Disclaimer: There's no chance of me ever owning it...which obviously means I don't own it now.

A/N: I'm feeling better today. Yay, for the wonders of medicine. :D Thank you guys for all the reviews so far, you've been amazing and Thank you to everyone who is reading this.

The world was against her. It was the only possible explanation for the events of the last month and it was the only answer Lisbon could come up with when she asked herself why all of this was happening to her. She missed her old life. The one that still had Minelli as her boss and Bosco alive, the one where Jane was Jane and not some man who could barely be in the same room with her. Her plan to keep herself from falling for another married man had failed, epically so. It had tanked, nose dived, was blown into smithereens and she was left to deal with the aftermath. Her way of dealing with it probably wasn't a great plan either but what else was there for her to do?

Jane had kissed her under the mistletoe, not a friendly kiss. It was more along the lines of an I-want-you kiss that left her ears burning and her insides twisted. She'd been hoping in that moment that he'd take her home, forget the rest of the world and just be with her but she'd known it wasn't going to happen. She'd known he would simply walk away and she'd been right. She was angry, seething at him for doing this. He knew nothing had changed and yet he'd pinned her to that counter and kissed her senseless only to leave her. He was being a glorified jerk and she was tired of him saying one thing and doing another.

He claimed he wanted her to be happy but he was the one who was making her anything but. She was pulling up outside of the coffee shop because she didn't know of anywhere else to go besides home and that just sounded too lonely. She had to be honest with Matt, he had a right to know that he'd managed to end up in a love triangle.

Her foot landed in a puddle of accumulated water when she stepped out of her car. It had rained, poured early that morning and now her pant leg was paying the price. She groaned and shook her leg, hoping no one was witnessing the odd behavior before forcefully shoving the door shut and wincing at the echoing sound. She needed to work on her issue of taking out her frustrations on objects that weren't at fault.

This was not her day, it had been okay until Jane ruined it and she was hoping she could manage to salvage what was left, which only gave her two hours to try. The lights in the coffee shop were off, the sign reading that the place was closed for the night so she didn't even bother with trying the door. Instead she headed straight for the one at the back of the building, the one that held the stairs leading up to Matt's apartment. She hoped he was home.

Part of her felt as though she shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't be knocking loudly on the back door but she was just so angry with Jane. She wanted to talk to someone. Knocking once more she waited and then she heard the footsteps. A small smile tugged at her lips as she waited patiently. She was convinced the day could only get better but then the world had to spite her once again for thinking such thoughts.

The road that ran behind the coffee shop was small enough to be considered an alley. It was dirty, wet and a little smelly but Lisbon never thought a car would come speeding by to douse her with leftover water from the earlier rain. But it did. A group of rowdy teens, seemingly unaware of her standing to the side drove by, at an alarmingly fast speed and never hit the brakes. Her side was now soaked, water dripping from the ends of her hair and down her cheek. Sputtering she let out a string of curses at the car as it kept going, just her luck.

"Well I guess it's nice to see I'm not the only one you curse at." In her state, she hadn't even noticed that the door had opened and that Matt was standing there watching her. Whipping around to face him, her cheeks flushed as she tucked her dripping hair back behind her ear. "Would you like a towel?"

"That would be great." With heavy footfalls, she followed him up to his apartment, a little nervous and a lot irked. Her entire left side was wet and it was uncomfortable. She'd tell him what she had to and then she'd have to go home. A shower was needed, as well as a change of clothes plus she was practically dead on her feet at this point. Yawning every five minutes didn't make for the best conversation. The day had taken it's toll on her physically and emotionally.

Lisbon hesitated a bit when he opened the door and ushered her inside. She'd seen his apartment before but she'd never stepped any further than just inside the door. Now she was making her way into the living room, taking account of everything in it's simplicity. He definitely wasn't one for clutter. It was clean yet homey - just like the business downstairs.

"Would you like some dry clothes? I can put yours in the dryer so you don't have to drive home like that." There was a protest on the tip of her tongue but then she saw the softness in his eyes. The care lingering in his gaze and she simply nodded. Dry clothes sounded rather nice at the moment.

He offered her a small sympathetic grin and then disappeared down a hallway. She was left standing rather awkwardly right in front of the couch. She didn't want to sit or she'd get the furniture wet and she didn't want to walk around for fear that he might think she was snooping. So she stood, glancing around and fussing with the side of her hair that was still conveniently dry.

"These'll be big but I don't have anything that would fit you." His voice carried from the hall until he came into view with what looked like a shirt and pajama pants. "Bathroom is the first door on the right, conveniently the dryer happens to be in there too."

"This is fine, thank you." Brushing by him before he could notice the blush rise in her cheeks, Lisbon silently asked herself how long it had been since she'd worn a man's clothes. She could smell Matt in the fabric before she even shut the bathroom door and tugged her wet uncomfortable clothes off.

In the middle of pulling the worn cotton shirt over her head, she made the mistake of glancing towards the mirror. Big mistake, tugging the shirt the rest of the way on, she combed through her hair with her fingers before giving up. She looked horrible, tired and wet. Carefully wiping at the tiny trail of mascara that worked its way down her cheek, she grimaced but managed to get most of it off. It was a good thing she didn't wear a lot of makeup or she really would have had more problems than the ones already plaguing her mind.

