"I can't believe we just did that!" Maura said, positively beaming in giddiness.
An amused look appeared on Jane's face as she made the turn out of the garage. "You sound like we're five and we just ding dong ditched or something."
Maura's brows furrowed at the unfamiliar phrase but it was soon forgotten. "Well… I mean it was – it was exhilarating! I didn't know if he was going to figure us out or not!"
"Don't tell me you're going to start lying now that you've seen how fun it is…"
"Well…"
All Jane had to do was shoot her a glare.
"I was kidding. Of course I won't, Jane. You know me… I'm not big on lies."
"You don't feel sick or anything, do you? Cause you were just going along with one a minute ago."
The M.E. paused for a moment and gave herself an internal once-over. "I feel fine. And thank you for getting me out of that. I almost thought I was going to have another stalker on my hand."
Jane's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Another stalker?"
"Yeah," Maura said as if it was no big deal. "In grade school there was this boy, Colin, who followed me around nonstop. He would leave me worms and things in my desk." She grimaced at the memories. "I think he may have been a major reason for why I wanted to go to boarding school. Well, apart from the superior education I'd receive."
"Makes sense." She made a corresponding motion with her head as they stopped at a red light.
There were a few minutes of silence after the light turned green, something that Jane wasn't used to when Maura was in the car.
"Maura? Is something wrong?"
Her head snapped up to face the detective."Hmm? No, I was just thinking."
"Really?" She said with an unbelieving tone. "Cause you usually think out loud." When Maura didn't respond to that she tried again. "Anything you want to talk about? You know, what I said in there was partly true. I am your best friend. I know I might roll my eyes and grumble at some of the things you make me do but I do them because I love spending time with you. I'd do anything for you, Maura."
That made said woman's heart melt and caused a smile to appear on her face. "Thank you, Jane. I really appreciate that. I'd do anything for you too."
"Well then talk to me."
Maura sighed as she tried to get her thoughts in order. "It's… kind of complicated and we're almost there. Maybe I'll take you up on your offer later."
Jane just gave her a smile as she turned onto the street where Maura's house was. "Alright."
Soon they parked and met with Angela inside.
"It's fixed?" She asked when she was handed the keys.
"Mmm-hmm." She said, eyes giving away her nervousness. "Just don't freak out when you see it, okay?"
"Freak out? Why?" She narrowed her eyes at her daughter. She didn't wait for an answer, however, and raced outside.
The two remaining women gave each other worried looks before hearing a very distinct voice coming from outside.
"Oh… My… God!"
They met up with her and were surprised to find her smiling.
"This is fantastic!" She gushed. "I've never really been the cool mom, you know Mrs. De Luca always was, but now I'll definitely have her beat!"
Maura leaned towards Jane, just close enough for only her to hear. "I don't think I'll ever stop being surprised by your mother."
"Join the club."
"Oh, I am definitely going to have to thank him for this!"
"I'm sure sending him a nice plate of cookies will be fine, Ma."
"Good idea, Janey. But first, I think I'm going to take it for a spin. Anyone want to join?"
"I'm good." Jane said.
"I'll pass." Maura replied.
"Oh come on! We'll be three hip women driving around the streets of Boston!" She exclaimed, and then suddenly brightened up even more as a thought came to her. "Ooh! Maybe somebody will think we're celebrities!"
Jane had never had a greater urge for a facepalm but she kept it in check. Instead she patted her mother's shoulder. "Have fun."
Angela just shrugged as she got into the car. "Thanks again, girls!" She waved to them as she pulled out.
"Don't mention it." Jane waved back and then sighed. She was happy that everything dealing with Giovanni was done and over with. And, thinking about it, she wasn't even all that surprised that her mother actually liked the extra details on her car.
"So? What are you going to do now?" Maura asked, turning her attention to the detective.
"We could have that talk."
She winced slightly in response. "You know… I'm not even too sure of what to say."
"But… you always know how to describe things." Her eyebrows furrowed at this new development but then relaxed as she shrugged. "First time for everything, I guess."
