Lisbon could not believe it as she was driving home that night. She'd cried all night the night before, over the fact that she was so lonely and in love with Patrick Jane. The fact that she didn't have a date to the wedding also weighed in on the late night sob-fest.
And suddenly, she had both. No doubt her friends and family would be extremely impressed with the extremely handsome and intriguing stranger she'd have on her arm that day. She smiled at the thought of her sister-in-laws shock if she walked in with the model-like Patrick Jane.
Patrick was everything any girl could ever hope for in a wedding date, charming (when he wanted to be), sexy, and smart. He was the ideal form of arm candy for Lisbon that evening.
Although she tried to deny it to herself, she was actually, somewhat, excited. The wedding was a rather impromptu one, she had just gotten the invitation a few days ago, and it was next weekend. So Lisbon had a week and a half to prepare for this.
She had thought about how this all came to be less than half an hour ago when Patrick finally got her alone in her office before she left to go home. She finally revealed half of what was really bothering her. (she didn't think "Patrick Jane I'm so lonely and hopelessly in love with you" would have been good conversation) so she just told him about the wedding. She wasn't even considering asking him, she just wanted to vent, to let off a little steam. But when Jane outright volunteered it was hard to say no. But she did at first.
"No, Jane. That's alright; I'm perfectly capable of finding my own date, thank you very much." She'd said in response to him volunteering to be her date. She tried to play it cool, almost indignant, as she usually would with Jane's childish requests.
But this one was just too good to ignore. Her heart beat rapidly, and she started blushing.
Jane smiled. Oh God that smile.
"Is that what you said in high school when you were one of the only girls without a date to Senoir Prom? When one of your friends offered to go as your date, and of course you refused, it all blew up in your face and the night of senior prom you were left home with your…saxophone? "(he'd been guessing at what type of instrument she'd played in high school since they'd dealt with a case at a high school reunion) "I mean really, Teresa, who are you going to ask? Cho? Oh how 'bout J.J Laroche? I hear he's single?"
She grimaced at the thought of either of those suitors, and knew he was right. I mean really, who was she going to ask. Or was she just planning on going alone? Like every other family reunion or gathering.
"Come on, Teresa, I'm your best friend. This is what friends do. I'll behave." He pleaded, looking at her with those eyes. Ugh, he was so manipulative.
She couldn't say no. She was too intrigued at the fact that he actually genuinely seemed to want to go to the wedding. Of course, he was very good at faking genuineness, but even if he was, that must have counted for something, right? That he was pretending for her.
And it was true, he was her best friend. They'd always had a special bond, a bond she didn't have with Cho, Rigsby, or Van Pelt. She cared about them too, but there was always something, different about her relationship with Jane. She could tell him things. He'd been to her house when she was in a vulnerable position because she'd been accused of murder. She danced with him to her favorite song. They were definitely more than just friends. Right? I mean, Cho was her friend, and she'd never dreamed of doing any of that with him. Just the thought of it made her wince.
So she had to say Yes. She just had to.
"Well…" (she wasn't going to sound desperate, she was going to play it cool. "I guess you're right. Why not? As long as you behave what's the worst that can happen?"
He nodded and smiled again. "Wonderful. Now make sure to pick out something nice to wear, I'd say a nice green to accent those baby blues, with a nice updo." He held her face now and traced her cheekbones. "To accent those cheekbones."
She tried to hide the heat rushing to her face. She was blushing and there was no way this would go unnoticed by Jane.
"My goodness, Lisbon, are you blushing? He said playfully and released his hand from her face.
"Bite me." she responded, quickly to try to gain the upper hand of the conversation. She never would never truly have the upper hand, though. He could practically read minds
She had originally planned to eat ice cream, listen to sad love songs and have a good cry that night, but now that she had a date she was almost giddy. She decided she would go shopping for a dress tomorrow, because tomorrow was her team's day off.
She could not shake the idea though, that this would never work between her and Jane, not really. Not the way she wanted it too. Even if she pried it out of him that he loves her, which she knew he did, then what? It would not change the fact that Jane still was in love with his wife, he was broken, and try as she might to fix him, he would never be…ok again. She'd never known him to be ok, she met him right after they were killed. He was who he was because of this.
He could never commit to her, because honestly, the only person he was actually one hundred percent committed to was Red John. Catching Red John was Jane's sole purpose.
She realized that Jane would not commit to a relationship, because in doing so he might be happy. Jane punished himself daily for his wife and child's death. He still lived in the house that they were murdered in, his daughter's tricycle was still in the living room, collecting dust. The Red John symbol was still on his wall. The fact was, Jane lived every day depriving himself from happiness because he didn't think he deserved it. This bothered her; this bothered her a lot, actually. Didn't she deserve happiness?
These thoughts kept her up that night, again she did not get much sleep.
XXX
Lisbon woke up the morning of her day off to a knock at the door. She looked at her alarm clock, which she hadn't set because it was her day off. And she had actually hoped to sleep in. Who would be at the door at 7:30 in the morning?
Who but Patrick Jane.
She stumbled sleepily down the stairs.
"LISBOOON!" He called, obnoxiously.
Ugh,does the man ever sleep? She mused as she opened the door, groggily.
"Jane is 7:30 in the morning, what do you want?"
"I want tea," he said.
"ugh, that's not what I meant," she mumbled.
"Do you have any Earl Grey's" he inquired, as he walked past her, into her apartment, uninvited, at 7:30 in the morning, on their day off.
"No, please come in." She mumbled sarcastically after he waltzed in to her house.
He made himself at home, taking of his jacket as he hunted through her cabinet for tea.
"You could have called first." She said.
He looked at her and chuckled. "Yes, but then I would not have caught you by surprise and gotten to see you in your jersey, And where would the fun have been in that." He said as he looked her up and down in her short jersey that she wore to bed, without bottoms.
"Jane! It's our day off! And I'm trying to sleep in! It's so early!" She whined as he boiled water on her stove to make his tea.
He smiled. "Very well. Why don't you go up and go back to sleep for a little while, and I will stay down here and drink tea and take a nap on your couch."
Ugh, she would not sleep well with him here. But she was tired, because she was up all night thinking about him. So, without argument, which was rather out of character for Teresa Lisbon, she complied and walked back up the stairs.
" And Lisbon" he called after her as she walked upstairs. "Make sure you get as much rest as you can, you're going to have a long day."
"Yeah, why?"
"Because, we are going shopping."
"For what?" she inquired anxiously
"well the blushing bride to be is going to need a gift, correct? From you and your new boyfriend. And no girlfriend of mine is going to do to a wedding without a nice dress."
Oh God! She had just assumed that she would tell everyone this was her friend Patrick, at the wedding. But he was right, she needed her sisters in law floored when they were under the impression that this sexy stranger was in fact, her significant other.
So they would have to fake it.
But she so desperately wished it would not be fake.
