A/N: I have to apologize again for the lateness of this chapter. I've had a busy couple of weeks, it's been really crazy. I was so blown away by the positive response to the last chapter, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! :-)
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
It was 7pm the following day and Patrick stood in front of the full length mirror on the outside of his closet door. He held two shirts in front of him, deciding which one to wear that evening. He first held a light blue one to his chest and then a white one, carefully considering. This would be the first time he'd gone out for dinner in a while and he was beginning to feel a little nervous. Still undecided, he ventured over to the bathroom to put on some cologne. He carefully opened the bottle and splashed himself; the scent of pine and citrus filled the air and seemed to quieten his nerves. He walked back into the bedroom and put on the blue shirt, leaving the top two buttons undone. Satisfied that he had made the right choice, he picked up his dark blue suit jacket from the bed and went downstairs to get his car keys. He had booked a table for two at a quiet little restaurant in order to celebrate Teresa finally telling her brother the truth. He had admired her courage, he knew it took a lot for her to do that and he wanted to reward her with dinner. Walking out of his house, he found himself having to take several deep breaths. He didn't know why he was so nervous, and even though he knew this wasn't an actual date, everything about it felt like it was.
He walked over to her house and rang the doorbell and a few seconds later she opened the door. Patrick stood there, breath-taken, his heart beating double time. She looked beautiful, wearing a soft lilac colored dress that stopped just below her knees, her hair in flowing dark waves about her shoulders. "Hi Patrick," she smiled.
"Teresa, wow, you look lovely!" he said.
"Thank you," she blushed as he walked her to his car.
They arrived at the restaurant a little while later. It was a small Italian place with a cosy, intimate atmosphere. They were led to a table near the back of the restaurant and handed two menus. While Teresa was deciding what to order, Patrick couldn't help but notice how enticing she looked in the soft warm lighting. He had been attracted to her from the start but as he had got to know her better, he found himself all the more smitten. He admired not only her beauty but also her heart. She had been through so much in her life but she still held strong, still had that fighting spirit about her. He found himself learning from her, and it was because of her that he found himself wanting to better his own life. Spurred on by her, he had begun to search for work, wanting to better himself. He had updated his résumé that morning and applied to a few jobs online.
Teresa had been looking at the menu for about a minute when she realised that he was staring at her. Part of her wanted to call him on it but she chose to remain quiet and let him stare, secretly reveling in his covert attentions. Like Patrick, she too felt a spark of attraction from the beginning but self doubt and fear had prevented her considering anything but a one night stand with him, but there in the restaurant, under his seductive gaze, she began to wonder if there could be anything real between them. She thought that Patrick had wanted to take her out that evening to celebrate her finally telling her brother the truth about Jack after all these years, that this was just two friends eating dinner together, but the way his eyes darkened whenever he looked at her made her think that this could be a little more, made her wish that they were indeed more than friends. "Does anything look good to you?" she asked, her eyes briefly flitting to his in order to gauge his reaction. She smiled when his eyes met hers and held her gaze for a moment before his lips curled into a smile.
"Everything looks amazing," he replied, his voice low, seductive, delighting in the faint blush on her cheeks. He then looked down at his menu, "I think I'll have the steak." He decided and then looked up at her. "I hear the portion sizes here are very generous, I hope you're hungry?"
She paused for a beat, "I've been hungry for a while, Patrick."
Patrick felt his heart rate pick up at her words and it was all he could do not to take her in his arms and kiss her. He attempted to control his breathing. This whole evening was not meant to be a date but the more time he spent with her the less he felt he could think of her as just a friend. They placed their orders and once their food arrived he found himself watching her body language; the way she ate, the way she would glance at him behind half lidded eyes. He already knew she had fantasized about him but wondered if they were just fantasies. The whole evening, he toyed with the idea of the two of them being together as a couple. It had been so long since he was in a serious relationship and as a result he was plagued by self doubt, but he knew she felt the same way. It had been hard for her to move on since her divorce from Jack, but he hoped that now she had taken that important step that she would be open to a relationship again. He knew they would make each other very happy, they had only known each other for a short while but were in and out of each other's houses so often it was almost like they lived together anyway. They knew each other's past and the pain they each carried and she was already one of the best friend's he'd ever had. He was ready, he felt. He could do this.
