Author's Note: I'm so glad to hear that you all liked the first chapter so much! Thank you all for your wonderful reviews as well as the favourites and follows! I'm excited to hear what you all think of this second chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.


Lisbon stirred, blinking against the morning sunlight. She was in her room. When did she get there? Did she dream everything that happened? Why would she dream about watching movies with Jane? She got up and looked down at herself, noticing that she was in the same clothes she had been wearing yesterday. She decided to get something to eat before getting ready for work. Speaking of work, Lisbon glanced at her clock and almost choked on air. Nine!? No. No! It couldn't be nine! Why hadn't her alarm gone off!? Lisbon hurried downstairs to start a cup of coffee brewing, but skittered to a halt at the sight of the other person in her kitchen.

"Jane?"

"Morning, Teresa." Jane looked at her over his shoulder from his place at the stove. "Sleep well? It's eggs for breakfast."

"What the hell!? I'm late for work! Why didn't you wake me up!?"

Jane shrugged. "You looked like you were having a good sleep. Besides, it's not like anything is going to be happening at work."

"That's no excuse to show up late." Lisbon snapped.

"Well, if you want to have a quick shower before breakfast, you've got a few minutes before I'm done cooking."

Lisbon huffed and then hurried back upstairs to shower and change.

-Mentalist-

She got a few odd looks from the team when she walked in late with Jane on her heels, but she ignored it as best she could and made a bee-line for her office. At least everyone would leave her alone. It's not like anything had happened between the two of them. They watched movies and ate treats then fell asleep. That was all. The teams amused looks were completely unwarranted. And Jane's amused smirk at her reaction was very annoying. At least she had her paperwork to hide behind. Everyone would drop the subject by lunch.

-Mentalist-

Everyone left a little bit earlier because it was almost vacation and it's not like much was happening at work. Everything was filed and completed, so what else was there to do? But Lisbon would always find something else to do that would keep her there.

"I hope you're ready to go shopping." Jane stepped through her office door, dressed to leave.

"Excuse me?" Lisbon looked up at him from her computer screen.

"You heard me."

"Why would you think we're going shopping?"

"Because you need a dress, Teresa. For the gala. Remember? And then we're going to get you a tree."

"I never agreed to that."

"You didn't disagree, either." Jane picked up her jacket and held it out so she could put it on.

"I'm not going dress shopping with you." Lisbon scoffed.

"Why not? I have nice taste."

"Whether you do or don't is not the point. I'm not-"

"So, you admit that I do have good taste."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, but didn't move from her seat.

"Don't make me stand here all night arguing with you, Teresa."

"You're welcome to stop insisting at any time."

Jane reached out and quickly turned off her monitor.

"I was working on that!" Lisbon glared at him.

"It'll still be there when you turn the monitor back on so that you can save it and we can get going."

"I hate you, Jane. I hope you know that." Lisbon turned on her monitor again and then saved her work before shutting the computer down.

"Oh, you don't mean that." Jane smiled, helping her into her jacket.

"I really do mean it." Lisbon picked up her bag.

Jane let her take her car this time because he knew it would make her feel better. He hummed Christmas tunes the whole way to the mall as Lisbon drove.

Lisbon locked the car after they both got out and then they headed for the mall.

"So, what colour did you want?" Jane inquired as they walked down the mall hallway, looking for a dress store.

"I don't know. As long as it fits and I can breathe. That's the colour I want."

Jane sighed and shook his head. "How about green? It's festive and it looks lovely on you."

Lisbon blushed slightly and looked away. "Fine." She mumbled. "Whatever gets me home faster."

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't want to be here. We both know you're going to have fun." Jane smiled. "Ah, there's a shop!" He took Lisbon's hand and steered her in the direction of the shop he saw.

"Can I help you with something?" One of the shop employees asked as they entered the store.

"Yes, actually." Jane replied before Lisbon could even open her mouth. "My partner here needs a green dress for our company Christmas gala."

Lisbon shot him a glare. Of all the times to address her as his 'partner', he chooses now?

The employee smiled. "Well, that sounds fancy. Long dress, then?"

Jane looked over at Lisbon. "It's up to you."

"Whatever gets me home faster."

Jane shook his head and then looked back at the shop employee. "Don't mind her. She's just being grouchy to keep up her cop persona. Knee length. She procrastinated and we don't have much time to have it hemmed or anything."

The employee led them over to a dress display and they got to work picking out a dress for Lisbon.

-Mentalist-

"See? It was so bad." Jane beamed as they left the dress shop.

"Shut up." Lisbon said.

"Oh, don't think that I missed that little smile on your face. Your cheeks are pink, too. You had fun. Admit it. You actually had fun."

"Never."

"Fine, but I know the truth, Teresa. And so do you. Now that that's out of the way. We can get you a tree."

"Are you really still going to insist?" Lisbon groaned.

"Of course! We won't get a huge tree, but we will get a decently sized tree."

"I am not cleaning up after a pine tree."

"Then we'll get you a fake tree. At least it's a tree. We're at the mall. Why not?"

Lisbon carried her new dress as they made their way into a department store that sold fake Christmas trees.

"This one." Lisbon said, pointing to a little tree.

"No. That's way too tiny!" Jane shook his head.

"Well, we're certainly not getting that one!" Lisbon gestured to the tree that Jane was standing near that was at least a foot taller than him.

"Okay, I admit, it's quite big." Jane conceded. "That one, then." He pointed at one that was about his height a few feet away from them.

"Too big." Lisbon dismissed it.

"What?" Jane gasped. "No it's not! It's perfect!"

"I'm not carrying that and a dress to my car."

