A/N: Posting this quickly before I start my night shift!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'Dismissed'

Chapter 21

Abbott got everyone's attention and thanked everybody for coming. After a short speech, he looked towards Lisbon and called her up on the stage.

"Thank you, Dennis. Hello, good evening," she said, and Jane was a little caught off guard. He didn't know that she would be giving a speech, and was suddenly scared of what she would say. If there was anything she wasn't good at, it was speeches. "I know what you're thinking: Ms. Lisbon cannot speech, why does she even bother? All I want to say is, thank you for the amazing year. I know that most of you are scared for the finals that are coming up. I'm not going to tell you that you needn't be scared, I want you to take it as serious as you can. Yet I know that you can do it. All of you have showed these past four years that you have endless capabilities. The finals are just a snapshot, it doesn't show everything that you can do."

She took in a breath, and so far, Jane was sort of impressed.

"This year has been a roller-coaster ride for all of you. It might not have been easy, and it might not be easy for you on the short-term, but now that we at this school have faith in you. I have faith in you. You can do so much. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't."

She looked into the crowd and of all the people there, she found him easily. She smiled briefly, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, you still have about half an hour left until the party ends. Enjoy!"

People clapped and she got off the stage, walking up to Jane with a smile. He got up from his chair, and bowed for her. She curtsied, lifting the sides of her dress slightly.

"Just Lisbon, I dare say that was a good speech."

"Thank you, Mr. Jane."

"I didn't expect it, but I'm impressed either way."

She rolled her eyes, but stepped closer to him. She brought her lips close to his ear, and he still shuddered when she was this close, even after all this time.

"Will you dance with me?"

He nodded, and offered her his hand, which she took. They walked to the dance floor, keeping on the outside a little but so they wouldn't pull a lot of attention towards themselves, and she slipped into his arms, so naturally, like she was made specifically for his hold.

He made up his mind in that moment.

"Teresa, I have a surprise for you later tonight."

"Oh?"

He didn't respond to that, simply took pleasure in holding her so close.

The rest of the night passed by quickly, and the students all went home at the official time the party was supposed to end, probably continuing it at their own places. Not that the teachers really cared, most of them just wanted to get home.

Lisbon thanked Abbott and was interrupted when Jane took her hand. She looked at him and he knew she could read that he wanted to be with her, now, and excused herself.

He held her hand firmly, and he sensed her looking at him in a confused manner. He wanted to explain, but he didn't want to start this here. He knew just the place to take her to.

They arrived there within ten minutes, which she spent all the while looking at him. He looked to his side briefly, and their eyes met.

"I'm not kidnapping you," he whispered.

She smiled softly. "It looks like it."

"I can't explain. You will know when you see it."

It was Lake Austin. When he had been alone at home, waiting for his love to finish work, he had had a lot of time to read about the area. He wasn't from around there, so he didn't know what nice places to visit were. This place had tickled his romantic senses. He hoped she would like it, too.

He opened the door for her, and they walked to the beach, Jane supporting her as she took off her shoes. He held them as they walked to the edge of the water.

They had a perfect view of Lake Austin by night, with small lights set up along the shore, and some lone boats out on the water.

"It's beautiful, Patrick." She stepped towards him and slipped into his arms, hugging his side. "But is this why you pulled me away from the prom?"

He hesitated, before shaking his head.

"No. I wanted to show you this… but I also wanted to talk to you, for a little bit. I know we often do, but… I…"

She looked up.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head again. He looked down at her beautiful face, the lights behind him lightly flickering in her eyes.

"I'm so happy, with you. I never want to be apart from you again. And the past few months have been so good. I know you feel like that too. I…" Damn, he was bad at expressing his feelings like this. He never shied away from telling her that he loved her, but when he tried to move their relationship to a higher level, he never knew what to say.

So he decided that he wouldn't say anything, and just show it to her. He hoped she wouldn't have any doubts about his love.

He took both her hands in his and lowered himself to one knee. Her eyes widened and she tightened her hold on his hands.

"Will you marry me?"

Her eyes instantly filled with tears and he kissed her hands. She nodded, and swallowed.

He smiled, his smile so bright he hurt his cheeks, but he couldn't help it. This woman, this fierce, brilliant, beautiful, sexy woman agreed to be his wife. She had no idea how happy she had just made him, or maybe she did.

She pulled him up and kissed him, so fiercely and passionately that he gained ten more years to live. In between kisses, she stopped to smile, and touch his face, hug him and take everything in that was there to him. She could have it all, everything.

