Maura had gotten pregnant not long after Jane realized she was in love with the Medical Examiner. Ian had come to visit and they had slept together after having a few too many glasses of wine. They had agreed to never sleep together after the last time he was in Boston but that plan went down the drain. Once Ian had been sent back to Africa after the police found out he was illegally transporting medical drugs it was about a month before Maura realized she was pregnant. Maura told Jane about the pregnancy as soon as she found out. Jane was her best friend, she told her everything. Jane reacted quite well to the news considering she was in love with Maura. She knew Maura would be an amazing mother however she was confused at who the father was as she knew Maura didn't have a man in her life. When she found out that Ian, Maura's love of her life, was the father, she didn't know whether to feel sorry for her as she would be bringing this baby up by herself or happy because he was a handsome man and she would have an amazingly beautiful baby. Why wouldn't she have a beautiful baby, Maura was the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on. Deep down she knew Maura wouldn't do this alone as she would always be there for Maura, whether it was the late night craving runs or having to give her a foot rub every now and then. She loved Maura but she couldn't tell her how she felt now that she was pregnant, could she?

It took Jane two months to pluck up the courage to tell Maura how she felt.

Jane and Maura had gone out to dinner just as they would usually do when they had the night off. Many of the friends and family around them thought this was a little strange as they didn't know of any best friends that were as close as Jane and Maura. Some people actually thought they were together but would never say anything because they felt there was no need to. It was so obvious that they didn't even need to ask if they were or not. Jane knew that tonight was the night to tell Maura how she felt, she couldn't keep it in any longer.

All of a sudden both of their phones rang. Murder calls.

"Oh great, we get our first night off in 2 weeks, have a lovely dinner and the nights ruined by some son of a bitch murdering a poor innocent civilian" Jane was seriously angry at the interruption. She just wanted to get tonight over and done with.

"Jane you're jumping to conclusions again. You have no way of knowing whether this was even a murder yet, and if so, whether the killer was male or if the victim was poor or innocent" Maura gave her a disapproving look before she answered her phone. Jane shrugged her shoulders and went to answers hers too.

"Isles. Yes...Okay...Thank you, I shall be there as soon as I can"

"Rizzoli. Yes...Are you okay?...Frost calm down, ill be there as soon..."

Jane and Maura both looked at each other with a confused look on their faces. Maura heard most of the commotion that Frost was making on the other end of the phone. "Frost just hung up on me, he never hangs up on me. Something must be seriously wrong. C'mon lets go" They both made their way to what they now knew was a crime scene from the way Frost was acting. Jane tried to stay calm so that she wouldn't scare the M.E but nerves were filling them both up. Maura wasn't stupid, she heard the way Frost was acting. She knew something more serious had happened than what Jane was letting on. The last time they were both this nervous was when they found Hoyt's last victim. It couldn't be him they thought. He was in lock up and had no connection to the outside world. Neither of them wouldn't have even attempted to ask if the other though it was Hoyt. Not after the last time. Just thinking about him or hearing his name made them both shiver with fear and brought back all the memories of when they were both tied up and cut on the throat. Memories that they never thought could again become a reality.

Jane stopped the car once they had got to the crime scene but didn't move an inch. She didn't even turn the car off. Her hand was on the steering wheel, her eyes locked on what was going on in front of her and her heart beating as fast as it ever could. All Maura could do was look at Jane. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't want to get out and witness what she was so certain she was going to see; a cut throat, a tea cup and the most horrific expression on Jane's face.

Maura placed her hand on Jane's thigh which made Jane nearly jump out of the car. She loved Maura's touch but she wasn't expecting for Maura to touch her at a time like this. She didn't know why though, as Maura was her best friend and she knew all Maura wanted to do was comfort her.

"Jane, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. Are you okay?" Maura then placed her loving hand on Jane's shoulder as her way to keep Jane placed in her seat.

"Oh no, it's okay Maura, I...I was...I was just in my own world for a moment. C'mon Maura lets just get this over and done with" Jane unbuckles her seatbelt and turns off the ignition but is stopped by Maura's hand back on her thigh.

