...ha,' Patrick murmured, pulling open one of the freezer drawers. He picked out a large tub of vanilla flavoured ice cream with a grin and shut the freezer, gathering two spoons from a drawer on the other side of the kitchen before going back to the living area.

'Dinner is served!' he declared, placing the tub of ice cream on the table, 'Questions?'

'Ice cream?'

'Yep.'

'For dinner?'

'Of course,' Patrick grinned, holding out a spoon.

Teresa took it slowly, before the grin on Patrick's face made her look down, shaking her head in amusement.

'Now...what's your favourite movie?'

A/N: Continue? Please don't continue whatever you do? Love to hear what you think! :)