Oh, yes, the damn disclaimer: seriosuly, do we really have to do it? Because, Jeez, if I'd own them, I'd not be here writing it, I'd be the writeer of a TV Shows and, well, we'd have the LIsbon romance for real...meanwhile, I just "write, draw, create, dream, hope and believe in Bruno, waiting for him to be blessed bu the light of reason..." (No, this discalimer isn't mine, it belongs to one fo the girls who wite Mentalist fiction on the italian site efpfiction, but don't tell me many of you don't share this vision...).

All the merits for this story in particular, though, go to me and, especially, PetiteJ: she gaves me not only the prompt, but ended up as co-autor- she provided lines, and, moslty, plot ideas for all the times I was having a hard toime figuring soemthing out or havoing writer's block...

I'd like to say thnak you to everyone who review the last chapter and to all of you who put this on favs or alerts, it menas the world to me, really!

And now, here we go with chapter 4...

4.

"Are you looking for something, Mr. Jane?" as he hers Lisbon's voice, Patrick stops where he is, and, feeling what emotion is present in her voice, he turns to look at her, his wife, descending from the stairs towards the living room, dressed with just the shirt she had this morning…damn, that woman really hates me.

"Ehm, well, I was looking for you, actually" he answers her gulping, with a tone resembling the one of the fool of the village, not the smart man he is.

"Well, glad to hear it, because I was looking for you as well- she whispers seductively, arms around his neck, trailing kisses along said part of his anatomy and biting his earlobe just to make her intentions clear; she is a bit disappointed when, instead of "embracing" this, he puts a bit of a distance between them, and, instead of searching her eyes or any other part of her body focuses his full attention on the pavement, but, still, she can't help but laugh a little, crossed arms, thinking that he is pulling one of his stuns as often, that, maybe , he is looking for a way to add spice to their ménage- what? This morning you couldn't wait to make me get rid of your shirt, and now that we have the house all for ourselves, you complain and refuse this? Let me tell you something, Patrick Jane, you are a weird man"

"Like you never knew it" he really can't help but smile, grinning, while saying so, because it's the truth, and it's astonishing how she decided to allow him to be part of her life even if he was broken and weird.

"Well, the fact that you were an only piece was what made me fall in love with you, so I think it can't be that bad… – she gets closer again, hugs him again, but this time, while she tenderly kisses her chin, there's no malice in her actions, and her smile is a bit sad – Patrick, something's wrong with you, I know it, and don't you dare to deny it, or I'll shoot you!" she again playfully hits him, again on the arms, regaining a bit of her happiness, but still breathing and inhaling deeply his scent as he kisses her hair, and Teresa, in that moment, feels his smile on his lips.

"Please, woman, you wouldn't dare. The worst you did back then was punching me on the nose, and right now you wouldn't dare any longer to fire at me, because our Jess loves her daddy too much!"

Frustrated, she again puts a bit of distance between them, crossing her arms. She has tried to lighten the mood, but Patrick is turning her cads on her, as always.

"Patrick, I'm serious, don't use your evasive crap with me. You know- she hysterically laughs, nervously- I thought we got over this a long time ago…"

"This?" he asks her, dumb, because he can't tell her why he is upset, so, since she doesn't know, she can't be upset about the fact that he isn't really her husband…

"This, Patrick, this, always hiding things and pretending we're fine…I thought we were fine, I thought we were happy, I thought you were happy with choosing me over Red John!"

She is crying right now, and she wants him to see it. Patrick just hurt her, and she wants to hurt him as well, just that, but… she wasn't waiting for Patrick to run into her arms, holding her against his chest, crying in her air.