Maura just smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, well… I would really like some alone time. Maybe Bass could lend an ear as I try to figure it out."
"Okay… I see how it is. Turtles are better listeners than I am – hint taken."
"Tortoise, Jane. And you are a wonderful listener… I just – I want to have some time to think."
"Alright. Call me if you need anything, LLBFF." She gave her a wink and then left in her own car.
"Okay, LLBFF." Maura let out in a nervous laugh as she waved goodbye to her friend. As soon as she saw the car turn the corner she let out a huge, anxious, sigh. "What am I going to do?"
XXXXX
As Angela made a left turn, still beaming from ear to ear, her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mrs. Rizz! I was just calling to see how you liked the car."
"Oh, Giovanni, It's fantastic, really! And I just love the stripes!"
"That's great to hear! But, I was also wondering… um…"
"Yeah?" She urged him on.
"About Jane… has she always been… you know."
"So hotheaded? Yes, you should see her baby pictures. Her angry face is the same as it is now."
"No, I didn't mean that… I meant… a lesbian."
Angela was lucky there weren't any cars next to her, as she swerved in surprise after hearing that. The car behind her did honk, though she paid it no mind.
"W-what? Jane's not a lesbian! What would make you say that?"
"What, you didn't know? Jane and Maura are together. It looked pretty serious too."
After taking a moment to get over the initial shock she questioned him. "Where'd you hear that?"
"They told me."
Angela's first initial response was heartbreak at the thought of her own daughter not trusting her enough with something like this. That didn't last very long, though, as the emotion was replaced with extreme happiness at the fact that she was actually in a relationship. "Really? When?"
"I dunno… like about a half hour ago. When they came to pick up your car."
"Well… I'll have to talk to Janey. Thanks for telling me."
"Yeah, sure. Good luck."
"Thanks."
"I gotta go. I have a customer."
"Alright, Giovanni. Thanks again."
"No problem, Mrs. Rizz. And if it gives you any more trouble just bring it by here."
"Sure thing."
After exchanging goodbyes they hung up and Angela became lost in thought about this new information. It seemed perfect, she mused, Maura was such an amazing person and really more than she ever had hoped for her daughter. Sure she was female but that didn't matter to her. After all, there was more than one way to have kids and that was really all she was worried about.
She almost hit the brakes as a thought occurred to her. How long had they been keeping this a secret? And no matter how long it was she knew that Maura had Giovanni over the other night. Was she cheating?
Anger started to fill her veins as she turned the car around and headed back, ready for a confrontation.
XXXXX
"...and I don't know what to do, Bass. I mean, I've never had anything come into my mind like 'soulmate' or 'kindred spirit' or 'beshert' or 'kismet' when I'm around someone but – " she let out a longing sigh. "God, when she her arms around me… so many of those words came to mind."
Bass just grumbled internally as he chewed on a British strawberry. He already had to deal with Angela – who had quickly taken a liking to dressing him up when Maura wasn't around – he really didn't want Jane to be around more often than normal, if that was even possible.
"Am I in love with her?" She searched her mind for answers but found none. "What do you think?" She looked down at him, as if actually expecting an answer.
He didn't have enough time to respond when the front door slammed open.
"I want some answers now, missy!" Angela said when spotted the M.E. a few feet away.
Maura stood up, confusion evident on her face.
"Why did you cheat on Jane? You didn't even do a good enough job to hide it, either! I swear if you hurt her I will destroy you!"
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." She said with a slightly frightened tone.
Angela calmed slightly as she looked over her and deemed she was telling the truth. "Oh."
"Why? What made you…" Her eyes widened as realization set in. "Giovanni."
"So you did tell him that you two were together..."
"Uh…well… it was implied heavily by Jane but… we're not actually – I mean…" She let out a frustrated sigh. This was the reason she never liked lying in the first place, other than the fact she physically couldn't. They were so hard to keep straight. "I was trying to let him down gently and somehow Jane got the idea to tell him that we're together."