His beautiful Teresa Lisbon. Soon to be his wife.

~...~

Kimball Cho watched as Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon walked out of the hall, holding hands, no doubt not sleeping all night long.

Michelle Vega and Jason Wylie also left holding hands, but they were less hormonal about their approach. Still, the love they had for each other was clear in everything.

It felt lonely sometimes, to be alone in this group of friends where everybody seemed to be dating. It sounded weird, even in Kimball Cho's head, but even he needed some love from time to time. Not just a one-night-stand, but the real thing. The last time, it had been him screwing up majorly, and perhaps that was the reason he didn't let himself indulge in even light flirting.

He saw one student who was still present in the hall, and she seemed to be a bit sad because of that. He got up and walked towards her, sitting beside her on the bench.

"Don't let this cloud your night, Stephanie."

She shook her head, taking in a deep breath and straightening her back.

"I won't, Mr. Cho. I just… just realized that this is my last year at High School. I just got… a little emotional."

He understood. Not that he would ever feel the same way, but he could imagine that leaving a safe and familiar place would leave an impact on one's life.

"Is there somebody to come pick you up?"

She nodded. "My sister. She's on her way."

They remained silent for a while. Stephanie was one of his favorite students, or at least favorite type of student. She didn't ask a lot of questions and didn't get involved in the drama around her. As far as he knew, she had a long-term boyfriend, which would give her a lot of drama on its own, but she was surrounded by a lot of friends most of the time. Perhaps it was for the best.

He also knew that Stephanie had a little sister called Elyse, who was in the ninth grade, but he couldn't imagine that she would be coming to pick her up. Huh. So they had an older sister?

Eventually, Stephanie's sister did show up, and Cho stood up to greet her. It was not often he actually got to meet sisters-

That just sounded plain creepy.

"Mr. Cho," he said with a hand reached out. She smiled, brushed a strand of hair out of her face and shook his hand.

"Summer. Edgecombe. Thank you so much, Mr. Cho, for making sure that my sister stayed until I was here."

He had to admit, she was a good looking woman, albeit a bit young. Okay, why exactly was he thinking like this? His strict no-girlfriend lifestyle had averted him from a lot of drama over the years, he wasn't going to give that all up for a student's sister. After all, that would completely go against his morals.

She looked at her sister, and gave her a peck on the top of her head. She whispered something into her ear, and it made the girl nod and walk away, presumably their car.

Cho frowned. This did not look well.

"Mr. Cho, I have to be honest with you. My baby sister Elyse has been telling me about you a lot, and when I heard you would be at Steph's prom, I thought, why not investigate?"

He looked at her, trying to gauge what her ulterior motives were. He found he couldn't read people as well as Patrick Jane could.

"And what did you discover?"

She smiled, softly. Her eyes flickered.

"That the picture she had been painting of you doesn't do the real thing justice."

He wondered now what Elyse and Stephanie had been saying about him. Why were they doing it in the first place?

"Mr. Cho, let me just cut right to the bottom of this. I heard you're single. You heard that I'm single."

"Yes."

"So you'll go on a date with me?"

He had to look away to hide his grin. This woman was not here to pick up her sister - she was here to pick him up.

He thought of his friends and coworkers - if they could get love, he could, too. Even if he knew this would most likely end in disaster.

"Never said that."

She raised her eyebrows. She paused, then nodded.

"Alright." She stepped towards him, taking his phone out of his inside jacket pocket, typed in some things, then returned it and tapped his chest. "You have a good one, Mr. Cho."

She walked away, not looking back.

"Thank you for the party," she said, opening the door to the outside, already waving at her sister.

Cho felt a smile on his lips. Whatever it was that she wanted to accomplish with this action, it probably worked.

He was truly intrigued now.

~...~

She laughed while also catching her breath. He joined her, turning onto his back, which put her on his chest.

He would eventually regret this, but he hoped it wouldn't be soon.

"Do you often have sex on the first date?"

He put his hand in the back of her neck and pulled her close, linking their lips.

"I will give you a complaint form later."

She chuckled.

"I'm not complaining. Just pointing it out."

He turned her back onto her back and kissed her again, caressing her hair.

Well, he sure was a star at taking his sweet time. Not.

Now he understood, however, why his friends had jumped into this wagon so quickly with their partners. He had felt the attraction to Summer Edgecombe and had wanted to be with her on this level. He had once been judgmental about this sort of thing, but with her in his arms, all of that melted away.

They had a long way to go. But he hoped she would stick around.

A/N: See you later, alligator!