All night Angela sends them both on small errands in hopes they'll meet under the mistletoe at the same time.
Only they keep missing one another or getting distracted and swooped into other conversations.
Finally she sends Maura to get more wine from the cellar in the guesthouse and Jane to get her cellphone out of her car so she can take pictures of TJ in his Santa hat.
Both women, unmindful of the older woman's intentions, serendipitously meet back at the doorway at the same time.
Awkwardly, Jane gestures for Maura to go but Maura insists Jane goes first.
So they both go at the same time and bump into each other.
Jane's frustrated with all the orders her mother has been barking at her all night and that Tommy has been showing Maura off to his greasy friends and greatly exaggerating their relationship; so she thrusts ahead vexedly through the door and nearly slams Angela's phone down on the counter then leaves in a barge.
Maura looks confused and a little worried then places the bottles of wine next to Angela's phone more delicately than her friend. She looks around the party to make sure no one will notice their departure then follows behind Jane.
She catches up to her best friend who barely has one arm in the sleeve of her coat.
Thick snow blankets the streets around them and Maura shivers as soon as her body greets the cold air.
"Where are you going?" Maura asks.
Still frustrated, Jane barely hears her as she digs in her coat's pockets for her car keys. Coming up empty, she growls with rapidly growing impatience.
"Fuck." Jane groans.
Maura wraps her arms around herself and shivers as the wind burns her cheeks. "Jane, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Maur." Awkwardly, they both stand there keenly aware that something is in fact wrong.
Maura knows she shouldn't push. She refuses to leave Jane but she's very cold.
And Jane would be lying if she said she couldn't hear her best friend's teeth clattering. She leans against her car and Maura moves in front of her looking very determined to stand there all night if she has to...even if she doesn't really want to.
"You still like Tommy?" Jane asks, hoping she's hiding her insecurity well.
But Maura is just as oblivious as her, possibly more, so it goes undetected. "No." She answers with a tone that indicates she doesn't understand at all where that question came from.
"Tommy still likes you." Jane apprises as she glares at the snow beneath their feet. "You know what he's been telling all his friends tonight?"
"That we're dating." She states factually.
"Yeah. But you're not...wait are you?"
"Of course not." Maura reprimands with a disappointing look but then it softens when Jane's accusatory glare turns inward. "But Tommy paints houses for a living because finding a job in this economy after prison is very difficult. He has a son with a woman he doesn't love and both of his older siblings are police officers. I think he needs his friends to believe he's succeeded somehow."
Then guilt consumes Jane and she feels stupid for getting so mad. Of course Tommy needed something to brag about. Almost everyone at the party but him has their life together.
"I'm sorry, Maur." Her shoulders sag.
"It's okay." Her friend stammers through her shivers. Maura isn't oblivious to her own feelings for Jane. She's analyzed and diagnosed them plenty of times. And it's not that she doesn't think Jane doesn't have feelings for her, she's just never had a best friend before.
She thinks their friendship is normal. She thinks it's how females that are best friends are supposed to be. That's the whole appeal of having a best friend right? Being so close to them that it aches to be apart.
"You're cold..." Jane says quietly. She removes her own coat from her shoulders and drapes it around Maura's.
It hangs loosely but it's warm and it smells like her best friend so Maura accepts it eagerly. "Thank you."
"Let's get you-"
"Wait." Maura stops her with a firm but soft hand to Jane's chest. "I have to ask you something..."
Feeling cold, Jane rubs her hands together impatiently. "Yeah, okay...what?"
"Why did you get so upset that Tommy told his friends we were dating?"
She rolls her eyes. "I already told you, I don't like my brothers dating my friends."
"Yes but...you seemed almost..." Maura tilts her head slightly as she tries to think of a more appropriate word for Jane's reaction. Then suddenly it clicks and she makes a soft, apprehending sound. And she feels idiotic that she didn't realize it before. "Hmph."
"What?" Jane feels lost. "Hmph? What's that for?"
"You're jealous." Maura states, a teasing smile spreading rapidly across her cheeks.
"Wha-No! Of what? Of Tommy?" she gestures wildly back to the party. "Hell no."
Maura doesn't buy it. In fact it only affirms her concept.
"I'm not jealous." Jane insists unnecessarily. Maura only blinks at her. "I'm not!"
"Jane..." Her best friend's name is delicate on her lips. "I suppose I have myself to blame for not noticing it sooner. Usually I'm reading the signs from men-"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You have feelings for me too."
Jane's eyes grow wide and her cheeks burn with embarrassment at being put on the spot. "No I don't!"
"Yes. Yes you do." She insists patiently.
"Okay what about you, huh? It's not like you've been-" she cuts herself short suddenly and it dawns on her. "You said too."
Maura looks intriguingly confused.
"You have feelings for me too. That's what you said. That means..." Jane looks like she's trying to figure out the world's most difficult math problem then a smile takes over her face and her anger and annoyance is a thing of the past. "You have feelings for me too."
"Now you're just repeating what I said."
"You have feelings for me too." She reiterates with a smirk.
"I..." Maura feels utterly lost.
"You have feelings for me too."
"Yes. I do." She admits easily.
Taken aback by her best friend's bluntness, Jane's smile falls. "Shit...really?"
"Yes. Are you telling me you haven't noticed?"
Jane's demeanor turns defensive. "Of course I haven't noticed! How would I notice something like that?!"
"Jane your mother is throwing a Christmas party at my house. I don't even know half the people that are in my home. I wouldn't agree to something like that if Frankie or Tommy had asked me."
"I just thought...I thought..." She doesn't know what she thought. If she were completely honest with herself, somewhere deep down she knew. It was just easier to pretend she didn't. Love complicates friendships. It destroys them sometimes. She values what she has with Maura far too much to let their feelings ruin it.
But she never realized they work so well together because of those feelings.
She kisses Maura then; her lips hesitant and Maura's unsuspecting and surprised. She takes each side of Maura's face and she doesn't feel the cold around them anymore. Instead between them is nothing but enveloping warmth.
Maura's lips taste like cinnamon and mint and something unique.
It ends quickly but both women are satisfied. It wasn't a very deep kiss. Definitely not the Hollywood kind. More like they've been together for years and honestly it almost feels that way to both of them.
Maura chuckles softly in complete bliss when Jane pulls away slightly. Their faces only centimeters apart.
Jane's lips taste like Maura's favorite wine. The taste tingles as it lingers.
From a distance away at the door, Angela watches as both women gaze lovingly at one another. With a triumphant smile she pats her pocket where Jane's keys are safely hidden.
"Merry Christmas Janie."