"I'll be the one carrying it, thank you very much."

"Yeah right." Lisbon scoffed.

"I will." Jane repeated. "Wait here."

"Where are you going?" Lisbon called as Jane walked off.

"I'll be right back." Jane said over his shoulder.

-Mentalist-

Jane returned a few minutes later with a big box that he was having a bit of trouble carrying.

"You went and got one of the trees." Lisbon stated more than asked.

"Yes. Since you weren't being very cooperative."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Let's go then." They headed for the cashier, but something caught Jane's eye.

"Oh, Teresa. We need lights for the tree."

Lisbon stopped a few steps ahead and turned to look at him.

"Get the coloured ones, please?" He smiled.

Lisbon sighed and grabbed a box of coloured Christmas tree lights.

"And that box of icicle ornaments?"

Lisbon glared at him over her shoulder.

"I'll pay for them." Jane shrugged. "But I think they'll look really nice on our tree. Please?"

Lisbon sighed and grabbed a box of the icicle ornaments as well before they headed for the check out again.

-Mentalist-

"So, where do you think will be the best spot for our tree?" Jane asked as Lisbon walked back into the living room.

"I don't know, Jane." Lisbon flopped on the couch. "You tell me."

"Come on, Teresa. We have to do this together." Jane opened the tree box. "I can't decorate your home by myself. That's hardly fair."

Lisbon got up and helped him get the tree out of the box. "Over there, in the corner by the window?" Lisbon pointed. "There's an outlet there, too."

"Perfect." Jane agreed and they got the tree arranged. "Now for the lights." Jane went back and got the string of lights Lisbon had grabbed. "Darn. We should have got some tinsel too."

"I'm not going back out for tinsel." Lisbon told him.

"No, no." Jane shook his head. "I agree. The tinsel isn't that important."

They both set to work wrapping the lights around the Christmas tree, stepping back to admire their work when they were finished.

"It's a good start." Jane said. "Next is the icicle ornaments." He went and opened the box, handing a few to Lisbon for her to put on the tree and taking some for himself. Once that was done, they stood back again.

Lisbon wrinkled her nose. "It looks kind of pathetic to me."

"What do you mean? I think it looks nice." Jane tilted his head. "A little plain, but nice."

"No, it's pathetic." Lisbon assured him.

"No, it's not. Just because it doesn't have a million different ornaments on it, doesn't mean it's pathetic." Jane crossed his arms. "Go get your Christmas ornaments."

"What?"

"You heard me. Go get those ornaments you have stashed up in your room. They'll get some use this year."

"No."

"If you don't go get them, I'll go looking for them."

"You wouldn't."

"You want to bet on that?" Jane raised a brow at her.

Lisbon turned and left to get her Christmas ornaments. She returned and gently placed two boxes on the floor near the Christmas tree. She took the top one off and placed it over to the side then opened the bottom one.

"What's in the other one?" Jane inquired.

"The tree topper." Lisbon said, pulling out one of the few ornaments that was in the box she'd opened. It was a little nurse in uniform.

"That one is very nice." Jane commented as he reached in to pick up another one.

Lisbon gently put it on the tree. "Thank you."

Jane pulled out another ornament from the box and smiled at it. It was a little baby wrapped in pink blankets with a ribbon tied around it that said Teresa. Very carefully he put the ornament on the tree, then looked over at Lisbon who still hadn't taken another ornament out of the box. She was still looking at the first ornament with a distant glaze over her eyes.

"Hey." He said softly, reaching out to rub her back. "You okay?"

Lisbon blinked a few times, returning to the present. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"If you want to stop, Teresa, we can." Jane told her. "I just thought it would be nice if you got to use your ornaments. But if it's too much-"

"No, I'm fine." Lisbon insisted.

"Okay." Jane nodded. "We can stop whenever you want." He went back to putting the rest of the ornaments on the tree, even though there were only two more left. Jane picked up the glass orb and looked at the picture inside. It looked like a Christmas family photo. Lisbon looked about twelve and was smiling happily standing between her parents, with her younger brothers situated in front of them. It donned on Jane that this was probably their last family photo and he understood completely why Lisbon had kept this. The last ornament Lisbon put on the tree was a little glittery snowman that Jane was sure carried a deep meaning to Lisbon.

"Do you want to put on the tree topper now? Or do you want to stop?" Jane glanced down at the unopened box.

"Might as well do it now." Lisbon breathed, reaching down to open the box.

Jane watched as she carefully opened it and pulled out the object inside. He had never seen a prettier tree topper before. It was an angel dressed completely in white with a little gold halo and wings with actual white feathers on them. The angel's hair was curly and blond and the topper looked very expensive. Maybe a family heirloom? "Wow." Jane choked out. "That is one very nice tree topper."

Lisbon looked at him and smiled slightly. "Thanks. It's been around a long time. I'm pretty sure it's even older than me."

"It's very nice. The best one I've ever seen."

"Do you want to put it on the tree?"

"I couldn't." Jane shook his head. "That's your right."

Lisbon stood on her tip-toes to make sure she could see what she was doing and Jane put an arm around her waist to make sure she wouldn't lose her balance. She fixed the bottom of the angel's dress and then returned to standing flat-footed, Jane unwrapping his arm from her waist.

Jane ushered her to stand back with him so they could admire the tree they'd decorated.

"What's the verdict now?" Jane looked over at her smiling. "Not pathetic anymore, huh?"

Lisbon smiled, looking back at the tree. "No. It's very nice." She agreed.


Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I felt a sweet moment was in order. Don't worry, there will be more to come! Let me know what you thought in a review! :3 Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays everyone!