you better hide behind smol bc i wILL AGGRESSIVELY TUCK YOU IN IF I HAVE TO, DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE.

“Nobody! Maybe that’s why I got invited, I just didn’t piss off the right person. You on the other hand…” Teresa said, shifting where she stood and smoothing a hand over the dress she was wearing– a simple, long, hunter green number that showed off her shoulders and cinched at the waist. When she’d tried it on it’d felt good, even though maybe green at a Christmas party was a little cliche, at least she wasn’t one of the many wearing red. “Give me that–” She muttered, snatching the glass of champagne from his hand and taking a sip, wondering if it was entirely possible to just… duck out now. “What are you doing here, anyway? How’d you find me?”

jane  picked  a  flute  of  champagne  from  the  server  that  walked  by  ,  taking a  sip  .  he  looked  the  same  as  he  ever  did  .  rumpled  suit  ,  uncombed  hair  .  but  he  had  buttoned  up  his  suit  jacket   in  an  ATTEMPT  to  look  smart  .  lisbon  looked  as  grumpy  as  ever  -  she  had  dressed  up  for  the  occasion  though  she  might  not  be  ENTIRELY  HAPPY  about  that  either  .  jane  made  to  take  another  sip  of  champagne  before  lisbon  snatched  it  from  his  hand  . 

teresa  -  WELL  ,  he  couldn’t  work  out  if  teresa  had  been  in  the  snow  before  or  not  .  she  might  have  been  at  some  point  .  but  he  SUSPECTED  that  she  might  have  forgotten  the  feeling  .  piling  into  the  car  that  morning  ,  charlotte  had  taken  control  of  the  radio  &&  was  listening  to  some  tune  that  patrick  didn’t  recognize  .  behind  them  ,  wayne  &&  grace  followed  behind  with  ben  in  tow  .  it  wasn’t  necessarily  a  LONG  drive  -   well  it  was  .  patrick  had  just  been  on  longer  ones   .  so  it  did  surprise  him  when  charlotte  &&  teresa  dozed  off  in  their  car  seats  .  

it  was  something  that  they  all  needed  .  a  VACATION  away  .  getting  away  from  serious  homicide  crimes  would  be  good  for  them  all  .  it  would  relief  charlotte  of  the  stress  her  mind  was  under  &&  would  give  teresa  a  break  from  all  the  bureaucratic  NONSENSE  she  had  to  put  up  with  on  a  daily  basis  .   patrick  was  just  happy  that  he  didn’t  need  to  look  at  another  dead  body  .  didn’t  have  to  face  an  EVIL  that  existed  in  the  world  &&  was  so  ready  to  destroy  at  a  moments  notice  .  he  needed  something  more  than  murder  &&  death  .  needed  something  else  to  focus  his  mind  on  .  he  had  spent  so  many  years  dealing  with  a  burning  hate  within  the  pit  of  his  stomach  ...

he  didn’t  want  to  feel  that  anymore  .  

he  COULDN’T  feel  that  anymore  .  not  with  charlotte  back  in  his  life  .  she  needed  him  to  set  an example  .  needed  him  to  be  the  better  ,  bigger  man  .  though  maybe  not  physically  .  patrick  was  so  lost  in  his  trail  of  thoughts  that  he  forgot  to  point  out  the  state  line  that  they  had  passed  not  that  lisbon  would  care  for  being  woken  up  .  

glad  they  took  teresa’s  jeep  ,  given  that  the  snow  was  HEAVY  &&  falling  thick  when  they  got  there  just  after  10pm  ,  patrick  pulled  up  to  the  cabin  &&  leaned  over  ,  stopping  the  car  .  wayne  &&  grace  had  went  to  their  own  cabin  about  twenty  minutes  ago  ,  pulling  away  from  behind  them  .  he  suspected  they’d  come  around  tomorrow  for  breakfast  .  

he  turned  ,  waking  teresa  &&  charlotte  up  .  ‘ we’re  here . ’  he  said  ,  opening  the  car  door  &&  feeling  a  gust  of  sharp  clean  but  cold  air  .  

They’d been here once before– well, not here exactly, but in a similar situation during a high school reunion. Her favorite song had come on, and Patrick had talked her into one dance. This time it was a wedding reception where they’d earlier arrested the groom’s step-mother for murder.

At Jane’s request, she knew putting up a fight was futile, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try. “But it’s not even our song.” Teresa huffed, half teasing as she arched a brow at him and pursed her lips to fight off a smirk. “Besides, I’m not dressed for dancing at a wedding, and I’m pretty sure Charlotte’s around here somewhere, undoubtedly causing havoc.” Like father, like daughter, she supposed. Honestly, though, at least she was dressed normally this time rather than in her pajamas.

