I haven't decided if I'm going to make this a one shot or two shot, but I guess we'll see. I just needed something fun while slaving through the recent chapters of The Nanny. I'm actually not even sure where this idea came from, but once it popped into my head, I couldn't get rid of it.
Thanks to BostonRocket for being my handy dandy beta. I can always count on her. :)
Smirking, Jane pressed the send button on her phone. She didn't ever send such suggestive or risqué messages, but for some reason tonight, after a couple of beers, she was feeling relaxed and confident, so she took the plunge. She set her phone on the coffee table, picked up her beer, and sank back into the couch to continue watching March Madness. The pending reply would certainly be interesting.
Maura's Blackberry beeped, indicating a message. Without looking up from the latest edition of her favorite forensics journal, she reached for the electronic device and finally tore her eyes away from the text-filled pages.
It was from Jane.
Curious Maura quickly unlocked her phone and opened the message.
It was a picture.
Of Jane.
With her left hand inside her shorts.
I can't stop thinking about you.
Hazel eyes widened. A sharp sucked in breath.
The journal fell quickly to her lap as she stared at the image on her phone.
Maura tapped the call button with her index finger.
Her best friend's ringtone blared suddenly from her phone, interrupting Jane's intense college basketball concentration. She picked up the remote to mute the television and answered her phone.
"Yah, this better be good, Maur. I'm watching the Dayton-Ohio State game and my bracket's about to get busted to hell and back."
"What are you doing aside from watching college basketball, Jane?"
Pulling her phone away from her ear, Jane looked at it as if it had suddenly sprung three heads, and Maura could see her expression. She put the phone back to her ear and answered like it was obvious. "Um, drinking beer? That's how this whole thing works. Watch March Madness, drink beer. Possibly throw pretzels or chips at the TV when the refs make shitty calls."
"And you're not doing anything else aside from watching this game and drinking beer?"
"Dammit, Maur, does this conversation have a point? I'm missing the game!"
"Well perhaps the words 'I can't stop thinking about you' will refresh your memory."
About to take another sip of her beer, Jane froze, the bottle opening only inches from her mouth. The dark amber bottle somehow made its way back to the surface of the coffee table without falling over. She swallowed hard. "What?"
"While I personally don't mind receiving such messages, I must admit I was incredibly shocked because I thought you and Casey were still…conversing, at the very least."
"I didn't-Casey and I-that message-FUCK!"
"You meant to send that picture to Casey, didn't you?" Jane could hear the change in Maura's voice. It almost sounded as if she was...disappointed? Sad?
Jane sighed heavily, dropping her elbows to her knees and her forehead to the palm of her right hand. "Yes." Then the rest of what Maura had said hit her. "Wait, did you just say that you 'don't mind receiving such messages,' Maura?"
On the other end of the line, Jane heard Maura suck in a breath. A moment passed and she heard her best friend release it.
"Is that-" Jane paused for a moment, trying to think of the best way to word her question. "a general statement, as in you like to receive those kinds of pictures, or because-" she paused again. "Actually, never mind. I don't think I want to know."
"Do you often send Casey this kind of message?"
"No, never!" Jane replied quickly. "Or anyone else. I don't even know what I was thinking."
"Because you know that it may have an adverse affect on your career if this kind of picture were somehow leaked. Mobile phone hacking is becoming more and more prevalent, but you also shouldn't underestimate any former liaison seeking revenge."
"Casey would never-"
"I'm not suggesting that he would ever do such a thing," Maura interrupted. "I'm simply informing you of possible scenarios, Jane."
Jane sighed. "Well, I guess lucky for me it's just you with the picture, huh? Which you can delete the second you hang up, by the way."
"Did you really mean what you said?" the honey blonde asked quietly. "That you can't stop thinking about him?"
"That's the kind of stuff you say in those...messages," Jane replied quietly, finally picking up her bottle of beer and leaning back against the sofa once more.
"But did you mean it?" Maura pressed.
Jane bit her lip. "Why are you asking me that, Maura? Would I send him that if I didn't mean it?"
"Except you sent it to me, Jane, not Casey," her best friend reminded her softly.
"Yeah, by accident!" the brunette huffed, just before she took a swig of her beer.
"Was it? Perhaps you subconsciously knew-"
"Stop."
Several moments of silence passed between them.
"The answer to your question is both," Maura whispered.
"What?"
"You asked if it was a general statement that I didn't mind receiving those kinds of pictures-"
"But I didn't finish the other part, so how can your answer be both?" Dark brows furrowed deeply.
"Because you were going to ask me if it was because the picture was of you."
"Did you just make a guess?"
"No, it was a logical conclusion based on five years' worth of conversations and friendship with you. Oftentimes, I do actually understand your speech patterns and thought processes."