Angela's face fell. "Oh… so you're not actually together?"
Maura shook her head.
She looked genuinely disheartened at that news."That's too bad."
A beat passed before Maura spoke up again. "W-why would you say that?"
"You two look so good together! I thought Jane had finally found the one."
"And then you thought I was cheating on her…" She concluded as the pieces finally fit together. "I would never – do you really think that if I was lucky enough to be with her I would just throw it all away for some one night stand?"
"No. That's why I was so surprised when I remembered that you had him ov – wait... lucky enough?" She said, catching Maura's slip up. "Do you have feelings for her?" She prodded in hopefulness.
The M.E.'s eyes widened and she tried to look anywhere but at the other woman.
Angela's intuition was spot on, though. "I knew it! Oh, this is so wonderful! When are you going to tell her?"
"Never would be amazing if I could get away with it!"
"But why?" She frowned.
"I highly doubt Jane has those feelings for me. I mean, even though women are the more sexually fluid gender, the chances of her having a romantic inclination towards me is very slight. And besides, the chances of her being my soul mate are 1 in 6.9 billion. Though if I account for how many people I've come into contact with, however indirectly – assuming we'd know if we were near them – that number may drop…" She mumbled a few equations under her breath as she tried to actually calculate the possible chances to meet the ever-elusive soul.
Angela just watched her for a few moments. "Okay, I'm not completely sure what you just said but I think you should talk to her. I'll invite her over for dinner."
As if her mind was an Etch-A-Sketch, Maura's mental equations were erased when her head snapped up. "Tonight?"
"Of course." She said, taking her phone off the kitchen counter.
Maura followed her and took the item out of her hand. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Angela considered her for a moment. "If you're worried about what you're going to tell her, don't be. Just say what comes to mind."
"That's the problem. My mind gets jumbled up when she's around. That never happens to me."
"It'll be fine, trust me."
Letting the other woman take the phone back, Maura conceded. "Fine. I'm going to look for something to wear. Yell if you need help with dinner."
"Alright." She waved her away before dialing the familiar number.
Across town, Jane was just finishing up a letter to Tommy in response to the one she got in the mail that day when her phone rang. It was her mother's ring tone and she barely kept her annoyed sigh at bay as she answered. "Yeah, Ma?"
"Come over, I'm cooking dinner."
"And how is this different from every night?"
"I want to have dinner with my two favorite girls."
"I don't think I should. Maura sounded like she really wanted to be alone today."
"Well I talked to her and everything is fine."
A pang of disappointment resonated in her chest. "Really? S-she talked to you?"
Angela clucked her tongue into the phone. "Don't sound so surprised. I am capable of listening, even if I usually do all the talking." Without even waiting for a response, she continued. "So you better be over here in a half an hour."
"Or what? You're gonna ground me?" She laughed.
"Don't think I won't try!" She said with mock stern.
"Alright, alright, I'll be there." She hung up the phone before stuffing the letter into an envelope and placing it by the door. After changing into slightly dressier clothes – she'd never hear the end of it if she showed up in the same thing she wore to work – she patted Joe on the head, grabbed her things, and left.
Like the last few hours, her last conversation with Maura ran through her head. She was worried about her best friend but was even more concerned with the fact that she went to her mother before her. It would make sense if it had something to do with her but that just gave her even more to worry about.
It seemed like worry was the general theme of the day, as Maura held up a mauve blouse but then chucked it to the side when she remembered that Jane hated that color. She didn't even know why she was this concerned with finding an outfit for dinner – she knew as well as anyone that Jane didn't pay much attention to clothing.
She stilled as she remembered something. She may not notice the clothes but she'd definitely notice the person in the clothes. She hurriedly put on a nearby dress and then left the room to see if Angela needed any assistance.
"Hey, anything I can do to help?"
Angela turned to meet the voice. An eyebrow quirked up at the sight. "That's not exactly the kind of outfit I thought you would pick out for something like this." She said, noticing the abundant cleavage clearly displayed.
