A/N: so I wrote this as a self-dare. The events of the first part of this story happened to a friend of mine a couple of hours ago. She doesn't know what will happen on her date this Sunday, so I kinda felt like giving her a preview of what I thought. This is a story that is using fictional characters to play out a real life event. Just a quick note: I am making up shit as I go. This includes places, universities, subjects offered… I'm too lazy to do any research. If the inaccuracy of things makes you frustrated or uncomfortable, I urge you to stop reading now! If not, get ready to be shocked by my skills of making shit up.
Disclaimer: Tess Gerritsen is the original creator of Jane and Maura and TNT owns the TV versions. I'm just borrowing them.
1. The incident
Another reasonably well structured lesson was over. Jane Rizzoli, a raven black haired, tall, Italian young woman with trademark brown eyes, packed up her bags and headed for the exit of the lecture hall. The 24 year old had begun her Master's Degree in Criminal Psychology at the University of Vienna a few months ago. Applying to the course had been a struggle. The previous year, she had worked as an assistant to the Psychology department at Boston Cambridge University.
After her year off between finishing her Bachelor's Degree and doing her Master's, she had learned many valuable things. The scars on her hands were one of the hardest lessons she had to learn. Don't get too involved with a Modern Minds of Serial Killers case study, especially if they are still alive. Charles Hoyt was dead now, but the memory of him would forever remain engraved on her body. That was one of the reasons she had chosen the University of Vienna to continue her studies; that, and because the Professor, who had mentored her during her Bachelor Thesis, had transferred there.
One thing that was on Jane's mind today was the girl she had left behind. She had been seeing a student at BCU. It wasn't anything serious in the beginning. They were simply passing time together. Then she developed feelings for Francis. Not sure if they were real, seeing that she had just come out of a two year relationship, Jane still managed to silence the voices that told her that it would end badly. Surprisingly, it didn't. For her entire gap year, they had been together. It hadn't been without problems, but they still made it through. Once Jane announced that she would be travelling to Vienna to continue her studies, Francis decided that she would still like to stay in contact with her.
Now having been apart for five months, Jane finally understood her feeling for her. She liked her a lot, but she couldn't see herself spending the rest of her life with her. They had talked about it, and Francis understood. Jane just hoped that she really did understand. She didn't want to lose her friendship with her.
A few days ago, a beautiful girl had caught Jane's eye. She hadn't told Francis yet, because nothing had happened. Jane had seen her a few times on her way home; most recently she had been walking her dog. It was a bit ironic that in a city with over 3 to 4 million people, this one girl would have caught her interest.
Jane's phone vibrated in her pocket. She stopped on her way out of the main campus of the university and read it.
Where are you? Remember the reading I told you about? It's beginning! – Lisa
Fuck! Jane had forgotten that her flatmate had invited her to a reading by a popular author. It was on the other campus which would only take about 5 minutes to get to. Jane took a deep breath and began marching over to where Lisa was. By the time she got to the correct lecture hall, she found people standing around outside. This meant that there was no place inside anymore. Jane groaned but stopped when she heard the voice of the author booming from the hall. She smiled as she got nearer to the wall and made herself comfortable. This would have to do.
Jane stood at the wall listening intensively until she realized that the sun was going down. Lisa wouldn't be going home until later because she had plans with her boyfriend. Jane sighed as she finally felt the tiredness of the stressful day she had had and grabbed her bag, getting ready to head to the street train. When she got to the right train tracks, she looked around at the people around her. Five months and she was still feeling a bit uncomfortable around the people of Vienna. Today she didn't feel it though. Her mind was too tired.
Suddenly, all of her senses decided to get back to work. They all focused on one thing. There she was. The hot girl she had seen a few days ago. Today she wasn't carrying a leash. No dog to distract Jane from the beautiful wonder this girl was. Jane's eyes traveled from her golden brown hair, down to her pale skin, down her thick winter jacket, then back up to her hazel brown eyes which were staring at her. The whole time when Jane had allowed her eyes to roam over the stranger's body, the stranger had been staring at her with a smile. Her smile was infectious, or maybe the situation was laughable; either-way Jane smiled back.
