-Just a quick note. This is my first ever Fanfiction, so be nice! I got a lot of good reviews on the website, and I'm really happy! Jisbon-filled, of course! Warning: OOCness (OOC means out of character, just so you know.) Here you go! Some chapters are better than others.

Chapter One: The Coffee Cup
Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon sat, utterly bored, at her desk at the CBI headquarters in Sacramento, California. She looked at her computer screen emotionlessly. The words on the screen soon grew blurry and fuzzy in her vision. What the…? She blinked a few times and the words returned to normal. I should not be doing this, she thought to herself, gazing out the window. It was a beautiful day and here she was, cooped up inside her office, typing up a case report. She reached for her coffee cup and was disappointed to find it empty. She let out a long, tired sigh and frowned.
After a few more minutes of staring at her computer screen, she got up and decided to get herself more coffee. Kimball Cho was sitting in his chair, squeezing a stress ball; Wayne Rigsby was casually chatting with Grace Van Pelt, no doubly trying-and failing- a pathetic attempt to flirt with her; and Jane, the team’s consultant, was simply lying down at ‘his’ dark tan leather couch with his eyes closed. Though it may appear to any regular human that he was sleeping, all four of the other agents knew that he wasn’t. They all knew that he was simply resting, endless thoughts flurrying about in his brain. Who knows what he was thinking at that very moment?
Lisbon pushed the button on the coffee machine and waited for it to fill in her cup. She looked over at Jane and stared at him, scowling. The man infuriated her, manipulated her, lied to her, intrigued her, and made her have that high-school crush kind of feeling all at the same time. He could read her like a book, and she hated that. He made her blush every single day, and she hated how her pale skin made it easy for him to tell that she was blushing. Yet, at the same time, she kind of liked it when he made her blush. She liked it when he was happy with what he did and when he would smile at her with that gorgeous smile of his at her. Of course, she’d never admit that.
She continued to gaze at him, the scowl now gone from her face. She let her thoughts wander as she watched him rest peacefully. God, how can this man rest knowing all of the stress he’s caused me lately? The man shouldn’t be resting; he should be at my office apologizing to me. But… he is pretty cute when lies on that couch. Wait, what? How did that get in there? Well, I suppose it’s true. The way his lips curl in a small smile, the way his chest raises up and down slowly, the way his hair doesn’t get messed up at all. I wonder what it’d be like to run my hands through his hair… STOP IT! The man lies to me, manipulates me! Not to mention he’s still in love with his wife! Can’t I see the wedding ring that he wears every day to work? Ugh, I can’t deny it.
“Yeouch!” Lisbon cried out suddenly. She looked at her coffee cup and found it full. In fact, it was so full that it was overflowing and pouring onto her hand, hence the reason for her scream. “Damn.”
“You okay, boss?” Rigsby asked her, concerned.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she muttered. “Would someone get me some napkins?”
Someone’s hand reached over and around her waist, pulling her closer. Soft, warm breath fell onto her neck, making her pulse race. She knew it was Patrick Jane. The soft hands wiped the coffee off of her hand and then, just as fast as it had happened, they disappeared. Lisbon found herself wishing they hadn’t left.
Blushing, she turned around and found Jane smiling at her. He got a new cup out of the cabinet. Lisbon reached out, attempting to take the cup and get herself some more coffee. Instead, Jane shook his head.
“No, no. I don’t think so my dear. We wouldn’t want that to happen again, now would we?” he asked with one of his signature smiles.
“Jane, just let me get my own coffee. I wasn’t even burned for crying out loud,” she said, reaching out to grab the cup. He turned away, and she missed. “Jane, give me the cup,” Lisbon ordered, her voice a little lower. She lunged for it, but he turned away again. “Give. Me. The. Cup,” she hissed. He smiled and started walking quickly to the other end of the room.
“Come and get it if you really want it,” he sang in a sing-songy voice.
“Goddamn it, Jane! Just give me the freakin’ cup!” She ran towards him, attempting to get it back.
The rest of the team watched them, amused. Cho had put away his ball and was now taping the scene with his cell phone. Rigsby and Van Pelt were also watching the scene, smiles on their faces. All three of them were eager to find out if he would give her the cup back or if she would have to get it back herself the hard way.
“Aww, what would the fun in that be?” Jane asked, dodging her.
He was walking even faster now using long strides that got him away from her easily. She had to run to keep up with him.
“Jane, if you value your life you will give me that cup back,” she shouted.
He laughed in response and just walked even faster. Losing her patience, she ran and easily caught up with them. Then, she threw herself at him and they both fell onto Jane’s couch. He was on the bottom, clutching the cup tightly with his hands that were held underneath his stomach. She was on top, and she had her two arms around his back and felt the cool surface underneath her finger tips. Unfortunately, she still had to get Jane’s fingers away. She tried prying them away but found him stronger than she imagined.
“Give it to me, Jane!” she commanded.
“I don’t think so!”
They struggled for a few more minutes before a plan filled Lisbon’s brain. She smiled deviously before moving her fingers away from the cup and beginning to apply pressure onto his stomach. She ran her hands up and down as he began laughing hysterically.
“No, no! No! Stop it! I’m ticklish there!” he cried out between laughs.
“Then surrender and give me the cup!” she whispered into his ear.
“Never!” he declared loudly.
“Fine then,” she said before tickling him even harder.
He continued to laugh as she continued to tickle him and soon, he was gasping for breath. She reached under his stomach and grasped the cup. Summoning all of her strength, she freed the cup from his grasp and yanked it out.
“Yes!” she cried victoriously, holding the cup in the air like it was a trophy.
Snickers and laughs caused her to turn around. Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt were all looking at them, laughing their heads off. Lisbon’s gaze landed on Cho’s phone and her cheeks grew red. She glared at him.
“Give me that,” she spat out, her voice steely and low.
“Nah, I don’t think so boss,” Cho managed to say in between laughs.
“Fine then. I’ll just have to do what I did to Jane,” she said, shrugging.
Cho’s expression changed from amusement to pure horror.
“Oh no, please don’t!” he begged.
“Then hand me the phone.”
He did as he was told and Lisbon quickly went to the videos section. A look of pride crossed her face when she hit the delete button on the video that showed a picture of her tickling Jane. The look soon turned to confusion, then fury. THIS VIDEO CANNOT BE DELETED BECAUSE THERE IS A PASS-CODE LOCK ON IT. PLEASE REMOVE LOCK AND THEN ENTER CODE IF YOU WISH TO REMOVE.
“CHO!!!!!!!” Lisbon roared.
She threw the phone at him, furious. When everyone started laughing, including Jane, she couldn’t stop the smile that began to form on her lips. Soon, she was laughing with them. A man passed by the door and seeing them all laughing, he stopped. He wore a confused expression, and he looked worried that they were drunk.
“Can I help you?” Van Pelt asked with a polite smile. She was still trying to stop laughing.
“Um, no thanks,” the man said shyly. “I was just worried that you guys were… never mind.”
“What? Drunk? Doing drugs? High?” Rigsby asked, listing off possibilities on his fingers.
“Yeah, pretty much all of those.”
“Well we’re not,” Lisbon told him.
“Yeah. So leave,” Cho ordered with a cold expression on his face.
“Right. Sorry,” the man mumbled before turning around and leaving.
Once he left, everyone started laughing again.
“You know what we should do?” Jane asked when they had composed themselves.
“No, what?” Van Pelt asked.
“Actually, why don’t I just show you? Does anyone have plans for tonight?” he asked, looking around the room. Everyone shook their heads. “Good. Then come on.”
He grabbed Lisbon by the arm, Van Pelt by her wrist, and motioned for the men to follow him. They followed him downstairs and got into a minivan with Jane at the wheel. Lisbon sat shotgun and Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all in the back. After a few minutes of driving, Lisbon spoke up.
“Where are you taking us, Jane?” she asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.
“Patience, my darling. Patience. You’ll see soon enough,” he said with a mysterious smile.
“Seriously, Jane. Where are you taking us?” Rigsby asked.
“You have to be patient too, Rigsby. I think you’ll like it.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because there will be food.”
“Hey! Well, food does sound good right now,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
“Jane…” Cho started to say.
“I will say no more,” Jane stated. Clearly, that was the end of the discussion.
And, true to his word, he really did say no more the entire trip, despite his colleague’s pleads. Every time one of them would ask something, he’d just turn around and give them a mysterious smile. And, every time, Lisbon would shout,
“Jane! Keep your eyes on the road!”
Jane smiled. Same old Lisbon.

Chapter Two: Van Pelt’s Question
“What. The hell. Is that?” Cho asked, his gaze lingering on a giant, round thing that lit up in the distance.
“It looks like a Ferris Wheel,” Van Pelt murmured.
“It is,” Jane told them.
“Why the hell would you be taking us somewhere with a Ferris Wheel-” Lisbon began to ask. When the obvious answer settled in her brain, she closed her eyes and groaned. “Oh no! You’re taking us to a fair, aren’t you?”
“That’s quite correct, Lisbon,” Jane answered, looking at her and flashing her a smile.
“Eyes on the road!” she snapped at him, blushing.
Truth was, she liked it when he smiled at her. She didn’t know it, but he liked smiling at her.
I wish he would smile at me all day, she thought to herself. Crap! There I go again!
“Oh, you were right, Jane,” Rigsby said, smiling. “Fair’s do have food. And better yet, it’s good food!”
“It’s fatty and greasy food,” Cho said, a slightly disgusted look on his face.
“That’s what makes the food so good!”
“Is that all you think about? Food?” Van Pelt asked with an amused smile.
“Oh, nonsense,” Jane piped up. “He thinks about you, too.”
Both Van Pelt and Rigsby blushed at his comment. They looked at each other and smiled shyly.
“Oh, God! Either get us to the fair faster, Jane, or you two stop giving each other googley eyes before I kick you two to the curb!” Cho mumbled.
Van Pelt and Rigsby looked away, blushing. Still, Rigsby took Grace’s hand shyly in his, and she smiled.
“Why are you even taking us to the fair?” Lisbon asked Jane.
“I figured we all needed a break from work,” he explained to her.
“But I’m not dressed properly for a fair. None of us are,” she pointed out to him.
“I know. Don’t worry, they have a little store where they have a bunch of different clothes to buy.”
“We’re not kids, Jane. Only kids go to fairs.”
“That’s not true,” he protested.
“Yes it is,” she told him.
“Then why do you always see teenagers there?”
“Because teenagers go to fairs so they can smoke and do drugs and drink beer and get wasted.”
“Why, Lisbon, I’m surprised. How would you know that? You didn’t do that as a teenager, did you?” he asked her teasingly.
“No!”
“I’m very glad to hear that. Okay, so you’ve covered the teenagers. But how do you explain the adults like us?”
“They’re supervising their kids.”
“Well then,” he said, looking at her, “we’ll just have to be the first adults without kids to ever go to fairs!”
She looked back at him, beginning to get lost in his deep blue eyes. Keep looking at me, Jane, she thought. I could look back at you all day. Damn it! I did it again!
“EYES ON THE ROAD!” Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all cried at once at Jane.
Jane turned his attention back to the road and swerved to avoid a dead… thing… in the middle of the road.
“I thought you were supposed to tell me that, Lisbon,” Jane said with an amused smile.
“She was too busy looking at you,” Cho grumbled.
Lisbon blushed and tried her best to ignore his comment, though she knew it was true. Jane pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Everyone got out and stretched their legs. Lisbon looked around and noticed that Jane had disappeared.
“Where the heck did Jane go?” she asked the others.
“Over there,” Van Pelt told her, pointing at the ticket booth.