The warm cloth of Matt's clothes had her in a bit of a better mood, though Jane's kiss still had her lips tingling and she could still taste him. It was unfair for him to do these things to her. She was wedged between a rock and a hard place and by the looks of it there was only one way out. She was going to talk to Matt and that was her way out. There was a dividing wall in the bathroom to separate it from the washer and dryer. The apartment was small, probably why rooms seemed rather crammed together but it was cute and it just fit with the man who owned its personality.

With her clothes drying and her appearance halfway decent, Lisbon made her way back out into the living room to see the dark haired man perched on his sofa rather lazily wearing something that made them look like twins. They almost matched except she was wearing a plain grey shirt and he was wearing a black muscle shirt. She wondered how long she'd taken in the bathroom as she plopped down next to him with a sigh and a comfort she hadn't felt before she changed into his pajamas.

"I knew those would swallow you."

"I like them. Very comfy." Kicking her feet up on the coffee table she wiggled her toes but they remained hidden by the extra length of the pants. Matt chuckled at her as she offered him a bright smile before letting it fade. She was here for something serious, a talk.

"So to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Pleasure? I look like a drowned rat and I'm not in the greatest mood. I'm not sure I'd consider myself good company." Despite common sense telling her that she shouldn't, Lisbon found herself scooting closer to him. She didn't stop until their thighs were touching. He was warm and she liked warm. She was so tired and warm was good, though dangerous. It could put her to sleep easily.

"Nonsense, you look beautiful and I'm assuming it wasn't a good day."

"Not really. No. There's some things I need to say." It'd been fine and dandy until...she had to stop thinking about Jane. Catching Matt's gaze, she forced everyone and everything out of her mind. Everything except those brown eyes, soulful and filled with something she couldn't define. It was that something that made her lean closer. Warning bells were going off but she ignored them. Her hand slid up his arm with a brave caress as she turned her body to face him and gripped his neck. He didn't say anything, but a look of slight shock took over his features as she kept closing the distance and letting her gaze flicker down to his lips. "Matt..."

The whisper of his name filled the silence, lips brushing his as she spoke and then she was kissing him. Soft and sweet, the opposite of the kiss she'd shared with Jane. This wasn't a good idea but when she felt one of his arms circle her waist and one hand gently cup her cheek, she didn't care. The perfect gentleman. A mantra started playing in her head as she moved her lips across his: Wrong man, not Jane, wrong man, shut up, shut up.

Before she could even fully understand that he never deepened the kiss or actually kissed her back, she was opening her eyes to see him smiling sadly. This wasn't what she'd planned. She had planned to tell him the truth and what she'd just done only complicated things. She didn't want her relationship with him to be complicated. She had enough to worry about with Jane.

"Teresa, as much as I..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. I-I was here for a reason Matt and that wasn't it, I assure you. I need to be honest with you and I felt you should know that there's someone, no, I'm..."

"In love with Patrick Jane. I uh, kinda guessed that already." Startled yet relieved by his interruption, her eyes had already filled with unshed tears that had rose to the surface before she ever stopped kissing him but this made them harder to hold back. She didn't want to hurt him and she could hear in his voice that she'd done just that. "Hey, don't cry. It's okay."

"I'm so sorry." Burying her face in her hands, Lisbon berated herself for this mess and began to babble about how she didn't mean for any of this to happen. It was true, she didn't mean to cause so much trouble. Her entire body tensed when Matt's warm fingers rested gently on her shoulder and pulled her into a comforting hug, rubbing her back in soothing patterns. She relaxed into him easily but knew that there was still so much to be said, so much to apologize for. "M'sorry."

"Don't be sorry Teresa. You didn't do anything wrong." Despite his consoling words, there was still some an edge of pain in his voice and that's what made her pull away.

"I led you on Matt."

"No you didn't. I care about you a lot but you didn't lead me on. I knew from the start you were taken, even if you didn't and after about a week I knew we'd never be more than we are right now. I knew that if you did try something, I'd stop you because it wouldn't be what you really wanted." What did she ever do to deserve someone like him? Any other man would have probably kicked her out by now.

"I didn't mean to do this. I thought I could forget him, things are complicated and he doesn't lo..care about me in the same way as I do him." Lisbon had no idea why she was practically rubbing salt into Matt's wounds but she just wanted him to understand and it felt good to get it off her chest. She knew he'd listen, he always did. Such a sweet man. "I wasn't intentionally trying to use you."

"He loves you too and I know."

"I- he doesn't. There's things, he lost a family and I can't be - I should just go. I'm not helping any." Pushing up from the piece of furniture, she tried to walk away but he caught her arm and eased her back down into a sitting position. He was never forceful about it, always easy. She was partly grateful, she didn't know if she'd stay awake during a drive at the moment.

"You're fine Teresa. Just relax. I'll get you a glass of water and then we'll talk." She thought about making a run for it as soon as he left the couch and headed for the kitchen but when he turned back to smile sweetly, she knew she couldn't do that. "Nothing changed. I promise."

All she could do was give him a watery smile and nod slowly. Scooting over, she stole his spot, reveling in the warmth and the smell of him in the clothes she wore as she rested her cheek against the arm of the couch. Her arms wrapped around her waist as she pulled her feet up onto the cushion and let out a shaky breath. She had hurt Matt and it broke her heart to see him act so nice about it. A yawn took over her thoughts as she struggled to keep her eyes from closing. The last thing she remembered was his voice asking if she'd prefer some hot cocoa instead of water.

PREVIEW of chapter 7:

Lisbon made her way towards the voices that kept rising as she got closer. It was an argument she could tell and just a few seconds told her who was arguing. Jane and Matt.