"It has a purpose, trust me. When Jane and I were undercover awhile back I wore something similarly accentuating which she definitely noticed." She smiled at the memory. "Maybe if I just tried it again in a more private setting she'd be more receptive."
"Ah! I always knew you were smart!"
"Of course I am." She responded matter-of-factly, no hint of modesty to be found.
Angela just laughed. "And I don't need any help, thank you. I'm almost done. All we have to do is wait for Jane."
Maura sighed out some nervous jitters. "That's probably going to be the hardest part."
"Don't worry, everything will go fine." She said, attempting to quell the M.E.'s fears.
She looked over at the closest thing she's ever had to real, caring, mother and her eyes shined with fondness. "Thank you. I really appreciate the help."
The older woman let out a small laugh. "If anything I should be thanking you. Do you know how many of these things I've set up?"
Maura's face fell. "No… is it a lot?" She was worried. She really didn't want to lose her best friend because of this chance she was taking.
"A fair amount, yes. But you're the one. I'm sure of it."
She didn't respond but inside she was praying that Angela was right.
Dinner was done not too long after and, after a few more moments of nervousness – on Maura's part – and irritation at her daughter's lateness – on Angela's part – Jane knocked on the door.
Angela made a motion for Maura to answer it and she did.
"Hi… Maura…" She said slowly, trying her very best to not stare at the two very obvious things on the upper half of her best friend's torso.
"Hey Jane, come on in!" She chimed. Her cheery façade wasn't that hard to see through, though, and she was met with an odd look from the other woman.
Angela greeted her daughter and then they all sat down for some warm tasty risotto.
While Maura did find it a bit awkward to be sitting there – in that outfit – in complete silence with her newly realized love interest and the mother of said love interest, she was certain her plan was going to work. If not, then she pretty much looked like an idiot and anyone who had ever met her knew one thing for sure – Maura Isles was no idiot.
Conversation started – by Angela, of course – about trivial things but then soon progressed to slightly more personal matters. They discussed Frankie and his desire to be a detective and all the goings on at the police station, now that Angela was now closer to it than ever – much to Jane's dismay. Soon they were full and Angela got to work putting everything away, insisting she didn't need any help.
The two crime fighters just looked anywhere but at each other in an unpleasant silence until Angela came back in.
Angela sent a not-so-sly wink at Maura. "It looks like you two might want some alone time so I think I'm going to go… jogging." She nearly winced at the poor excuse that popped into her head.
Jane just gave her a what-the-hell-have-you-been-smoking look. "What?"
Maura slightly panicked. "I think she just… well… she knows that I need to talk to you. Maybe a better idea would be to take some of that delicious risotto to Frankie, he might feel left out."
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that! Thanks sweetie!" She placed a kiss on top of the M.E.'s head before taking the containers out of the fridge. She all but skipped out the door and into her newly fixed car.
"Okay… what the hell just happened?"
"Um… well I talked to your mother."
"Yes. I know that part already."
Maura thought for a second before standing up. "Do you want some wine? I think we should have some wine." She went over to grab a bottle and a couple of glasses but was followed by Jane who stilled her movements with her hand.
"What's going on? Did I do something?"
Thanks to this new discovery, she was unable to think of anything but the feeling of Jane's hands on her own. Unfortunately, Jane took this to mean something else.
"I'm sorry… whatever it was, I'm really sorry." She said, pulling away.
"No! You didn't – well… okay you did do something but nothing to be apologetic about."
As if Jane was a puppy new to the world, her head tilted in confusion. "I don't follow."
She motioned for the detective to take a seat on the couch. She followed only after pouring two generous glasses of wine. Half of hers was gone by the time she herself took a seat.
"I should start from the beginning."
"That's usually the starting point." Jane commented, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood. Needless to say, it wasn't well received. "Right, sorry. Continue."
"I… realized something today – well, a few things actually – when I had the time to think. First, about Giovanni…I'm pretty sure I only wanted to sleep with him because he was like you… or at least I thought he was. I mean, he did grow up in your neighborhood."
