Last chapter. :) Thank you guys all so much for reading, and your reviews have been absolutely incredible! I hope you enjoy this last chapter.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Chapter 6: Seven Seconds

"The check is all taken care of," Jimmy informed them as he took their empty plates away from them.

"How?" Lisbon asked him, sliding a glance at Jane.

"Kimball has already taken care of it."

"Kimball?" Jane and Lisbon exclaimed together.

Jimmy nodded. "I got a call from a Kimball today, and he said he'd cover dinner for you guys." He shrugged. "Grace warned me that you two may not be entirely happy about this date, but for what it's worth, your friends care about you a lot and they just want you to be happy. As corny as that sounds."

Jane and Lisbon both smiled at him. "Thanks, Jimmy," Lisbon said.

"No problem. Have a nice night." With that, he turned with the plates in his hands and went back inside.

Jane smiled. "They really are pretty great."

"Who?"

"The team. All of them."

"Absolutely," Lisbon agreed, nodding.

"They all admire you, too."

She flinched, staring at him. "Where'd that come from?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"How do you know?"

"Huh?"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Keep up, would you? How do you know they admire me?"

"Because I just know." He paused, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair. "Grace looks up to you. I mean, they all do. But Van Pelt especially. She admires your work ethic and your courageous nature, and she hopes to be an amazing cop like you someday."

She smiled and blushed at the same time, flattered, yet not quite sure how to answer that.

"She's a good cop," she finally said. "A... great cop. She has the potential of having seniority over her own team one day."

"She would absolutely love to hear you say that."

"I'll keep that in mind."

A silence fell between them, and they both just watched other, lips twitching in amusement as they tried to guess what the other was thinking. Lisbon was the first to give up, and she stood with a smile. "Ready to go?"

No, he thought, standing. "Yep," he lied.

There was a gate on the patio leading to the side of the restaurant, which would bring them to the parking lot. They walked there in silence, staring at the ground as they walked. Jane had his hands shoved in his pockets, and Lisbon wrung her hands together. They stopped walking when they reached the lot. Jane turned to face Lisbon, smiling.

"I had fun tonight," he told her.

"So did I," she replied, surprising herself. She really did. It was probably the best date she'd had in a long time.

She tilted her head back to glance up at the stars in the night sky. No overcast. Not even a little bit of fog. Just a clear view of the twinkling jewels that hung in the darkness. No one knew that she had a secret obsession with the stars. She would walk out onto her balcony every single night and stare at the sky for what seemed like hours. She'd find the constellations, trace them with her finger in the air.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jane asked her, following her line of sight.

"It really is," she murmured. "I absolutely love starry skies," she confessed.

As she said this, a shooting star flashed across the heavens. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. But she didn't, and she took advantage of it. She closed her eyes, and made a wish.

Finally, she lowered her chin so she was looking at Jane, who was already staring at her, a small smile placed on his lips. She smiled back, feeling a pink flush creeping up her bare neck.

"Goodnight, Jane," she said, turning on her heel and starting in the direction of her car.

"Lisbon, wait," he called after her, after a moment of deliberating.

She stopped, twisting around. "Yes?"

"So..." he murmured as he took a step closer to her. "Aren't dates supposed to end with the guy giving the girl a goodnight kiss?"

Lisbon, whose heart was about to fly up her throat, replied with a shrug. "If we were in a fairytale, and I was dressed in some sort of fantastic, over-the-top gown."

"To be fair, your dress is pretty fantastic, so I'm going to go ahead and kiss you anyway."

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt the familiar sensation of butterflies fluttering around in her belly. Her heart was pounding. Her face felt hot. Her knees felt weak. It took everything in her power to keep her hands from trembling furiously.

She hadn't felt like this since she was a teenager.

Jane took another step closer to her, and another, and just one more, closing the space between the two of them. He slowly raised his hand and rested it on her shoulder, sliding it to the base of her neck. He jerked it away when he felt her tense up.

"Sorry," she whispered, laughing softly. "As you were."

He smiled again, skating his right hand around her neck and the other around her waist, pulling her close, and placing a soft kiss to her silky lips.

The feeling that jolted through Patrick hit him like lightning. He wasn't expecting it, and it was electrifying. His eyes fluttered closed, and everything disappeared. The past, (his god-awful past), the present, the future, (unless it involved her.) The parking lot, the restaurant, the passing bystanders, the world vanished, and it was just them. The two of them. Kissing, dreaming, hoping, wishing...

All of that, in just seven seconds.

Reluctantly, he pulled back, opening his eyes to stare into hers, allowing her space and time to pull her thoughts together, maybe even throw together a coherent sentence. He gave her the choice. She could run away, right now, and forget that the date, the connection, the kiss had ever happened. They could go back to being their old bantering selves, and he could hide his feelings forever.

Or... she could stay.

And that's exactly what she did.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him again, fingers playing with his curls. The kiss wasn't fierce, or hungry, or desperate. It was just a gentle kiss, taking things slow. There wasn't a cliché tongue-war going on in their mouths like excited teenagers in those movies. It was just a simple kiss. They didn't need to explain to each other how they felt about the other. One kiss, and they understood.

They pulled back, resting their foreheads together, sighing. Jane wrapped his arms completely around her, pulling her into his chest for a hug. She tightened her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes again.

And just like that, Teresa Lisbon's wish upon that shooting star came true.

The end. :)

So... I was thinking that maybe, if you guys think it would be a good idea, I could maybe write a sequel revolving around Lisbon and Jane on the anniversary of Jane's family's death? Good, bad? Opinions would be lovely. Anyway, please review, and thank you for reading. :D