A street trained pulled into the tracks. The girl didn't stop smiling and looking at Jane until she was safely inside her train. Jane on the other hand still stared after the train as it pulled away. Once it was out of sight, Jane had to laugh. What had just happened? Had she shared a TV moment with a complete stranger? Having seen her a few times before, does that make her a stranger?
Jane's street train arrived on time, three minutes later. She sat in her usual spot and stared out the window. The only thing going through her mind was the girl who couldn't stop smiling at her. Two stops later, Jane nearly had a heart attack. There she was again, the girl with the hazel eyes. Jane's was completely taken aback. She had traveled this route for the last five months and had never seen this girl on her train. Had she stepped off of her train to get into Jane's? Fuck. For the next three stops, the girl moved closer and closer to where Jane sat. Once the alert for the oncoming third stop rang, the girl turned to Jane and shoved a piece of paper into her hand. She said nothing, waited for the doors to open and went into the cool night. Jane sat still in her seat until the train moved again. She opened the piece of paper.
Do you want to take a walk with me? – Maura
Beside her name, Maura had put down her phone number. Jane's jaw dropped. She was being pranked. She was definitely being pranked. Two TV moments in one day? No way. A goofy smile crossed her face. Yeah, she was definitely going for a walk with this girl. She couldn't wait to get home to tell Francis.
Jane left a voice note for Francis as soon as she got back. Francis hadn't been online in a while, so she decided to try her luck with the number Maura had given her. It was a weird feeling to finally have a name for the girl who had interested her so much.
Hello, this is Jane. You gave me your number on the street train. Were you serious about that walk? – Jane
A few minutes later, her message tone rang.
Good evening Jane. It's really good to hear from you. Of course I was serious about taking a walk with you. I wouldn't have gone through all of the trouble to change trains if I was lying to you – Maura
What day would suit you best? – Jane
How about this Sunday? – Maura
That's perfect! We can meet at the street train stop close to the university at 9. – Jane
That sounds good. I look forward to seeing you again. Sleep well. – Maura
Looking forward to seeing you again too. – Jane
With that, the conversation was over for tonight. Jane threw herself on her bed and let out a deep sigh. She was smiling. She was going to see Maura again. Her name suited her. Maura. Jane's message tone rang again. It was Francis.
Francis: Jane's got a cruuuussshhh! Hahaha! And unlike you, I believe that TV moments like this can happen.
Jane: I don't :-D it's just crazy.
Francis: But that's really coool! How hot is she? wink
Jane: :-D quite hot
Francis: :-D wouldn't expect anything less :-P
Jane: But I mean… we haven't talked a word up to now
Francis: I hope she's nice. Well, you will talk soon. So I'll keep my fingers crossed. Did you call her yet?
Jane: I wrote
Francis: did she answer? (Jane Rizzoli last seen today at 21:14) And she vanishes! Woman come back! This is too juicy to go offline right now!
Jane: XD
Francis: Don't you dare say you're going to bed! This is the first time I can tease you about a potential love interest :-D
Jane: No! We are going for a waaaalk?!
Francis: I'm sorry, but she's interested in you. Therefore I have concluded that she is a love interest. :-D
Jane: I don't know her
Francis: Oh come on! She stalked you on your way home AND gave you her number and name in the coolest, cheesierst way possible!
Jane: You don't know the outcome yet
Francis: Well that's the beauty of imagination
Jane: XD XD XD XD
Francis: And I can't wait six months for you guys to finally know how you feel about each other :-(
Jane: Francis? Dooont exaggerate. Maybe it's just going nowhere
Francis: You used my name…. this means it's serious :-D You know me, I love exaggerating. It's fun to imagine where this could go. And since I'm a cold harded Disney kid, all roads lead to cheesy relationships!