Dinner had gone really well and the two of them were smiling from ear to ear by the time Patrick parked his car in his driveway. He got out and went round to open the door for Teresa. After she got out of the car Patrick closed the door and the two of them stood there facing each other. A cool breeze drifted over them, causing her to shiver slightly. Patrick noticed and took off his jacket, wrapping it around her, causing her to shiver some more, but this time it was the warmth of his body that had elicited such a reaction. He stood there, his arms on her shoulders, slowly beginning to drift lower down her arms. She loved the way the blue shirt he was wearing accentuated his eyes. She looked at him, her body trembling slightly, "Patrick, was this…"
He looked into her eyes, smiling, knowing what was on her mind merely by the way she looked at him.
"Was this a...date?" she asked, uncertain.
"Do you want this to be a date?" he teased and she smiled.
"Maybe."
Patrick grinned, "Then this was a maybe date!" he said and Teresa laughed.
"A maybe date huh? Hmmm so tell me Patrick, what's the proper procedure for after dinner on a maybe date?"
He moved closer to her and spoke softly so only she could hear. "Well, Teresa, I drive you home, and then I take your hands like this," he gently held her hands in his, "and then I tell you I thought you were the most beautiful woman in that restaurant tonight." She blushed. "and how I really had a wonderful time with you and I really hope we can do this again, soon." He leaned in closer to her and she felt his breath ghost across her face.
"And what about a kiss goodnight?" her eyes were dark with desire and she couldn't stop looking at his lips.
Patrick pulled back just then and wrinkled his eyebrows, feigning deep thought.
"Hmmm the rules on that are very unclear…" he teased.
Teresa took a half step closer, their bodies now so close. She reached out and grabbed hold of his shirt collar, "Just kiss me already," she whispered, filling Patrick with want and joy.
He smiled brilliantly and whispered, "To hell with the rules!" He leaned in, his lips inching ever closer to hers, his eyes also darkened, his heart beating frantically. He could feel the warmth radiate off her body, feel her warm breath, smell her perfume but just as he was about to kiss her they heard a noise coming from inside Patrick's house. They each pulled back, startled.
"What was that?" Teresa asked, fearing Jack had come back to get revenge on Patrick.
"I don't know, wait here, I'll have a look." He began to move off when she grabbed his hand.
"The hell I will! I'm not letting you go in there alone!" and before he could argue she was already moving towards the house. He caught up with her as they reached the front door, only now noticing that it was already opened. He looked at the lock, it had clearly been forced open. He motioned for her to be quiet as he listened. He could hear noises coming from the back of the house, upstairs.
"Call 911!" he whispered and he cautiously made his way into the house. "And stay here Teresa, please?"
Seeing the pleading look in his eyes, she nodded. "Okay but at the first sign of trouble, I'm coming in."
He gave her hand a small squeeze and then quietly walked inside and into the study. He looked around, the place was a mess, ransacked!
As he moved towards his desk he heard the intruder continue to move around. Slowly he opened the locked drawer and retrieved his gun, loaded it and quietly went upstairs. Once he had reached the top he listened to determine where the noise was coming from and realised that the intruder was in his bedroom. He moved toward the door frame and cautiously peeked inside. The guy, who was wearing a ski mask, had his back to Patrick. He had emptied out a drawer onto his bed and was going through the objects, then he moved over to the closet and looked on the top shelf. Patrick's blood began to boil; that was where he kept the things that were the most precious to him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted, startling the burglar. He turned around quickly to face Patrick, pulling out a knife. "Stay back!" he shouted, pointing the weapon in Patrick's direction.
