Author's Note: My poor readers. My life beats the crap out of me and you pay the price. :( To those that are still hanging in there- kudos. I know it's really hard sometimes. Especially when an author goes... a month?! Has it really been a month? More? Wow, now I feel even worse. I guess hospitals just don't inspire me that much. If it's any consolation prize, since this chapter was so hard to figure out how to start, I've now got the beginnings of several more chapters in line. Yay?
Again, thank you for your patience.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist and would not be foolish enough to claim to.
Jane dropped down into his seat, too tired to even sit up straight. His bag fell unceremoniously from his limp shoulder, taking his jacket half-off with it, but he didn't care. He couldn't make himself care.
It was Monday morning, the usual pre-Wainwright class roar washing over him without its usual effect. To see the final end to the carnival weekend was a relief, but three days of playing the con of good little psychic boy had taken it's toll and last night had been the worst of all. Everyone always rushed toward his booth on Sunday nights, like they had seen his booth before, weren't sure they wanted to spend the money, and then ran to get it in before the opportunity passed by.
Why, oh why did he live in the era of procrastination? Nothing needed to be done today what could be put off till tomorrow, at least to everyone around him it seemed. He supposed he didn't have any room to think such thoughts though. He leaned forward and put his forehead down on his desk, letting the cool lacquered wood sooth the tension headache ripping its way through his skull as much as it could. A sigh left his lips.
Someone above him chuckled. "Tired?" The amused voice asked.
He'd know that voice anywhere, so didn't bother to hide the grumpiness the chuckle caused. He lifted his head just enough to see the small smile curling Teresa's lips to the left, eyes peeking out at him around her silky dark hair and sneered.
Her smile widened.
His stomach flip-flopped and an answering grin snuck its way onto his face before he even realized it. "Me? No, 'course not." A wide yawn made his sarcasm plain.
She laughed lightly. Sliding past, Teresa slid her bag to the floor and sat in her seat.
Not able to help himself, Jane followed her with his eyes, a tiny smile of appreciation tilting his whole face upward.
She was dressed in a black tank top with the name of a band on the front and a dark red over shirt which had it's sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The layered effect looked even better on her than it usually did on him. Down at her feet, next to the ratty old shoes he usually saw her in, her jacket was sticking slightly out of her bag. She shoved it aside and pulled a notebook out before looking at him again. "Rough weekend?" She asked, raising a teasing eyebrow. "Can't imagine what you could have done. Sit in a booth for a few hours? Conned some people out of their money?"
He gave her a mock glare. "That's just insulting."
She snorted and rolled her eyes a little at his melodrama. Clearly, she enjoyed being teased as much as she enjoyed teasing.
That made two of them.
Having spun about in his seat, Jane sat back against his desk, ignoring the way it dug into his spine for the view such a position afforded him. He yawned again, then widened his eyes excessively and shook his head to wake himself up.
Teresa fought off a yawn of her own, now the one glaring at him for doing that to her.
"What about you?" He asked, ignoring the look. "Have a good rest of the weekend?"
Her face fell just slightly and she ducked her head to hide it.
He noticed anyway.
"Not bad." She hedged. Noncommittally hunching her shoulders up and then letting them drop, she gave him a tiny smile. "You gave Walter back his car though, right?"
Deciding to mess with her a little, he shrugged. "I may have taken it for a little joy ride-"
Her wide eyes were more than worth it. "Jane!"
"Re-lax, Lisbon." He drawled, stretching backward and closing his eyes. "I got it back to him in one piece. He even thanked me."
"Thanked you." Incredulous, she said it as a question.
"No folk like Carny folk." He grinned. "Trust me, he had a good time." He opened one eye to peek at her.
Teresa looked slightly mollified by his assurance. Up front, Wainwright finally got the class to quiet down so they could get started, so they both turned their attention up front, though reluctantly. Her foot settled on the back of his chair though, making him grin lazily in a way that had nothing to do with the subject of the class.
After that bell rang to signal the end of the lesson, Jane stood, already feeling sleepy again and trying to fight it off. He woke up though, when he saw Summer glare balefully at Cho as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the back of the classroom for an intense, whispered conversation. Nervously, he looked back at Teresa and decided- now was as good a time as any. "What's with them?" He asked her quietly.
She followed his flippant thumb toward the arguing couple and frowned. "Uh, it's nothing."
He scoffed slightly and leaned toward her across her desk. "What... you really think that's going to work?" He hoped his whisper still conveyed his disbelief. To appear more non-threatening, he shyly stuck his hands in his pockets. "Come on, Lisbon. I just want to make sure there's nothing that I can do to help."
