Their Third Christmas
Jane strolled into Lisbon's office, once again only the two of them left at the CBI at 6:30pm on Christmas Eve. He sat in the chair across from her desk, said nothing, and waited.
"Hey Jane." Her voice was soft but firm and direct, she still wasn't looking at him. Still upset at the stunt he pulled the day before he expected, but he was simply trying make sure it was closed before the holiday for the sake of the team.
"Pizza?" he asked, knowing that despite her irritation, she'd accept.
"Yeah, let's go." Her face softened, allowing forgiveness to peek through.
As they were nearing the end of their meal, Lisbon emboldened herself to ask the question she always wondered... knowing the question might be returned and putting aside her fear of having to answer it for the sake of her own curiosity.
"Jane, what do you do on Christmas?"
He was only caught off guard that she'd actually asked, he knew she'd been wondering for a long time. He wondered about her too, but figured she probably spent the day curled up on the couch watching old moving and eating ice cream.
Jane shrugged a little, cocked his head to the side, and immediately started spinning his wedding ring. "It's just another day."
She understood his words, deeply. She understood them because she experienced them. She treated Christmas like it was just another day as well, one to get through to the next day. She pushed that away immediately thinking she was different. He'd lost everything, she had a family. She didn't think she should feel the same as him.
"What do you do?" he asked because she asked. He knew she didn't want to tell him.
"Same."
They shared a knowing look, they both lied and they both knew the other lied.
Finally Lisbon spoke up, "do you wanna get dinner tomorrow night?"
Jane smiled, "I'd like that."
Thus began the annual tradition of Jane and Lisbon's Christmas Eve pizza and Christmas Day Chinese dinner.
They never talked about the holidays, they simply enjoyed the company of the other. It eased the pain of loneliness they both felt and became something they looked forward to for the holiday, the comfort of the other.
They never talked about their holiday plans or traditions to the rest of the team or anyone else. It was theirs. If anyone ever asked their plans, they'd shrug it off with a vague response.