Patrick smirked, and then pulled out the gun he had been hiding behind his back. "Get the hell out of my house!"
The burglar, who sounded no older than a teenager, realized he was out gunned, quickly put the knife back and holding his hands in the air began to walk out of the bedroom but just as they approached the top of the stairs the burglar turned around sharply and decided to tackle Patrick, trying to get the gun away from him, but when Patrick refused to let go he punched him in the stomach. Patrick bent forward in pain as the burglar continued to wrestle the gun away from him. Finally he managed to take it out of his grip but Patrick kicked him on the knee causing the gun to fly out of his hand and land with a loud thud onto the floor at the bottom of the stairs. Patrick then saw the kid reach for his knife and grabbed his arm before he could get it. The two of them struggled until Patrick missed his step, causing him to fall down the stairs, taking the burglar with him. By the time they reached the bottom Patrick was in agony, clutching at his foot, the burglar, who had fallen on top of Patrick, got to his feet, intending to search for the gun, but someone had beaten him to it. "Don't move!" Teresa said, pointing the gun at the burglar's face, just as the police arrived. "Don't you dare move a muscle you son of a bitch!"
Patrick looked up at her and couldn't help admire her courage, knowing how much she hated guns. "Teresa!" he said as two uniformed officers entered the house and arrested the burglar. She looked at him in concern. "Patrick are you okay?" Once the burglar was safely in handcuffs she went over to him.
"My ankle!" he told her and winced when she tried to touch it.
"We need to get you to the hospital."
"Don't think I can stand on it." He told her.
Teresa carefully helped him up and took him over to the couch. "I'm calling 911, we need to get someone here to take a look at that, it might be broken. Then I'm calling a lock smith, we need to get that lock fixed."
He watched as she made the calls, thinking that he really liked this side of her, taking charge. It seemed to come so naturally to her. He smiled when she finally hung up the phone and sat next to him, waiting for the paramedics to arrive. "What?" she asked, curious as to why he was staring at her.
"Just thinking" he replied. "Thank you."
For the next few days Teresa was over at Patrick's house every day, looking after him. The doctor had told him that his ankle had been sprained and he was to rest the foot as much as possible. He had decided to sleep on his couch, so Teresa had brought the pillows from his bed and arranged them in a comfortable manner. He spent most of his time downstairs, only needing her help to go up to the bathroom. Patrick was far from helpless but he enjoyed Teresa's company too much to turn her away. That morning when Teresa came over she found him lying on his couch, asleep. She smiled at the adorable sight and set about straightening up his living room. When he heard her moving around he opened his eyes. "Ter...esa?" he asked, still half asleep. She moved to sit next to him.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked, noticing that he was a little groggy.
"Tired, couldn't sleep last night." He replied.
"Your ankle? Does it still hurt a lot?" she asked and he was warmed by the sympathy in her voice.
He nodded, "Had to...take some painkillers." He tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a yawn.
She looked over at the coffee table and noticed that the bottle was half empty. "You gotta go easy on these Patrick!" She cautioned.
"They help me sleep." His eyes had begun to close again.
She smiled, thinking that his messed up curls looked so inviting. "You finished the sudoku puzzles?" she asked as she flipped through the book she had bought him.
He nodded again, "Completed the last one at around eleven last night, then I redid my résumé."
"You redid it?" she asked.
"I wasn't having much luck before, but I think it's much better now. Wanna take a look?" his voice was a little croaky as he began to feel sleepy again.
"Sure," she replied. "Where is it?"
"On...my computer desktop, it's the document called...new...résumé…" He fell into sleep then and Teresa got off the couch, tenderly stroked his head and walked over to the computer. She searched the desktop, noting that it was even more of a mess than his living room and when she couldn't find it she decided to look in his recent documents. She scanned through the list until she saw the file she was looking for but just as she was about to click on it something else caught her eye. She was so caught off guard that she did a double take before holding her breath. There, on the list of his most recent documents was one of her own; My Phantom Muse.