"Jane stop" Jane looks down at Maura's hand on her thigh not knowing what to do. She wanted to just hold her hand but didn't know whether she would be able to keep the tears in.

"Jane look at me" Maura voice was stern but still soft and pure and full of love. Love for Jane. She knew she loved Jane but was it platonically or romantically? She had never been with a woman. I mean she did mess around with her roommate at college but she had never fully given herself to a woman. However she did feel like she had given all of herself to Jane. Maybe not in the sexual way but she could trust Jane with her life. Jane knew everything about her. Jane even knew things that Maura didn't know about herself. She knew how Maura would be a wonderful mother.

"Please, look at me" Jane found it hard to look in Maura's eyes at times like this. People say the eyes are the window to your soul. This is true in Jane and Maura's case. When Jane looks into Maura's eyes she sees everything. She sees the first day they met. She sees the first time she got Maura to try beer. She sees the dorky, socially awkward, most beautiful amazing woman she fell in love with. All Jane wanted to do was forget about everything and just take Maura into an embrace and never let her go, but she knew there was something horrific outside of that car waiting for her that needed to be seen, and dealt with in whatever way she could.

Maura placed her right hand on Jane's cheek to make sure Jane would stay looking at her. "Jane, I thought this was going to be over too. I know...I know your scared, hell I am too, but you can get through this. You've done it before and you can do it again." Jane took Maura's hand that was on her thigh and leaned into the hand on her cheek. Here eyes looking down to where their hands were intertwined. Being able to feel Maura relaxed her just enough to say something. Something she needed to get off her chest that's been lingering there for a very long time. She was going to follow through with her plan no matter what. She had to now that Hoyt was back in their lives. Anything could happen. "God, Maura I...I don't know where I would be without you. I don't ever want to lose you"

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise" Maura gave Jane's hand a squeeze before placing a strand of hair that was hanging down, behind Jane's ear.

"It's just..." Jane sighed heavily. She didn't want to talk about this right now. Not in a car and especially not in a car that's parked 50 yards away from what could effectively break Jane into a thousand pieces that could never be put back together. But she knew she had to say something before they started delving into this case. If she didn't she could kidnapped and tortured before she could tell Maura how she felt, or even worse, dead. Then Maura would never know.

"What Jane...what is it? You know you can tell me anything, whatever it may be" Maura brought her hand to cup Jane's chin to gently push Jane to look at her again.

"When...when he did this to you" Jane traced the fading scar on Maura's neck with her finger. Maura squeezed Jane's hand even tighter. "I lost control. I just wanted to kill him. I didn't even care if I got hurt. I just wanted you to be safe"

"Oh Jane" Maura started crying. She's never the one to keep dry eyes in emotional situations. This wasn't even the hormones talking. This was just Maura, holding the hand of her best friend. The best friend she had ever had, telling her that she would kill for her.

"No, Maura, please let me finish. I...I had never been so scared in my entire life, than when he had that scalpel to your throat. I could not stand to lose you. If he had killed you, I would have stopped...I would have stopped fighting him"

"Jane, please don't say it" Maura was crying even more. Jane felt bad for making Maura cry but this was something she had to do.

"Maura I have to. If not for you then for me. I would have. I would have let him kill me. I wouldn't have been able to live without you Maura and...Maura your the best friend anyone could have. When we first met I thought you were this dorky, annoying, yet beautiful, talented woman. I never thought that you, a five hundred dollar bottle of wine hoarder, full of life Medical Examiner would want to be friends with me, a crappy paid Boston homicide detective who only ever watches baseball and drinks beer in her spare time. What I'm trying to say is that you like me for who I am and no one has ever done that before. People have always been trying to get me to be who they want me to be, or they think I'm something I'm not. You saw me for who I really am, and I just want to thank you for that" That wasn't quite exactly what Jane had planned to say. It was better. Just without the 'oh and I'm in love with you' part.

"Jane...you got one thing wrong in that speech of yours. I don't like you for you who are." Jane looked at Maura with a 'oh great Maura I've just spilt everything out to you and now you're saying you don't like me' look.

"I love you, Jane. I don't like you for who you are. I love you.