A/N: I haven't stopped watching this scene since last week – don't know how many times I've seen it now, but it's a lot. I picked up on all the tiny details and then this happened!
Written by Katrina :)
Jocelyn leaves the changing rooms after the drama of the courtroom to find Maggie waiting for her in the atrium.
"Thank you for offering to drive me home tonight," she says as she approaches her friend. In light of her recent accident, Maggie had made her agree not to drive, so really she didn't have another option.
Maggie looks up, suddenly startled from her reverie to find Jocelyn smiling softly at her.
"It's no trouble," Maggie replies, rising from the uncomfortable bench.
They stand for a moment, both simply looking at each other - unbeknownst to the other, admiring.
They travel back to the town in companionable silence, consumed by their own thoughts.
It is Jocelyn who speaks first when they pull up outside her house. "I was planning on cooking tonight, if you fancy joining me?"
Maggie looks at her, mock-startled, a grin breaking out on her face. "Well that is a first," she whistles lowly.
Jocelyn returns her smile. "If it's any consolation, it's pre-made, I just have to grill it."
"Phew." Maggie breathes an exaggerated sigh of relief, causing Jocelyn to swat her lightly on the arm.
When Jocelyn retrieves a barbecue grill from the back of her kitchen cupboard, Maggie's eyebrows rise even higher on her forehead.
Jocelyn catches the expression. "Be quiet and make yourself useful," she smiles, gesturing to a chest of drawers in the corner. "There should be a picnic blanket somewhere in there."
Maggie turns away in order to cover her smirk.
When everything is ready, they venture out onto the cliffs just outside Jocelyn's house. The view here is breath-taking, and Maggie watches the sunset while Jocelyn grills the food she had carefully selected in the supermarket earlier.
She had politely refused Maggie's help, saying, "I'm hardly cooking for you if you do it yourself, am I?" Maggie had conceded the point, and had to admit that it was quite amusing to watch the concentration on Jocelyn's face, as thorough in this as when she's working on a case.
Only when the food is served to Jocelyn's exacting standards does she allow Maggie to pour their wine, having cited the need for a clear head earlier; she had pretended not to notice the quirk of Maggie's lips at that statement.
"This is amazing," Maggie praises, spearing a piece of lamb with her fork.
"Thank you, though I do feel that the co-op should take some of the credit," Jocelyn laughs.
"Nevertheless, you grilled it spectacularly," Maggie jokes, sharing a smile.
They leave their plates to the side, and return to their wine. Eventually, Maggie broaches the topic that has obviously been playing on both of their minds, but had avoided talking about until now.
"Please tell me they're going to come back with the right verdict."
Having placed her wine glass on the ground, Jocelyn meets her gaze.
"Oh I hope so," she murmurs forcefully.
Maggie can see that she doesn't really wish to dwell on the topic though, and so changes the subject.
"I don't know what I've done to deserve this," she says, gesturing as if to encompass everything: the picnic blanket, the view.
Jocelyn smiles softly. "It's a thank you. For pulling me back into the world."
Maggie's eyebrows quirk in a silent question as she searches Jocelyn's eyes before asking, "Have I done that?" She leans forwards slightly with a teasing glint in her eye.
Jocelyn's eyes are gentle as she replies. "You know you have."
Maggie isn't sure if she's made up the adoration she can see on Jocelyn's face - seeing what she wants to see, rather than what is actually there. She holds Jocelyn's gaze briefly, but she cannot prevent the smile which breaks out, glancing up momentarily as if in concession of the point.
As Maggie looks down and picks up her wine, Jocelyn cannot help tracing her features with her eyes; her gaze flickering across Maggie's face - from her eyes, to her lips, to the crown of her head and back down again. The sunset has cast an orange glow across them, and Jocelyn finds herself breathless at Maggie's beauty.
"There's something else." The words slip out of Jocelyn's mouth before she has time to consider them, so caught up is she in admiring the woman in front of her. Of course she knows what she means to say, having planned this moment earlier, but she's surprised with how easily the confession is made.
Maggie's eyes shift quickly to meet hers, and she must see something important in the depths of them as she places her wine glass down.
"Something I should have told you long before now," Jocelyn continues. Her gaze is affectionate as she meets Maggie's eyes. "There was a moment, must have been 15 years ago..."
Maggie pushes her hair, flyaway in the wind, off her forehead and behind her ear. She looks at Jocelyn with dawning comprehension in her eyes.
"I should have said it then and I didn't. And I want to say it now." Jocelyn's eyes are still shining with adoration, and she has a soft smile on her face.
Maggie looks down, almost as if she can't bring herself to contemplate that after all these years, Jocelyn might finally say the words she's been hoping to hear.
When she raises her head again, Jocelyn can refrain from the truth no longer. "It's always been you."
Jocelyn notes a steely glint in Maggie's eyes, as if she can't fully believe it.
"What has?" Maggie asks. She can't help the hard edge that tinges the words; she's trying so desperately not to get her hopes up - to be careful. She doesn't want to scare Jocelyn off, but she also needs to know; can't have Jocelyn shying away this time. Not again. Last time it nearly killed her.
Jocelyn gives a small huff, a besotted smile still gracing her face. "You're gonna make me say it aren't you? Fine..." She pauses, searching the depths of Maggie's eyes for some warning sign; trying to weigh up how well received this will be. In the end she can't hold it in any longer, the words leaving her, clear in their certainty.
"I'm in love with you Maggie."
Maggie lets out a huffed breath. She's not sure if it's out of disbelief or relief.
"Ever since you came here," Jocelyn admits.
Maggie looks almost heartbroken, her eyes seemingly pleading. "What am I supposed to do with that now?"
Jocelyn looks down with a slight shrug. Truth be told, she hadn't thought about what would happen after she'd made her confession: only that she needed to tell Maggie, finally say the words after all these years.