They all walked up to stand beside Jane.
“Hi, I’d like five tickets please,” he told the cashier, a young woman with honey-colored hair and hazel eyes. She snapped her purple gum and handed Jane five blue tickets.
“Enjoy your trip at the California Fair,” she said in a nasally voice.
“Thank you,” Jane called over his shoulder before they started off for inside.
Jane directed the group to the gift shop. They went inside and found that Jane had been right. There was clothes of all different kinds: dresses, shorts, jeans, pants, shirts, skirts, t-shirts, tank tops, short-sleeves, sweatshirts, hoodies, sandals, tennis shoes, high heels, the list went on and on. It was just like a store at the mall. There was also a flower section that had all the flowers in the world, a gift card section, and a gift shop section.
Van Pelt headed for the blouses and picked out a peach, elbow-length one with a white undershirt and then got some bright white Capri’s. She purchased her things and went into the bathroom to change.
There, a petite and very pretty twenty-four year old woman with milk-chocolate-brown colored hair that only went down to the middle of her neck and soft, pink lips was applying mascara in front of the mirror. The woman gave a shy hello to Van Pelt, and Van Pelt smiled back politely. She pulled her hair back into a smooth pony tail and went into a stall to change into her new clothes.
When she came back out, the woman was gone. Instead, Lisbon stood in front of the mirror dressed in a calf-length, flowy, white halter top dress with a grass green Hawaiian flower pattern on it. Her raven colored hair was curled and she wore a little bit of pink lipstick on her lips.
“Van Pelt,” Lisbon greeted the rookie.
“Hey boss,” Van Pelt greeted her back.
An awkward silence passed between them.
“You look good boss,” Van Pelt told Lisbon. Lisbon smiled.
“Thanks. You too.”
The uncomfortable silence returned and Lisbon started to look at her reflection. She didn’t normally wear dresses, only when she absolutely had to, but she thought that this one looked nice on her. Will Jane think it looks good on me? She reeled back and knitted her brows together, surprised and confused at her thought. What? Since when have I cared what Patrick Jane thinks?
“Boss?” Van Pelt asked. When her boss remained silent, she tried again, this time louder. “Lisbon?”
“Hmm? What?” Lisbon asked, being pulled away from her latest thought about how soft Jane’s lips looked and wondering what they would feel like on hers.
“Do you… do you like Jane?”
“Of course I do. Sure, he can be a pain in the ass a lot, but in the end he usually finds a way to make up to me. Don’t you like him?”
“Well, yeah, but I mean… do you love him?”
Lisbon had known what Van Pelt had meant the first time she had asked, but she had avoided it. She quickly tried to think of a way to avoid it again.
“…I… we shouldn’t be discussing this,” she said finally.
“But we’re not working,” Van Pelt said, turning to face Lisbon. “We’re not working on a case or in the CBI building. Technically, you’re not even my boss right now. You’re only my… friend.”
Lisbon remained silent. Technically, Van Pelt was right.
“I-” Lisbon started to say, but she was cut off by a stranger that had walked in. “We should get going,” she said, opening the door.
Van Pelt sighed and followed Lisbon out, her unanswered question still fresh in both of the agents’ minds.

Chapter Three: Flowers
Cho and Rigsby were talking quietly in a corner of the store, waiting for the women to finish dressing. Cho wore a navy blue hooded sweatshirt and faded blue jeans; Rigsby wore a black button down shirt and black jeans; and Jane wore a white short sleeved t-shirt and deep blue jeans.
Jane was waiting for Lisbon. He had feelings for her that he couldn’t describe: feelings that he hadn’t ever had before. When she looked at him with her beautiful, strong, bright green eyes, something inside of him fluttered and sparked. She was a strong, powerful woman with a big, kind heart. No matter what kind of trouble he got into, she was there to get him out of it. He drove her insane, yet she had his back and would be there for him whenever he needed her. He thought about her smile, so bright yet rare. Sure, she smiled all the time, but she was usually sarcastic when she smiled. When she smiled, as in actually smiled, he thought she looked like the most beautiful woman on earth. He loved making her smile. She reminded him of someone, but he couldn’t remember who.
“Jane, what the hell are you doing?” Cho asked when he saw Jane starting to move towards the flower section.
“I’m going to buy a flower for Lisbon,” he stated simply, like it should be the most obvious thing in the world.
“Why?” Rigsby asked.
“She deserves one. You should get Van Pelt one,” Jane suggested.
Rigsby laughed. “Yeah. Right.” When he saw Jane stare at him, he frowned. “Oh wait, you were serious?”
“Of course I was,” Jane told him.
“But what flower would I give her? Don’t different flowers have different meanings?”
Jane nodded and started searching around.
“Jane? Jane, what are you doing?” Rigsby asked, suspicious.
Jane said nothing, but simply pulled out a thorn less rose and handed it to Rigsby.
“What’s it mean?” Rigsby asked, taking the rose and pulling out his money to pay for it.
“It means ‘love at first sight’,” Jane told him.
Rigsby blushed a deep red. “I can’t give this to her,” he mumbled.
“Why not?”
“What would I say?”
“Eh, we’ll figure out that later. Right now though, go and buy it.”
Rigsby did as he was told and returned to find Jane searching in the flowers. He looked around and saw Cho talking with a 5 foot 3 woman with short brown hair.
“What’s Cho doing?” Jane asked, still looking at the large array of flowers. “And who’s that cute woman with him?”
“How can you see them? You’re staring at the flowers!” Rigsby said, amazed.
“I have my ways,” Jane said, standing up with a flower in his hand.
He walked over to Cho and smiled at the woman.
“Hey Cho. Who is this?”
Cho smiled at Jane, a rare sight. “This is Alissa. She’s my good friend from back in middle school.”
“Hi,” Alissa said, shaking Jane’s hand.
“Hi I’m Patrick Jane. You can call me Jane though. Everyone does.”
“Okay, Jane. And you?” she asked, turning to Rigsby.
“I’m Wayne Rigsby. You can call me Rigsby.”
They shook hands.
“I’ve just been missing Cho so much lately and when I saw him I just had to talk to him!” Alissa explained, smiling at Cho.
Cho blushed, which was even rarer than his smile.
“I’ve got to talk to Cho for a quick minute, Alissa. Would you mind?” Jane asked.
Alissa shook her head, causing her dangly amethyst earrings to sway. “No. Not at all.”
Cho followed Jane with a big smile on her face.
“What’s up Jane?” he asked pleasantly.
“Buy Alissa this flower, would you?” Jane asked, holding out the flower that he had taken earlier.
“Sure. What is it?” Cho asked, staring at the large, circular, yellow flower that had lots of petals.
“It’s a zinnia flower,” Jane told him, a smile on his face. “It means ‘I’ve missed you’.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks Jane!”
Jane was surprised. He had suspected Cho to just chuck the flower back at him, not accept it and actually buy it for Alissa.
“You like Alissa, don’t you?” he asked Cho.
Cho shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, she’s a good friend. I wouldn’t mind dating her.”
“Hmm. Interesting. Well, don’t give her the flower until Van Pelt and Lisbon come out. I want to have us all give it to them at the same time. First you to Alissa, then Rigsby to Van Pelt, and then me to Lisbon,” he instructed.
“Yeah, sure thing.”
Cho walked back to where Alissa and Rigsby were talking and Jane walked back and pulled out a pretty, light blue tiger lily with small brown speckles on it towards the center and a yellow bud in the center. It had a long stem and Jane thought that it would be perfect for Lisbon.
He purchased the flower and returned to Rigsby, Cho, and Alissa just in time to see Lisbon and Van Pelt come out of the bathroom. Jane struggled to not drop his jaw. Lisbon looked absolutely beautiful in her dress and green flats. Her slightly longer than shoulder length hair shone in the sunlight. His eyes drifted to her lips which wore a little bit of pink lipstick. She looked positively gorgeous.
Jane snapped out of his trance when Rigsby nudged him hard in the side and motioned for him to hide the flower behind his back. Alissa walked up to the two women and introduced herself.
“Hey, I’m Alissa, Cho’s friend from back in middle school,” she said.
Van Pelt shook her hand. She recognized the woman as the woman she had seen earlier in the bathroom. “Oh, hi! Nice to meet you! I’m Grace Van Pelt.”
“I take it people call you Van Pelt?” Alissa asked.
Van Pelt smiled. “Yeah, they do.”
“And I’m Teresa Lisbon,” Lisbon said, shaking her hand.
“Hi Lisbon. It’s great to meet you.”
They turned around and faced the men. Unintentionally, Alissa ended up standing in front of Cho; Van Pelt ended up standing in front of Rigsby; and Lisbon ended up standing in front of Jane. Lisbon looked at Jane and found herself blushing. She hadn’t seen Jane in anything besides his vests and button down shirts, and she found that he looked handsome in jeans. The blue in the jeans complimented the blue in his eyes. The t-shirt showed off his buff frame, and Lisbon found herself staring at him.
“Why, Lisbon,” Jane said in a teasing tone. “I didn’t know that you were the type of person that checked her colleagues out.”
Lisbon’s cheeks grew bright red.
“I wasn’t checking you out!” she protested.
“Whatever you say, Lisbon, whatever you say,” Jane teased.
She blushed again. Jane caught Cho’s eye and gave him a look that said, Give her the flower!
“Uh, Alissa, I’d like you to have this,” Cho said, holding out the zinnia. “It means ‘I’ve missed you.’”
A huge smile broke out on Alissa’s face as she accepted the flower.
“Oh my gosh, Cho, thank you!” she cried, leaning in to hug him.
As they hugged, Cho looked at Rigsby, signaling him to do his job.
“Uh, Van Pelt, Grace,” Rigsby stammered, a blush rising to his cheeks. “I’d uh, like you to have this,” he said. He gave Van Pelt the thorn less rose. “It means um… it means, uh-”
Jane came to Rigsby’s rescue.
“It means ‘love at first sight’. And that’s precisely what happened when Rigsby first saw you, Van Pelt,” he said.
Both Rigsby and Van Pelt blushed as Van Pelt took the flower.
“Wow, thank you, Wayne,” she said quietly. “And, really? Did you really think it was love at first sight?”
“Yes,” Rigsby admitted. He turned to Jane. “Now it’s your turn Jane.”
Jane turned to Lisbon and found her already blushing. She was excited and honored-in a way- that he had bought her a flower. I can’t believe that he got me a flower, she thought. I wonder what it is. What… what if it’s a rose? The thought made her blush even harder. Jane smiled at her and pulled out the flower from behind his back. Lisbon was shocked to see a beautiful blue tiger lily. She was utterly speechless as he continued to hold it out in front of her, waiting for her to take it. She didn’t care that it wasn’t a rose. Heck, it was better than a rose!
“Lisbon, my dear, if you don’t take the flower out of my hand anytime soon I will have to assume that you don’t want it,” Jane said.
She blushed. “Oh my God, Jane, it’s… it’s beautiful!” she said, taking the flower.
She smiled at him and he smiled back. They stared at each other for a few moments, just smiling.
I love it when she smiles, Jane thought.
Wow, his smile is so gorgeous, Lisbon thought.
“So,” Alissa said, breaking the silence. “Who wants to go on that rollercoaster I saw towards the back of the park?”
“I do!” Jane said enthusiastically, waving his hand in the air.
“Sure, that sounds like fun,” Van Pelt agreed, nodding.
“I’ll go too,” Rigsby added.
“What about you, Lisbon?” Cho asked, looking at her.
Lisbon hated rollercoasters; she was deathly afraid of them ever since one of her brothers had puked on her when he got sick on one of them. But, she didn’t want to let down her friends.