"So you guessed." Jane took another swig of beer.
"Tell me what the other half of your question would have been then," Maura replied matter-of-factly.
"I really gotta go, Maur. This game's only got half of fourth quarter left and I gotta watch what happens."
"Jane-"
"Bye, Maur. See you tomorrow!"
A scowl quickly covered Maura's face. She briefly contemplated calling Jane back, but knew the brunette would only ignore her call. Instead she sat there for several minutes, trying to formulate an appropriately-worded text to send to her best friend.
I apologize, Jane. I shouldn't have insisted upon taking that route in our conversation. Please forgive me.
After pressing send, Maura reopened her messages, and clicking on Jane's picture message, deleted the risqué photograph. It didn't matter that the image was gone. She could never forget such an erotic image of her best friend and love of her life.
Ten minutes and still no response later, Maura sighed, placed her phone on her nightstand, and resumed reading the article in the forensics journal. Everything would have to be resolved in the morning.
After dropping her phone into her lap, Jane picked up the TV remote and unmuted the basketball game. She tried her best for several minutes to get back into the game, but her thoughts kept straying back to her phone call with her best friend. Her awkward phone call with her best friend.
The answer to your question is both.
Jane swallowed the lump in her throat. Maura liked getting a dirty picture from her.
Suddenly everything she'd been trying to fight off by maintaining her involvement with Casey was thrust to the surface, open and exposed, impossible to ignore.
She didn't want to admit to Maura, or anyone else for that matter, that while she had forced herself to try and think of Casey, who was a half-decent lover but certainly not the best she'd had, the vast majority of the thoughts she'd had with her fingers teasing herself had been about a hazel-eyed, brilliant dark blonde who owned her heart and didn't even know it.
The elaborate game of charades she'd been trying to maintain for the last few years suddenly didn't seem worth the effort.
She could have what she wanted, but only if she had the guts to speak up about it.
As the game played on, then ended, and more programming continued on the TV, Jane simply sat there and thought, only once getting up for another beer. Ignoring her attraction to Maura had only led to misery in her dating life, but now that she knew Maura had at least some interest in her, maybe, she thought, just maybe it was time to take the next step.
Ringing startled Maura out of the beginning stages of an REM cycle and she woke up slightly disoriented. Once it was apparent that the ringing came from her phone and not a dream, she blinked back the sleep from her eyes and reached for the device on her nightstand. It was Jane's ringtone. She quickly answered, laying her head back down on the pillow.
"Jane?" she answered groggily. "Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
"I thought maybe you'd still be up? But I clearly woke you, so I'll just talk to you in the morning."
"No," Maura replied, clearing her throat. "It's fine. You wouldn't call for no reason at this hour."
"I, uh, you were right," Jane whispered. "About the other half of my question, I mean."
"I deleted the picture message," Maura replied softly. She could think of no other appropriate reply.
"Thanks, I guess."
Maura could hear the shakiness in Jane's voice. "You're welcome."
A few moments of silence.
"So, uh…" Jane sighed. "I feel kinda awkward now."
"It was an accident. While I understand why you may feel uncomfortable right now, I want you to know you don't have to. We're both adults, Jane. I think we can move forward without ever having to recount this incident."
"What if," Jane started to say. "And I know you don't like hypothetical scenarios, but hear me out. What if I, uh, didn't want to 'move forward without ever having to recount this incident'?" She cleared her throat. "What if I said that all I've been able to think about for the last hour and a half is you and the fact that you liked what I sent you, even if it was by accident? What would you say to that?"
Maura was silent for a few seconds, her heart suddenly racing. "I would say that Casey is very fortunate to have been the intended recipient of that message."
"I don't want Casey, Maura." Jane's voice was barely audible.
"Oh." Heartbeats echoed through Maura's body.
"Do you know what I want?"
The honey blonde woman had to take a deep breath.
"I want to not be afraid anymore. I want to have the courage to go after what I really want."
"And what would that be?" Maura held her breath, both terrified of and elated by Jane's pending response.
"You," Jane replied.
Maura released her breath, relieved.
"I want you and I'm done trying to pretend there isn't something between us. I'm exhausted, Maura. I just-" she paused, sighing, and the emotion in her voice rang through clearly. "I just want you."
Maura smiled and closed her eyes as hot tears began to well up in them.
"You there?"
"I want you, too," she whispered, still smiling in the darkness.
"Could I," Jane hesitated, "maybe come over for breakfast?"
"What time should I expect you?"
"8? I don't have to be in 'til noon."
"Okay, I'll see you at 8 then."
"Goodnight, Maur."
Her smile grew wider. "Goodnight, Jane."