Chapter 3

Later that night he was propped against the wall of the attic balcony, staring at the city lights. There were no stars in the overcast sky.

Lisbon crept beside him without a word and leaned on the wall a couple of inches away from him.

A moment later she felt his fingers grazing her elbow and then sliding down her forearm – just as he had done that day in Las Vegas.

She allowed him to take her hand and hold it. His thumb gently circling on the back of her hand felt strangely good tonight.

"Thank you, Lisbon."

"For what?"

"You know what I mean."

Her head bowed ever so slightly. Of course he was talking about Lorelei.

"Jane, could you please tell me one thing?"

He turned to look at her – his hand never leaving hers. "Sure."

"Do you care about her?"

Something flickered across his face, though she couldn't quite place it.

"Well, not exactly."

"Then why did you insist on letting her go?"

"Because I pitied her."

That surprised her – even more so because somehow she felt sure he was telling the truth.

"Why did she say you're in love with me?"

Those words sounded weird even to her own ears. Immediately she regretted them escaping from her lips.

"I guess Red John told her", Jane stated quietly. His eyes were resting on the Sacramento skyline now.

A heavy silence fell. Suddenly they were both scared of what the implications of all this might be.

"Jane?"

He heaved a deep sigh. "Teresa, you don't owe me anything. I'm fine."

His heart sank as she removed her hand from his grasp.

Well, that was it.

As he prepared himself to disappear inside the attic, her hand found the small of his back.

Their eyes met, and she felt her breath clogging in her throat under his intent stare.

"I don't think I'd want a relationship with you", he admitted at last.

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

Perhaps it was better that way. Neither of them needed further complications, and being just good friends was for sure the best course to follow.

"Don't want to hurt you, Lisbon."

"Okay", she said once again.

His fingers reached for a strand of her hair and played with it. "You know, I'd probably want to marry you straightaway – and that's absolutely insane, I'm perfectly aware of that."

That took her completely aback. Her eyes widened, and her brain went numb for a while.

Had he really just said that he wanted to marry her?

Yeah, he was right. It sounded almost absurd as a matter of fact.

Except that, on second thought… it wasn't so insane after all.

They'd known each other for nearly a decade now. And had probably started acting like a couple years ago, if she was honest with herself.

Maybe, after all they'd been through together, they could simply skip the whole dating thing and take the following step.

"Is it really?", was all she managed to say – before the look in his eyes changed all of a sudden.

The tips of their noses skimmed against each other for a moment before his lips finally found hers.