“Sure, I’m in,” she said, trying to sound convincing.
She stayed where she was for a few seconds, staring at her flower.
“You coming?” Jane asked, looking at her with concern.
“Yeah,” Lisbon said, nodding. But I much rather stay here and just look at you, she thought as she followed Jane out the door.

Chapter Four: Rollercoasters and Funnel Cakes
The team followed Alissa as she pulled Cho by the arm towards the back of the park. She stopped in front of a large, black rollercoaster with large loops, plunging drops, and steep climbs. Lisbon’s heart began to pump. Oh. My. God. Why did I agree? Why didn’t I just say ‘No thanks, I’ll just watch’?
“Would you like to sit next to me?” Jane was asking.
“What? Oh, um, sure,” she stammered, blushing.
Clearly, Van Pelt was going to sit next to Rigsby and Cho was going to sit next to Alissa. The team waited in line for a few minutes before they were next in line. Jane looked over at Lisbon who was staring up at the rollercoaster, fear easily showing in her eyes.
“You can hold onto my hand on the ride if you want to,” Jane told her.
She looked over at him, a weird look on her face. “And why would I do that?” she asked.
“Because you’re scared,” he told her.
“I am not!” she lied.
“Oh, please. Don’t even try to lie to me because it never works,” he said with a smile.
Lisbon found herself heating up with anger. “Well you suck at telling whether people are lying or not because I’m not lying!” she huffed. Yeah, she knew, it was pathetic.
“You can still hold onto my hand, even if you aren’t scared,” he told her.
“Yeah. Right.”
Yet, three minutes later, she found herself holding Jane’s hand. It was more like clutching his hand, but she was holding it and he was holding it back, nonetheless. Alissa and Cho were in the very front; Rigsby and Van Pelt were in the middle; and she and Jane were in the back. The man at the controls was holding their flowers for them and asked them if they were ready. Alissa, much to Lisbon’s dismay, nodded her head eagerly. As the rollercoaster started making its steep climb, Lisbon’s heart began to race. Jane felt her pulse speed up and turned to her with a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” he assured her.
She gave a wry smile and nodded. “Mmm-hmm,” she managed to say.
Alissa turned back in her seat and stared at the team behind her, beaming like a kid who had just won a raffle. Her hands weren’t on Cho or the bar in front of them.
“You ready guys?” she asked.
“I am!” Rigsby said enthusiastically, pumping his fist in the air.
“Me too,” Van Pelt agreed.
Alissa looked at Jane and Lisbon.
“What about you guys?”
“Well, you know I am,” Jane told her.
He looked at Lisbon.
“Um, yeah. Can’t wait!” she said dryly.
Alissa smiled, turned back, and pumped both her fists in the air, making Lisbon’s stomach churn. How can she do that? Lisbon wondered to herself. She’s waving her hands all over in the air and I’m clutching Jane’s hand like I’m going to go skydiving or something! Her thoughts stopped abruptly as Cho and Alissa’s cart began to tip over, starting the first drop. Oh God. Here we go. Uhm… I’d just like to say a few things before I die. I’m sorry for writing all over your face with permanent marker back in 3rd grade, dad. I’m sorry I filled your shoes with glue when you stood me up for a date back in 7th grade, Tyler. Well, kind of sorry. I’m sorry that I called your girlfriend a bitch because you wouldn’t go with me to the dance back in 11th grade, Connor. Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt, I’d like to thank you for being such a great team. And Jane… I love you. Wait, whaaaa????
Lisbon didn’t have any more time to think because just then she heard screams as their cart went over the hill and plunged down at what felt like a 90 degree angle. She couldn’t scream, even though she heard Alissa and Van Pelt screaming. The breath was taken out of her and she couldn’t open her mouth to scream. Her death grip on Jane tightened and she was surprised she didn’t squeeze the muscle out of his hand as they shot back up again. Rigsby and Cho had their hands in the air, shouting their heads off.
“WWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Rigsby yelled, waving his hands in the air.
Lisbon felt sick. Luckily, the only thing she did was tighten her grip on Jane’s hand. They approached the first loop. Oh no, Lisbon thought. I may have survived it so far, but there’s no way I’m going to make it upside down! Jane sensed Lisbon’s increase in fear and squeezed her hand affectionately. She smiled, feeling a little bit safer. The smile disappeared when they went up in the air. For a few terrifying seconds, they were completely upside down and she could see the ground below her. The only thing she could see was gray, green, and little, colorful dots roaming around. They plunged back down and she saw that Rigsby and Alissa still had their hands in the air. Then came the biggest drop of all. It looked like it went down, on and on, forever.
“Jane…” Lisbon said slowly, terrified.
Jane looked over and smiled. “Don’t worry, Lisbon. We’ll be fine. Besides, this is the best part!”
The ride swooped over and downward, plunging them into darkness. Lisbon uttered a cry. For a moment, she thought they had plunged right into the ground and was dead. She soon realized that they were underground. The dark surrounded them like they were in a pool full of black ink, minus the liquid. Lisbon heard Jane whooping with excitement next to her and she heard Van Pelt screaming. There was a bunch of sharp twists, fast turns, big drops, and small loops in the dark, all which made Lisbon’s grip on Jane’s hand even tighter. They soon emerged from the underground tunnel, the sunlight nearly blinding everyone. All of the sudden, the ride slowed to a halt in front of a sign that said: DEAD END! TURN AROUND!
“What the hell does it mean, ‘dead end’?” Lisbon asked.
Alissa turned around and smiled at her.
“Precisely that. It means, turn around.”
The rollercoaster started backing up and Lisbon groaned. The rollercoaster was now going to go backwards through the entire thing again! This time, she and Jane were technically first. Going backwards was just-if not worse- as bad as going forwards. The loops were the worst part though. Finally, the ride came to a stop. Lisbon let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding and sighed, relieved.
“Wah! That was awesome!” Rigsby shouted when he was climbing off.
Van Pelt nodded vigorously. “Yeah, it really was!”
Cho and Alissa got off. “What did you think of it, boss?” Cho asked Lisbon. “Boss?”
Lisbon was just sitting motionlessly, still clutching Jane’s hand, her face deathly pale.
“Lisbon? Earth to Lisbon?” Jane was saying.
“Hmm, what?” Lisbon asked, snapping out of her frightened state.
She looked up into his smiling face and noticed his blue eyes sparkling. The sun behind him lit him up, making him look like he was glowing. His hair looked like it was gold. For a quick second, she thought she had died, gone to Heaven, and that he was an angel waking her up from her sleep.
“We can leave now,” Jane told her.
“Oh,” Lisbon mumbled, feeling incredibly stupid.
She got up and followed Jane out, still holding his hand. She tried to let go but found that she couldn’t. She used her other hand to pry off her fingers, and found it surprisingly difficult. It was almost as if her hand had molded into his. Finally, she got it away and looked at his hand. It was bright red and she could see the area where she had clutched it was slightly purple. He had to peel his fingers apart.
“Oh my god, Jane, I’m sorry!” she apologized, staring at his hand.
“For what?” he asked, looking around. He hadn’t looked at his hand yet.
“For your hand!” she cried shrilly.
He looked down at it and shrugged.
“Ah, it’s okay.”
“No it’s not! I… I bruised it!”
“So? It doesn’t hurt or anything. Besides, I liked you holding my hand,” he told her with a soft smile.
She blushed.
“I’m hungry,” Rigsby piped in.
“What else is new?” Cho asked with a sigh.
“A funnel cake sounds good right about now,” Van Pelt murmured to herself.
Rigsby overheard. “Oh, yeah! It does! Does anyone want to get one with me and Van Pelt?”
Everyone agreed, collected their flowers from the operator, and headed toward the funnel cake stand. Rigsby got one with… everything on it; Van Pelt got one with whipped cream and strawberries; Cho got one with blueberries; Alissa got one with chocolate; and Jane got one that was just plain but sprinkled some powdered sugar on it.
“Aren’t you going to get one?” Rigsby asked, staring at Lisbon.
She shook her head. “No, I’m not very hungry,” she told them.
“Well at least let me share some of mine,” Jane told her.
“No, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
“Oh, come on, Lisbon. You know you want some,” he said with a teasing smile.
It was true. She did want some.
Jane was sensing her beginning to cave in. “Come on, Lisbon. All you have to do is nod or say yes,” he coaxed her.
Finally, she bit down on her lip and nodded. “Oh, all right.”
He smiled. “Excellent.”
He, Lisbon, Van Pelt, Rigsby, Alissa, and Cho all sat down at a table and began eating. Lisbon took a small piece of Jane’s funnel cake and put it in her mouth, savoring the flavor. It was so good! The powdered sugar melted on her tongue and went nicely with the light, golden, slightly crunchy batter of the cake. She moaned with delight. Across from her, Jane was smiling, but it was a sad smile. I should be making her moan like that, not some stupid fried pastry! he thought to himself. But, he was glad that she had accepted his offer. All of them ate, discussing recent cases and enjoying themselves. They learned that Cho and Alissa had met in 6th grade and had been best friends until she had to move in 8th. Alissa was born in Baraboo, Wisconsin and was currently a 7th grade math teacher.
“So what are you doing here?” Rigsby asked Alissa.
She smiled. “I needed a vacation. I mean, I love my students and all, but some of them can really drive me to the brink of exhaustion!”
“I can imagine,” Van Pelt said, smiling.
Lisbon turned her attention to Jane and found her staring at her.
“What?” she asked, suddenly self conscious.
“You have powdered sugar on your lip,” he told her.
“Where?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned in and used his thumb to wipe off some powdered sugar gently off of her lower lip. His finger lingered there for a second, and then disappeared.
“Thanks,” Lisbon mumbled, somewhat speechless.
“Anytime,” Jane said quietly before getting up to throw his paper plate away.
Hmm, Lisbon thought, maybe I should get powdered sugar on my lips more often. Oh, Goddamn it! There I go again! I really have to learn how to control my thoughts!
Lisbon didn’t notice Alissa staring at her.
“Are… they a couple?” Alissa asked Cho quietly, gesturing to Jane and Lisbon.
“No, but we all know that they want to be,” Cho told her.
Alissa watched Jane return to sit in front of Lisbon and return to their conversation. “Well,” she said, flashing a smile at Cho and Rigsby. “I’ll just have to help them make it happen!”

Chapter Five: Playing Tag in the House of Mirrors
“Now what?” Rigsby asked when he had finally finished his funnel cake.
“How about the House of Mirrors?” Van Pelt suggested, looking at a large, red tent with mirrors showing inside.
“That works,” Alissa said, looking at the others.
“We could play tag!” Jane suggested, smiling.
“Tag? Seriously?” Cho asked, looking at him.
“Why not?” Jane asked, looking at them.
“Maybe because only little kids play tag-” Lisbon started to say.
“You said that only little kids go to the fair, yet here we are-” Jane cut her off.
“-and it could be dangerous,” she said, ending her sentence.
“Aw, we’d be careful,” Jane said, looking at the others. “Right?”
“Yeah,” Rigsby said, nodding.
“It’d be fun,” Van Pelt said, smiling.
“Come on, Lisbon. You’re terribly outnumbered,” Jane said with a smile. He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Please?”
Lisbon sighed, defeated. “Fine.”
They walked around the perimeter of the tent and noticed that there were six entry ways: one for each of them. The sign on the main entry way read, Only six people in the tent at a time! It would be perfect.
