Chapter Eight

One morning, Sanders, the head of the Homicides Unit with whom Jane had been working the previous three weeks, accosted him on his way to the kitchen. "You're going to be working with the SCU's case for the next few days. Heightower's orders."

Jane nodded and Sanders left the kitchen. He had surprisingly liked working with Sanders. He was a straightforward guy who never lied. He didn't always agree with Jane's methods and often voiced it, but appreciated and recognized his help. He and Sanders had quickly fallen into a rhythm that worked quite well.

Nevertheless, Jane missed Lisbon terribly. He craved to see her smile (or her scowl). He missed the faint cinnamon scent that enveloped her. He missed her not-so-comfortable couch to sleep on. He also missed the team: Cho's stoic presence, Rigsby's eagerness and Van Pelt's optimism. A rush of excitement took over his body when he first heard Sanders' words. It left quickly, however, as he realized he would properly interact with Lisbon for several days. During the last three weeks he had run into her in the kitchen or hall a few times. Those encounters had usually been brief and awkward, more on her side than his. He had simply been happy to see her while she obviously felt uncomfortable to run into him like this. He would remain professional so she would feel at ease and everything would be more or less back to normal.

And miraculously, it was just that. Lisbon seemed quite comfortable to have Jane back on her team and treated him just like she had always treated him before he left.

There was just an itty bitty tiny hiccup.

Jane felt more hopelessly in love with Lisbon than he had ever been. He suddenly felt the urge to touch her whenever she was less than two feet away from him. Every time she smiled, or even spoke, he wanted to kiss her. If a strand of hair was astray, he had to force himself not to tuck it behind her ear and take the opportunity to run his hand in her hair.

It was torture.

Of course, this case was an out-of-town case so Jane was also forced to lie on an uncomfortable bed in the room next door to Lisbon's room.

He could hear the noises from her room of a shower running and the image of a naked, wet Lisbon was torturing him. Without thinking, he got up and jimmied his way into her room within two minutes. The unit was hardly staying at the Ritz so it was a fairly easy matter to accomplish. The bathroom door was ajar and before he could even think of talking himself out of it, he undressed and jumped into the shower.

At his invasion of her privacy, Lisbon whipped around, mouth open and ready to scream until she noticed who it was. She gathered all her strength to collect herself. She finally closed her mouth and stood there, glaring at him, obviously angry.

For once Jane wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't thought this through before jumping into the shower. All he had been thinking of was that there was a naked Lisbon in the next room and that he wanted to be with her. Now that he was standing in her shower stark naked as well, he wasn't sure how to justify his actions so he just said the only thing he could think of:

"I love you."

"So you've said before," Lisbon retorted, not softening one bit by his declaration.

Jane thought about what he wanted to say next, if he was really ready to say those words and if he was ready to live with them. He wanted them to be honest and a true reflection of how he felt rather than a way of getting himself out of this current messy situation. Their separation had brought out something deep inside of him that couldn't be tucked back in. "I want to be with you, and not just tonight. I want to be with you tomorrow, and the day after, and next week, and next month, and next year, and even ten years from now."

Lisbon's eyes widened, but her lips were as tight as ever. She was surprised, but sceptical. "What changed your mind?"

"I missed you so much. I want to touch you. All the time. You were right, Lisbon; when you're in love, you want to be with the person all the time, you want to touch them all the time and I do. I want to be with you, touch you, talk to you, and kiss you all the time." He could hear the desperation in his voice and he didn't like it. For years, even before Angela and Charlotte died, Jane had maintained his cool, detached approach. After years of bullying from his father, he had built a carapace immune to any kind of threat to his vulnerability. He had only shown his deep vulnerable feelings to Angela a few times and it was difficult to show them again to someone completely new. But he trusted Lisbon. She would eventually see his sincerity. She knew him better than anyone else.

"What if you change your mind tomorrow?" she asked him, obviously not trusting him, which she had every right to.

"I won't," he assured her, grinning. She shook her head, unconvinced, but it didn't deter him. He knew he was winning her over as she kept questioning him. If she was truly convinced that he hadn't changed his mind for good, he would have been promptly kicked out of her shower a good two minutes ago. He pressed on, "I won't, I assure you. I won't because I felt like this last month. I just didn't know it. I was trying to make myself believe that I didn't really desire you, but I do. I really do. I've wanted you for a really long time. You know that football jersey you have?"

Lisbon nodded hesitantly, obviously confused about where he was going with this.

"The first time I saw you in it was the night we trapped Carmen. Remember that night? Of course you remember that night. You were so beautiful. You were fighting back. You were my strong Lisbon. And you were doing all of it half naked without an ounce of embarrassment. You were, are, so fantastic. And that wasn't the first time I noticed you were attractive; I've always known it. But that was the first time I desired you. That was the first time that I wanted to take you to a bed and make love to you all night long. Just like that horrible Bryan Adams song." He was holding her head in his hands, caressing both cheeks with his thumbs. She was standing naked in front of him, but he was focused on her face, her eyes. He wanted her to understand how much he loved her and wanted to be with her, and that it wasn't going to go away.

"That was almost three years ago," Lisbon pointed out, incredulous, yet obviously pleased that he remembered as a soft smile formed on her lips and her eyes softened.

"Yes, it was," Jane agreed. "I wasn't ready then. I wasn't ready a month ago, but I am now. I love you and I really want to be with you if you'll have me." The last part was completely said in order to appeal to her control freak side. The more he appealed to it, the better his chances were. All was fair in love and war.

Lisbon, unable to speak, just nodded. He had finally convinced her. Jane grinned and she smiled back. She took his head and made him lean down to meet her. She gave him a soft kiss at first, tasting his lips, sizing their shape and taste. She kissed him again, this time trailing her tongue over them. She finally kissed him a third time with her tongue inside his inviting mouth. It was bliss. It was heaven. She tasted amazingly Lisbon and he felt he couldn't get enough of her. Her tongue felt amazing against his, warm and velvety. He wondered if he would ever feel like he'd had enough of this. He doubted he would. He lowered his hands and ran them across her back. She eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck trying to bring their bodies as close to one another as she could. He propped her up against the shower wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was hard and erect against her and she attempted to lift herself up just enough so he would be able to enter her. He stilled her immediately. "It might sound a bit sappy, but I really don't want our first time to be against a shower wall."

She nodded in agreement, untangled herself, and lowered herself back to the shower floor. She turned off the shower while Jane grabbed two towels and handed one to Lisbon. It was a bit awkward at this point. They had flirted once in a while over the years but it had hardly prepared them for a situation like this.

~o~

Author's Notes: So sorry for the very long delay. Work and life have taken over. There's only two chapters left after this one and I promise it won't take me as long to update. Everything's written and betaed. I just need to edit once more before publishing so it really shouldn't take too long. Thanks for reading :)