A/N: I'm not good with long stories. I lose interest very quickly, I'm quite busy and I'll be even busier in September, plus English is not even my first language. This means that I can't assure I'll ever complete this fic. I'm not even sure where this is going. But I'll do my best.
Chapter 1
There's a very specific way the heart beats while you dance to the loud music. The deafening sound dictates the rhythm and cuts out every other noise. The body, drunk on abandon, will ignore every restriction and sway nonchalantly among the other bodies.
Kate is one of tens of people tipsily grinding against someone. She doesn't mind to ask him his name, his hands are free to wonder and touch until she'll get bored and will walk out of his reach. She actually likes his shady blue eyes and his dark hair, the smoothness of his locks, the way he just lets her play him around. But his features are still those of a young boy; he's hesitant, timid in the way he watches her.
He's not the first man she intimidates.
She's thinking she might be able to teach him something tonight – how to be confident but not frightening, or how to surrender and shut off his mind – when Maddie makes her way toward her on wobbly feet.
She smirks and laughs loudly when she sees her, but Kate just keeps on dancing with her back to the boy and reaches out for her friend. She lets her head fall backward to the chest behind her while Madison presses to her front, she closes her eyes and feels their hands touching along her sides, both their breaths on her skin.
When she opens her eyes again, Maddie is already walking backward; Kate turns, whispers a smooth thanks for the dance in the boy's ear and then reaches for her friend's hand.
The boy stands stunned in the spot left empty while they make their way out of the crowd, grazing for the last moments at their backs, their legs, before being sucked back in the mass.
They fall with the heavy thud on a sofa, Madison's laugh triggering Kate's, their bodies buzzing in bliss and energy. Maddie's head drops to rest on her shoulder, her hand drawing soothing patterns on Kate's thigh, their breaths still heavy.
She should have worn the black dress that matches with Maddie's red instead of the black, ripped jeans and t-shirt that now cling to her skin too heavily. The warm of the place and the harsh smell of bodies and beer makes it hard to breath.
She looks around, observes the place, and she's considering taking a walk out when she spots her.
She's just a figure on a stool, turning her back to Kate while she talks to a guy, her blonde, soft curls fall down her shoulders. The low light make it hard to be sure, but Kate is almost certain the girl at the counter is wearing a skin-tight blue dress, the hem doesn't even reach her knee cap, the fabric is stretched along her thighs. The heels she's wearing appear black from Kate's distance. Apart from the fact that she's probably the most put-together girl in the place and her profile looks exquisite from here, it shouldn't affect Kate too much.
But it does. She draws her attention. Kate forgets about Maddie, the music, the warmth as she studies her. Besides her graceful limbs and her elegant being, there's something disturbing in the picture.
It's not her.
It's him. The guy who is trying to talk to her. He smiles a lot, while she just answers politely. He asks something to the bartender but she shakes her head, refuses, without even turning fully toward him.
"Do you know who she is?" she asks to Maddie, turning to her and shifting her gaze just enough to make her understand who she is talking about.
Madison lifts her head from her shoulder and squints her eyes, studying her for a moment before shrugging.
"I've seen her around campus. Oh, and at an event, but I don't remember which. She's always alone, though, never seen her talking to anybody".
Kate's already on her feet – already shifted out of Madison's half hug – when the blonde girl turns around, searching desperately for someone. She doesn't see her approach and Kate's not absolutely certain of what she is doing, nor why she is doing it, but she knows she can't back off.
For a moment she considers the idea of punching him in the face and erase that ridiculous grin from his mouth. But maybe she can find a way to help the girl out without necessarily embarrassing her.
As Kate moves between the bodies and toward her, her features become sharper, more defined. Her mind updates the mental image of the young woman with each step she takes. Her hands quiver at her side, her usual self-esteem and determination falter for a woman she has never met before.
She's still turning her back to her when Kate circles her shoulders with her arm.
"Hey, babe," Kate says, loudly enough for the man to hear, smiling without even looking at him.
The girl's head spins around immediately, stiffness settle in her back as she searched her face, the soft curls tickles her skin. Her hazel eyes grow wider, surprised and skeptical, but Kate finds herself mesmerized by her iris, her questioning look and the cute frown on her face, so near.
Kate just smiles softly and leans in enough to whisper Play along. Her perfume fills her nostrils, there's a hint of vanilla and rose on her neck. Kate sees her breath catch and she hesitates. There's an urge, deep down in her belly, that almost convinces Kate to leave a kiss right below her ear.
