Author's Note: Not sure how I feel about this one, but I've edited it to death and you guys deserved something. *shrugs

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist and would not be foolish enough to claim to.

It was a growl that caught Jane's attention hours later, finally distracting him from his hotel chain across the boardwalk. It was the first thing that actually penetrated the haze of good feelings he'd been floating in. The Lisbon's were the perfect balm for his ravaged soul, company that he'd actually managed to lose himself and his worries in. Even the awesome guilt that usually accompanied thoughts of Mrs. Ruskin hadn't penetrated his high. He'd been too captivated to feel a hint of sadness.

Teresa was just such a different person around her family. Soft and gentle, but also stern and concerned. Commanding, but tender. She was multifaceted, like any good mother would be. She smiled more often around Drew, for silly reasons too, and there was an openness about her that Jane desperately never wanted to fade from the set of her shoulders. From her eyes.

Oh, her eyes.

He wanted to surround himself with their light. Lose himself to it. If he was capable of feeling anything more through all of that, that thought would have terrified him. But he hadn't let himself think- just feel. To do that, he was losing because he couldn't take his eyes off Lisbon. He hadn't been able to for hours, watching the way Drew's head dipped lower and lower and lower, until it came to rest on Teresa's knee.

Hell, he hadn't even noticed the passage of time until the moment the roar of the heavy motor met his ears. Tilting his head to hear better, he immediately frowned toward Teresa, who was still sitting cross-legged at the head of Drew's twin bed across from him.

Her tiny toes flexed against the batman bedspread beneath her, but otherwise, she didn't move. She didn't even look up, too busy trying to figure out how to use too little money to put another hotel on Marvin Gardens.

The sound outside grew rough and loud, like it was right below the room before cutting off abruptly.

Too curious to hold still, Jane set his dwindling bunch of money down and climbed up off the bed. Stretching to his full length, he peeked out the only window in Drew and Tommy's small bedroom down toward the paved driveway.

Two figures were climbing off a motorcycle, both in helmets and black leather jacket's, the one behind smaller than the one in front.

Odd.

"Who's that?" He asked quietly, stepping closer to get a better look around the curtain.

"James."

At Lisbon's waspish tone, he glanced back toward her, raising an eyebrow.

She still hadn't moved. In fact, she was staring at a spot on the board without so much as turning her head. Her face was wrapped in an expression he'd never seen on her before, lips tight and jaw clenched.

After looking her up and down for a minute, he couldn't quite decide if he should call her on it or not, so instead he turned his head back toward the window.

Below, tugging off his helmet, James was gesturing at the smaller figure, clearly talking loudly.

Lisbon spoke up again. "Is Tommy with him?" She sounded sharp still, but this more with worry.

"Yeah." He answered over his shoulder. "I think that's him." It was the right size and he moved the same way Tommy usually did.

All that the girl behind him did in response, was huff.

James tossed a bag on his shoulder and started walking away further down the drive, Tommy in tow, gesturing wildly.

Jane's curiosity got the better of him. "Where's James going?" He couldn't see past the window's edge.

"Probably to the garage. That's where his room is." Something rattled. "Your turn, Jane."

"The garage?" He inquired, peering back at her, unable to let the subject drop like she obviously wanted.

"Well, above the garage technically." She sighed, gesturing in the general direction of the back of the house. "But that doesn't stop him from commandeering the whole thing to do whatever the hell he wants."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy Lisbon? For the second time in as many days?" He teased, grinning, leaving the window to come back to the bed.

Though they weren't done with their game and hadn't yet decided on a winner, Teresa abruptly started taking pieces off the board. She seemed all together too intense, tossing them into the box with more force than necessary, so he bent to help rather than argue. After a moment, her voice cracked the silence. "I'm not jealous." She whispered, the outrage in her tone clear.

He gave her a look.

"I'm exasperated, okay?" She grated petulantly, finally folding up the board. "That's not the same thing." Closing up the box, her hand gestured flippantly to him to put the game back where they'd gotten it.

