Jane and Frost sat in a booth at the Dirty Robber nursing their beers in silence. "Hey, where's Maura?" Frost asked, but the look she shot him made him immediately regret it. Jane and Maura had been acting strange the last few days, but neither wanted to discuss it with him. They were still getting their work done, but there was no flirting over the body or public displays of affection. Last week they were the picture of a perfect couple. What the hell happened?
Jane took a long pull from her beer before answering. "Did you know that Maura's ex-girlfriend, correction ex-fiancé, was in the army? They broke up because Stef – that's her name, Stef – Stef took a position in Germany, and Maura didn't want to go." Jane spit the name "Stef" out like it was a bad taste in her mouth. "Well Stef left the army to be with Maura, so now she is here…in Boston…in Maura's house…" Jane stared down at her beer. She couldn't stand to see the pity in his eyes. "Maura says she just needs time to figure everything out."
"I'm sorry, Jane." Now he really regretted asking. It just didn't make sense. Jane and Maura were so happy together. Sure he'd never met this Stef person, but he was sure she didn't compare to Jane. "It'll be ok—"
"I'm gonna get another beer. Do you want anything?" Jane got up before he could answer and made a beeline for the bar. She knew he was trying to help, but there was only one way to get rid of this heartache. If she couldn't have that, then she'd settle for numbing the pain with beer.
Maura slowly pushed open the door to the Robber. She hoped that Jane both would and wouldn't be there. At least if she wasn't there, she could work on her I'm-so-sorry-please-forgive-me speech a little longer.
She took a deep breath and pushed through the door. She immediately spotted Frost and made her way towards him. When she got closer, she saw that Jane wasn't with him and released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She smiled at him, but his response was lukewarm at best. "Hello, Barry… Have you seen Jane tonight?"
"What are you doing here, Maura?" The doctor whirled around at the sound of Jane's voice. She only looked a little upset to see her which was an improvement from the last couple days.
"I was hoping we could talk." The detective didn't flinch. Maura couldn't tell if Jane was even a little receptive. "Give me a chance to explain," Maura begged.
"I just have one question for you…" She didn't know if she could handle the wrong answer, so she prepared for the worst. "Is she still at your house?"
"She left this morning." That was all Jane needed to here.
"So it took you two whole days to realize that I was the better woman?"
"One day, but I couldn't just kick her out on the street–"
"Yes. You could have."
"Jane." Maura couldn't keep the smirk off her face.
"Don't say my name like that. I haven't forgiven you." Jane was struggling to maintain her serious face, and Maura could see it. She started towards Jane. They were going to be fine. "Don't come any closer. I'm still mad at you." Maura couldn't stop her smile. "Why are you smiling? Why are you touching me? We haven't made up."
"And yet you aren't pushing me away." Maura rested her hands on Jane's hips and just stared into those deep brown eyes that she'd missed so much.
Jane tried to hold out as long as she could, but she could never resist Maura. "Come here." She pulled her close and kissed her deeply. It was her way of saying, "I love you, I missed you, and I'm so happy you're back." They didn't need to talk after all.