Title: Wanna Dance?
By: Bailee
Pairing: Jane/Maura
Summary: Jane's Valentine's Day plans get ruined and instead of the best day of her life, it's turning out to be the worst.
Disclaimer: I don't own, I rent.
A/N: So I decided I wanted to write a little Valentine's Day fluff for today, but it didn't really fit in as a chapter in any of my current stories, since they're both set during summer, and I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while, so I thought I would combine them both. I hope you guys like this, please, let me know what you think! It always makes my day when you review and it only takes a few seconds.
Oh, and I'm hoping to have a new chapter of Lessons Learned up tomorrow as well, in case anyone was wondering!
Now, on with the story!
Wanna Dance?
It had been a long day for Jane Rizzoli. When she sat down at her desk at nine this morning, she knew it was going to be a rough one. She'd entered the bullpen with her coffee in hand, straight from the café with Maura where her mother had made them red colored, heart shaped pancakes.
Jane cringed at the thought. Really, Ma?!
She'd been too hungry to find a proper excuse for not eating her festive breakfast, so she simply scarfed it down as fast as she could, ignoring Maura's warnings that it would increase her likelihood of chocking, so she wouldn't have to look at them any longer. She was pretty sure they were mocking her.
It's not that she put a lot of stock into having a date for Valentine's Day. She truly didn't.
She didn't care that she wasn't going to some fancy restaurant or that there was no one sending her flowers.
It was the fact that everyone around her wouldn't shut up about it.
Frost had started gushing about his date from the second she saw him this morning, she hadn't even had an ounce of coffee yet and already he was going on about where they were eating, what movie they were seeing, how he bought her some sparkly crap to wear around her neck.
Who even knew Frost knew how to gush?
Korsak wasn't much better. Which was actually worse, seeing as how it was her mother he was taking out, and that was something she really, really, really didn't need to hear a word about. The two had been seeing each other regularly for the past five or six months now, and even though she was trying to be okay with it, Jane was still completely freaked out by the situation.
At least she knew Vince was a nice guy, he would treat her right.
But that didn't mean she wanted to hear about it.
And Frankie. He'd finally been promoted to detective, which was apparently a big hit with the ladies, because he was going out nearly every weekend, lately with a redhead named Jessica. He'd pulled out all the stops for this evening claiming that if they stayed together, he will have made a great first impression for the holiday.
And Jane? Jane had plans.
Had being the important word.
About a week ago, she had sauntered down to the morgue, hands full with sandwiches and homemade chips from the café around the corner, Maura's favorite lunch spot.
She knew the M.E. wouldn't have thought to eat, there were three bodies brought in this morning and when she got to be that busy, she often forgot to take breaks. The look on her face when she saw Jane had brought them lunch was enough to make her weak in the knees.
But Maura didn't need to know that.
She'd brought it up casually enough, making sure it seemed like just another night they'd spend together, large pizza, two pints of frozen yogurt and a stack of dvds. But Jane had plans.
Oh, did she have plans.
"Hey, Maur?"
"Yes?" the blonde answered her in between bites, wiping a bit of stray mustard off her lip. Jane had the strongest desire to lean forward and lick the sauce off for her, but she figured Maura would probably be less okay with that scenario, so she pushed down the urge like she had so many times before.
"Valentine's Day is next week."
Maura looked at her expectantly, sensing that she wasn't done speaking. Jane took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. It was just Maura. It was just another movie night. No need to stress.
Tell that to her racing heart though.
"I guess you have a date or something?" she asked, finally.
Maura set down her sandwich and sat up a bit straighter, looking down and smoothing out a few of the wrinkles in her skirt that were created when she sat down.
"I don't, actually."
"Okay. Good. I mean, not good that you don't have a date, you probably wanted one, I know you typically go have some fancy, romantic dinner on Valentine's Day, but, I mean-"
"Jane," Maura interrupted, "you're rambling."
"Sorry. It's just…if you're not doing anything…"
"Which we've already established," Maura helped her along.
"And I'm not doing anything, because, ya know, I'm me, do you want to spend the evening together? We could rent some movies, have some pizza. Oh, we could watch horror movies! That's the polar opposite of those fluffy romantic comedies you like so much, right?"
Maura kept a straight face as best she could and instead of the giggle she was suppressing at her best friend's nervousness, she replied with "
Jane rolled her eyes, "is that your way of saying yes?"
Maura laughed finally, giving Jane a grin. "Yes, that's my way of saying yes."
