Title: There's No Place Like Home
Fandom: The Mentalist
Rating: PG
Length: 200 words
Content notes: Future fic. No spoilers.
Author notes: A double drabble. Written for the October 2013 Monthly Challenge on Paint It Red and the transformation challenge on fan_flashworks. Also a birthday present for chizuru_chibi.
Summary: Realization hit him one morning as he brushed his teeth.



Red John’s long-overdue demise brought about a major transformation in Jane’s life, and yet it took him some time to realize the full extent of this change.
It wasn’t the first time he met Lisbon’s lips for a kiss, nor the first time he made love to her; realization hit him one morning as he brushed his teeth, and Lisbon complained about the fact he kept squeezing the tube of toothpaste in the middle while he should do it from the bottom.
He dropped his toothbrush and pulled her to him for a crushing hug.
“Thank you,” he murmured warmly, inhaling the scent of blueberry about her hair. She’d tried the new shampoo he’d bought a couple of days ago, and he made a mental note to look for that specific brand the next time he went to the grocery around the corner.
Lisbon relaxed into his embrace, her fingers twirling the curls at the nape of his neck.
“What for?” she asked at length. “Saving a toothpaste tube from your clutches?”
He chuckled softly, then maneuvered so that he could look her in the eyes. “For being home to me.”
Her eyes were even more beautiful when she smiled.