“Um, excuse me, sir,” Jane said, tapping the man who was running it on the shoulder. The pudgy little man turned around, dressed in a white and red striped vest and pants with a navy blue shirt underneath and a striped top hat. The ensemble was too tight for him and made him seem a little overweight for his height. Lisbon had to cover her mouth with her hand to suppress her giggles. “We would like to play tag for say… twenty minutes or so. How long would it be until we could all get inside and play?”
The man looked surprised. “Uh, it would be about two minutes.”
“Excellent. We’ll wait,” Jane told him with a smile.
“Aren’t you a little… old to play tag?” the man asked.
“And aren’t you a little… large to be wearing that outfit?” Cho snapped, giving him a cold stare.
The man frowned but said nothing.
“Would you mind holding onto our flowers while we’re in there?” Van Pelt asked the man with a kind, warm smile.
“Sure,” he said, shrugging. “Anything for a few pretty ladies,” he added with a grin that flashed off his beer-stained teeth, eyeing Lisbon, Van Pelt, and Alissa eagerly.
“Just take the flowers,” Rigsby ordered gruffly.
He took Van Pelt by the arm and gave Jane and Cho a look that said, Take them by the arm unless you want fat boy here to take them for himself! Jane took Lisbon and Cho took Alissa.
Then, they waited their two minutes and all lined up at a different openings.
“I’ll be it first,” Jane told Lisbon. She nodded and told Van Pelt, who told Rigsby, who told Cho, who told Alissa. “Go!” Jane shouted and they all ran in.
Immediately Lisbon was surrounded by hundreds of tall reflections of hers and she had to feel the mirrors to know when she could turn. She saw a few images of Rigsby behind her, but it was impossible to tell if it was actually him or just his reflection.
“Rigsby’s it!” Jane called.
Cho wasn’t running, he was simply standing in one place. What were the chances that Rigsby would find him, anyway?
“Ha! I’ve got you, Cho!” he heard Rigsby say.
Cho took a step forward as to flee, but he heard a crash and a curse from Rigsby. He laughed. Rigsby had thought it was him, but it was just his reflection.
“Try not to break every mirror in the tent,” Lisbon shouted, laughing.
“Got it, boss!” Rigsby shouted back.
Van Pelt was walking quickly, trying her best to dodge everyone and anyone’s reflection. She was doing pretty well. Or so she thought, until Rigsby tagged her.
“Van Pelt’s it!” he shouted before giving her a smile. “Sorry Van Pelt.” And then he ran away.
Van Pelt sighed and started searching for people’s reflections instead of running away from them.
Alissa was jogging quickly, her hair and earrings flying out behind her. She wasn’t running away from anyone, she was trying to run towards people. Two people, to be more specific. A certain raven-haired senior agent and a certain blonde consultant to be exact. She thought she spotted Lisbon and ran towards her. Instead, she ran into a mirror. But then, the real Lisbon walked by.
“Lisbon!” Alissa hissed.
Lisbon turned around and raised one of her eyebrows. “Yes?”
“Would you wait right here, please?” Alissa asked, looking at her with pleading eyes.
“Why?” Lisbon asked, suspicious.
“Just… please?”
Lisbon sighed. “Fine.”
Alissa left Lisbon standing in the middle of a group of mirrors and ran off, trying to find Jane. She kept track of her steps, how many mirrors she passed, and what angles they were at. She spotted Jane ahead and ran, only to run into a mirror… again. She didn’t have to worry because Jane ran into her instead.
“Jane!” Alissa whispered.
“Yes Alissa?” Jane asked.
“Would you come with me?” she asked.
“Uh, sure,” he said somewhat hesitantly and let her pull him towards the area where Lisbon was supposedly waiting.
She retraced her steps and was only a few mirrors away when Van Pelt popped up out of nowhere and tagged Alissa.
“Alissa’s it!” Van Pelt shouted and ran away.
“I’m not going to tag you, but you better run,” Alissa told Jane, looking at him. She pushed him in the direction where Lisbon was waiting. Then, she turned around and jogged away.
That was weird, Jane thought.
Meanwhile, Lisbon was no longer waiting in her spot. She turned and started walking away quickly. That little, sneaky snitch! She got me to stay in one spot so if she got tagged she’d be able to go right back here and tag me! Why, when we get done with this I’ll- Her thoughts were stopped as she ran into Jane who was running. They stumbled and fell back into the mirrors.
“Cho’s it!” Alissa’s voice rang over them.
“Oomph!” Jane said as he fell into the mirror behind him.
“Ow!” Lisbon cried as she fell on top of him.
They fell to the floor and remained silent, trying not to let Cho hear them. Lisbon tried to get up but slipped because her flats had absolutely no traction on the smooth carpet. Jane started laughing quietly and Lisbon turned to glare at him.
“Shut up Jane!” she hissed at him.
He just started laughing harder. Lisbon, extremely embarrassed, attempted to get up again. Her attempt failed and she flopped back onto Jane. He laughed even harder and she found herself starting to giggle. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in her anymore. She gave up and fell back onto him, laughing just as hard as he was. She rolled over and off of him, but she was still close to him and was facing him. Their laughter died down and for a few moments they just stared at each other.
“Lisbon,” Jane murmured, running a hand over her bare shoulder.
Lisbon sucked in a breath, unable to move. “Yes?” she managed to croak.
“Has anyone told you that you’re really cute when you laugh?” he asked, leaning in.
“No,” she whispered. Their faces were merely centimeters apart.
“Well they must have really bad eyesight or are utterly blind because you’re extremely cute,” he told her, and leaned in a little bit further.
Their lips were a breath apart, and both of them knew that he was going to kiss her. That was… until Jane felt a stab in his back.
“You’re it, Jane,” Cho told him. “Jane’s it!” he shouted before scampering off.
Jane gave a sly smile at Lisbon before turning to whisper in her ear.
“Why, I don’t believe you’ve been it yet, Lisbon,” he whispered.
And with that, he tagged Lisbon on the shoulder and ran off.
“Lisbon’s it!” he shouted.
Lisbon sighed and sat back up, frowning. What had just happened? Jane was about to kiss me! She gasped when she realized what had almost happened. Damn it. She was going to kill Cho when this was over. But, she couldn’t do that now, so instead, she got back up and went searching for a new victim to tag.

Chapter Six: The Haunted House
Ten minutes after Jane and Lisbon’s almost kiss, Rigsby, Cho, Alissa, Van Pelt, Jane, and Lisbon were all outside of the tent, panting hard and huge smiles on all of their faces. They were lying on a hill a few feet off from the circus in the grass, letting the sun beat down on them and cloud-gazing. Rigsby and Van Pelt were holding hands and smiling at each other; Lisbon was laying with Jane, their hands almost touching; and Alissa was lying with Cho’s arm around her.
“Well that was fun!” Jane said, breaking the tired silence.
Lisbon nodded. “Yeah, actually, it was.”
Alissa sat up first, yet another huge smile on her face. “Okay! Time to go to the haunted house!”
Lisbon groaned. “Are you serious? We just finished running around! Can’t we just enjoy the peace for a little while?” she asked, sighing.
Alissa shook her head, earrings slapping her cheeks. “Nope! Let’s go!”
She ran off and Cho got up to run after her. Rigsby and Van Pelt got up next, hand in hand, and followed them. Lisbon and Jane remained lying in the grass for a few seconds, just absorbing the sunlight. Finally, Lisbon sighed and sat up. Then, she got up and held out a hand to Jane to help him get up. He took her hand, but instead of getting up, he pulled her back and she fell on top of him.
“Jane!” she shouted, pretending to be angry.
“Yes?” he asked, smiling at her.
“We really should get going if we want to catch up with them.”
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna,” he whined like a little kid.
“Well I do so let’s go!” she snapped, the humor gone from her voice.
She got back up to her feet and waited for him to get up.
“Yeah, yeah, hold your horses, woman,” Jane grumbled.
Lisbon’s face was bright red. “How dare you call me woman-”
“Hey, are you guys coming?” Van Pelt asked.
She and Rigsby had come back to see why Lisbon and Jane hadn’t gone with them.
“Cho and Alissa are waiting for us,” Rigsby told them.
“Yeah, we’re coming. Jane’s just being too lazy to get up,” Lisbon said with an annoyed expression.
“Come on, Jane,” Rigsby said, helping him up.
“Thanks Rigsby,” Jane said once he was off the grass. “Well, let’s get going, shall we? We wouldn’t want to keep Cho and Alissa waiting any longer now, would we?”
Lisbon rolled her eyes and Van Pelt shot her a sympathetic smile before they headed for the haunted house.
“Hey, guys! What took you so long?” Alissa asked, smiling.
“Just a bunch of Jane stuff,” Rigsby said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Let’s go then,” Cho said, eager to get going.
They approached the teenager that was running the haunted house, a young woman with short, black hair and dark yet bright purple streaks in it, black lipstick, a lip ring, dark makeup, and black and purple clothes.
“Hi,” Jane greeted her, smiling.
Surprisingly, she smiled back. “Hello. Would you guys like to go in the haunted house?”
Van Pelt nodded.
“Which one?” the girl asked.
“Which one…?” Lisbon asked, confused. “I thought there was only one.”
The girl shook her head. “Oh no. There’s one for younger kids and there’s one for teenagers and up.”
“We’ll take the teenagers and up one,” Alissa told her eagerly.
“We will?” Jane asked, a somewhat alarmed look on his face.
“You’re not afraid Jane, are you?” Lisbon asked, a teasing smile on her face.
“No, of course not. I’m just worried for Rigsby, that’s all,” he told her.
“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rigsby asked.
“You’ll get it eventually,” Jane said, patting Rigsby on the arm.
“We’ll take six tickets for the teenagers and up please,” Alissa said politely.
The girl smiled. “Okay. Here you go. Enjoy!”
She handed them each a black ticket with bright red lettering and gestured for them to follow her. They followed her into the little kid haunted house, but instead of going through the actual entrance to the kid one, she turned and led them through a door they hadn’t noticed before.
“Have fun,” she told them. “If you survive,” she added with a creepy smile, revealing what seemed like real fangs.
She left and closed the door behind them, nearly plunging them into darkness. The only light came from an occasional black light here and there.
“What…what did she mean ‘if you survive’?” Rigsby asked a little shakily.
Jane gave a pat on his arm. “She was just saying that to scare you, Rigsby,” he told him.
“Oh,” Rigsby mumbled, embarrassed.
Lisbon bunched her eyebrows up at him and gave an amused smile.
“Let’s go, guys,” Alissa said eagerly before pulling Cho by the hand up the stairs.
Rigsby and Van Pelt followed after them with Lisbon and Jane after them. Scary music sounded in the background. BOOM! Fake thunder sounded and lightning crashed, lightning up the room for a quick second. Rigsby jumped about a foot in the air and looked around him quickly.
“Are you scared, Rigsby?” Van Pelt asked, smiling at Rigsby.
“What? No, of course not. It just caught me off guard, that’s all,” he protested, blushing.
Still, Van Pelt grabbed onto Rigsby’s hand and gave it an assuring squeeze. Rigsby looked at her and smiled.
“Do you need me to hold your hand, Lisbon?” Jane asked Lisbon, his eyes sparkling.
“You won’t smash it like I smashed your hand?” Lisbon asked, still feeling bad about earlier.
“I’ll try my best not to, but if I get scared I might accidentally bruise it,” he said with a smile.
She smiled back and let him take her hand in his. They went up the stairs. They creaked with each step. In front of them, Rigsby was looking around nervously.
“He is so scared,” Lisbon whispered to Jane.
He nodded. “Oh yeah. It’s just plain obvious!”
The scary music continued, this time accompanied with loud footsteps. There heard a door creaked open and Lisbon turned around. Her eyes widened.