Jane: Alright, let's leave it at that. I really am tired so I will go sleep. Good night. kiss 3
Francis: Sleep well. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
2. Sunday walk
Jane was up at 8. Getting to the university would take her about 30 minutes. So she had to get out of bed now, shower, eat, dress and the get the hell out of the house. Francis had texted less in the days leading up to what she called "her big date". She had said that she didn't want to be a distraction to her and make her mess up on her meeting with Maura. Jane had laughed about it, but Francis had been serious. Being a respectful person, she accepted her decision. Jane made it to her street train station by 25 past eight. She boarded the 8:30 train and was on her way. She tried not to think all the way to the meeting place. She didn't want to have any expectations. It was just a walk after all. 30 minutes later, Jane got out of the street train and was face to face with Maura. Jane nearly blushed as she examined the woman in front of her. She looked beautiful in the morning light.
"Good morning." Maura said with her never-ending smile.
Jane cleared her throat and smiled back. "Morning. You look great."
Maura took a moment to look at what she was wearing; simple walking pants, track shoes and a jacket. Jane was wearing sweat pants, her trainers, a jacket and a scarf.
"Thank you." she smiled again. "You look wonderful as well."
The two stood in silence for a moment. There was nothing awkward about it. Just two women, who potentially liked each other, staring into each other's eyes. A moment later someone pushed Jane and she ended up closer to Maura, their bodies nearly pressed together. Jane would've spun around and given the fucker a piece of her mind, but Maura's presence was rather calming.
She brunet cleared her throat. "Shall we go?"
"Yes." Jane took a step back. "Lead the way."
The entire walk through, Maura and Jane talked about a plethora of subjects. They found out where the other was from, what the other was studying, why the other was studying the mentioned field. For Jane, Maura was like a breath of fresh air.
Even though she didn't want to, she ended up comparing her first meeting with Francis, to her first meeting with Maura. Francis had just recently come out and was still dealing with rejection from her family and accepting herself. Just like Jane, Maura had been out for 7 years. Unlike Francis' family, her family had fully supported her. After helping her two ex-girlfriends come into their own, Jane was relieved to have someone who was at her own level of comfort when it came to her sexuality.
By 11, the two women ended up on a bench and were chatting away. Maura asked about Jane's scars and hesitantly, she told her the story.
She had been doing a Modern Minds of Serial Killers case study on the mind of serial killer Charles Hoyt. He killed couples in a way that Jane still didn't like remembering. One day, after an interview with the man, Jane had been bound, gagged and kidnapped. Having only seen him behind bars a few hours ago, Jane was surprised to see that Hoyt had escaped custody to kill her. He didn't give any good reason, just that she interested him. He had an accomplice; together they spent a few hours planning what to do. A good friend of Jane's mothers', Homicide Detective Sergeant Vincent Korsak, tracked her down just minutes after Hoyt had pinned her to the floor with scalpels. He shot both the apprentice and Hoyt himself.
Maura was obviously completely astonished by the story. Jane hadn't even realized that the other woman had taken her hand until she felt a thumb trace her index finger. Jane didn't shy away from the touch. It was welcomed. It was different. Suddenly, Maura leaned in. Jane knew what was coming next, and she didn't stop it. Maura was a great person from what she had gathered over the last two hours. Anyone would be lucky to have her, and the brunet had chosen her. Their lips met in the sweetest kiss Jane had ever had. No, she was lying to herself. There had been sweeter kisses.
Jane pulled away abruptly. Maura began apologising.
"It's not you." She put her hand on Maura's shoulder. "I'm still getting through a break-up. Still piecing what's left over back together, you know? I find you very attractive and believe me if we were alone…" Jane simply raised her eyebrows and Maura understood and laughed, "But I can't start something new before I have myself fixed."
Maura's smile returned. "I understand. I can be your friend until you are ready for more."
Jane laughed. Maura smirked and cocked an eye brow. Jane swore inwardly. She was going to have to work on controlling her urges around Maura if they were going to be just friends. Deep down inside she looked forward to the day she would be intimate with her new friend. She didn't know if it was ever going to happen, but she hadn't gotten laid in 5 months, and her self-control was running out.
A/N: My friend is probably going to kill me. If you're reading this, you know I do crazy shit like this. So don't be surprised!