Of Many Things
Chapter Eight

Jane entered Lisbon's room with, what she presumed from the glorious smell, a cup of coffee. Except, he held two ornate cups and saucers in his hands; and the last time she checked, that meant tea. And she didn't even want to know where he had found the beautifully painted china from. Here they were, sat in a hospital room, and Jane was concerning himself with crockery. Then again, this was Patrick Jane she was talking about. Eccentricity was simply his way.
Seeing the slightly puzzled, albeit adorable, crinkle to Lisbon's forehead, Jane cleared up her confusion over the mysterious china. 'If you refuse to drink anything other than that vile mud water, the least you can do is to drink it in style. You are, after all, almost a lady.'
Yes! It was indeed wonderful, magnificent, very close to being holy, coffee. Wait, had he just said 'almost a lady'? Teresa Lisbon was unsure of many things in this world, but she was definitely certain that she was all woman. If Patrick Jane wanted a fight, he would get one.
'Almost?' mock frustration over taking her voice, of course Lisbon knew this was just another little ploy of Jane's to keep her mind off of the ticking clock. One the she greatly appreciated.
'Almost.' was Jane's reply, a grin tugging at his rugged cheeks.
'Care to explain yourself Mr. Jane?' a moment of regret sank into Lisbon's heart; how she would desperately miss Jane's gentle teasing. He really did bring a little light into her life, not that she would ever admit to it of course.
'Come on my dear, your tomboy ways cannot have escaped your attention. I haven't read it personally, but i do believe that there is a whole section on not carrying more than one fire arm on your person in the National Ladies Handbook.' a self satisfied grin spreading into his tone, and across his entire being.
'Touché , touché.' Lisbon pushed all saddening feelings aside, she wasn't about to waste her time with Jane. The little of it that she had left.
'Now drink your coffee woman, i have big plans for tonight.' and with that, Jane sank into the chair by Lisbon's bed, and enjoyed his expertly made tea.
With a raise of her eyebrow, Lisbon too joined Jane in drinking from her china cup, enjoying every moment of it.

'Truth or dare?'
'Jane, what sort of dares did you have in mind? I mean, not to disappoint, but just moving to the bathroom is an almost impossible task.' sometimes she really did wonder what it was like in the mind of Patrick Jane. She imagined it to be an incredibly cluttered place. Wonderfully so.
'Truth it is then.' Jane beamed at Lisbon, much like a 5 year old who had been promised ice cream for supper.
Teresa pondered the offer, what harm could a children's game do? 'Truth it is.'
'Your first kiss? And no backing out, i imagine forfeits would be a little difficult too.'
She had definitely spoken too soon. A whole hurricane worth of harm was most probably just around the corner, and heading straight for her room. 'Tommy Stelton. I was 12.'
Like hell he would let her get away with such an ambiguous answer, no, she would be making a fool of herself in about 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1..
'Details woman! I need details.' Jane hitched forwards on his chair a little, the slight blush already spreading across Lisbon's delicate features promising for a good story. At Least from where he was sitting.
With a deep breathe, and what she feared to be very pink cheeks, Lisbon dove into her past life. Visions of her 12 year old self flashing before her eyes.
Lisbon, or Tessy as she was known then, had somehow gotten it into her head that Tommy Stelton was the most perfect boy on the whole entire planet. He sat diagonally in front of her in class, and she was constantly stealing glances at him instead of doing her maths work. Knowing that he didn't feel the same, she would have to come up with a cunning plan to get a kiss off of him. Everybody knew that Tommy was in love with Missy Fink. In fact, all the boys were in love with Missy Fink. Even at 12, the allure of blond pig tails was not missed by the male population. So, putting on her best handwriting, Tessy had written a note to Tommy asking him to come meet her at the swings when the bell rang, and signed 'Missy' in a bubble of hearts at the bottom.
When the bell rang, and the time came, she began to regret her decision a little. But then she saw Tommy strolling towards her, and all she wanted was to get him to kiss her. She smiled at him from her place on the swings, and jumped off mid air, landing perfectly by his side. The next part was the most embarrassing of all. Not wanting to wait any longer, she stood on tippy toe and pushed her lips onto his. Tommy, shocked to say the least, immediately pushed her away, and ran off in the opposite direction. It was definitely not her finest hour, but Tessy had kissed her dream man. She just skipped the part when he ran away whenever she told the story.
Lisbon's cheeks had gone from dusky pink, to all out fire engine red. She was certainly in for a course the world famous Patrick Jane ridicule and humiliation after that little confession.
'So you just hoped off the swing, and kissed him?'
'Yes.'
'You didn't say a word?'
'No.'
'And he ran away?'
'Yes.'
'He literally ran?'
Yes'
'And you told people this story?'
'Yes.'
God, Jane was enjoying this far too much for her liking. Not everyone could be as devastatingly handsome, and ever so charming as he was. Sometimes, you just had to jump off the swing.
'Wow.' Jane was really quite impressed with the 12 year old Lisbon. 'He, my little swinger, was a very silly boy indeed.' A smile was shared between the both of them, one that said a little more than it first appeared. Perhaps a little embarrassment was a good thing. It seemed to be working it's magic on the beautiful CBI agent, and her pain in the ass consultant. It appeared that truth and dare was just what the doctor had ordered.

Thankyou again for reading. Katie.