A/N: Just a spot of Rizzles to brighten your day :) hope you all had a lovely Independence Day, and for those of you not in the country, hope your Wednesday was just as spectacular! Happy reading!

"How are you holding up, Jane?"

"WHAT?"

"How are you holding up, Jane?"

"WHATCHA SAY, MAURA?"

Maura stood on her toes and cupped one hand around Jane's ear. "HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP, JANE?"

Jane jerked away from her friend and jumped sideways, rubbing her ear frantically. "Jesus, Maura!"

The ME laughed heartily. She grabbed Jane's wrist and pulled her back to her side. "Isn't this great?" she called over the Boston Pops rendition of "Celebration". "I've always wanted to be a part of the Spectacular. Thank you so much for bringing me this year!"

"Eh, it's no big deal." Jane shrugged, staring up at the orchestra. "I'm just glad we were able to ditch Ma and the boys back by the tunnels. Where d'you think they ended up, anyways?" she asked, craning to see over her shoulder.

"Oh, who cares?" Maura chirped, grinning up at the towering Hatch Shell just on the other side of the barrier. "We have the best seats in the house!"

Bewildered, Jane turned her head to stare at Maura, a ghost of a smile dancing on her lips. "Who cares where they ended up?" She shook her head slowly and looked up at the Shell. "Well, you must be having a lot of fun to be thinking like that!"

"You bet!" Maura's eyes suddenly went wide, and she squeezed Jane's arm with her free hand as two enormous screens on either side of the orchestra turned on. "Oh, they're about to start the sing-along!"

"Yeah, no kidding," the detective replied as the host announced the audience participation part of the evening seconds after Maura. She glanced sideways. "You're not going to sing, are—?"

"My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty…"

"…I guess you are, then…"

"Of thee I sing!" Maura looked over at Jane and shook her gently. "Come on, Jane, sing!"

"Oh, no. Nope. I don't sing, and especially not in public."

Maura raised an eyebrow. "But I thought you were an American citizen."

Pause. "I am, but—"

"And I thought you spent your days enforcing American laws and protecting the freedom of American citizens in the great city of Boston, located in Massachusetts, USA."

"I—I do, but—"

"And I thought you were proud of who you are and what you do, here, in the United States of America."

Jane glared at her. "Maura…"

"Oh, come on! It's a once-a-year thing, and I know you know all the words."

The detective sighed. She looked to her right, past Maura, and then her left. The entire city of Boston seemed to be on the Esplanade tonight, and every single person was belting out patriotic songs at the top of their lungs.

"Jane."

She turned back. Maura gave her a pointed look. "Sing."

It was a few seconds before Jane sighed. "Fine. Fine, I'll do it." She jabbed a finger at Maura before the doctor could say anything. "But just this once. And if you tell anybody at the office—"

"I'll make sure they know what a wet blanket you really are."

Jane grumbled, and a smile spread across Maura's face. Both of them faced forwards again and joined the mass of voices rising from the field.

"Stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with a light from above…"

Before she knew it, Jane had sung her way through three different songs, and only stopped in the middle of "God Bless the USA" when Maura shook her arm and pointed past her. "Do you think that's obligatory, or optional?"

Staring down the ME's arm, Jane noticed a camera making its way along the barrier that separated the crowd from the Hatch Shell. It was currently focused on a young couple, who were smiling into a chaste kiss as one of them waved a flag at the cameraman. "What, the kissing?"

Maura nodded. Jane bit her lip and shrugged. "It's optional, but every couple does it. I think they feel obligated to do so, because every other couple does it, and it's just become a thing. Peer pressure. Something like that."

"Hmm. I think it's cute."

"Yeah, me too."

Surprised, Maura stared at Jane. "You do?"

"I guess. I mean, not the people who are obnoxious about it, but yeah." She gestured towards the pair Maura had pointed out, both leaning into each other happily as the camera panned to a group of kids near Jane and Maura. "Like what they did, that's fine. It's endearing. It's cute. Yeah."

There was a long pause between the two of them. Jane glanced back at her friend, only to see an enormous smile on the ME's face. "Why, Jane Rizzoli. You are a big softy."

She couldn't help the grin that crept up on her. "Yeah, shut up."

With a laugh, Maura continued to sing and nudged Jane encouragingly. "So I'll gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today…"

Several lines later, the camera was right in front of them. As it focused and the song went on, Maura thought she'd give Jane a peck on the cheek, just to pay tribute to all the cute couples around them. She turned towards her friend, realized a second too late that Jane had had the exact same idea as her, and the two met in the middle.

It was the shortest kiss Maura ever experienced, but it encouraged several cat calls from a number of people around them as they moved back and the cameraman moved on, apparently unfazed. Simultaneously, the two women brought their fingers up to their lips and stared at each other, completely stunned. Another long pause sustained the sudden tension between them, and a number of seconds later, Jane recovered first. "Uh…" She blinked at Maura as if she didn't quite believe she was there. "Whoops?"

"Yeah. Whoops."

Gradually, they both lowered their hands. Maura finally broke eye contact with her friend to glance over her shoulder. "You do realize that the majority of the Commonwealth just saw that, don't you?"

"Mmhmm, I guess I do," Jane replied, her voice cracking slightly.

"And, more than likely"—Maura turned back around uncertainly—"your mother?"

"Yep, thought of that too."

Jane seemed to be concentrating extremely hard on a spot on the ground near Maura's right foot. The ME watched her friend nervously for a few moments before she spoke up again. "Do you…do you think we should call her, or…?"

Slowly, Jane looked up again. "No."

"No?"

"No." The detective met her friend's gaze, surprising the doctor with a smile. "No, I'm having too much fun. We can deal with her tomorrow." She slung an arm around Maura's shoulders and pulled her into her side tightly. "Like you said, it only comes once a year."

Maura smiled. "Really?"

Jane paused, taking another moment to consider. "Yeah, really." She grinned down at her friend, then leaned in close and landed a kiss on her ear. "Happy Fourth of July, Maura."

"Happy Fourth, Jane."