“You’re not going to let me off that easy, are you?” She asked, dropping her hands to her sides and glancing away from Jane to gaze at the couples on the dance floor.

lisbon  was  not  as  nearly  hating  of  SENTIMENTALITY  as  she  liked  to  let  on  .  as  they  stood  at  the  edge  of  the  dancefloor  ,  watching  couples  slowly  dance  the  end  of  the  night  away  .  jane  looked  over  &&  had  noted  her  longing  look  ,  the  memory  of  when  she  last  danced  echoing  over  her  expression  .  so  he  offered  .  like  any  GOOD  FRIEND  would  .  it  seemed  selfless  in  thought  ,  considering  he  was  just  offering  .  but  in  truth  ,  jane  selfishly  just  wanted  to  spend  time  with  his  friend  .  

nevertheless  ,  he  smiled  widely  &&  gestured  slightly  .  ‘  how  could  you  NOT  want  to  dance  to  this  song  ?  ‘   he  asked  .  ‘  it’s  a  good  song  .  it  should  be  danced  to  .  ‘  he  turned  to  face  her  properly  as  she  then  brought  up  charlotte  ,  looking  over  the  smaller  womans  head  to  see  his  daughter  sitting  talking  to  some  kids  her  own  age  .  he  cleared  his  throat  &&  pulled  a  hand  from  his  pocket  &&  OFFERING  it  to  lisbon  .  with  his  other  hand  he  gestured  .  

While the prospect of a cup of coffee did sound good, Teresa wasn’t quite ready to move yet. Falling asleep on the couch hadn’t been her original plan, but it was what had happened, and now she was all but lying on top of Patrick. “Meh,” She muttered quietly, burying her face against his shoulder and closing her eyes again, even though there was no chance of her falling back to sleep. “But I’m comfortable, I don’t want to move… five more minutes? Please?” Teresa asked, shuffling a little higher and pressing her nose against his neck.

he  was  dying  for  a  cup  of  tea  .  so  had  OFFERED  to  make  her  one  if  she  wanted  .  to  which  she  said  yes  .  but  this  had  been  over  30  minutes  ago  .  &&  patrick  had  not  yet  moved  from  the  sofa  as  teresa  had  practically  fallen  asleep  on  him  .  that  was  not  the  INTENTION  .  lazy  days  off  granted  them  these  moments  &&  they  had  ended  up  relaxing  on  the  sofa  &&  dozing  in  &&  out  of  much  needed  sleep  .  eyes  closed  ,  patricks  eyebrows  shot  up  in  surprise  at  her  reaction  .  ‘  did  you  just  ...  did  you  just  MEH  me  ?  ’  he  asked  .  ‘  really  ?  fine  no  coffee  then  .  ’  he  settled  back  down  in  his  spot  before  closing  his  eyes  .

jane  ran  his  finger  underneath  his  bottom  lip  ,  thinking  DEEPLY  as  the  others  began  getting  ready  to  go  home  .  &&  by  others  ,  he  meant  just  cho  &&  rigsby  .  van  pelt  was  busy  looking  up  for  something  on  one  of  the  systems  &&  lisbon  was  in  her  office  ,  working  away  on  whatever  paperwork  she  had  to  file  .  his  thoughts  were  turning  anxiously  &&  he  shook  his  head  from  the  mess  that  he  was  creating  in  his  mind  .  his  foot  twitched  for  a  moment  then  he  looked  up  to  see  lisbon  standing  there  ,  purse  in  hand  .  she  was  SPEAKING  but  it  took  jane  a  moment  to  piece  together  what  she  was  saying  .  her  words  muted  ,  he  instead  read  her  lips  .  

When she’d come in that morning, she’d been feeling under the weather a bit, and thankfully there wasn’t a new case coming across her desk yet. So she’d closed the door to her office, grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa, and flopped down. She should have known that someone would notice, so when Jane came in holding a cup in his hand, all she could do was groan and pull the blanket over her head.

“I’m fine.” Teresa muttered, ever stubborn and refusing to admit she was sick. “Really…”

she  had  STUMBLED  into  the  bullpen looking  like  death  had  warmed  up  ,  sneezing  &&  coughing  her  way  to  her  own  office  ,  closing  the  door  &&  slumping  into  her  sofa  .  she  probably  knew  that  she  shouldn’t  have  come  in  ,  but  jane  had  a  feeling  that  she  had  ARGUED  with  herself  all  the  time  she  was  driving  here  .  

he  himself  had  spent  the  night  at  the  cbi  .  not  CARING  much  for  want  ,  instead  he  just  stayed  &&  slept  on  his  couch  .  after  all  ,  he  had  stuff  BETTER  to  do  than  go  home  to  his  proper  bed  . he  watched  her  &&  smiled  before  going  through  to  the  kitchen  &&  preparing  them  both  a  cup  of  tea  &&  made  his  way  through  to  her  office  .