“Uh, guys, I think we should get going!” she cried.
The others looked back and Rigsby let out a little whimper. RRRRRROOOOMMMM, ROOOOM! A man with a Jason from Freddy Kruger vs. Jason movie was behind them, holding up an actual chainsaw. Alissa let out a scream, laughed, and ran, dragging Cho behind her. Rigsby stood, gaping at the man.
“Come on, Rigsby!” Van Pelt cried, a half terrified half excited look on her face.
“Rigsby, move!” Lisbon demanded.
He was in the way and if he didn’t move, she and Jane couldn’t move. Rigsby finally snapped out of it and ran as fast as he could alongside Van Pelt. Lisbon and Jane smiled at each other and took off after them, Chainsaw Man hot on their tails. They ran forward and into the darkness. Lisbon ran into something and stopped, causing Jane to bump into her.
“Rigsby!” Lisbon roared, frustrated. “Move!”
The man turned around, and Lisbon’s jaw dropped. The man wasn’t Rigsby. It was a man with a very realistic looking mask. One of his eyes was missing, a bloody gash replacing it, the teeth had black and green crust on them, his lips were scared and had brown, (fake of course) dried blood on them, and his skin was peeling off, revealing bloody tissue and a little bit of chipped bone. Gross. Lisbon stood, gaping at the man. She felt frozen in place, and then she noticed the chainsaw in his hands too. Did everyone have chainsaws? He roared it up and Lisbon opened her mouth to scream. Nothing came out. Jane took her by arm and turned her around. They ran away from the man and turned frantically around different corners. Lisbon heard Alissa scream and wondered where she was. She wondered where anyone was.
Meanwhile, Van Pelt and Rigsby were running away from their own stalker: a very realistic looking white wolf with bloody fangs. Rigsby had let out an ear-piercing scream when he had stumbled across it. Van Pelt, on the other hand, hadn’t screamed but had actually done something about it. The wolf growled, snarled, and barked as it chased after them. Just when they thought they had lost it, a bunch of rats scurried around them.
“Eww! Gross!” Van Pelt screamed, jumping around.
One ran right on her foot and she screamed, falling back into Rigsby’s arms.
“Shhh, it’s okay. I’ve got you,” he whispered.
She turned around and looked up at him, smiling. They shared a kiss and neither of them felt scared anymore. Well, that was before the giant, green, thin zombie came up, bloodied and bruised, with a knife and started chasing them. Van Pelt was facing the other way and hadn’t seen him.
“Van Pelt… uh, AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Van Pelt turned around, saw the zombie, took Rigsby’s hand, and ran away with him.
Cho and Alissa were doing particularly well. Alissa was actually enjoying being scared out of her guts, and Cho was doing the same. Every scream was followed by a laugh and made their blood pump up even more. When Alissa found herself face to face with a man who was pretending to puke up blood and guts, an intestine hanging out of one of his eye, she simply screamed joyfully, laughed, and shouted,
“Come and get us, beautiful!”
Cho was impressed by Alissa’s spontaneous and confident attitude. She didn’t seem to be afraid of anything and seemed to crave anything that would give her an adrenaline rush. Every thing they ran into she would simply laugh at and taunt it to come after them.
Lisbon and Jane continued to run blindly. They couldn’t see a thing because it was pitch black and the path they were on was getting narrower and narrower as they went on. Soon, she had to use her arms to pull herself on. Finally, Lisbon spotted a red glow at the far end of the path.
“Jane!” she whispered, and gestured towards the glowing.
He nodded and they ran into it together. Inside, the room was empty. It was nothing but red with another door at the very end of the room, which had to be a quarter of a mile a way or so. They approached the center slowly, unsure of what would happen. The door slammed behind them, causing Lisbon to whirl around, her hair flying. A loud, menacing, evil laugh filled the room. Jane held tighter on to her hand. Suddenly, hundreds of big, fuzzy, black things began filling in from the side walls and towards them. Jane recognized them as tarantulas. He knew that Lisbon knew what they were too because her heart-wrenching shreik filled the silence. She ran, pulling Jane behind her, towards the door that was at the end of the room. They tried their best to dodge the furry little creatures, even though it wasn’t easy. She tried opening the door but it wouldn’t open. She could feel a few tarantulas trying to climb up her legs and smacked them off angrily.
“Jane, the door won’t open!” she cried, yanking with all her strength at the handles.
“Let me try.”
She moved aside and Jane tried with all his strength to open the doors. They wouldn’t budge.
“Jane! Get them off me!” Lisbon screamed.
He looked over at her and discovered that there were spiders climbing all over her. He desperately tried to brush them off, and succeeded, mostly. One got tangled in her hair.
“Arugh, Jane!” she shouted angrily.
She clawed at the spider that was in her hair. Her fingers brushed its hairy back and she shivered. She was extremely grateful when he got it out and threw it aside. Then, they wrapped both of their hands around the handles of the doors.
“On the count of three,” Jane instructed.
Lisbon nodded.
“One… two… three!”
They pulled with all their strength and the door flung open. Lisbon ran first and Jane was right behind her.
In a different room, Rigsby was following Van Pelt. She gestured towards a room with an aqua glow and he nodded. They ran into the room. The door slammed behind them and Rigsby jumped up. At first, all was silent. Then, the same laugh that Jane and Lisbon had heard filled the room, sending shivers down both of their backs. Then, they heard the trickling of water. Van Pelt looked in horror as water started filling in the room from all the sides. The river started to rise slowly, and before they knew it, it was up to their waists.
“Rigsby! They can’t kill us! It’s a haunted house, for God’s sakes!” Van Pelt cried shrilly, holding onto Rigsby’s arm.
“They’re not. Look,” he said, pointing at the water.
The water wasn’t rising any more, it was staying as it was. But, it turned darker, and soon it was a murky, navy blue color.
“Van Pelt,” Rigsby said, pointing to a gray triangle slicing through the water. “SHARK!!!”
She whirled around in the water and saw that he was right. The shark lunged and jumped in the air, flashing its sharp teeth. Both Rigsby and Van Pelt screamed and half walked, half swam towards the door. They both tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. The shark lunged at them, and they both stepped out of the way. It smashed into the door, shattering part of the door. It lunged at it again, and the door finally broke down. They ran out into the black hallway, tensing for something else to come after them.
Cho and Alissa were in a different room, a purple, glowing room. RRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM, ROOOM! About fifty men in masks and chainsaws like the first one they had ran into fell into the room from ropes that were hanging on the ceiling.
“Oh, good God!” Alissa hissed before turning to the first one.
She flashed him a flirtatious smile, pulled off his mask, and kissed him right on the lips. The man dropped his chainsaw in shock and she bent over and picked it up. She revved it up and held it in front of her defensively. None of the other men with chainsaws even dared to go near her. She ran to the door and sliced it open. Then, she turned to Cho. He was standing there in shock, not believing what he had just seen. His best friend from back in high school had just kissed a total stranger. Alissa turned to him and winked.
“Come on, Cho! Don’t be jealous; you’ll get your turn soon,” she said flirtatiously, smiling.
He quickly followed her out the door and ran right into Jane, Lisbon, Van Pelt, and Rigsby. They all fell to the floor. Lisbon scrambled up first.
“Oh, thank God!” she cried, relived.
“Let’s get out of here!” Rigsby shouted, helping Van Pelt to her feet.
They all ran, Lisbon and Jane in front, and finally burst out of the haunted house, hearts racing and lungs heaving. Lisbon looked at the chainsaw in Alissa’s hands, confused.
“Uh, shouldn’t you put that back?” she asked.
Alissa looked down into her hands and blushed. “Oh yeah, I probably should. I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared and left the others. Jane spoke up first.
“Well, that was most certainly fun!”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Some of it was a little too realistic for my taste,” Lisbon said dryly.
Van Pelt laughed. “Yeah, I agree.”
RRRRROOOOOMMMMM! ROOOOOM! They all turned around and Lisbon’s jaw dropped.
“No way,” she whispered. There, someone was standing with a chainsaw, revving it up.
Rigsby let out a shrill scream before the person pulled off the mask. It was Alissa.
“Sorry!” she said with a sly smile and a wink. “I just couldn’t resist. Hope I didn’t scare ya too much!”
And with that, she threw her head up into the air and let out a long, loud, evil cackle, nearly causing Rigsby to wet his pants.

Chapter Seven: Teddy Bears, Big and Small
The sun was a little lower in the sky, but it still shone brightly.
“So, who’s up for some old-fashioned fair games?” Jane asked cheerfully.
Alissa shook her head and wrinkled her nose. “Nah. You and Lisbon can go, though. Cho and I are going to the arcade,” she said, shooting Cho a weird expression.
“We are?” Cho asked.
“Yes. We are,” Alissa gritted through her teeth.
“Oh yeah! We are! See you,” Cho said before following her.
They left and the others started hearing someone singing faintly in the background. Van Pelt perked up at this and strained to hear.
“Oh my God!” she squealed. “Rigsby! It’s… it’s Fall Out Boy! They must be performing a concert!” She ran a few feet and looked around. “Ah! It really is them! Oh, Rigsby, can we go listen to them?” she asked, jumping up and down.
Rigsby looked at her and smiled. “Yeah, sure. It sounds kind of fun.”
He took her by the arm and they headed towards a stage towards the middle of the fair grounds. Jane looked at Lisbon and smiled.
“Care to join me?” he asked her, shooting one of his dashing smiles.
She blushed and nodded. They walked around and Jane looked for something to do.
“Would you like to try to ring the bell of strength?” a woman with a slight Indian accent asked him, holding up a mallet.
Jane shrugged and gave the woman a friendly smile. “Sure, why not?”
He took the mallet, tightened his grip, bunched his eyebrows up at Lisbon, and swung. BRING!!!!! Lights flashed and Jane smiled as the bell wrung. Lisbon smiled, impressed.
“Very nice job,” the woman said with a smile. “I’m impressed. You’re the first person to hit it today!”
“Nice job, Jane,” Lisbon complimented him with a smile.
He smiled and shrugged modestly. “Eh, I work out a little. You know, just to stay fit for the cases.”
Lisbon rolled her eyes.
“Here you go,” the woman said, handing Jane a large, fluffy, white stuffed bear with a red bow.
“Oh, why, thank you,” Jane thanked the woman, smiling. He turned to Lisbon and held out the bear. “Here you go, Lisbon. A bear for you!”
Lisbon blushed and shook her head. “Oh no. You don’t need to give this to me; you won it yourself.”
He shook his head. “No, no. I know I don’t need to give it to you; I want to,” he insisted.
She blushed and looked at the ground. “Thanks, Jane.”
They walked side by side for a few steps, looking out for another game to play. A little girl with long, golden, curly hair ran up to them and gave Lisbon a huge smile.
“Hi, pretty lady!” she said, still smiling her somewhat toothless grin.
Lisbon smiled back and kneeled onto the ground so she could be at eyelevel with the girl. “Hello. What’s your name?”
“Savanna,” she told her.
“Well, hi, Savanna! I’m Teresa.”
“Hi Teresa. You’re really pretty.”
“Why, thank you! What can I do for you, Savanna? Have you lost your mommy and can’t find her?”
Savanna shook her head quickly and started digging her toe into the ground shyly.
“Oh, Savanna, don’t do that. You don’t want to mess up your pretty sandals now, do you?” Teresa asked her with a smile. “They’ll get all brown and dirty instead of the pretty white they are.”
Savanna’s eyes went wide with fear and she quickly stopped, shaking her head vigorously. “Uhm… do you think I could have your teddy bear? My mommy’s been trying all day and we just can’t seem to get one.”
