So hi there! This is what will eventually be just a bunch of oneshots. I found out I tend to write them (or at least imagine them) when I'm stuck with one of my stories (This chapter helped me get a grip on chapter 38 of Love Her Tender), so I figured why not have them published too? These probably won't go through the beta I'm currently trying to find since they are just "wall breakers", but if I see I have too many mistakes then I'll find someone to review them first as well.

All chapters will probably be rizzles ('cause let's face it - they're not "just friends"...), but who knows? I might wake up on my devilish side one day.

Anyway, this one is something I can totally see happening. Basically the background is this - Jane and Maura kissed a month prior to this story when they were at Maura's house, Maura panicked and emotionally ran away, and as a result Jane left. About a day later they got a case straight from hell , and the rest is in the story.

Disclaimer: Jane, Maura and all other characters are not mine (unfortunately) and belong to TNT and Tess Gerritsen. Trust me, if they were mine there would be a LOT more Jane and Maura in bed and a LOT less clothes.

It Only Has To Work Out Once

The sound of a car horn startled her, bringing her back to reality. She shook her head and got up, slowly making her way towards the stove. Turning it off, she took the kettle and poured herself a cup of hot tea.

She had to relax, the sooner the better. The past month had been what her best friend would call "a living hell", and despite not fully understanding the metaphor she had to agree it sounded appropriate.

A serial killer had decided to target young women who jogged during the evenings mostly around Cambridge, although there were a couple of victims from the West End. He managed to kill seven innocent young women before they captured him. Maura was grateful and relieved when she heard that he was behind bars; grateful that now she could finally have some time to be surrounded by silence and think. And boy, did she have a lot to think about. That's why the minute she closed the front door behind herself she got upstairs to take a quick shower and change into a pair of silk pajamas. She felt like the weight of the case left her shoulders as she took her dress off, and was replaced by the quiet freedom that settled in instead as the pale blue fabric covered her.

She hadn't fully let go just yet. The images of the women's beaten faces and bodies flooded back as she slowly sipped her tea. She shook her head and made her way towards the barstools, taking a seat on one of them. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the peaceful silence and serenity before life knock on her door again.

She just hadn't known it will be so soon.

The slamming of the front door was what startled her this time, followed by angry steps of heavy boots.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Maura didn't even turn her head to look at her. She kept her eyes focused on the wall and took another sip of her tea. She heard a half sigh half chuckle from a few feet away.

"Wow. You're actually serious."

Maura put her cup down on the kitchen island before she turned in her chair to face her friend.

"What do you want me to say?"

"After this past month? Anything will be good."

She sighed. That's not what she was hoping to do today.

"Jane, I…"

"What?"

"I don't know."

Her voice was so much quieter than usual. It sounded so… lost. Jane looked at her, seeing the hurt in her eyes, the anger.

"Do you think about it?"

A few vowels came out of her mouth. She got off the barstool just to keep herself a little busy.

"Did you think about it? Are you thinking about it?" Jane asked again, taking a couple of steps towards her.

"I… No."

"No?"

"No."

Jane glared at her, taking in and out a few breaths before speaking. "Your hives is showing, Doctor Isles."

Maura opened her mouth to say something, but Jane didn't let her.

"Do you expect me to believe that you haven't thought about it? About us? That when you close your eyes you don't feel my lips on yours? That when you're alone you're not wondering how my hands will feel on your back? That you look at me at the same way you did a month ago?"

Jane hadn't stopped between one sentence to another. She started to close the distance between herself and Maura, until they were breathing the same air, and then her tone changed. Her voice became softer, quieter.

"Do you really expect me to believe that when you take a shower you don't wish for my hands to be wrapped around your waists; that when you lied in your bed every night in the past month, you weren't touching yourself and imagining it was me; that you've never imagined how it would be to ride me while I was wearing that strap-on we both know you have in a shoebox in your closet; and that when we kissed and you moaned into my mouth and pulled me closer, you were thinking of someone else's lips? Do you really expect me to believe all of this?"

Maura wanted to look away, but Jane's eyes as if paralyzed her. She tried to form a sentence, but the words got stuck in her throat. Just then, when she felt helpless for not reacting, Jane grabbed her hand and placed it on her chest.

"Do you really expect me to believe you don't feel my heart beating like crazy just from being so close to you? Do you expect me to believe, to pretend that your heart is beating any slower than mine?"

It took her a lot of effort to get this single word out, but eventually she managed to let it out of her mouth.

"Jane…"

"Maura."

"I…"

She looked into her eyes. There was so much plea and hope in them.

"I… can't."

"You, you can't?" Jane said, hoping her voice hadn't cracked.

"Jane, it never works for me!" Maura said, almost begged, as Jane took a few steps away with her back at Maura. But when those words came out of Maura's mouth Jane abruptly turned around again.

"It never works for me, Jane." Maura dropped her hands in defeat, her voice showing the same defeat as the words came one by one out of her mouth. "I fall for someone and it never ends well for anyone. Look at my past relationships – Ian left me over and over again, Dennis was a serial killer who tried to murder me so he could turn me into a sculpture, Garrett wanted me because my last name is Isles and later on turned out to be the one who murdered his own brother, and the one man I had the most chemistry with wanted to lick my face. Relationships don't work out for me Jane, and I'd hate myself if I was the reason you became a part of the statistics."