At that, Teresa raised her eyes from shoving things in her bag to frown directly at him. Looking uncertainly between him and the two now disappearing out the door, still arguing, she finally sighed and shrugged. "I don't think there is. They're probably just arguing about the same old things."
He ducked his head to try to follow her eyes questioningly as she looked away.
Another, growled sigh left her. "Summer's got a lot on her plate." She was muttering into her collar, placing a workbook into the depth of her backpack thoughtlessly. "Problems, you know? Her step-dad owns the Red Sky- that crappy bar downtown? Only... it's not really a great place to hang out at by yourself. Especially if you're young and kinda pretty." Her nose wrinkled and her lip curled up in distaste as a far off look replaced her embarrassment. Then she looked at him, obviously trying to see if he had caught her drift.
He had, and he tried not to think about Teresa waiting outside that bar for her dad all on her own any more than he was about Summer doing the same. Both thoughts made him feel a little nauseous.
"Its just temporary custody." Teresa hurried to add. "She's got a dad who's actually pretty nice, but the courts sided with her mom. And he can't really fight the decision right now cause Summer's got a little sister that's been in the system for a few months now. He's trying to get the girl out first, before-" There was a lull as Lisbon trailed off, zipping her bag closed, trying to pretend like she was talking about something flippant while her shaking hands gave her away.
"So, if her dad is pretty nice... does that mean her mom and step-dad aren't?" He asked even more quietly, even though they were now alone, keeping his tone just insistent enough to get her to keep talking.
"No, her step-dad's not so bad. It's just... he doesn't really know how to be a dad and he doesn't realize what a dive his place really is, or the kind of people that sometimes pass through it."
"And her mother?"
Lisbon looked sheepishly in the direction Summer had gone, biting her lip uncertainly. "Let's just say, I've seen alley cats do more to protect their kids from the people they hang out with."
He swallowed, looking toward the door too. He had asked. He'd wanted to know. Sometimes though, he wished he didn't have such an insatiable curiosity.
"Cho's sort of... overprotective." Teresa swung her bag onto her shoulder.
"That's why they're arguing?" He asked softly as he followed her out into the packed and noisy hallway.
She hesitated again, chewing on her lip and looking over her shoulder.
Jane decided to play his ace. "I saw them at that bar again a couple nights ago. Some guy was yelling at her and Cho decked him. Then she was yelling at him."
She eyed him, but now seemed resigned. "Cho's got it in his head that Summer needs a 'White Knight'. That she needs protecting, all the time. From everything."
"Let me guess- it was kind of nice at first but now she feels smothered." He smiled slightly to show he wasn't trying to judge.
"She thinks he doesn't trust her." She admitted. "She thinks she can take care of herself. She's used to taking care of herself. To her, he's always butting in, trying to tell her what to do." She sighed. "I gotta say, I kinda agree with her. Cho doesn't really think before he acts sometimes and he tends to deliver his 'brand' of justice a little harshly." A grimace passed over her features, as though she were remembering something unpleasant. "He wants to get her away. Says her dad's never gonna come for her, but that just pisses her off more." They arrived outside her next class and she turned to him. "So they fight about it. Really, Jane, there isn't much you can do. Doubt anyone can. We hang out together outside when I'm at the bar and Cho's there as often as he can be, but he's got troubles of his own too. This stuff isn't helping. Honestly, I think they're a little bad for each other right now, but they'll either work it out or not on their own."
He grunted noncommittally.
"Stop worrying so much." She teased. "Cho's blunt, but he's smart. And Summer thinks he's cute. He usually knows how to talk her into forgiving him. Besides, Boy Wonder, you've got your own problems to deal with." She said the last brightly, giving him a devilish smirk.
His heart skipped a beat and started hammering against his ribs. What did she mean? He frantically thought over what he had said, what he might have let slip. Outwardly, he tried to remain calm. "Oh? Like what?"
She leaned toward him, still grinning. "Well, me for one."
He swallowed.
Glancing to the side at a large clock on the wall, her eyes started to dance with barely contained mirth. "And you're gonna be late to your next class for another."
Blinking owlishly, Jane spied the time displayed on the clock as though he was coming up for air. He immediately cursed and spun to start sprinting down the seemingly, suddenly empty hallway. He spun again to run backwards before he reached a corner and yelled back at her. "You're a cruel woman, Teresa Lisbon." He rolled her esses into zees, drawing the new and unfamiliar first name over his tongue longer than necessary when it created a buzz through his system. A laugh bubble up out of him when he caught the barest shiver and shock pass over her frame. Spinning back around, he had to fight not to stumble, he felt so dizzy with glee.