A/N: I believe this is the longest chapter so far! Alright alright alriiiight! Anyway, last chapter, very fluffy although there is still some Hurt/Comfort in there. Hope you like the conclusion!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'Light years away'

Chapter 12

Her therapy was going well, although she still suffered from nightmares from time to time. She also flinched away from him sometimes when he would pull her in for a hug. He knew that was not his fault, nor hers, but it still cut in his heart sometimes.

He had taken off his wedding ring after he had successfully sold her house. He knew she had noticed but she hadn't mentioned it once. That was typically Lisbon, though, and he didn't think it was weird that she hadn't asked him about it.

She was living with him now, but they were pretty much what they had been before all of this, namely; best friends. His love declaration hadn't really changed anything either. The only interactions they had added to their list were hugging and sitting close to each other on the couch or on the bed. They didn't kiss, didn't make love, didn't even share a bed. And yet strangely, he was okay with this.

He would be lying if he said that it made him happy living with her like this. But, then again, he knew it could have been worse.

One day, though, when she came back from one of her therapy sessions, she made him sit down on the couch and she herself took the place next to him.

"I talked to my psychiatrist today."

He nodded, not really knowing where this was going. "I know."

"I, uh… he asked me how you were doing, and, uh… how we were doing, actually."

She stopped there, and now, he was curious as to what she had answered.

She turned some more towards him, grabbing one of his hands.

"I… I… God, this is hard."

He brushed the top of her hand with his thumb.

"I… dammit."

"Why don't you show me, Lisbon? Or sing it? Perhaps that's easier. Or maybe you can write it down-"

He stopped when he saw her come closer towards him, and he felt his heart beat inside his chest.

What is she doing. What is she doing?!

She put her free hand against his cheek, rubbing her thumb over his lips.

And then, she slowly closed the gap between them and gently, oh so gently, linked their lips.

His heart went into overload. In a few moments, he was sure he would pass out.

Yet just as soon as the kiss had started, it had ended by her pulling away.

"I love you," she whispered against his lips, then sat back down, her hand still on his cheek. "But it's so difficult, Jane. I don't really have a lot of good experiences with love."

The most recent being, of course, Marcus Pike, who had been planning to use her for human trafficking, and who she had ended up shooting dead.

"You mean too much to me. Really, you're so important to me… and if this would go wrong, I would lose you and I would shatter into tiny pieces. And... I don't trust myself anymore. I only ever shot to stun people, or when it was absolutely necessary to kill them, but... it wasn't necessary with Marcus. He wasn't hitting me, or posing a threat in general... I just snapped, I was so scared... and I don't think that I'll shoot you, I just... I always mess up everything. Always. I don't want to mess this up."

She pulled back her hand from his cheek. He instantly moved closer to her.

"I won't let you mess up, Teresa," he whispered. "There would be two people in this relationship. I won't allow this to end badly. You might fear that I'll pull away, or that I won't forgive you for what you've done... but the thing is, I won't pull back, and I do forgive you. You didn't do anything wrong."

He brushed her cheek. "I'm here for you, okay? If you need to talk, please, just talk."

She smiled gently as his thumb brushed her lips like she had done. She leaned into his caress.

"I trust you," she whispered.

"Good," he replied. She rolled her eyes. He made her come closer. She closed her eyes as he put a finger underneath her chin.

He was the one linking their lips now, and butterflies danced in his stomach, his hand almost shaking, his head light.

They kissed for a while, learning each other's texture, taste, what they liked and didn't like, until they were out of breath and were forced to pull away. His hand didn't leave her chin as he stared into her eyes.

He was so lucky.

~…~

She grabbed his hand, and he noticed the little shake in her body. Though her eyes were filled with love and happiness, her posture showed something else entirely.

"We don't need to…"

She put a finger against his lips. He swallowed all his words.

She made him stand up and pulled him away from the couch, into the direction of her bedroom. She linked their lips, and he couldn't stop himself from bowing down and kissing her, passionately, showing her exactly how much she meant to him and how happy he was that she was here with him, safe and sound.

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet, carrying her to the bedroom the last few steps, where he sat her down on her feet again.

She hugged him, then, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I love you," she whispered, and he felt tears burning in his eyes as he heard the emotions in her voice. "I love you so much."

His hands brushed the small of her back as he kissed the skin in her neck.

"I love you, too. My dearest, dearest Teresa."

~...~

He kissed his way down her throat and chest, seeing how she had put on some more weight due to better nutrition. She looked full of life now, healthy and happy.

He felt on fire now, his entire being burning with love and lust. He couldn't wait to make this beautiful connection with her.

"Patrick," she sighed. He looked up at her face and saw her looking down. He knew she wanted to skip the foreplay and jump right to the chase, but he wanted to take his time. Yet as he saw her now, he dropped all of his plans, scooting up her body and kissing her lips.

"Don't hold back," she breathed, and he smiled, nodding.

"Okay, my love."

He kissed her again as he joined their bodies, and she pulled away to let out a sigh.

It was over way too fast, the emotional overload making it impossible to last long. Afterwards, they lay in each other's arms, panting from the exertion.

"Patrick?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"That was amazing."

He chuckled and pulled her even closer, kissing the top of her head.

"Patrick?"

He looked down at her.

"Why did you even buy a family house?"

But he knew she knew. One day, perhaps, they might be able to use this house for its original design. Until that day, they were happy having each other. They needed at least thirty-five years to catch up with everything they had missed out on.

A/N: So, there you go! Next up: Epilogue! But I'm still working on that so that might take more time. Hang in there, it's on its way! In the meantime, you can let me know what you thought of this chapter, it would be very much appreciated!