A/N: I can hardly believe that this story has exceeded the 100 reviews! It's a first for me, so thank you all so much.
Replies to guest reviews:
- Ilovetea: I'm glad you liked it, and thank you for your review! A lot of reviewers seem to like Jane's nickname!
- Guest: It always is great to hear (well, read) that people appreciate this story (love in your case). Thank you!
Nadia had way too much pride in her to truly admit to herself that she'd grown attached to her neighbor, Blondie and their unusual history. So she told herself that she'd rather not see Lisbon leave because there'd be a whole lot less entertainment - well, drama - around here. The federal agent had turned out to be a very interesting woman, who'd describe her most interesting cases to her during the coffees they would share. Nadia hadn't been surprised in the least to hear about Jane using extravagant methods to flush out the killer; and they had always been very amusing to listen to. Now, suddenly, everything seemed ephemeral.
Nadia had told several persons in the building about what she had heard, and soon enough the rumor had spread like wildfire. But all they could do was wait and see. As for Nadia, she only closed the fly screen at night; she expected - and secretly hoped - that Jane would come and talk her out of the moving possibility.
And one night, not too soon, he did come.
It was past 10 pm when she heard the soft knocking on Lisbon's door. And as glad as she was to see he was there, at her doorstep, finally doing something about this mess, she could only watch powerlessly as his face fell and all the determination he had worked up crumbled to the ground, when none other than Marcus goddamned Pike answered the door.
"Jane," Pike spoke up, surprised to find him here this late at night.
"Lisbon there?" Jane asked nonchalantly after quickly recovering.
"Yeah," he answered, a little suspicious, but still called Lisbon nonetheless and disappeared inside the condo to allow them some privacy.
But it was too late. The harm had been done - Jane's broken expression said it all.
"What's up?" she asked, a twinge in her heart at having him here again after two months of absence.
Nadia shook her head disapprovingly while he told her he was here to hand her some cannoli. He had a pretext, the idiot. Couldn't he see that what she really wanted was the truth? He at least could've started by letting her know that he had planned to share the damn italian food with her, instead of telling her there was enough for Marcus, too.
Luckily she saw through him. "Jane. You didn't come by this late to drop off cannoli."
She stepped out of her condo and closed the door so they were completely alone. Well, almost.
He rocked on his feet, diverting his gaze from her eyes. He took a shuddering intake of breath, before meeting her eyes again. "Look, I-I've been thinking about you leaving." His eyes never left hers. And hers stayed glued to his, wanting him to continue.
"And I want you to know that I really want you to be happy. And that is the the most important thing to me, that you do what makes you happy." His voice was insistent and unbelievably sad, while his eyes shone with unshed tears. He would be utterly miserable if she left him, but it was obvious he didn't think he could make her happy. She nodded, tears also burning her eyes. "Okay?" His voice cracked.
"Yeah," she whispered back, not trusting her voice.
He bowed his head in regret and failure, because he had once again not been brave enough to tell her the truth. He nodded and put on a smile that was far from reaching his eyes, before walking away.
Only then did Lisbon allow her tears to fall, before furiously wiping them away and heading back inside.
Nadia hadn't been insensible to the scene that had just taken place - quite the contrary. But it had only frustrated her more; damn, they were so blind.
The crux of the problem here was evident : they both only stubbornly believed in what they saw and heard ; neither of them figuring out that the other was just as bad of a liar when it came to the heart.