As he turned to do as ordered, Jane had to fight off a smile. While a little baffling, which he'd already made blatantly clear he liked about her, an 'exasperated' Lisbon was fast becoming one of his favorite things in the world. The way she protruded her lower lip just that barest millimeter without thinking about it- the way her eyes took on this dark, smoldering look, even the way her shoulders hunched a little in shame. It was actually kind of hot. He'd have to find excuses to tease her more often, as it was now his favorite game. "So...then, why so 'exasperated'?" He grunted, reaching up over his head to try and put the box away as quietly as he could manage. Since that was under three other board games on a high shelf, he was having some difficulty. It slid in finally after the third try.

"He's a spoiled child, that's why." She sounded disgusted. "One who doesn't think he has to lift a finger around here. I had to threaten him just to get him to take his little brother to and from school! He thinks he can just sit in there all day playing with his motors and guitar and I'm not gonna notice he's going off with those 'friends' of his at all hours of the night. Like it's some kind of excuse that Pop's-" She stalled abruptly.

Heart dropping uncomfortably, Jane slowly spun to face her, seeing suddenly panic stricken eyes. He opened his mouth, might have even tried to confront her at that moment, except that a soft whimpering noise interrupted.

They both stilled, looking down apprehensively.

"Shh." Lisbon hushed guiltily, carding a hand through her little brother's hair soothingly, quieting him.

The way his skin felt flushed with the near miss, Jane let the delay derail wherever the topic might have veered off to out of fear. He wasn't sure he or Teresa were ready for that particular conversation. Despite the twist to his gut, he couldn't help the soft half-smile tilting the corner of his mouth. The sight of Andrew Lisbon asleep with his head pillowed on Teresa's knee just had a way of shooting straight to his heart. It had taken a long time for the kid to nod off too. Too long, during which time Drew had thrown up once more, right near the end of it. He really didn't want the kid to wake back up.

Sliding a leg off the small bed, Teresa slowly lifted Drew's head off the other, levering herself inch by inch out from under him. Somehow holding him up at the same time, she pulled the rumbled quilt from beneath him before putting him down again.

Jane knew there was an explanation for it, but he really had no idea how she had managed such a feat. He merely blinked at her, stumped. It was like viewing a magic trick for the first time. She was like magic.

In spite of his default setting of trying to be flippant about his own feelings, this was an odd situation and Jane tried to reconcile that with the very strange sensations running rampant through his chest. He felt light from the head down, like he was filled with air. When he looked down, he was almost surprised that he wasn't levitating off the floor. He was full. Happy maybe, though that wasn't quite the way to describe this. His eyes strayed back upward and latched onto Teresa, who was now levering Drew's head into a better position on the pillow like she was handling fragile glass.

He swallowed. Seeing her being so gentle, so loving, so... everything. It filled him with a kind of peace he'd never thought he'd feel. A longing he'd never let himself acknowledge.

Teresa pulled the blankets up to lightly tuck around Drew's frame. The boy made sleepy little noises as he was shifted that she softly shushed, pressing his hair away from his slightly sweaty forehead to whisper a kiss there.

It was such a loving gesture, Jane thought his brain might be pushed right out of his head by his expanding heart. He might even be crushed with it. If he didn't get out of here, he might never leave. Coughing quietly to relieve the pressing ache, he moved toward the door, hiding his reaction. Uncertainly, he hovered there, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He was feeling a little useless.

Lisbon banished that by switching on a night light and then turning to herd him out the door.

He went before her palms as quickly as sneaking allowed.

She glanced back into the room only once as she turned off the light and then shut the door.

The hall outside was too bright, mostly because of a bare light in the ceiling. Or at least, that's what Jane told himself. For a long moment, the two of them stood in awkward silence, alternately staring down at their feet and shooting glances at each other. They both were aware that they were standing entirely too close in the cramped area but neither of them made a move to separate. The proximity made Jane's voice come out breathy when he finally managed to speak. "I- should head home. My, uh, grandmother will be wondering where I am."

