Ok, guys. This is the last chapter. It has been a pleasure writing for everyone. I know I probably ended it different than you would have hoped, but I wanted to keep my story as close to the show as I could. Thank you all for reading my work and for the wonderful reviews. Please, if you haven't commented so far and you like the story, let me know how I did overall! Tell me what you think! As always, Read, Review, and Enjoy! :D

Lisbon stared ahead into the nothingness in front of her. She had so many things she should be concentrating on, but somehow her mind kept returning to one subject; Patrick Jane. After finally being released from the hospital, things had been different between her and Jane. Of course, if one was not paying attention, they would not notice. However, Lisbon, who probably took more notice of Jane than necessary, did detect the subtle differences in his behavior. It was the little things she picked up on. Like this morning, when Jane had happened to arrive at the same time she had to work, he had politely opened the door for her. This would not have been so unusual had he not gently placed his hand on the small of her back to help guide her through it. Though it had only been for a few seconds, it had been enough to send a warm flash of heat coursing through her body and remind her of all the locked emotions she hid away. Whenever he touched her, either brushing past in the hallway, or grazing her fingers when he handed her a cup of coffee, she always had the same result. Maybe it wasn't that he had changed, but instead, the way she reacted to him. She had never allowed herself to acknowledge her feelings for Jane, but now they were becoming hard to ignore. Of course, he was not making it easy with his flirtatious behavior and hidden advances.

This was one of those situations she would rather not deal with; hence, her recent behavior. After any one of these slightly intrusive gestures, she would laugh it off or completely ignore the situation; continuing as if nothing had ever happened. She could never truly let down her guard; instead, she locked away her heart and pretended she held no emotional ties. After all, if she gave way to her feelings, the walls she had taken years to build would come crumbling down making her personal and professional life a living hell. Sighing in aggravation, she glared down at her paperwork internally demanding it to give her answers. The blank forms gave no advice.

"I would hate to be those forms. If I was, I think I would have been incinerated into nothing but a pile of ashes by now." An obnoxious yet appealing voice called from the doorway.

Lisbon looked up to find Patrick closing the door behind him with a smirk on his face. She pointedly focused her glare on him and concentrated as if her life depended on it. Letting her face fall in mock defeat, she answered,

"No, I just tried. Yet here you stand."

His casual banter was so easy to fall in step with. She could not help but smile.

"Why so aggravated?" Patrick asked seriously as he sat down across from her.

Crap, she thought, why did he have to be so good at reading her moods? Well, then again, it was his job. Looking down at her papers, careful not to meet his probing eyes, she answered,

"Oh, just the usual. Loads of paper work to catch up on, a trial date I'm supposed to attend, and a general lack of sleep."

"Those all sound like problems you know how to deal with, hence, the usual. What I want to know is what internal dilemma is leaving you so conflicted?" Jane answered.

Frustrated, Lisbon picked up a pen and began to fill in the papers, trying to block out her pesky consultant.

"I'm fine." She snapped. "My personal matters have nothing to do with you."

Damn, she was blushing again. Why couldn't she control her emotions around him? Standing abruptly, she moved to sweep the papers off of her desk, but was in such a hurry that the documents flew to the floor. Stooping to pick them up, she was surprised when Jane reached down to help her at the same time. They both stopped when they realized just how close they were to each other. Their eyes met and Lisbon felt her breath catch. This was the closest they had been since the hospital. Before she knew what was happening, Patrick had gathered the spilled papers from the floor and was putting them into her hands. Unsteadily, she rose to her feet as he did the same. He was standing quiet close to her now as his eyes were searching her face. Lisbon turned away before she could compromise herself any further. Placing the files back into her drawer knowing there was no way she could concentrate now, she was shocked when Patrick came behind her and rested his hand on her back. Feeling such a strong internal drawing for the man behind her, Lisbon could do nothing but turn towards him.

"Teresa…" Patrick said quietly. "I think I am your dilemma."

Lisbon was speechless as she looked up into his tender blue eyes. Patrick moved closer until his body was brushing hers and slowly raised his hand to cup the side of her face. Leaning down, he paused as his eyes gauged her reaction. Lisbon froze when he had reached out to touch her. Was she really going to give in so easily? Looking up into his compassionate face, Lisbon found her answer; yes, she was. Close enough that their breaths were mingled, the right side of Patrick's mouth rose in a smile as he moved to kiss her. Just as Lisbon's eyes began to close and Patrick leaned forward to close the small distance between their lips, the door swung open. Jumping apart as if they had been shocked, they turned around to see Rigsby walk in the door.

"Hey, boss I was wondering what you wanted me to do with….uh, oh, I'll just come back later." Rigsby paused awkwardly as he realized what he had walked in on.

Rigsby curiously looked between the two coworkers. Jane was actually smiling with his hands in his pockets, while Lisbon looked down right angry. Switching back to her old self with renewed vigor, Lisbon quickly marched past Jane, making no eye contact and took the documents from Rigsby's hand.

"No, you are not interrupting anything. In fact, why don't you show me why exactly you can't seem to follow orders?" Lisbon demanded as she practically shoved Rigsby out of the door.

Jane sighed and gradually made his way out of the office and toward the brown couch. As he walked through the bullpen, he saw Van Pelt was typing away on her computer, Cho was talking on the phone, and Lisbon was intently explaining some sort of procedure to Rigsby who could not look more confused. Lying down on his couch, Jane crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Letting a grand smile spread over his face, he could not be more satisfied. Today, he had confirmed all that he had secretly been wishing for. A question that had kept him up many a night was now answered. Lisbon obviously had more feelings than friendship toward him. There was hope after all. He knew he would have to work for it. One tender gesture at a time, he would make her see what she was so blatantly trying to ignore. They were meant for each other and eventually, she was going to acknowledge it. That, he was sure of.