Words have barely formed on her lips before Maggie cuts her off, saying, "Do you really think I didn't know?"
Jocelyn searches her eyes, surprised. "Well why didn't you say anything?"
"Because you never did." Maggie's tone is accusatory, but her eyes reveal a deeper pain behind her words. "I thought if you really feel that strongly, you'd be brave, you wouldn't care what people thought. But your work mattered more."
Jocelyn finally realises, after all this time, exactly how much she let Maggie down. The words hang in the air only briefly, but they're enough to remind Jocelyn of the time when she could have changed where their paths were leading; the eve of when they could have seen in a new dawn together, rather than spending these last few years alone. The time Maggie had invited her out for a drink, hope shining in her eyes - the potential for something more - but Jocelyn had turned her down, citing work commitments, as if hiding behind case notes could conceal the fear she felt at taking the final leap. As though the words, "I'm sorry, I'm busy tonight," were the final nail in their burgeoning feelings that were never given the chance to be fully realised. It's only now, in the face of all that, that Jocelyn finally realises the truth that had eluded her for so long.
"I thought it did. But I was wrong." Her voice nearly breaks, but her conviction is unchanged. Maggie remains silent, blinking almost uncomprehendingly. "Well, say something." Jocelyn exhales a shaky laugh with the words, trying to disguise her fear.
Maggie shakes her head slowly, doing nothing to assuage this anxiety.
"Jocelyn, you're grieving, you're feeling alone, that's why you're saying this... But it's over, the moment passed." It hurts to say it, but Maggie knows that she needs to protect her heart; she fell into this once before and it almost broke her - she's not prepared to do it again if Jocelyn is going to change her mind later.
The hurt is still shining in Maggie's eyes, but Jocelyn takes charge for once, knowing that it's her move: she needs to be the one to rectify the mistakes of the past; it's not Maggie's responsibility to sort this mess out. She put her heart out on the line once before and was rejected: now it's Jocelyn's turn. And this time, she won't let Maggie down.
"No, I don't think it has." There's a new-found resolve in her voice.
Maggie's eyes don't leave hers as she raises her hand to Maggie's cheek. It slips further back, until she's practically cradling Maggie's head; her touch a whispering caress.
Maggie wonders if her disbelief at Jocelyn's action shows on her face. Jocelyn's hand is gentle, but there's also a firmness to her touch. There is no mistaking this. Maggie sees it in her eyes, and draws back a fraction - a final moment of fear before she allows herself to hope, and leans into the touch. Jocelyn waits until Maggie meets her gaze, her eyes finally gentle, reflecting how Jocelyn is looking at her - neither of them realise how evident the love for the other shines in their eyes.
Slowly, Jocelyn moves towards Maggie and is relieved to find that Maggie is similarly drawn towards her. They meet in the middle, eyes slipping shut as Maggie's hand rises, seemingly of its own accord to hover between them.
Maggie's barely aware of anything except her mouth opening a fraction to take Jocelyn's lips in a firm kiss - this isn't just a brief brush of lips. Her hand stretches towards Jocelyn, fingertips skimming the lapel of her jacket, as she pushes forward more insistently.
After all this time waiting, wondering what the other's lips would taste like, they both find it difficult to pull away. They breathe shallowly into the small gap between their mouths, before Maggie gives a small groan, her raised hand moving up to curl in the hair below Jocelyn's ear. They both move forwards again at the same time, and it's a relief to know that neither of them could hold out any longer.
They shift almost imperceptibly closer together, still kissing, not realising they have moved until their folded legs are either side of the other's hips. They are so close together that their chests briefly brush when they pause for breath, drawing in air like they're drowning, clinging together to stay afloat.
Their soft kisses slowly turn more passionate - they've waited so long for this moment, and now it's finally happened, neither of them can hold back from the feelings pouring out of them.
Maggie's free hand slowly reaches out and finds Jocelyn's thigh, just above the knee. Jocelyn makes a small strangled noise into her mouth, and Maggie cannot help but pull back to catch Jocelyn's eyes, smiling at the fire kindling there.
She slowly trails her hand further along Jocelyn's leg, coming to rest just below her hip, along the outside of her thigh. Jocelyn's breaths are coming in shallower pants each time. Maggie dimly realises that hers aren't much better, as she breathlessly echoes Jocelyn's words back to her. "It's always been you."
Jocelyn leans forward, as if to kiss the words off her lips, or sear them there. "What has?" She whispers playfully, her eyes shining in the dying light, as her hair is caught in the rays, shimmering as if in a haze of fire. Maggie briefly considers the imagery of a halo, the cliché not mattering in her dazed state.
Maggie's soft smile lights up her face. "I've always been in love with you," she murmurs, sounding overwhelmed despite her best efforts to retain levity.
She brushes a thumb against the edge of Jocelyn's bottom lip from where her hand rests, cupping her jaw.
"I'm sorry," Jocelyn breathes, finally saying the words she has wanted to for years. Maggie smiles softly, and Jocelyn can see the forgiveness in her eyes.
"There's no need to apologise now," Maggie says, caressing Jocelyn's cheek reassuringly. "What matters is that we got around to it."
Jocelyn smiles. "I wish we'd done this years ago."
Maggie's features shift into an expression of agreement. "We'd better make up for lost time then," she murmurs teasingly.
There's no chance for Jocelyn to reply as Maggie curves into her once again, capturing her lips. Jocelyn knows she will never tire of this, no matter how long they spend recovering the missed kisses of the last few years.
At least they have been granted the opportunity.
A/N: Thanks for reading! If there's anything in particular you'd like to see in the next chapter then let me know – I have a few ideas but it won't be very long, so any inspiration is welcome!