Lisbon smiled, gave Jane an apologizing look, and nodded. “Sure, Savanna. Here you go,” she said, handing over the large plush toy.
Savanna’s eyes went wide with pleasure as she took the bear. She let out a squeal of pleasure and giggled. “Thanks so much, lady!” She ran off to her mother. “Mommy, mommy, mommy! Look what that nice lady over there gave me!” she cried, pointing to Lisbon.
“Oh, did she now? Did you say thank you?” the mother asked, looking at Lisbon.
Savanna nodded. Still, Savanna’s mother walked over to Lisbon. “I’d like to thank you for giving my little Savanna here your teddy bear. You really didn’t have to.”
Lisbon shook her head and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “Oh, no problem! I was happy to give it to her! Even though, my friend over there’s the one who gave it to me,” she said, gesturing to Jane who stood a few feet back.
“Thank you,” Savanna’s mother thanked him.
Jane just smiled and shook his head in response. He watched the two ladies talk, a small smile on his face. Suddenly, he stepped back a step. He remembered who Lisbon reminded him of. She reminded him of his wife. When Lisbon was talking to Savanna, it reminded him of when his wife talked to his child. True, both of the women were completely different from each other, but they still shared the same sense of humor, kindness, determination, and strength. He frowned. He shouldn’t be comparing his wife to Lisbon; it wasn’t fair.
Lisbon finished talking to the woman and walked back over to Jane. He saw that he was distracted, and that he looked a little sad, so she was concerned. “You okay Jane?”
Jane snapped out of it. “Uh, yeah; I’m fine.”
Lisbon looked suspicious.
“Really. I am,” he assured her.
Lisbon nodded and they walked off to find something else to do. They stopped in front of the side of a tent that had a bunch of pictures. The people in them all had silly faces (or were smiling) and held a small, light blue, fluffy, small teddy bear that had I’m a milk bottle hurler champion! on the front. Jane looked up to the sign. It read, Snazzy Bob’s Milk Bottle Hurl-you could win a bear!
Jane pulled Lisbon to the stand and gave the man a smile. “Hi, we’d like to try this game,” he told the man who had to be Snazzy Bob.
Bob smiled, causing the creases in his face to deepen. He looked elderly, yet strong, and overall very friendly. “Ah, ullo’ young uns’!” he greeted them. “So ye wish to try your hand at the milk bottle hurl, eh? Good luck! Very few are able to pass this test!”
He leaded them to the front of the stand. Three stacks of old-fashioned glass milk bottle stood at the way back of the tent. There were six bottles in each stack.
Bob handed Jane three worn baseballs. “’Ere are the balls. Ye goal is to knock over all three stacks of bottles. If ye do, ye get a stuffed bear and ye picture with whomever you chose put on the wall! Of course, ye also get a copy for yeself. Good luck! Ye gonna need it!”
Jane smiled, thanked Bob, and took the first baseball. He eyed the stack at the end of the tent and aimed using one eye. Then, he pulled back and then hurled the ball as hard as he could. It crashed into the very middle of the stack and they all fell over. Lisbon raised an eyebrow, somewhat impressed.
“One down, two to go!” Bob called out.
Jane took his position and aimed again. He drew back and fired. It hit the top of the stack, only knocking down the top three.
“Ooh, bad luck, sonny,” Bob said sympathetically.
“Nice try, Jane,” Lisbon told him honestly.
“Do you want to try, Lisbon?” Jane asked, holding out a ball.
“Ye should,” Bob told her. “I think ye’d be good at it.”
Lisbon shrugged and took the ball. “Sure, why not?”
She took her position and examined the stack. She tossed the ball in the air a few time, and then took aim. She drew back and then released, the ball flying out of her fingers. It flew at incredible speed and knocked the stack over.
Jane gaped, amazed at what he just saw. “Whoa! Where’d that come from?” he asked.
Lisbon looked over at him and smiled. “I may have played softball back when I was a kid,” she admitted sheepishly, a blush forming on her cheeks.
“Nice job, lassie! One down and two to go!” Bob told her.
She nodded and returned her attention back to the next stack. She tossed the ball a few times and took aim. Whoosh! The ball flew out of her fingertips and crashed into the stack, knocking it over again.
Bob let out a low whistle. “Nice arm ye got there! One more to go!”
“Lucky shot,” Jane mumbled, a smile on his face.
Lisbon rolled her eyes. “Jealous, Jane?” she asked teasingly.
“No.”
“Ah, there’s no reason to be jealous of your girlfriend, laddy. You weren’t so bad,” Bob joked.
Lisbon was about to protest that he wasn’t her boyfriend, but Bob had already returned his attention back to the last stack. She took a deep breath, aimed, and pulled back. The ball zoomed into the stack with unbelievable speed. CRASH!!!! The stack fell over, and Lisbon up righted herself, a smug smile on her face.
“Congratulations, missy! Ye just won yeself a teddy bear!” he shouted, handing her a small and fluffy teddy bear. “Now, would ye like to pose by yeself or with ye boyfriend?”
Lisbon blushed. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she protested.
“There’s no need to lie to Bob, my dear Teresa,” Jane said, smiling coyly. “If you didn’t want to take your picture with me you could’ve just told me.”
Lisbon rolled her eyes and pulled him by the arm closer to her. “Just shut up and pose with me if you want to, Patrick.”
He smiled and walked to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms under her arms and around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Lisbon’s pulse raced. She wished that he would just hold her like that forever. Unfortunately, the pose only lasted a few more seconds as Bob took their picture. He handed it to them and Jane took it.
“Thank you,” they both said at once.
Bob smiled, a twinkle in his eye. “Ye both welcome. Hope ye like the picture. Who knows? Maybe it’ll help ye become a couple.”
They both blushed as they walked away.
A few minutes later, Van Pelt and Rigsby walked by the stand, looking for something to do.
“Hey, isn’t that Jane and Lisbon?” Rigsby asked, pointing to a colorful picture.
Van Pelt peered at it. “Yeah, it is.”
The picture showed them posing together. They looked genuinely happy, both with smiles on their faces. Van Pelt and Rigsby thought it was weird that they’d pose like that so close together willingly.
“Are they… a couple now?” Rigsby asked, confused.
“I guess,” Van Pelt muttered, just as equally confused.
Rigsby smiled. “Yes! Cho owes me 75 bucks!”
“You bet on their relationship?” Van Pelt asked incrediously, a disdain frown on her face.
“Yeah. So?”
Van Pelt just rolled her eyes scornfully, shook her head, and dragged him away from the tent.

Chapter Eight: Lisbon’s Confession
Jane, Lisbon, Van Pelt, Rigsby, Cho, and Alissa had all met up at a small, diner-styled tent to eat and catch up. There was a dance floor a little ways over where people were grooving enthusiastically to a random mix of music. The ground was happily munching on hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes. Well, at least the men were. Van Pelt and Alissa were enjoying hotdogs, chips, and sodas while Lisbon munched on a Caesar Salad and a root beer float.
“Salad?” Jane had asked when she ordered. “Don’t you eat enough of those at work?”
Lisbon shrugged. “I’m trying to steer clear of carbs,” she told him, almost shyly.
“You ordered a root beer float,” he said pointedly.
“Carbonated beverages paired with creamy frozen things are kind of my weakness,” she admitted sheepishly. “Besides, saving some carbs is better than not saving any.”
“You don’t need to save any carbs, Lisbon,” Jane told her, looking her straight in the eyes. “You’re absolutely beautiful just the way you are.”
Lisbon had just blushed and looked away.
Now, she was reaching over him and snatching a fry off his basket.
“What about your ‘carb issue’?” Jane asked teasingly, his eyebrows raised.
Lisbon rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully. “Screw it.”
“Well then,” Jane said, smiling at her and pushing over his basket, “go ahead and help yourself.”
She smiled back at him and popped another fry into her mouth. ”I may just have to take you up on that offer.”
Jane noticed that Van Pelt was staring at them with an odd expression on her face.
“Hey, Van Pelt, would you like to dance?” he asked her.
Both Lisbon and Rigsby straightened. Van Pelt? Why Van Pelt? Lisbon asked herself. Rigsby was suspicious, but he shrugged it off. He trusted Jane. Besides, everyone knew that Van Pelt and Rigsby were an ‘item.’ Plus, by the way that Jane and Lisbon looked at each other, they all had strong suspicions that they had feelings for each other. The song was fast and upbeat, so neither of them were worried. After sharing a look with Rigsby, Van Pelt nodded.
“Sure,” she agreed.
They walked off and Alissa turned to Cho. She whispered something to him and he nodded. Then, she turned to Lisbon.
“Hey, Lisbon. Do you want to dance?” she asked with a friendly smile.
Lisbon thought a moment. Why not? “Okay.”
The two ladies walked onto the dance floor while Cho and Rigsby stayed back to finish eating. Van Pelt and Jane were moving to the beat of the music casually. Jane noticed that Van Pelt was distracted yet again.
“What’s on your mind, Van Pelt?” he asked her.
“What? Nothing. What makes you think that?” Van Pelt asked.
“You’re distracted. It’s obvious. You’ve been looking at Lisbon and I weirdly for the past few hours. Penny for your thoughts?”
“You’re the fake physic. You tell me.”
“Oh well, this I can’t seem to figure out.”
Van Pelt took a deep breath. “I saw the picture of you and Lisbon at the bottle throw.”
“Yeah? …And…?”
“You two looked genuinely happy.”
“Ah. I know what you’re wondering now. You’re wondering if Lisbon and I are together or if we have feelings for each other. You even asked her about it earlier.”
Van Pelt gasped. “What? How did you know that?” Did she tell him? Why would she do that? How embarrassing!
“She didn’t tell me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just know things like that.”
“So… do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Do you have feelings for her?”
“Wow, Van Pelt. You’re very blunt. Don’t hold back. Uhm… yes. I do have feelings for her. I’m just not sure if she has feelings for me.”
“I think she does.”
“You think so?” Jane asked, looking at Lisbon.
She was dancing with Alissa and slightly moving to the beat of the music. Alissa was dancing a little more than she was, moving her hips to the song and waving her arms a little.
“Ever been in love, Lisbon?” Alissa asked suddenly.
The question caught Lisbon off guard. “Uh… yes.” Why the hell is she asking me this?
“With whom?”
Lisbon didn’t answer. She knew it, but she didn’t really want to tell Alissa. After all, she had just met her a few hours earlier.
“With Jane?”
“No,” she responded quickly.
Alissa stopped dancing abruptly and turned to face Lisbon. “You are very quick to answer, Lisbon. Something tells me you’re lying.”
Lisbon gaped at her. What the hell? What is her problem? Who the hell does she think she is, talking to me like that? The bitch is as bad as Jane! “I am not lying!” she protested.
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not!”
“Why are you spazzing out on me, Lisbon?”
“Why am I spazzing out on you? Why am I spazzing out on you? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you’re making wild, inappropriate accusations!”
Lisbon was flipping out. She knew she was getting out of control, but she was deathly afraid of the truth.
“Scared I’ll find out the truth?” Alissa asked, her eyebrow raised.
“What? No!”
“Oh, so you don’t love him?”
“No.”
“So you hate him?”
“No!”
“Then you must love him.”
“No! I don’t love or hate him! I just… like him as a friend.”
Alissa shook her head. “No you don’t. There’s no such thing.”
“What?”
“Admit it, Lisbon. You lo-ove Jane.”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes you do.”
“No. I. Don’t.”
“Yes. You. Do.”
“No I don’t!”
“Why are you trying so hard to convince me that you don’t?”
“Because… because I don’t!”
