PSL for neednewthrill

[bettercop]

Lisbon had agreed to dinner with Walter on Friday night, barring any unforeseen circumstances, of course. By now, she was used to the fact that some cases required longer hours than others, more travel than others, and her personal life made it easy to adapt to the unpredictability of her job. There was Walter, now, but even this indefinable thing

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[neednewthrill]

It wasn't the first time Lisbon had been late for a date but for some reason, it bothered Walter more than any other time. Actually, that wasn't exactly true. He'd slowly been growing more dissatisfied with the loose nature of their relationship. He'd understood from the very beginning that his role was pursuer and Lisbon's...well, she was the one who led him on the chase. It had been fun. He'd always enjoyed a challenge--the more difficult it was, the more satisfying the victory.

Beyond that, he understood that her job wasn't exactly a 9 to 5 proposition. Sometimes she had to work late, sometimes she worked odd hours and she couldn't leave a crime scene just because they had a date. She could call, though. It would only be polite. It would also save him from worrying...because he did worry. Another pertinent feature of her job was that it was dangerous--a fact he was all too aware of

[bettercop]

She did feel bad, even if she wasn't the type to look overly contrite on the outside. In hindsight, she could see that it would have been better to have simply called him this morning when she'd thought of it, to warn him that she might be late. But she was more used to reminding herself of other deadlines and necessities. If this weren't Walter, if she were just meeting a friend, she would've remembered to call.

So why was it different with him? It was almost as if there was a mental block there, that she was unconsciously resistant to anything that seemed like she was agreeing to a relationship. It was a form of rebellion, perhaps, something she wasn't even completely aware of doing until she thought about it. But it wasn't fair to him; they hadn't defined this thing between them, had never really had any intimate conversations about what they were, and what they meant to each other, and maybe that was why she felt like she didn't need to adhere to societal norms when it came to this stuff

[neednewthrill]

After the brief kiss, Walter closed the door and ushered Teresa deeper into the house. Her explanation was what he'd expected, but not really the point. What bothered him was not that her job interferred--there were times when his job had caused him to reschedule their meetings--but that apparently he was so low on her list of priorities she couldn't remember to call him.

"You couldn't take thirty seconds to call or text me?" He gave an uncomfortable shrug because he was aware he sounded...whiny. Nagging was the last thing he wanted to do with Teresa but he felt it was an important point to make. Surely he was worth a few seconds.

"You have a dangerous job. You chase murderers, people who by definition are not opposed to killing. And then there's Patrick. I like the guy--you know I do--but there's no denying he can be a real menace. So I worry, and I worry more when you're late and I don't know where you are."

[bettercop]

If she were objectively observing the situation, if this were any two other people, she would have more emphatically agreed with Walter's position. Everything he said was absolutely true, and even with her own feelings disrupting complete objectivity, she was pragmatic enough to agree with the points he was making. At least in her head, and only to a point. It shouldn't have been so hard for her to just apologize and agree that she should have called earlier, and would the next time. But that was the trouble: the next time. There was always an unspoken 'next time' with them, they kept coming back to each other. Conceding would be about more than just this little incident, there were deeper, broader issues involved here.

It wasn't the apology she had trouble with, she wasn't above admitting fault; it was what the apology represented to her. How did she let them get this close? Emotions and feelings of attachment had slipped quietly into her heart, without her knowledge or conscious consent