"Okay then. Good," Jane replied, nodding, her grin matching Maura's. She said yes. That was the first step, now to pull the rest of this off.
Jane had been thinking about it for weeks. She knew she wouldn't be able to hide her growing attraction to her best friend for much longer, it was already getting hard to find excuses for staring at her for longer than she should be, for touching her more often than necessary.
Jane Rizzoli was an addict, and damn it, Maura Isles was her drug of choice.
As cliché as it was for her to do this on Valentine's Day, she knew Maura would love it.
Well, that is, if Maura loved what she had to say. Otherwise this was going to backfire horribly. But that was true no matter when she said it.
She'd picked up Maura's favorite fudge clusters and a bottle of her favorite red wine. She'd planned to leave the fudge clusters on her desk before she came into work, and have flowers delivered around lunch time, all anonymous of course.
She would be Maura's secret admirer and she was certain Maura would love the mysterious attention.
Then, after work, Jane would pick up their usual dinner and make her way to the doctor's house. They would eat dinner and watch the scariest movie Jane could find, and she knew Maura would end up curled into her side as she always did when they watched horror movies, and at some point, she would tell Maura how she truly felt.
It was going to be perfect.
If Maura felt the same way, anyway. But Jane was pretty sure she did. Well, sometimes she was pretty sure. Other times, she had absolutely no idea.
She had given up hope of ever knowing for sure a few months ago and resigned to the fact that she was either going to have to risk it all or spend her life wondering.
She knew this was a risk she needed to take.
- R & I -
Two days ago it had all fallen apart. Maura had met some guy, a lawyer working on one of the cases she had just wrapped up and he had asked her to dinner.
She'd come to Jane, puppy dog eyes and all, practically begging to push their movie night back a day so she could go out with the handsome attorney on her favorite day of the year.
How could she have said no to that?
She couldn't, not when Maura gets that look in her eyes, Jane swears she does it on purpose. She knows just how to push Jane's buttons and just how to get whatever she wants in return.
So Jane conceded, mentally kicking herself for it all day.
Her day hadn't gotten any better when she received a call from her cousin Trish, begging her to take her place as a chaperone of her son's school dance. Trish had said yes originally, as she and her husband had just separated, but they had magically reconciled in time for the day of love.
"I normally wouldn't have asked you for a favor like this, I know we're not that close, but I couldn't think of anyone else who wouldn't already have plans."
She'd always hated Trish.
But, unfortunately, her cousin was right. She didn't have plans. She didn't have one good reason to say no, so in a moment of weakness, she'd said yes.
That was six hours ago.
She'd been regretting it ever since.
Instead of perking up as she usually did when she heard the click-clack of high-heeled shoes making their way down the hall toward the bullpen, she sank down a little further in her seat, hunched her shoulders over a little more and couldn't help the deep frown that was appearing on her face.
"Jane! I'm so glad you're still here!"
"Shouldn't you have left to get ready for your date already?" Jane asked, trying but failing to keep the venom out of her voice. If Maura was surprised at her tone, she didn't show it, she moved to sit in the chair next to Jane's desk, forcing the brunette to look her in the eye.
As soon as she did, she saw the regret in her eyes and her face instantly softened, "What happened?"
"He cancelled on me," Maura replied with a pout, looking to the floor. "Look, Jane, I know you're mad at me, even though you say you're not and you have every right to be, I made plans with you, I shouldn't have just blown you off like that. I'm really sorry, can I make it up to you? Please? I went by and picked up several horror flicks for us to watch tonight."
Jane paused before answering. The truth is, she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the couch with her favorite doctor all evening, but Maura was right. She had been hurt when Maura had disregarded their plans like they meant nothing. Sure, it was just an evening between friends, but still, plans were plans, and Maura just left her hanging.
And now she had to go chaperone this stupid dance. An evening full of middle school idiots, just how she wanted to spend her Valentine's Day.
But she'd made a promise, and as she'd just said, plans were plans and she would be a hypocrite if she backed out now, and one thing was for certain: Jane Rizzoli was not a hypocrite.
"I'm sorry, Maur, I can't. I made other plans."
She watched as Maura's face visibly fell and her pout returned, along with crossed arms in front of her chest and a louder-than-necessary sigh.
Jane smiled and patted Maura on the knee before standing to put her jacket on, "You can come with me though."
"I hardly think being a third wheel on your date will cheer me up, Jane."
"And what I'm doing could hardly be called a date. I'll pick you up at six. Wear something nice. Uh…maybe a little more, um, conservative than normal though?"
