A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to you, if you're in America. If you're not, happy not Thanksgiving to you! :) Here's a quick, unedited, unbeta'd, sweet, fluffy one shot that was bouncing around in my head today. It felt good to finally have a plot bunny again. I hope to have some more one shots to share in the future. Creativity has been hard to come by lately. I hope you enjoy this though.
I didn't think this needed to be said, but now I'm forced to add this to all of my stories:
This work of fiction belongs to me, sociallyawkwardpenguin. The Rizzoli and Isles characters belong to TNT. However this story, and all original characters, belong to me. Absolutely no reposting of this story is permitted (including translations of this story) without my express written permission. If you see this story posted in any other forum besides Archive of our Own or FanFiction, please notify me via private message immediately.
She should be used to spending holidays alone, she reminded herself. After all, she had spent dozens of holidays alone as a child while her parents jetted off to some far off land for either lecture or leisure. And in college, she rarely came home for the holidays.
No, she should not have been so upset about spending this Thanksgiving by herself.
But she was. She was absolutely gutted about it, whenever she was reminded of just how empty her home was that night. The quiet seemed to be encroaching on her, and what she usually thought of as peaceful silence was starting to suffocate her.
Angela had decided, at the last minute, to go visit her cousin Theresa for the holiday. Theresa's arthritis had flared up right before the big day, and she'd asked Angela to come and help her. Ever the dutiful cousin, Angela had readily agreed, leaving the rest of the Rizzolis on their own for the first time in years.
Amazingly, only Maura seemed to be the one feeling so lost over the sudden change in plans. The Rizzoli siblings, who had spent every one of their holidays with their family, were completely unperturbed by Angela's sudden departure.
Tommy was off at Lydia's with TJ and Frankie was out on patrol.
Jane, Korsak and Frost were all still at headquarters, working hard on pursuing leads in their latest case.
Her own adoptive parents were spending the holiday in Italy, where it wasn't even a holiday. Her birth mother Hope was home in Boston with Cailyn, and even though Maura could have asked to spend the day with them, and knew she would have been warmly welcomed, they just didn't feel like family and she never called them.
Maura sighed unhappily and replaced her bookmark in the novel she was reading. She had read the same page three times and still couldn't remember what it said. She was far too distracted to settle in with a book.
Maura thought about making something and bringing it to Jane and the other detectives at the precinct, but she had no idea if she showed up there, who would still be there. They could all be out on a stakeout or in an interrogation. More than likely she'd arrive at the station with bundles of food and no one would be there to eat it.
I should just stay in and count my blessings. Just because I'm home alone today, doesn't mean that I'm without family, or without people and things to be thankful for. Maura chastised herself for all the negativity she was feeling. She considered doing some yoga to center and calm herself.
Still, it would have been really nice to see Jane, she thought.
Jane must have been thinking of Maura too, because Maura's cell phone buzzed on the table.
This Thanksgiving is pretty lousy. I wish we were all around your dining room table, having a feast and laughing.
It warmed Maura's heart to realize that Jane was just as adrift as she was. Quickly she typed off a response to Jane.
I miss you.
Jane's response came in just as quickly.
Chin up. Dinner with Hope and Cailyn can't be that bad.
I never called them. They just don't feel like family. Not like you and your family do.
It took a few minutes for Jane's reply to come in. Maura wondered if she was interrupting Jane's work.
I can't believe you're all alone today. I really thought you were going to Hope's. Have you eaten?
No, I couldn't bring myself to make Thanksgiving dinner for one.
Once again Jane's next response took longer than usual to come in. By now Maura was sure she was interrupting Jane's work, and she didn't text her again, fearful of interrupting an important interview with a witness or worse, jeopardizing a field operation of some kind.
Finally, Maura's phone buzzed again:
I'll be there in a little over an hour.
Maura grinned, despite knowing that she was pulling Jane away from important work. She couldn't help herself. Anytime Jane said she was on her way, happiness bubbled up inside of Maura's chest. The fact that she was on her way on Thanksgiving, dropping the work she was doing just so Maura didn't have to be alone, was cause for Maura's spirits to lift exponentially.
A little more than an hour later, Maura opened the front door for Jane, who was carrying a grocery bag in one hand and Jo Friday in the other.
"I hope you don't mind, but I figured I'd just stay here tonight," Jane said as she walked in and placed Jo on the floor. "It's getting late and I'm going to have to get an early start tomorrow."
"I'm just so happy you're here," Maura said, pulling Jane into a tight hug. "Did you wrap up your case?"
"No, but let Korsak and Frost deal with it. I've already spent too many holidays behind a desk or in a sweaty interrogation room with some creep," Jane said as she placed the grocery bag on the island in Maura's kitchen.
"Did you bring Thanksgiving dinner?" Maura asked, eyeing the grocery bag curiously.