In front of him, Teresa's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah, of course." She shook her head, but seemingly at herself. Almost shyly, she gestured and then led the way back downstairs, unconsciously hitting every step as they went down. Her fast steps gave away her sudden nerves.

Jane could feel the hit of her sneakers through the boards as they descended to the first story like he was hyper-aware of her. He needed to calm down.

She looked back at him when she reached the bottom. "So- I'm surprised Jane. You really know your stuff." She gave him a small teasing smile as she headed into the living room. "Not many people have the cost of rent on all those properties memorized."

Finally, something benign to focus his mind on again. He never thought he'd be so thankful for the game of monopoly. Grinning cheekily at her, Jane tapped his temple. "My memory palace holds everything. I like to keep my options open."

Teresa narrowed her eyes at him at that, as she angled her body to open the door, but her quirking lips said she chose to ignore it. Instead, portal open, she put her hands in her pockets, one in front- one behind, in just the way he had come to acknowledge as her shamed, defensive posture. She half-leaned against the side of the door.

His smiled slipped at the change.

"I- uh, I'm sorry, by the way. About the rant up there." She pointed at the ceiling, shaking her head. "It's not you're problem and I just..."

"Wanted someone to vent to?" He kept his tone kind.

She smiled in a way that said he'd hit the nail on the head.

"S'okay Teresa. I'd be a sounding board for you anytime."

A vulnerable look flashed over her emerald green eyes, but Teresa turned away, clearing her throat. Before she could say anything else though, the other side of the room exploded.

"Reese! Reese! Look!" Tommy ran in from the kitchen, helmet still on, waving a piece of paper in Lisbon's face.

"Shh, don't shout. Tommy- Thomas, calm down and hold still!" Laughing, Lisbon pulled the helmet from the kid's head. She then followed his frantic waving before finally being able to grab hold of the paper and hold it still in order to look it over. "A field trip? Another one?" For some reason, she didn't seem as excited as her brother.

"To the chocolate factory!" Tommy said in correction, smiling at Jane only briefly as though not surprised to see him standing there by the door. "Oh say I can go. Say it!" He pleaded hopefully, tugging on his sisters arm.

"I dunno buddy." Teresa said pensively.

"Drew got to go on his!"

Perfect nine-year-old logic. Jane tried to stifle a chuckle.

Lisbon mock-glared at him, then cocked her head at her brother. "We'll talk about it and see what we can do, okay?"

Slightly sobered, Tommy nodded, speaking fervently. "I'll be really, extra good. I promise."

The gentle smile that seemed to reach into Jane's chest for his heart was back as she ruffled her brother's hair. "I know."

"I just know you can convince Pop. James said we didn't have the money and Dad would never be sober enough to say yes anyway, but you can do it, can't you Reese?"

"I said we'll see, Thomas." Lisbon barked.

Tommy stilled completely.

Glancing at Jane in mortification, Lisbon tone slid into something a bit gentler. "I said we'll see." Her tongue darting out to wet her lips as closed her eyes briefly, Lisbon crouched down to be on her brother's level. She sighed. "Go get your bag and do your homework at the kitchen table, while I talk to James and say goodbye to Jane, okay?"

The nine-year-old nodded eagerly.

Teresa stood. "And stay away from your bedroom. You're banned from there till it's time for bed cause I just got Drew back to sleep. Now, scoot."

Tommy took off like a shot, all too anxious to do as he was told while his big sister held his permission slip in her hands.

A permission slip that Lisbon was looking over with a tense frown, almost like she was in pain and hated herself for it.

"Is it that expensive?" Jane couldn't help but ask.

Teresa started a little, as though she hadn't been expecting his voice. Her wide eyes met his for a split second before she purposefully turned away from him. She shook her head jerkily. "No, not really."

A beat passed.

She swallowed. "We- uh, we just don't have a lot... I mean, with my dad laid off and everything, it's just-" She pressed a thumb and forefinger to her eyes briefly.

He wanted to reach out to her, comfort her, but as his hand inched upward, a loud shout came through the kitchen window.

It sounded like there was an argument going on at the side of the house.

Teresa cursed and was out the open door before Jane knew that she was moving.