Story 25 – Three Months

A Jane & Lisbon Story

By Brown Eyes Parker

Shout-Outs: Totorsg, tikismile, Wldwmn, Ilovetea, Jane Doe51, and Marcia Santos

Author's Note:

One of my favorite movies in this world is the 1995 version of Sabrina, I COULD NOT resist writing a story to a quote from it.

Rated: T

Disclaimer:

I own nothing Mentalist or Sabrina related, except for a long mane of dark curls that my dad and some other people insist makes me look a little like Julia Ormond.

.

"I think you know I love you."

Sabrina, 1995_

It was all over.

Red John had been caught and killed. It was like it all happened in the blink of an eye, one minute the serial killer had Teresa Lisbon by the throat, a gun to her temple, the next he had crumpled to the ground like an old ragdoll. At the end of the day, Kimball Cho had been the hero, effectively taking the man's life and Patrick Jane's chance at revenge with a round of bullets to the chest.

Afterwards, when all the paper work had been processed and Cho had been cleared of any wrong doing, Jane and Lisbon had exchanged some harsh words. They hadn't meant really meant them, hadn't meant to yell and shout and swear at each other. But after years and years of avoiding each other they just didn't know how to gravity towards each other, how to give into the desires and the wishes that had been brewing for years.

The argument ended with Jane telling Lisbon that he was taking some time off and storming out of her office before she could say anything else or try and stop him. When he came back three months later, she was gone and some guy that he hadn't ever seen before had taken over her office.

.

"Lisbon," Jane said, turning around and looking at Cho. "Where is she?"

Cho shook his head. "She left the day after you did; she said that if you could just take off then she could to. I haven't heard from her since. . . I'm sorry Jane."

Jane frowned. "Sorry? What do you mean you're sorry Cho? You should be furious with me! You know that it is most likely my fault she took off the way that she did."

"It isn't just your fault," Cho answered. "You both didn't handle things the way that you should have that night. What are you two so afraid of anyways? That there might actually be a life outside of Red John and the CBI? That you two could actually be the sort of people who make it work and go on to live sort of happily ever after? Or are you still not sure how to be something more after years and years of pretending to be nothing more than just two good friends"

Jane was shocked by how easily Cho had done a cold read him. It had been years since he'd been totally transparent, sure Lisbon had been able to pick up on things that were bothering him, but she had never been able to see straight through him, right to the root of the matter.

Cho nodded the consultant's silence as answer to enough to his battery of questions. "You know if you really want to find Lisbon, her brothers probably know how to get in touch with her. I know you're in touch with Annabeth Lisbon on occasion, why don't you see if Tommy can give you any information on her whereabouts?"

"What if she doesn't want to see me?" Jane asked. "What if she has a lover and she's six months pregnant with his baby? What if I really screwed things up this time and I cannot fix the damage that I've created?"

"You are not the same man that I knew four months ago!" Cho said. "Where did all your bravado go? The Patrick Jane from a few months ago would not have worried about these things, you would have been on the elevator by now, arrogant enough to think you could get her back with your suave charm, a gift, and some well-placed words in a sentence. She would have been putty in your hands and you back in her good graces before the day had ended. That being said, what's stopping you from going to find her this time? What's stopping you from trying to fix things for once and for all between the two of you? Maybe she hasn't moved on yet, maybe she's somewhere in the world wishing you'd go and find her. Wishing you two could have just one more chance to make things work."

"Maybe—"

"Being down in the mouth and uncertain of things doesn't become you Jane," Cho interjected. "Just go and find her. Try and capture some happiness before you lose the final chance you have at it. We don't need you here right now, we've managed just fine the past three months without either of you here. I daresay that we'll be able to handle at least a couple of more weeks without your help."

Jane opened his mouth to say something else, to argue with the younger man. But he knew that it was useless. Once his mind was made up, he wouldn't be swayed otherwise. And he would give him the infamous Cho stare until he turned around and got on the elevator again.

Jane sighed. "Okay then, I'll go and try to find her."

Cho just managed to hide a triumphant smile. "I'm sure that you won't need it, but good luck man."

.

A few hours later, Annie was handing him a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it. "Dad would kill me if he knew what I was doing. He's furious about the way things went down with you and Auntie Reese. But I think it's the right thing to do. You really love her, don't you? You have to because you wouldn't have driven all this way if you didn't."