She retreats, ashamed of her thoughts, but quickly regains her composure. She leaves her hand on the blonde's back and still feels her eyes watching her while she turns to the man and fakes surprise.
"Do we know each other?" she asks. "I'm Kate Beckett, her girlfriend," she says, offering him her other hand.
He eyes it suspiciously without accepting it, his eyes hard and guarded while he shifts his gaze from her to the girl.
"She didn't mention being with someone," he answers.
"Did you ask her?" she replies. He narrows his eyes, doesn't even flinch but his silence is enough for an answer. She's reconsidering the punch when a hand grasp her arm, her muscles ripple at the touch and she can't help but turn to the blonde she's dying to name.
Her eyes are soft now, thankful and Kate just shakes her head.
"You're right," she says, "let's get out of here."
Kate holds her hand while she turns to Maddie and mouths her an out. Her friend just smiles and nods, and when turns back the girl is taking her purse and sliding her black jacket off the stool.
They walk past the man hand in hand.
Kate lingers.
For just a moment, that is, but she does. She knows she should let go of the hand she's holding as soon as they close the door behind them. Instead, she lightens her grip gradually, her skin warm and smooth, until their linked fingertips eventually lose their hold and let them fall apart.
Kate's eyes are still watching the hand now hanging on the girl's side when she hears her laugh. The sound is rich and genuine and polite. She's not sure if she's laughing at her but she finds herself entranced, delighted.
Apparently this gorgeous girl has a weird effect on her.
"I'm sorry," it's the only thing Kate says, adjusting her locks behind her ears, her eyes meeting hers shyly.
Usually she's sassy, bold, not shy nor embarrassed – no, definitely not the latest. The girl is not intimidating, not cold, and not brazen. And Kate doesn't even like girls.
So why is she reacting like this?
"No, I'm sorry," the blonde says – still smiling – and how is her voice so sweet? "I shouldn't have laughed, it was inconsiderate of me. It's just… you don't even know my name and yet your performance as my jealous girlfriend was very convincing."
Her smirk is reassuring and, in spite of that, Kate shrugs, looking at the ground. She's powerless. It just took a cute, soft girl to turn her into a weak, timid mess.
"I meant to say, thank you. I'm really grateful for your help", she says, searching for her eyes. "I'm Maura Isles, for the record".
She extends her hand and Kate can't help but accept it as quickly as she can, incapable of controlling her urge to hold her hand again.
Maura. She tests it in her mouth, whispers it like a fool. The name feels rich and golden between her lips, the sound completing the picture of her like the missing piece of a puzzle, perfectly fitting between her blonde curls and her expensive dress.
"Kate Beckett," she answers, before letting her hand go for the second time with a feel of void.
"Well, Kate, I think… maybe you should head back inside to your real girlfriend, I'll just take a cab and go home".
Real girlfriend?
Kate must have said it out loud because she – Maura – fidgets with her hands, her fingers turning her ring around and around, the frown she saw before reappearing, making her look unsure.
"I might have seen you dance," she admits quietly. "Actually, I was not the only one. I envied you. You were so uninhibited, so free, so beautiful."
Kate must be blushing, she feels an odd rush of warmth creeping up her neck and cheeks. Maura's direct. More than expected, more than her appearance lets anticipate. It's not uncomfortable, though. I doesn't seem like she's saying it to please her. It looks natural, already so very her.
"I saw you with that guy, but there was nothing. With her, however..."
"Maura," Kate calls.
When she looks up, Kate realizes there's something Maura hides deep down or tries to mask with her clothes. There's a determination and strength in her eyes she doesn't often see, an intensity that should be out of place instead of fitting.
"There's no girlfriend. Maddie's my best friend, we do this when we want to have fun but not actually go home with someone" she explains.
Maura tilts her head to the side, almost offended.
"Well, that is not very polite of you," she admonishes.
"I don't think what he was thinking about me was very polite either, Maura".
Maura doesn't reply, but she searches her face, studies her eyes, while Kate stares back, motionless. Kate doesn't know what Maura's looking for, but she must have found it because she relaxes, her expression softens, her lips turn upward slightly.
Kate decides not to question her actions for tonight, this girl seems rare and remarkable and she's not willing to pass the opportunity to know her just because she's not used to doing this.
So she offers Maura her arm, the other hand in her pocket while Maura stares at her warily.
"Come on, I'll walk you home. And I'll make sure you don't think I'm rude anymore".
Maura accepts it, eventually.
TBC