"Sort of," Jane responded sheepishly. "It's late on Thanksgiving night, so nothing is really open. I went to a twenty-four hour convenience store with a deli in it, and got us a loaf of bread, a pound of cold cut turkey, a box of mashed potato mix and a can of gravy. I figured we could have open face turkey sandwiches for dinner."
"Jane," Maura said, drawing out Jane's name as she rested her hand above her heart. "That's the sweetest thing."
"It's the best I could do," Jane reiterated, sorry she couldn't do something better for Maura. Maura did so much for her, getting her a five-star dinner should have been the first thing Jane did.
Maura sensed Jane's uncertainty. "It's going to be the best Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had."
"Careful, or you'll break out in hives," Jane joked. She knew Maura had eaten plenty of Thanksgiving dinners that would top that night's.
"No, really Jane. It's going to be the best Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had, all because you're here, and we're celebrating it together. Thank you for dropping what you were doing and coming here. That means so much to me," Maura said, fighting off the urge to hug Jane again.
"Well, it's Thanksgiving. You shouldn't be alone on the holiday. Besides, I'm thankful for you, so it's the least I could do," Jane said with a smile. She reached into the bag and pulled out the can of turkey gravy and the box of mashed potatoes.
Maura turned from the cabinet she was facing as she took out two saucepans and placed them on the stove. "You're thankful for me?" She asked, surprised.
"Of course, Maur. You're the best friend I've ever had. I have no idea how I could have gotten through the last few years without you."
This time, Maura couldn't stop herself. She stepped forward and pulled Jane into a tight hug again. Jane didn't resist, and instead hugged Maura back just as fiercely.
"I'm thankful for you, too. You've given me so much, Jane. You're my first true friend, and you so willingly shared your family and friends with me, letting me feel truly loved and accepted for the first time in my life. I'm so thankful to you."
Jane held Maura in their hug a moment longer before she removed her arms from around Maura's back. She didn't step away though.
"I'm glad you were so persistent in the cafe that day," Jane said, reminiscing about their first encounter. "I'm sorry I was such an ass to you."
"You were the persistent one, coming back with a cup of coffee and a twenty dollar bill every morning for what, two weeks?"
"Well, you were stubborn. You wouldn't take the money I was trying to pay you back with, and it took me that long to find out exactly how you liked to drink your coffee," Jane said with a grin.
"In the end, I think you wound up dropping the money in the Police Benevolence donations box, didn't you?" Maura asked.
"Yeah, I did. You refused to take it from me. But I got to know you in those two weeks, and I'm glad that my persistence paid off. You're pretty amazing, Maura Isles."
Maura blushed. She was used to people paying her compliments, but coming from Jane, it meant so much more. "You're pretty amazing yourself," Maura responded.
Jane grinned at her and turned to the stove, getting the gravy ready to heat up while Maura took out some milk for the powdered mashed potatoes. Maura dug around in her freezer and came up with a steamer bag of frozen vegetables that she tossed into the microwave too. While Jane worked over the stove, Maura set out two dishes, opting to use her good china set despite the simplicity of the meal. She also opened a bottle of red wine. Not long after that they were seated side by side on her couch, open face sandwiches with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies piled upon their plates.
"This isn't half bad," Jane joked with her mouth full.
"It's wonderful," Maura said, sipping her wine. "Thank you."
Jane raised her wine glass in a small salute. "No, thank you, Maura. You said before that I gave you a family, but I feel like I discovered a family in you. You gave my mother a home, and you let me come and go from here as if I live here myself. I've never been closer to anyone than I have been with you. I probably don't show you enough, because I'm not very good at it, but I really do appreciate you. So thank you, for everything."
Maura had to duck her face to hide her blush and the tears that threatened to spill over.
"Hey, Maur, are you okay?" Jane asked, suddenly concerned. She placed her plate and her wine glass on the table and leaned forward, across the couch toward Maura. "Talk to me, Maur. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Maura said, wiping her eyes and putting her own plate and glass on the coffee table. "I'm actually really happy. Coming from you, those words really mean a lot to me."
"Well," Jane said, drawing out the word as she thought carefully about her reply. "You mean a lot to me, Maura."
The way Jane says it makes Maura's heart skip a beat. Jane could have easily said that flippantly. It could have come across as sincere, but not necessarily serious. But that's not how Jane said it. No. Her you mean a lot to me, Maura was definitely serious.
Maura looked up at Jane to see her staring back, half filled with trepidation and half filled with hope.
"You mean a lot to me too, Jane," Maura whispered, reaching out for Jane's hand. "My entire life revolves around you, did you know that?"
Jane swallowed, looking down at their linked hands. "I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but my life revolves around you, too."
Before she even realized what she was doing, Maura was leaning in to kiss Jane. And Jane never pushed her away. After a second, Jane's hands had tangled in Maura's hair and she was kissing her back.
They grinned shyly at each other as they pulled away.
"Do you know how long I've wanted to do that?" They both asked simultaneously, and then grinned again.
"Don't wait," Maura said quickly. "Kiss me again."
And Jane did.