"Yes," Jane answered after a long moment. "I really do love her."

"Then you have to tell her, okay?" Annie said, tucking her notebook away in her backpack and then standing on tip-toe to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. She pulled away and smiled at him. "Good luck."

Jane watched Annie as she ran to catch up with her girlfriends and then he looked down at the address in his hands. He took a deep breath, asked the God that he didn't believe in for a little bit of courage and then got into his Citron, settling in for the long ride to the place written on the paper.

.

Lisbon finished washing her dinner dishes and sighed, the sun was starting to set, streaking the sky with gorgeous shades of pink and red and purple. It was the time of day when she would replay her last argument with Jane over and over again. She would rehash it down to the very last look he'd thrown her before storming out of her office and wish that things could have ended differently between them. She would wish for one more chance to make things right between them and try to breathe again.

But she had stopped breathing the second he had walked out of her door. It had been the moment she knew all her girlish fantasies of a life after Red John was gone forever. There wouldn't be any languid kisses by twilight or candlelit dinners. There'd only be a lifetime of regret because she had opened up to somebody a little too much, let somebody a little too closer than she'd ever let happen before.

Inspite of herself, she'd cried half the night away, only catching a couple hours of sleep when the pre-dawn gray had filtered through her half open shades. When morning had finally come, bringing brilliant sunshine in its wake, she had made up her mind to take some time off from life. She needed time to regroup, to let her heart heal, and get over bitter disappointment. It wouldn't happen at work, where he was still everywhere she turned with his scent still hanging in her office, his teacup sitting beside her favorite mug, and the ugly brown leather couch still a fixture in the bullpen.

Going away hadn't fixed anything though, she'd left her heart in Sacramento and there wasn't any getting it back. Not now, not ever. She was stuck, stuck repeating history in her head and daydreaming that maybe one day by some kind of miracle, Jane would show up on her doorstep and say things that he only said in her dreams.

She hung up the damp towel on the stove then pulled her hair out from its sloppy ponytail. She glanced outside at the sunset one more time and felt the old familiar tug at her heart. She was lonelier than she had ever been in her whole entire life. Lonelier than she'd been all the nights since she'd left Sacramento and rented this little house from a friendly old woman who lived across the street.

But still she waited, she waited for something that she didn't know was ever going to happen for real and for certain.

It was late when he finally got to the address Annie had given him. So late, he wasn't sure if he should go up and knock on her door. But the lights were still on in the living room and he could just make Lisbon out, sitting on the couch all by herself and reading a book.

He decided to just get things over with, to get the inevitable punch in the nose out and the apologizes out of the way so they would be able to move on and finally find each other after years of shying away from each other. He knew he was a little worse for the wear and he didn't have a peace offering of any kind, but he hoped she would overlook that and welcome him with open arms.

He got out of the car and little by little, he found himself heading towards the door. He hesitated only for a second before pressing the doorbell, and then he waited for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds.

.

"Who is it?" She asked, her voice sounding a far away and a little sad all at the same time.

"It's. . . it's Jane," he answered, he bit his bottom lip and then sighed. "You remember me, right? I used to be your best friend. Listen, I think you know I love you. . . if you do would you please open the door—"

Lisbon opened the door and met his gaze, her green eyes were the same shade of sadness he'd seen in his own eyes whenever he'd looked in the mirror the past three months. "You have been the only person on my mind these past three months. Kind of silly, isn't it? I came all this way to try and forget about you, but I only wound up thinking about everything I did wrong and hoping you'd come find me—"

Jane kissed her then, cutting her off mid-sentence. "I'm so sorry for everything," he whispered as he pulled away. "Could you ever forgive me?"

"Of course," Lisbon answered, her face lighting up with half a smile. "I'm sorry too. I should have handled things differently. I shouldn't have let you go so easily, I should have told you then. . . told you that I loved you and held onto you so tightly. Can you forgive me?"

Jane nodded, pushed her hair away from her face. "I love you," he said again.

Lisbon kissed him, her smile widening. "I love you too."

_End_

Author's Note II:

Whoo. I feel like I was just typing words there by the middle of the story. But I hope you liked it and that you will tell me what you thought about it in a review.

Until next time!

Love,

Holly, 9/17/2013_