Jane looked at her. "It only has to work out once." she said calmly.

Maura sighed. She watched this episode of Friends with Jane about six weeks ago. Jane said Ross had a point, Maura said that divorced couples dismiss this statement, pointing out that Ross himself was divorced. Hadn't the situation been so tense she would have laughed.

"Jane, what if it doesn't work out?"

Maura wasn't sure if she was hallucinating or had she really said out loud what scared her the most.

"Maura, listen to me," Jane said, closing the distance between them and holding Maura's hands in hers, "it only has to work out once. Once!"

She couldn't utter a word. Her head was a mess.

"Please."

"What do you want me to say, Jane?" Maura was surprised at how angry she sounded, while she wasn't angry at all. But as soon as she started, she darted the words like bullets from a shotgun. "What do you want me to say? Okay, I admit – I thought about it. I thought about it a lot. I thought about it every single day in the past month, and it was killing me every time all over again. I didn't mean to run, or to make you leave, but I did. Yes, every time I closed my eyes I hoped that your lips will be on mine when I open them; yes, I do wonder how would it feel like if your hands ran over my back; no, I don't look at you the same way I used to look at you up until four weeks ago; yes, I do wish that you'll surprise me in the shower and wrap your arms around me; yes, every time I touched myself in the past month I imagined it was your fingers, your hands on me, and not my own; yes, I do wonder how incredible it would feel on a scale from 1 to 10, if I rode you while you were wearing the strap-on we both know I keep in a shoebox in my closet; and if I say that I imagined someone else's lips while you were kissing me, I think I'd be expecting such a severe case of hives I might end up in a hospital."

Jane didn't think. That was enough for her. Maura's outburst was the finger that pulled the trigger, and boy did she want that trigger to be pulled already. She grabbed Maura with one hand on her waist and another on the back of her neck and pulled her closer, kissing her with everything she had. Within a few seconds Maura's hands came to wrap around Jane's shoulder, as Jane's hand slid down from her neck to her lower back.

It caught her off guard, but as soon as Maura realized she is being kissed her fingers tangled themselves in Jane's dark locks, pulling her impossibly closer. She felt Jane's lips capturing and recapturing her own lips, and they were just like they were a month ago, just like she remembered them. Soft, strong, biting, caressing – all at the same time, and even more. Yet, it was different. They were more… driven, this time. Neither of them deepened the kiss, neither of them asked for entrance, they were content with the way it was.

That's why Maura was a little surprised when Jane broke the kiss a couple of minutes later. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds. When she opened them she saw Jane looking straight into her eyes, their mouths once again a single breath away.

"I…"

"Tell me it wasn't like our last kiss and I'll walk right out that front door and never bring this up again."

"It… it wasn't." Maura said finally. Jane closed her eyes in defeat and stepped back slowly, before she increased her pace and went to the front door.

"Wait."

Jane wasn't sure why she stopped, but she did. "What do you want Maura?"

She heard Maura's light footsteps coming closer to her, and eventually a soft hand touching her shoulder.

"Stay. I want you to stay."

The hand never left Jane's shoulder as she turned around to look at Maura's shimmering eyes.

"But you said…"

"Different is not always a bad thing, Jane." Maura interrupted her. Her eyes soft, and the unshed tears in them visible to Jane. When she spoke again, her voice was softer than ever and filled with compassion, kindness, caring.

Love.

"Stay."

Jane felt all the emotions coming from Maura and wrapping them both in a cloud of warm feelings.

She couldn't, wouldn't help herself. She leaned in slowly, as if to not scare Maura away once again, and connected her lips with the softness of Maura's. Her hands slowly found their place at Maura's waists, gently pulling her closer. It was all gentle this time, as if neither of them wanted to break the other.

This time, it was Maura who broke their kiss.

"Take me upstairs Jane. Take me to bed."

Jane hooked her hands on Maura's upper thighs and lifted her in the air. She felt Maura wrapping her legs around her, and when she was sure Maura won't fall she started walking up the stairs and to Maura's bedroom, only distracted by Maura's lips on her neck.

She managed to open the bedroom's door. Hearing Maura whispering in her ears, she obeyed and locked it, knowing the other option is possibly getting caught by her mother.

She put Maura down on the bed gently and tried to straighten her back but Maura grabbed at the collar of her shirt and pulled, successfully connecting their lips once again. It a matter of minutes Jane found herself propped over Maura, kissing her passionately. They stayed like this for a while, eventually feeling their tongues colliding, until Maura broke the kiss for the second time.

"Make love to me Jane."

Maura looked at her with sparkling eyes, this time not for unshed tears but for love and adoration and endless affection. Jane looked at her for a few seconds, as if making sure she wasn't dreaming. Maura repeated herself.

"Make love to me."

And for the remaining of the evening – she did.

Let me know what you think!

Also, if you have any requests you are all very welcomed to PM me or write it in your review. I'll do my best to fulfill as many of them in the best way I can.