"Alright Maura, let me just get changed and we'll go," Jane said, walking into her bedroom. She wasn't at all surprised to find Maura following right behind her. With them privacy had never been normal. Maura would turn her back if she knew Jane was trying to hold back tears, but she had never once considered that Jane might like to get dressed by herself. To be honest, Jane was okay with that. It was one thing for someone to be there if you needed them to, but it was something altogether different for them to realize when you don't want them or anyone else to see.
Maura sat down on Jane's bed and continued to chatter on about the difference between frogs and toads. Jane had spotted a, what she assumed was a frog, on her porch and nearly pulled out her gun to shoot the thing. Turned out the slimy hopping creature was a toad and shooting it was highly unacceptable. "Toads don't even jump Jane, they just kind of hop. Their hind legs are much weaker than frogs…," she continued, on explaining the differences as Jane changed.
"You know I really liked those pants too," Jane grumbled, tossing them into a garbage bag. She hated having to use her gun at work. Not the pulling it out waving it in your face until you squeal kind of using it. The pulling it out adrenaline rushing knowing that you're going to have to use it and there's nothing you can do to change it.
Maura looked over at her friend throwing the pants into the black garbage bag. "You don't have to throw them out; I can get the blood stains out. It's really not as hard as people make it out to be. Of course, if they have already tried to get the stains out themselves it's nearly impossible. But bloodstains that haven't been tampered with can almost always be eradicated."
"Maura," Jane said, with disgust crossing her face, "I don't care how much I like those pants. I am not walking around in a pair of pants that some kid died all over. Blood or no blood it's creepy." She pulled on another pair of blank pants, almost identical to the first pair, sans the blood of course. Pulling her hair back up into a ponytail, Jane figured she was about ready.
"Jane?" Maura asked, confusion slickening her words, "You don't wear scarves." Her head was cocked to the side, curiously, as she stared at the hanging arrangement attached to Jane's headboard.
Not bothering to look up at the over analytical woman, Jane inwardly rolled her eyes. "You don't wear a holster," she quipped. When she was met with silence, Jane looked over at the doctor, and couldn't help but chuckled. Maura's nose was crinkled up and she was shaking her head. She may have been able to convince Maura to carry a gun, but she would never find it anywhere other than Maura's purse.
"They're just so bulky. Besides, it's not like I could hide it anywhere unless I've got a lab coat on," Maura defended. "So…" she tried, waiting for Jane to explain the mystery. She was still staring at the bed. Jane could almost see the gears turning in her friends mind.
"I wear scarves...sometimes," Jane fumbled, wishing just this once Maura would be normal and drop it. Needing something to do in order to hide her nervousness, Jane slipped her shirt off and quickly found another one to slip into.
"Really?" Maura asked, not believing it for a moment. "I've worked with you on enough cold days and I have never seen you in this," she said, running one of the more expensive looking scarves through her fingers.
"Let it go Maura," Jane growled, stepping close behind her. Watching the words effect on her friend, she almost forgot that she had something to hide. She couldn't hide the chuckle that escaped, as she watched the scarf literally drop from Maura's fingers as if it was on fire.
Maura's breath hitched in her throat as she let go of the fabric. Laughter was something she'd come to expect in her life, but not from Jane. She couldn't help but feel as if she wasn't quite catching something. Swallowing hard, she tried to pretend that she couldn't feel the heat emanating behind her or the breath that steadily grazed against the spot joining her shoulder and her neck.
"Not the scarf Maura, the question," she said softly, gaining confidence with each bit of fear she noticed in her friend. It wasn't that she liked Maura afraid, per say. The question had caught her off guard and she had been vulnerable. Now, Maura was the vulnerable one.
"Oh," Maura said, softly, realizing this was not something Jane wanted to particularly share. "I just," she paused a moment, furrowing her brows as she tried to put the right words into just the right order, "You don't open up about a lot of things and sometimes it seems like the only way I get to learn anything about you is by asking. I'm sorry Jane." Maura knew too many questions made Jane shut down, but she'd never before see her react so strongly after just one.
Jane couldn't help but smile at Maura's answer. Out of everyone in her life, Maura was the first person to vocalize that if you wanted to get closer to Jane you just had to push your way in. She realized, for the sake of their friendship, it was times like these that she needed to offer something back. A secret could be anything, but a secret with an explanation would at least ease Maura's questioning mind. "You know how into my work I get, but there are some aspects of my life where I just want to leave work out of it. The bedroom is one of those aspects."
Maura glanced a confused look over her shoulder and started to turn around, but decided another curious glance at the scarves in question would be better. "I don't understand Jane. If the scarves have something to do with work, why would you keep them in here in the first place?"
Jane couldn't hide the pleasant laughter that slipped from her lips. Her hands found their way to Maura's hips as she dropped her head against the doctor's shoulder and laughed. "Maura, sweetheart, it's not the scarves." She knew her laughter was going to get her into trouble, but it was too funny. Letting her mouth find its way next to Maura's ear, she said in a low voice, "Just because I don't like to use my handcuffs doesn't mean I don't enjoy tying people up."
Tbc?
