Maura looked down at Jane's inert figure, tired from a long day. She thought about how long she had wanted to touch her, to feel her body beneath hers. As Jane awoke from her light sleep, she silently watched Maura's eyes descend from her chest to the jutting bones of her hips in her low-slung pyjama shorts.

"Maur, how long have you been sat there?" Jane mumbled, stretching away the dull ache of moving sleeping muscles. Maura blushed, shrugged and rose from her chair to flop down beside her best friend on the bed. Her plum silk dress was crinkled.

She turned to Jane, "Do you have a night dress for me to borrow?" this was met with raised eyebrows and a snigger,

"A night dress? I might have a big t-shirt" She smiled at Maura, rolled over to reach her drawers and pulled one out, throwing it at her. Pulling a face Maura unzipped her dress and allowed it to fall to the ground, suddenly acutely aware of her near transparent lilac lace underwear, she pulled the t-shirt over her head, it barely reached her panties because her breasts, considerably bigger than Jane's, held it away from her body. She quickly sat, pulling it down between her legs.

"Embarrassed sweetie?" Jane said, more of an observation than a question, "I wouldn't be if I were you, I would kill for your body" Maura's blush, not completely diminished from before, deepened, "You wouldn't mind mine either though eh?" Maura was confused by her friends comment. "I saw you looking, before, when you thought I was still sleeping".

"So you know then? How I feel?" Maura felt nervous, what would happen if Jane knew how she felt? Jane shrugged, sitting up and leaning over Maura suggestively, her loose top displaying her naked breasts. Maura realised what her friend was suggesting and forcefully flipped Jane onto her back, straddling her slender hips. A wide smile spread across Jane's face as she opened her mouth to speak but Maura's lips were already on hers, the words lost in the kiss.

Maura began to pull the t-shirt over her head but paused, "Jane, are you sure about this?" She looked concerned and as she slid off Jane she tipped her head to the side like a confused puppy. "It has all been so fast. I've, well, I've loved you for quite a while now"

Jane stopped herself gasping at Maura's revelation, "Maura, you do know that I'm gay don't you? This isn't a complicated sexuality thing for me, just a complicated friendship thing." She drew back to assess her friend's reaction, at Maura's questioning eyebrows she continued "I wanted to be with a man because my mother wants grandchildren, and well the whole Italian-catholic thing makes it a little difficult. I have always been attracted to you, I just thought, I thought that being friends would be enough. I didn't know that you felt the same."

Maura bit her lip seductively and pulled Jane toward her; kissing softly on the lips she whispered almost inaudibly into her mouth "I never want to let you go". They slept that way, lips almost touching, sleeping bodies entangled, arms and legs in disarray on the soft linen sheets.

Jane woke early, the open curtains allowing the room to be illuminated with the dawn. She smoothed Maura's honey blonde waves and smiled as she recounted the events of the night before. She slid her hand down Maura's body from hair to waist and shook her gently, whispering her love's name over and over until she saw her hazel eyes flicker open. She kissed her softly on the mouth. Maura's dazed expression frightened Jane a little.

"Do you not remember what happened? Don't worry, I'll remind you" Jane looked into her shocked eyes, voice low, velvety smooth. She raised one eyebrow. Her hand touched Maura's face as she drew her in, tasting her lips. Maura's hands slid back in her mess of dark curls.

Pulling away, Jane smiled at Maura, "You love me?" Maura nodded eagerly, pushing Jane onto her back and straddling her. She pulled her shirt over her head to reveal that she had removed the lilac bra that Jane had stared so hungrily at the night before. The detective drew a sharp breath before pulling her friends lips to hers.

They heard the door creak open behind them and Maura slipped off Jane's hips and grabbed a pillow to cover her modesty. "Ja-, Mau-, What?" Angela's hands covered her eyes as she stood in the doorway. Maura took this opportunity to replace the shirt that had been discarded on the floor.

"Ma! Ma. I can explain" Jane called as she pulled sweatpants on and ran after her fast retreating mother.