“No, it’s because you do. Admit it, Lisbon. I already know that you do. There’s no point in denying it.”
“But I don’t!”
“Yes you do. Admit it.”
“Fine! All right, I’ll admit it! I love Patrick Jane, damn it! There! Are you happy?!” Lisbon shouted.
Alissa gaped, her mouth open. She was shocked that she had managed to squeeze it out of her. The corners of her mouth curled up in a huge smile. “I knew it! I knew it!”
Lisbon uttered a little whimper, completely horrified and humiliated. She turned around and ran out of the tent, desperate to get out.
Jane watched her leave, confused. He frowned. “I’ll see you later, Van Pelt,” he said as he turned to follow Lisbon.
He rushed out after her and searched around. People were everywhere, but there was no sign of Lisbon. He searched around the entire park but couldn’t find her. When he was just about to give up, he decided to look in the parking lot. There, he saw the frail silhouette of Lisbon’s body leaned up against the vehicle. She saw her shoulders shudder occasionally. Her back was turned to him and he had never seen her so vulnerable. It broke her heart.
“Lisbon?” he called softly.
Lisbon straightened up and quickly brushed the tears off her face, embarrassed. “Yes, Jane?”
He walked around the car and stood in front of her. Tears were gently rolling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin.
“Are you okay?” Jane asked her.
“Yes,” she lied. “I’m fine. Did you need something?” she asked, avoiding his gaze.
She couldn’t look at him, not when she was so humiliated.
“I just need to know that you’re all right. What happened? Who or what has made you upset?” he asked with concern, tenderly touching her arm.
“Nothing,” she lied again.
When he remained silent, simply staring at her, she sighed.
“It’s just… I’ve just been completely humiliated by confessing my deepest secret to a woman who I’ve just met earlier today. The worst part was that I didn’t even know that it was true. And, the truth… it scares me a little.”
“Why?”
“Because… if what I confessed got out… the person who the truth is about might not ever look at me the same way again. I don’t want to lose that person.”
She closed her eyes and suddenly appeared very fragile. Jane wanted nothing more but to push her up against the car and kiss her like both of their lives depended on it, but he wasn’t quite sure how that would turn out. Lisbon drew in a shaky breath, trying to compose herself. She was waiting for a response from Jane. Finally, she got it.
“I’m sure that person doesn’t want to lose you either,” he murmured.
She felt the warmth of his face and the scent of him, warm, pleasant, and inviting as he leaned in towards her. She felt his soft lips on her face as he kissed the salty teardrops that were falling down her cheeks. They both wanted him to kiss her lips but he never did. The cool night air hit Lisbon’s face as he pulled away , and she wished he never had.
“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “Try to enjoy your last few minutes here. Want to go on the Ferris Wheel?”
She smiled. “Yes. I’d like that.”
As they walked off, she knew that no matter where they were, she’d like whatever she was doing as long as she was with him.

Chapter Nine: Crush
Jane led Lisbon to the center of the fair grounds where a giant Ferris wheel stood looming with bright lights against the night sky. They got in line and waited for their turn.
“So, what do you think of Cho’s friend, Alissa?” Jane asked as they waited.
Lisbon’s face flushed with embarrassment as she remembered their awkward conversation. “Oh, um, she’s okay. Very energetic. Likes to get in people’s business,” she commented, somewhat angrily.
Jane noticed her sharp tone. “What makes you say that?”
“No reason,” she lied.
“Hmm… interesting,” Jane mumbled mysteriously.
“What?” Lisbon asked suspiciously.
“Nothing. Ladies first, m’lady,” he said, gesturing grandly to the open cart in front of them.
“And they said chivalry was dead,” Lisbon smirked, glancing at Jane out of the corner of her eye.
They got into the seat and the ride started.
“Who says that?” Jane asked seriously, looking at her.
“I do. Every Saturday night,” Lisbon grumbled.
“And what do you do on Saturday nights?”
“Never you mind!” she hedged, blushing.
They looked around. They could see every part of the fair from their location. Lights shone, bells rang, chimes sounded, dings donged, children squealed, and people laughed below them. Lisbon smiled, feeling contempt for the first time in a long while.
“Nice view, huh?” Jane asked, looking around.
“Yeah,” she replied quietly.
The ride continued to go on.
“Hey,” Lisbon said suddenly, turning to face Jane. “You never told me what my flower means.”
“What?” Jane asked, shifting so he faced her.
“The flowers. Earlier today. Alissa’s meant ‘I’ve missed you.’ Van Pelt’s meant ‘love at first sight’. What does mine mean?”
“Uh… you don’t wanna know,” Jane told her with a chuckle.
“Yes I do.”
“Uhm… I’m not quite sure you’ll like it.”
“Jane, just tell me the damn meaning of the damn flower!”
“Well… ok-kay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You sure?”
“Yes!”
“Okay.” He looked straight into her shiny, bright, green eyes with his own sparkling blue ones to show her that he was serious. “Your flower, a tiger lily, means… ‘I dare you to love me’.”
Lisbon stared at him, agape. She didn’t know what to think of the meaning. Does that mean he actually wants me to love him? Does that mean he loves me?
“Oh,” she managed to choke out. “I uh, I usually don’t do dares- and what are you doing?” she asked when he started leaning in towards her.
He said nothing, only continued to lean in. She sat utterly shell shocked as he kissed the corner of her mouth tenderly. She closed her eyes, letting her other senses kick in. His lips were so soft and warm… they seemed to melt her from the inside out. She was just about to turn her head and let him kiss her lips, but she heard a rough cough. Her eyes shot open and she turned to see who had made the noise. It was the operator of the ride, and he was patiently waiting for them to get off so the next people could get on. The ride was over and people were staring at them. Lisbon pulled away from Jane, the corner of her mouth burning and her face flaming with embarrassment.
“Sorry,” she muttered to the operator as she and Jane clambered out.
The operator smiled and shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I had to stop the ride.”
Jane and Lisbon started heading back to the tent where the others were still dancing.
“I’m gonna go… get a soda,” Lisbon whispered to Jane.
He nodded and watched her disappear into the crowd.
“Hey, Jane!” Alissa chirped, seeming to pop in front of him out of nowhere.
“Hi Alissa,” Jane said with smile.
“C’mon, let’s dance!”
Before Jane could protest, Alissa pulled Jane by the arm onto the dance floor. They danced happily to the beat. Lisbon was leaning on the countertop of a bar, sipping on a soda. What the hell happened on that Ferris wheel? She wondered to herself. What would have happened if that man didn’t stop the ride?
“Hey boss,” Cho greeted her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
“Hey Cho.”
“Wanna dance?”
Lisbon started to laugh but soon saw that Cho was serious. “Sure.”
They moved onto the dance floor and started dancing to the upbeat music. A few songs later, Alissa came over to them and whispered something to Cho. He nodded and looked at Lisbon.
“I’m gonna go dance with Alissa, Lisbon,” he told her.
She nodded, smiled, and walked over to sit on a bench to rest. She saw Alissa run up to the DJ, hand him something, and whisper in his ear. What is she doing? Just then the song changed to one she recognized: Crush by David Archuleta. Her nieces had played it over and over when they had visited her last summer.
“Would you like to dance?” a cool, melodic voice asked.
She looked up and saw Jane smiling down at her.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” she admitted sheepishly.
“Neither am I,” he told her. “We can dance badly together.”
She laughed and, in the process, caved in.
“Oh, all right,” she gave in.
He shot her one of his dazzling smiles. “Excellent.”
She took his outstretched hand and followed him to the middle of the dance floor. Bunches of couples were dancing slowly to the music. She spotted Van Pelt and Rigsby dancing together, shy smiles on their faces. Some couples weren’t even dancing; they were just making out. The sight made both Lisbon and Jane slightly uncomfortable. Carefully, Lisbon put her hands on Jane’s shoulders as he put his hands on her slender hips. Slow dancing didn’t take much effort; all you had to do was sway to the music. That’s what they were doing. The song was already done with the first verse and was continuing on.
Why do I keep running from the truth?
All I ever think about is you.
You got me hypnotized, so mesmerized,
And I just got to know…
Lisbon blushed when she listened to the words. Of course, they had to use the word ‘hypnotized’! she thought half amusedly, half bitterly. She smiled, remembering all of the times where Jane and hypnotism had been involved in a part of her job at the CBI. He’d hypnotized a woman back a while ago during the second case they had taken on when he joined the CBI. He had also hypnotized a man who murdered two people a while ago. She had gotten so mad that she had begun ranting about how it was ‘illegal and unethical’ and how he ‘cannot keep on doing it!’. The next time they had to deal with hypnotism, it wasn’t he that was doing it. A woman had hypnotized a man who killed another woman and then hypnotized a different man into taking the blame of the murder. Rigsby had been hypnotized by the murderer and Jane had told him to do what he wanted to do the most. That was when Van Pelt and Rigsby had shared their first kiss. Lisbon returned her attention to the song.
Do you ever think?
When you’re all alone?
All that we can be?
Where this thing can go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?
Lisbon let out a small gasp when Jane pulled her closer. She wrapped her arms casually around his neck and rested her head on his chest.
Do you catch a breath?
When I look at you?
Are you holding back?
Like the way I do?
Cause I’m trying and trying to walk away,
But I know this crush ain’t going away…
Jane rested his head onto Lisbon’s, smiling. Lisbon’s heart fluttered. She felt so close to Jane in that moment, and she knew that he felt it too. She looked around and spied Van Pelt and Rigsby. Rigsby was taking Van Pelt’s head and pulling it closer to his face. He kissed her, and she responded. Lisbon looked away, blushing with a mixture of shame and embarrassment at catching them sharing a private moment.
“You know, Lisbon, you really are a divine dancer,” Jane whispered into her ear.
She blushed. “Shut up,” she mumbled, smiling.
They continued to dance, just swaying to the music.
Suddenly, their dancing got slower.
Then, they were barely moving anymore.
Lisbon looked up at Jane, startled to see how close his face was to hers. She closed her eyes and leaned in ever so slightly. She felt him lean in, too. Their lips had barely brushed each others when a startling boom rang out. They jumped and pulled away, both blushing slightly.
“Hey, hey, hey people!” the DJ shouted into his microphone. “How are we doin’ tonight?”
The crowd roared in response.
The DJ nodded in approval. “All’ight, ‘aight! Ain’t bad, ain’t bad! Well, it’s already 11:30 at night, people! We’re gonna ask you to get goin’ home in the next half an hour.”
“We should get the others and get going,” Jane whispered into Lisbon’s ear.
She nodded but stayed where she was when he left to find the others. That song had taken its toll on her. The lyrics had almost matched her feelings and thoughts for Jane perfectly. She sighed. Maybe the DJ stopping us was an omen, she thought to herself. We almost-kissed a lot today. Maybe… maybe it’s just not meant to be. The thought brought a frown to her face.
“Ready to go, Lisbon?” Jane asked. “Everyone’s waiting outside. It took a little persuasion to get Alissa to stop dancing, and Van Pelt and Rigsby were a little reluctant to leave, but they’re all outside, nonetheless.”
Lisbon smiled and chuckled quietly. “No surprise there.”
He smiled at her and turned to exit the tent. Lisbon followed, the lyrics to Crush still swimming around in her brain.

Chapter Ten: See You Tomorrow
Everyone stood in the middle of the parking lot, smiles on their faces. They were bidding Alissa goodbye.
“It was great to meet you,” Rigsby said, shaking her hand.
Alissa smiled. “You too.” She looked at Van Pelt. “Better hang on to this one. He’s a keeper!”
Van Pelt blushed and shook Alissa’s hand. “Thanks. I will.”
