Story 3 – Cross That Line
A Jane/Lisbon Story
By Brown Eyes Parker
Shout-Outs: crimeseriesfan, Ilovetea, Water-please, Jane Doe51, Marcia Santos, kathiann suerwoman1015, and mandagirl79
Author's Note: This is my personal wish for season 7, I would really love to see Jane take off his ring and since nobody requested it, I decided to write it myself. I hope you don't mind that I did it. This is for the June challenge on Paint It Red 'the time you have lost' and was inspired by the song JustBe sung byPaloma Faith. The title comes from the Josh Radin song Cross That Line which fits this story even better than the song that inspires this story did.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rated: K+
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Patrick Jane looked at the golden wedding band on his left hand; it glinted in the early Texas morning light. Once a symbol of his fidelity to a girl that he had known and loved all of his life, it now weighed heavily on his finger. Especially since he was sharing a bed with the second love of his life.
Teresa Lisbon, to her credit, hadn't said anything about it. It didn't even seem to faze her that he was still wearing it. It was like it was second nature to her, like it was a part of him that she had accepted a long time ago. But it still felt like the elephant in the room. It was the one thing that had shielded him so long from other women, protected him from unwanted female attention and awkward first dates that would never lead to second ones. He'd worn it like armor, harbored by the status it gave off. The majority of ladies he had met and who had flirted with him wouldn't ever consider getting involved with a married man at the end of the day.
Afterwards, when he had fallen in love with Lisbon, he had used the ring for the same purposes. As a way to safeguard himself from eligible bachelorettes throwing themselves at him because his heart still belonged to somebody else. But now the ring only symbolized all the time he had wasted by shielding himself from other women's advances and from the love he felt for her.
He realized with sudden clarity that it was time to take it off, time to reclaim all of the time that he had inadvertently lost because he had been like a little boy, cowering behind his mother's skirts because he couldn't face his biggest fears, now there was nothing to hide from anymore, it was time to let go. Time to let the ring stop bullying him into keeping himself safe from something real and true.
He flung the covers off and sprang into action, silencing Lisbon's protests at his leaving with a tender kiss and a few whispered words of assurance that he would be back later. She nodded and rolled on her side, falling back to sleep quickly.
He made his way towards a jewelry store downtown, lucky for him it was just opening and he was their first customer of the day.
"How can I help you son?" The grandfatherly owner asked as he let him.
"I need you to do something for me," Jane answered, sliding his wedding band off his ring finger and pushing it towards him.
"Of course," he said, taking it and examining it. "What would you like me to do with it? Do you have any ideas?"
"Anything that says I'm moving on, that I'm serious about us. . ." Jane answered, trailing off. "Do you have anything like that?"
"I have just the thing," the older gentleman replied. "If you'd just wait for a little while, I can have it ready for you in an hour or so."
"That'll be fine," Jane said even though he wanted to tell him that he had wasted enough time already and that he didn't want to waste another minute. But he didn't, instead he took a seat and started to flip through a bridal magazine without really looking at it.
An hour later, the owner motioned him towards the counter and opened the velvet box to reveal a charm brace with his old ring hanging down from it.
"It's a fairly new relationship isn't it?" He asked after a long moment.
"It's an old-new relationship. We've been friends for a really long time," Jane replied. "But we've just made it into something more. It's a relationship that should have happened a long time ago but didn't because of certain circumstances in our lives prohibited us from taking it any further than friendship."
He nodded. "Well, for every special occasion, for every mile stone in your new relationship you can give her a new charm."
"What do I owe you?" Jane asked, reaching for his wallet.
"It's on the house," he answered. "For new beginnings, for second chances on love it is the least I could do. I wish you and your lady all the best in the world."
"Thank you," Jane said.
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When he got back to her house, she was sitting at the island dressed in his shirt and skinny jeans and her dark hair cascading down her back. She was nursing a cup of coffee and reading the Funny pages, a small smile on her face because of the daily Peanuts strip. His heart stopped and for a moment, he had to remind himself again that this time it was very real, this time he wasn't dreaming. She belonged to him.
"You left me," she said when she noticed he was looking at her from the doorway.
"Believe me, it won't become a habit. I needed to do something," Jane answered, coming over to her and stealing a kiss. "I'm sorry."
"Where were you?" Lisbon asked her eyes still closed from their kiss.
"Getting something for you."
She opened her eyes and smiled at him in the way that had been causing his heart to melt ever since he'd met her. "A present for me?"
"It isn't anything much," Jane answered. "Close your eyes, okay?"
"Jane!" Lisbon whined.
"Okay, you don't have to close your eyes then!" Jane said as he held out the gift bag for her.
"What is it?" She asked as she pushed aside the tissue paper and pulled out the box.
"Open it and see."
"I hate surprises," Lisbon told him as she opened the lid. Her eyes widened as she picked up the bracelet and looked at it in awe, her fingers sliding over the worn wedding ring. "Patrick. . . what is it?"
"It's a charm bracelet," Jane explained like it wasn't the most obvious thing. He took it from her and unclasped the hook so he could put it on for her. When he was finished, he kept his hand on wrist, running his fingers up and down her pulse point.
"But. . . you took off your ring!" Lisbon said. "Why did you take off your ring?"
"It was time," Jane answered simply. "In the beginning, it was a symbol of my fidelity to my wife and then I wore it to remind me that I was on a mission to avenge her death. Afterwards I fell in love with you and it protected me from other women's advances. If I could do it over, I would have taken it off sooner. I lost so much time. . . we both lost so much time. I need to make up for it. So, I'm starting with the ring. I want you to have it because I know you'll keep it safe for me. I want you to know that I belong to you completely. I'm done being chained to my past, I'm living in the present. I'm looking towards the future. I'm not wasting any more time."
Lisbon smiled at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears. Suddenly any lingering doubts that she had been having about their relationship faded and she knew they were going to be amazing and everything was going to be okay between them.
She squeezed the ring one more time and then let it go, releasing a deep sigh as she gave him another kiss.
"Thank you," she whispered.
_The End_
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Author's Note II:
I've had this written for about five days now, but I've put off posting it because the day I finished this story, I had already posted "Latching Onto You", so I put off posting it for a while longer. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this installment. I promise the next time I'm going to write and post a story for somebody I don't know in real life. If you liked this, leave your review below!
Until Next Time!
Love,
Holly, 6/23/2014_