A/N I do not own the characters associated with the television show. The work and any OC characters created, are mine. Thank you for reading.

Rizzoli and Isles

Mistakes Made

Conversations with Jack

Jane, Maura

The lanky detective approached her best friend's front door with her usual swagger. After a quick solidifying breath, she rang the doorbell before waiting uncharacteristically still while standing at full posture.

The tell-tale staccato sound of heels coming toward the door heralded the impending arrival of the blonde ME before the door was opened slowly.

Maura's face was apprehensive as she stoically stood with the door open, hazel eyes locked onto brown ones. Jane was the first to break the silence after clearing her throat. "So, last night Jack and I had a conversation…"

The Doctor scoffed at this. "Jack wasn't the only one you had a conversation with last night."

Jane's reply was soft, but sure. "I remember our conversation very well."

Maura scowled, responding abruptly. "Well, then, Detective. If you recall the full conversation, you will also recall that I specifically asked you not to come over first thing and declare how enormous of a mistake it was."

With effort, the brunette met the intense scrutiny that had fallen many a great man. "I do recall that, Maur. I make a lot of mistakes…"

Maura uncharacteristically cut the detective off in a tone that Jane seldom had directed at her. "Then why in the hell are you standing on my front porch with fudge clusters and a pink rose if you made such a monumental mistake last night, Jane? Look. I get it. You ingested an indeterminate amount of a mood altering substance that is classified as a depressant. You then called your best friend and professed unending devotion and love to her. That's the same person, need I remind you, that emphatically begged you to not come see her and tell her how big of mistake it was upon waking from the likely alcohol induced slumber that surely followed. And yet here we are having the very conversation she pleaded not to have for the reasons she disclosed at the time of the incident. I cannot speak to you about this right now."

The unshed tears in the hazel eyes caused Jane to pause for a moment before continuing, but she knew she couldn't walk away without saying what she came here to say. She paused too long, and the doctor was speaking again. "I am certain the alcohol made you in to someone you aren't last night. I understand the need to imbibe occasionally to the point of overindulgence and I am aware that you were at a particularly low point in your relationship status. You don't have to tell me that it wasn't you talking, it was the whiskey. I know you well, Jane. I don't need you to explain all this. However, right now I cannot. Can. Not. Have this conversation with you. I have to be able present myself professionally to a group of my peers in D.C. in hours and I will be unable to accomplish that task to the best of my abilities if my heart is metaphorically breaking in my chest. Are you so mortified by what you said last night that you would deny me this request?"

Maura questioning the Detective's loyalty broke Jane from her reverie. "I did make a mistake last night, but I promise you, it isn't what you are thinking it was. I'll get back to that in a minute. Let's get a couple things straight first. I don't care what your science says, alcohol doesn't change your mood. It just amplifies who you are. I picked up enough drunks as a beat cop to know that there are all kinds of drunks and despite how many excuses their wives come up with, the alcohol doesn't change who they are, it lowers their walls enough to let it out."

The eye roll Jane received from the ME was encouraging. At least she didn't slam the door in her face. "Second, I'd like you to know I only had 3 glasses of Jack last night and the ones I did have were only a finger and a half. So no, Maur, the only thing alcohol induced about last night was the filter removal from my mouth."

The doctor's scowl softened to confusion at this statement and Jane began breathing easier. Maybe this wouldn't go as bad as she originally thought.

Sucking in a deep breath, the Detective determined it was time to go all in. "To preface my mistake last night, I have been making a much larger one. I woke up at 5 this morning and showered before laying back down in bed and staring at the ceiling. I have been terrified of telling you how I feel because I was certain you didn't feel that same and our friendship would suffer for it."

Jane cut her eyes as Maura went to interrupt once again. "Please let me finish. This morning I finally saw it. While it is true that I am protective of you, that only works because you let me protect you. And you only let me protect you because I trust you enough to let you protect me. Sure, there is a difference and we both know that most of my resistance is just for show, and I am going to be kicking myself in the ass if we do end up in a relationship now. The simple fact of the matter is that you wouldn't allow that to happen any more than I did. If you felt nothing for me and I told you my real feelings, you would save me from myself and our friendship in the process. I would give up my own happiness if it meant you got the life you wanted and there isn't a doubt in my mind you wouldn't do the same. The other possibility I was worried about would be that you wouldn't feel the same for me, but would agree to a relationship just to make me happy. You wouldn't outright lie, but it is amazing what you can do with the truth. The flaw in that, though, is that you, Maura Isles, do not endeavor in anything you don't want to. And if you don't want to do it, somehow the person who suggested it to begin with walks away arguing against it."

Pausing for a moment to put her thoughts in order, she heard the Doctor mutter to herself. "Lying down. You were lying down. Not laying."

The correction of her grammar made Jane feel lighter all of a sudden. Maura may not be happy, but at least she wasn't belligerently angry any longer. Hope began to blossom in the Italian's chest.

Jane stepped closer to her favorite person, causing said woman to look up at her. "The mistake I made last night wasn't telling you how I felt. It was in the way I told you. You, Maura Dorthea Isles, deserve so much more than I will ever be able to give you. But first and foremost, you deserve to be wooed and courted. There are a million ways that are more worthy of that moment than a late night phone call from your best friend who has whiskey on her breath. I should have kissed you softly on your couch after you fell asleep watching a movie. Or made my feelings known at one of those events where you drug me along as your plus one. I could have simply asked you out on a date or I don't know, form some kind of ridiculous flash mob. All of those would have been more fitting of a woman of your caliber. But I didn't. And I fucked up last night."

Showing her dimples, Jane continued. "Yes the fudge clusters are an apology. That apology is for how I told you and nothing more. Let me be clear. I want you however you'll have me, Maur. There is nothing in the world that would make me happier than being the one who holds you at night, but if all you can give is friendship, I'll take that just as greedily. Please forgive me for telling you in the manner I did last night."

She handed the fudge clusters to the ME. Chocolate eyes stared into hazel ones for an indeterminate amount of time before the Detective continued. "This rose symbolizes love. I love you. I love you as a friend. I love you as a confidant. I love you as the most wonderful person I have ever met. In fact, you are just that. You are my person. Your mind and heart leaves my stomach in knots and sometimes I don't even know how to handle myself when you are around and all I know is that I want to be in your presence. Whatever comes of this, please know that I love you with all my heart."

Jane handed the stunned ME the rose and then ran her finger tips along Maura's cheek. "I truly am sorry about last night. But now that it's out there, I couldn't be happier. I love you."

Moving the cheek tracing hand to the small of Maura's back, Jane leaned in and placed a soft, lingering kiss on a pale cheek. "Have a safe trip. Please text me so that I know you made it in OK. I will wait as long as you need for whatever decisions you make. No pressure."

Once she cleared Maura's body, Jane swiftly turned and strode confidently to her car. This morning had gone better than she thought, but she was still pissed at herself for fucking this up so monumentally to begin with. Maura would come to her when she was ready. Of that, Jane was certain. And the reminder of why Maura didn't want to hear how much of a mistake it had been last night, allowed her the smallest of hope.