"Why would you want to sleep with someone just because they're like me?"
"Well…" Her eyes went her glass and she fidgeted.
Jane started to laugh. "What? You want to sleep with me?" Her tone was all joking but when Maura didn't respond, and, instead, fidgeted even more, her face dropped. "Maura..?"
Said woman's mind searched for an excuse or anything to say but she couldn't come up with anything that wouldn't be a lie. She could only sigh in defeat and nod.
Jane's eyes softened at the confession. "So before, in the car… that was a lie?"
"No! I didn't even know yet… not until the embrace." She looked up at Jane shyly and saw that she wanted her to continue. "When I felt you… pressed against me… I felt something…"
"My badge?"
"No… I meant in here." She pressed her hand against her own chest, where her heart was currently beating wildly in anticipation. "Jane… I don't just want to sleep with you, though that is obviously there. I like you more than BFFs or even LLBFFs. I'm almost certain that I'm in love with you."
"Almost certain? What, you're telling me the famed Dr. Isles doesn't know something for sure?" Her tone was light and teasing.
"Well… I can't be certain of anything until it's tested but with the way I feel about you..."
Jane just nodded her head and scooted closer. "I know what you mean." She took the glass from Maura before placing both on the coffee table. "And I felt it too."
Maura glanced up in surprise. "Really?" She asked and, for the first time in awhile, stared into chocolate orbs.
"Yes. Though, I'm sorry… I don't think I can say… that… yet."
She shook her head. "It's no big deal, really. I just can't believe…" Her words trailed off when Jane started to lean in closer.
"Well believe it, cause I do." She was close enough to whisper, which she did. Her warm breath left Maura's lips tingling.
Inch by inch they came closer and, when their lips finally met, it set off fireworks unparalleled by any possible real world display. Their lips moved in tandem with ease and overwhelming affection. There was no tongue involved in their first kiss but, instead, their mouths opened and closed around the other's lips, occasionally taking a bottom or top one inside their own mouth.
Jane moved her hands to the side of Maura's head to gain more control. She smiled against Maura's mouth when she heard soft sounds of pleasure coming from the other woman. Each moan, grunt, and sigh, though, hit her in a place that was a bit south on her body and she knew she wouldn't be able to restrain herself for very long.
"Wow…" She said when they parted and Maura kept going along her jaw and down her neck. It took her a moment to get her mind to work again as new feelings surfaced. She finally spoke when Maura pulled away. "Looks like I lied… I'm sure of it now. Maura, I love you."
The M.E. beamed, placed a hand behind Jane's neck, and brought her in for another, more passionate, kiss.
This one didn't last as long, however, when, mid-moan, the door swung open. "Oh! Sorry, girls! I just… I forgot something!" She picked up the partial loaf of bread they had eaten during dinner before going back towards the door – grin ever present. "Should I just stay the night at your brother's place?"
"No, that's okay." Jane said, not wanting to subject Frankie to that. When she caught Maura's glance she came up with another way to get her out of the house for the night. "But you can stay at mine. Joe would probably like your company. Keys are on the counter."
"Like I didn't make a copy for myself a while ago?" She laughed as she left.
"So that explains it…"
"Jane." Maura said, interrupting her.
"Yeah?"
"Can we get back to…" She motioned between the two of them to indicate what she meant.
"Of course." She smiled as she leaned in. She pulled away a second later, however, and caused a pout to form on Maura's mouth. Jane couldn't resist placing a kiss on the protruding lip before saying what came to mind. "Maybe we should move this into your room before Ma realizes she forgot the salad."
Maura looked up and saw the green container sitting on the counter. "Good idea." She let herself get pulled up and followed as closely behind as she could without tripping the other woman.
It didn't take long for them to collapse on the bed and just see where the night took them.
XXXXX
A/N: Thanks for reading! If anyone has any ideas for a story (preferably oneshotable) they want to see between these two then please send them my way! I'm running low on ideas but I really like writing for these two!