Maura shot her a glare and Jane quickly cleared her throat before adding, "On second thought, I'm sure whatever you wear will be fine."
- R & I -
Two hours later, Jane found herself nervous once again, unsure if she should ring the bell. She never did, she didn't even know why she was considering it, but even if Maura had no clue, to Jane, this was a date. And dates didn't just waltz through the front door like they lived there, right?
Luckily, Maura saved her from her worry and opened the door, revealing her wardrobe choice for the evening. She had put on a simple black dress, three-quarter length sleeves with a fairly open back, but not low enough to be overly sexy. Her hair hung down past her shoulders in her usual cascading curls and Jane couldn't help but notice the extra eye make up that she'd applied, a hint darker than her normal shade.
Jane couldn't help but notice her breath hitched as Maura walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind her, placing a soft kiss on Jane's cheek as she walked past her to the car.
The detective had to stop herself from reaching up and touching the place Maura's lips had graced with her fingertips and she fought the grin threatening to appear as she walked to the drivers side of the blue Prius and started the engine.
"This is where you're taking me?" Maura asked, clearly shocked, when they pulled up to the junior high.
"A cousin guilted me into doing her a favor. And now you're going to make up for blowing me off by making this night not totally suck," Jane said with conviction.
She quickly cut the engine and the girls walked inside where they checked in with one of the mothers. They'd been given a section of the gym and were told just to keep an eye on the kids and break up any who seemed like they were going to get a little handsy.
Easy enough.
The evening wore on, too slowly in Jane's mind, but Maura was making good on her promise to make the evening not suck and Jane found herself laughing as the doctor went on and on about the history of school dances, fun facts about germs in the snack bowls and the story behind whatever rap song had been playing a few moments ago.
How she even knew the name of that song, much less who sang it and why they wrote it, Jane will never understand.
The dance finally seemed to be wrapping up a few hours later and the DJ announced that it would be the final song. Jane smiled to herself as A Thousand Years by Christina Perry came on.
Jane wasn't one for pop music, but they seemed to play it on the radio nonstop lately and she'd found herself catching the lyrics here and there and she couldn't help but notice how closely they reminded her of her best friend.
She looked over at Maura who had been intently watching the kids, probably doing some sort of anthropological experiment in her head while watching them all interact.
"Wanna dance?" Jane asked her, standing and holding out her hand for Maura to join her. The blonde gave her a nod and allowed Jane to lead her a few feet toward the dance floor where there was several feet of open space.
Jane brought their connected hands up toward her chest, resting them between the two and wrapped her other around Maura's waist while Maura brought her other arm around Jane's neck, pulling them even closer.
She slowly lead the blonde in circles, pulling her even closer with each step, trying to work up the courage to tell Maura how she truly felt. She knew if she didn't have the courage by the end of this song, it would take her weeks, if not months, to convince herself to try again.
She looked down at the woman in her arms and couldn't help but grin when she saw that Maura was gazing back at her as if she were the only person in the room.
Before she could fully register what was happening, the women both began to close the distance between them and Jane felt her heartbeat go wild when she finally felt Maura's lips on her own, soft, sweet and slow.
It didn't last more than a few seconds, but it felt like hours and Jane knew she never wanted to do anything else. She wanted kissing Maura Isles to be her job and she didn't care how much overtime she had to put in, it would certainly be worth it.
Maura pulled back, grin still in place, still looking Jane square in the eye. In a quick burst of insane courage, she kissed Maura again, quicker this time, but still with every bit of the love and passion of their first kiss.
"I love you, Maura."
Maura smiled back at her, capturing her lips once more before resting her head on Jane's shoulder, lightly kissing her neck before whispering in her ear, "I love you, too, Jane Rizzoli. So much."
She rested her head against Jane's chest, listening to her heartbeat, still pounding from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Jane leaned down and placed a small kiss to the top of Maura's head and released Maura's hand, bringing her own down to clasp her hands together at the small of Maura's back, Maura doing the same as she placed her hands behind Jane's neck.
"Jane?" Maura asked softly, barely lifting her head as they both continued to sway to the slow beat of the song.
"Yeah, Maur?"
"I'm really glad you asked me to dance," Maura confessed before capturing Jane's lips once more, thankful she could finally do so freely after years of dreaming of having such a privilege.
Jane simply smiled down at her and pulled her closer.
Yes, this was definitely a risk worth taking and she would thank her lucky stars every single day that the woman she loved with all her heart actually loved her too.
Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all.
- R & I -
A/N: Again, please let me know what you think, reviews always make me smile! :)