"That's absolutely not the problem, Teresa. I was happy with you right before we got married, I've always been happy with you, right from the day I met you, and the only thing I've always wanted was to make you happy as well, but…"

"Buts, we're discussing buts and what ifs now?" She cries again, her hand running through her dark hair, leaving his strong arms, leaving his embrace, showing him only her back, because, even if he is hurting her, even if she wants to hurt him back because she is sick and tired of this charade and of little games and his antics, she is still strong and proud Teresa Lisbon, CBI SCU team leader, and she isn't going to allow someone to see her like that, not even her husband, especially Patrick Jane.

"DAMN, TERESA, I'M TOO HAPPY SUDDENLY! IT DO CREEP THE HELL OUT OF ME!" This time, Patrick is the one shouting, but, differently from his wife, he doesn't push away the person he is talking to, instead, he runs to Teresa, forces her to turn, palms her face with his own hands, and kisses her, all in the blink of an eye.

It's slow but yet urgent, full of passion but of love as well, tender but yet lustful, she can feels his tears mixed with her own on their lips, and it says everything without needing a word to be said at all.

When they finally part, she rests her head on his chest, and allows Patrick to cuddle her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, while kissing her neck and her shoulder, keeping her firmly against himself, like she could be some kind of anchor to this reality, to his sanity, to life…

"Every night, I go to bed – she starts, without looking at him, skimming over his chest with her fingers, making small circles on his skin, burning it and marking him like not even the wedding band did – wondering if, in the morning, I'll wake in my old apartment realizing the last five years had been only a dream…- she cries, she cries all her tears, cries into her chest, the fabric of the light blue shirt suffocating the sobs, something nothing can do for him – sometimes you have to stop putting yourself at the centre of the world, Patrick, sometimes you have to understand you're not the only one suffering, the only one with feelings…"

"I know – he ménages to say between his sobs, holding her tighter and tighter- I know I'm not the only one suffering, but… you have to try to understand this, Teresa…. You say… you say I'm not the only one, but you… you are not the only one who fears that all of this will disappear after falling asleep… - he pauses, forcing her to look at him by lifting her chin with one single finger of his right, blue eyes locked into green ones – This morning, I saw you and Jess and.."

"That's it… you've been distant and weird the whole day…because… you had a bad dream? - Ok, I knew Lisbon sometimes liked to behave as a normal person, and she even had a life, but this is crazy! He lifts his eyebrows, open mouth and wide eyes as she lets it go of him again, a hand on her mouth, almost collapsing on the pavement so much she is laughing- and he was serious, it wasn't supposed to be like that Besides, she said she understood…- Oh, sorry, I'll recompose myself, you can go on now" but he can't really help but smile, but taking her again in his arms, he can't help smiling sweetly at her as she tries her best to stop laughing, or, at least, to her futile attempt, and every time he makes her a compliment, he signs it with a kiss on a different part of her body.

"It's just that you are so perfect – kiss- so beautiful – another kiss - so strong – yet another signature on her skin- so marvelous- kiss, more kisses, he is trailing kisses on her whole body, on her soft and pale skin, smiling and grinning on her skin, making her shiver, the good kind of shivers – and I was broken and hell-bent on revenge, and I really don't understand how I got you…"

"Are you trying to distract me from the main topic with this, Mr. Jane? – She asks, indicating the nonexistent space between them, but as he sees her smiling, he understands that it's over, the argument is resolved and that he is happy and he is happy for a reason – because this and the puppy dog eyes seem to scream avoidance to me."

He kisses her nose, and, positioning a lock of dark hair behind her ear, he takes a big breath, like to fix this moment in his memory. "I guess that… sometimes, it feels so unreal, too good to be true, I guess I just need someone to remind me that…"

She kisses him, quickly and sweetly, caressing his chest under his shirt, trying to make him realize it's real. I don't care what it is, I don't want to leave this place ever again, because this is real, my feelings for Teresa are real, and I don't want to lose this, I'm not going to give Red John the satisfaction of having destroyed my life twice…

And then, she talks, and between words she gives him butterfly kisses on his chin, cheeks, lips, nose, and forehead, neck… all the exposed skin she can sees and feels under her fingerprints, until the story is over.