Alissa turned and smiled at Jane. “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Patrick Jane.”
Jane smiled. “The pleasure is all mine.”
Alissa then turned to Lisbon. Lisbon kept her eyes trained on the ground, still embarrassed about earlier.
“It was wonderful to meet you, Lisbon,” Alissa told her, a smile playing on her lips.
“Yeah. You too,” Lisbon mumbled, refusing to look up.
“Lisbon?” Alissa asked.
Lisbon looked up and saw that Alissa had her arms open, no doubt expecting a hug. She didn’t want to hug her, but she didn’t want to be rude either.
“Don’t forget our little secret,” Alissa whispered into Lisbon’s ear during the hug. “And go get him! He’s cute!”
Lisbon’s jaw dropped. How dare she remind me! And what does she mean, ‘go get him’? He is pretty cute though. No, scratch that. He’s very cute! Ugh, bad Lisbon! No thinking about Jane! You’ll have time to fantasize over him later! Wait, since when have I fantasized about Jane?
Cho hugged Alissa. “It was awesome seeing you again,” he told her sincerely.
She nodded. “Yeah, you too! I’ll miss ya,” she said, kissing him on the cheek.
He smiled. “I’ll miss you too.”
“Oh!” Alissa cried suddenly. “That reminds me, here are your guys’ flowers,” she said, reaching into her bag.
She had wrapped them in a wet paper towel and kept them in her bag so they wouldn’t have to ask any more people to hold them for them. She handed Van Pelt the thorn less rose and then gave Lisbon the tiger lily. “Okay, well, I’d better get going. See you guys.”
Everyone called out goodbyes as Alissa waved and walked away.
“So,” Rigsby spoke up after she had left. “Who’s driving?”
Lisbon opened her mouth but Jane started talking.
“Ooh, ooh!” he pleaded, waving his hand in the air. “Can I, Lisbon? Please?”
“I don’t think-” she started to say, but he cut her off.
“I’d be careful. I won’t go too fast. Please, Lisbon? I didn’t kill us on the way over…”
He smiled at her, attempting to get her to cave. He used his cutest and most boyish smile to work his magic on her. He was sure it would work. He had used it thousands of times to get her to stop being mad at him before. And it worked again. Lisbon frowned. She couldn’t to say no to that charming smile of his. Damn.
“Fine,” she sighed.
He ran to get in the driver’s seat. Lisbon sat shotgun, the others in the back. Jane started the vehicle and started to drive.
“Hey,” Lisbon said, looking at Cho, Van Pelt, and Rigsby. “Looks like Cho has a new girlfriend.” A smile played on her lips.
In the back seat, Van Pelt and Rigsby looked at Cho, amused smiles on their faces.
“What? She’s not my girlfriend. She’s just my friend that’s a girl,” Cho protested.
Jane opened his mouth to point out that he did say that he wouldn’t mind dating her, but he closed it in respect of the privacy of his friend.
“Mmm-hmm,” Lisbon murmured dubiously.
“Look who’s talking,” Cho shot back. “You’re the one who’s in love.”
Lisbon’s mouth dropped; Jane swerved the car; and Van Pelt and Rigsby gasped.
“What?” Lisbon asked, shocked.
“Alissa told me about your confession,” he told her.
“Oh,” Lisbon whispered. When his words finally set in, she gasped. “Oh that bitch!!”
“I’m… sorry, boss,” Cho mumbled. “I should’ve never said that.”
“It’s fine,” Lisbon said in a quiet voice. It came out barely a whisper.
A tense silence took over the atmosphere. Lisbon stared out the window. Cho stared out his. Van Pelt and Rigsby stared at their laps. And Jane… he kept his eyes on the road. Lisbon suddenly felt very tired. She looked at the digital clock on the dashboard. It read 12:30. The last thing she heard was an uncomfortable cough from Rigsby before she closed her eyes…
“Yeah, you’re still a little grumpy about the birthday present thing, aren’t you?” Jane asked her.
Lisbon’s anger started to boil. “Will you leave that alone?” she asked, exasperated.
She was sick and tired of him bringing up that particular subject. A few days earlier, it had been Lisbon’s birthday. Van Pelt got her a yoga mat; Rigsby had gotten her a gift certificate to the spa; and Cho had gotten her a bottle of fancy champagne. When Van Pelt had asked where Jane’s gift was, he told them it was on its way.
“Ty-pi-cal,” Lisbon had said in a sing-songy voice, taking out a knife to cut the cake.
“Do you really think I would’ve forgotten to get you a birthday gift?” he had asked in disbelief. She had nodded. “It’s on it’s way!”
“Yeah right.”
“You’re grumpy because I didn’t buy you a pony?”
Rigsby had laughed and Lisbon looked at Jane, her smile quickly disappearing.
Later when they were on a case, Lisbon was slightly touchy.
“Do I detect a slight residue of grumpiness in your demeanor?” he had asked.
“No,” Lisbon had lied.
“I swear to you, Lisbon, your gift is on its way.”
“I’m not grumpy and I don’t give a damn about your ‘supposed gift’.”
But she had. Now, they were walking back to her office after a case was closed. Jane had just hugged a man in Witness Protection, and he had not liked it. Lisbon had looked at the ground, struggling not to laugh.
“What were you thinking?” she asked Jane. “Unbelievable.”
“Believe Lisbon,” he told her. “Believe. You gotta look at it this way: we closed another case.”
“Toying with Mafia bosses is no way to close cases,” she told him, looking at him. “It’s stupid.”
“Nah, you’re just trying to find fault, and I know why.”
“Oh really?” she asked, getting irritated.
“Yeah, you’re still a little grumpy about the birthday present thing, aren’t you?”
“Will you leave that alone?”
“Oh, unbelievable,” Jane murmured. “You know, you got no reason to be grumpy anymore,” he said.
He walked up to her office door and pasted on a red stick-on bow. She looked at him, confused, and turned to open the door. Jane gestured quickly to the other agents to gather around. They all watched as the biggest smile they’d ever seen broke onto their boss’s face. She was utterly and happily shocked at the brown and white pony that stood in her office with a pink and purple blanket that said ‘Happy Birthday’ on it. It was adorable. And, it was perfect. The perfect gift from the perfect consultant. She looked at Jane, beaming. She was still so surprised. She blinked a few times, making sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her. They weren’t. Her eyes watered. They threatened to spill tears of joy. Lisbon couldn’t remember ever being happier…
“Lisbon. Lisbon?” Jane called softly, gently shaking Lisbon’s shoulder to wake her up.
He didn’t really want to, she looked so peaceful, but he had to. He had already dropped the others off.
Lisbon blinked and woke up a little. “Hmm?”
“We’re at your house now,” he told her.
“That’s great,” Lisbon mumbled groggily. She shifted in her seat to get more comfortable and then suddenly sat up, fully awake. “Wait, my house?” She turned and saw that they were indeed in front of her house. She looked at Jane suspiciously. “How did you know where I lived?”
“I follow you home sometimes when I’m afraid that you might not be safe to be driving,” he admitted.
“You stalk me?” she asked in disbelief.
“Stalking is a… strong word. It’s more like… protecting.”
“Protecting,” Lisbon echoed dubiously.
“Yes.”
“Protecting from what?”
“Potential stalkers,” he stated.
“Potential stalkers like you, right?”
“…No…”
She just snorted and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You going to walk me up to my house?”
He nodded. “Sure.”
Lisbon grabbed her flower and they walked up to her house together. When they got to her door, they stopped.
“Thanks for taking us to the fair,” Lisbon thanked him. “I actually really enjoyed myself.”
He smiled brightly at her. “Good. I’m glad. I knew you would.”
They settle into an awkward silence.
“So… I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Jane said at last.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
She watched him turn to leave, slightly disappointed. She had really wanted him to kiss her. She sighed. Oh well. I shouldn’t even be wanting that. He’s a colleague. It wouldn’t even be allowed. Of course, Van Pelt and Rigsby’s relationship was allowed. Still… Lisbon turned around and fished in her purse for her keys. She didn’t notice Jane come up behind her.
“Lisbon?”
She nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned around, startled to see Jane staring at her.
“Yes?”
“A little birdy told me that you loved me,” he told her quietly with a coy smile.
She looked at the ground, blushing. “Does this bird have the name Alissa?”
“…Yeah.”
“I just told her that so she’d stop pestering me,” Lisbon grumbled.
It wasn’t all a lie. She had said it so Alissa would stop, but it was true, nonetheless.
“You’re blushing,” he pointed out.
“So? I blush all the time,” she told him. “It doesn’t mean anything,” she added quickly.
“Ah. Okay. So… you don’t love me?”
“…No…” she lied.
“So if I kissed you, you wouldn’t get that happy, excited feeling that people get when they get kissed?” he asked, a serious expression on his face.
Lisbon gulped. She couldn’t believe what he was saying. “…No,” she lied again.
He leaned in closer to her. “Well,” he murmured. “We’ll just have to see about that.”
He put a few fingers gently under her chin and tilted her head up to his face. He covered her lips with his own and kissed her. Before she could do anything, he pulled away and stared at her, waiting for a reaction. When she remained speechless, shocked, he quickly put his hands on the back of her neck, pulled her closer, and kissed her as hard and intense as he could.
When Lisbon’s brain finally started to function, her thoughts were those of denial and fear. No, this can’t even be happening. Uh-uh. He’s still in love with his wife. Then… why is he kissing me? God, his lips are so soft! No! Bad Lisbon! You shouldn’t be doing this. I mean, what if the team caught us? Or worse… what if Minelli caught us? Please, it’s not like anyone from the team’s going to drive by and spy us. But if they did… I can only imagine the consequences. Yet at the same time, I really do love Jane and he’s kissing me. Finally, he’s actually kissing me! No one’s stopping him… well, no one’s stopping him except for me. Time to stop pretending. Screw the consequences! This moment is happening now and I’m going to live it.
He felt her melt under his grasp and she closed her eyes, kissing him back. Their lips fit together like two pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. Lisbon had kissed a lot of boys in her life, but never had she actually gotten the happy, exciting tingling in her stomach like she was getting now. And no one would stop them. Not Cho, not an operator, not a D.J., no one.
He pulled her against him, chest to chest, hip to hip. She dropped her flower, wrapped her arms around his neck, and ran her hands through his soft, golden curls. His hands were originally on her hips, but now they moved up to the small of her back and then to her neck and hair. His fingers toyed with the dark, smooth, wavy tendrils of her hair. Her hair was smooth, cool, and soft. It felt like he was running his fingers through a dark, silken waterfall.
They continued to kiss, savoring each and every moment of it. They savored each time they rotated their heads, each time they pulled on each others’ lips with their own, each time they ran their hands through the other person’s hair, each time they ran out of lip and had to open their mouths again to continue kissing. Every little thing they did, they savored it.
Finally, the extreme need for air caused them to break off. Both were breathing heavily and were a little surprised at what just happened.
“Something tells me you think otherwise,” Jane whispered breathlessly, his voice husky.
Lisbon said nothing, but she swore she could feel her cheeks burn. It was impossible to tell, her face was so steaming hot already.
“See you tomorrow, Teresa,” he said cheerfully. He leaned in to her. “Oh, and by the way, Alissa didn’t tell me anything. You told me everything all by yourself,” he whispered into her ear.
He turned around and walked away briskly, leaving a dumbstruck, speechless, flustered Lisbon on her front doorstep. She picked up her flower and unlocked the door.
“See you tomorrow, Patrick,” she whispered.
Then, she disappeared into her house, a happy smile on her lips.

-There we go! Thanks for reading!