Authors note: Engish is not my first language and this is the first time I'm writing more than five sentences in a row for more than 10 years. I'm quite sure there are several mistakes left in the text even though I checked it multiple times. So please be mild but feel welcome to correct me so my english can improve again.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my fantasie

Everyone was gone! Finally! It had been lively, loud and a little chaotic. So all in all you could say it went as expected. Just a few moments ago the whole Rizzoli-Clan was here and lively discussing weather this really was a good idea to have a Christmas like this. Opinions have been thrown back and forth but in the end everyone agreed to this way surely was different but that everyone was curious about it. Tommy actually had been the most excited about it. Jane hadn't seen that coming, he wasn't exactly the first of them who would skip traditions. Jane thought this enthusiasm was just him being rebellious again. Maura didn't quite agree but preferred to remain silent about her suspicion that he rather was short on money and appreciated the opportunity not to have spend money.

Cleaning up together after everyone else had gotten home had become a habit for Maura and Jane. As much as she avoided housework at he own place she somehow appreciated doing it here. Or maybe it wasn't the housework by itself and rather the person giving her company. She had to admit to herself that she was getting a little nervous about the next morning and the handing out of presents. Jane gave her best to focus on putting every dish in the order that Maura tried to teach her for the past 3 weeks. She and Mauras new dishwasher won't become friends too soon. She surely already had forgotten why it was so important to stick with a special order but Jane was pretty sure Maura has been telling her something about waterway and temperature flow.

This dilemma reflected somehow how the detective felt about the present she was about to give Maura in about 10 to 12 hours from now. Maura didn't want them to handle any physical presents this year, instead she had decided for them to give each other a story, a secret, something that had been untold until now. It sure seemed like a good idea for Maura, she wasn't related in a biological way with any of them, she didn't even know anyone of them for more than the first 3 decades of her live. Sure t was easy to Maura to pic something. Jane on the other hand would have to face her very own mother tomorrow. A person who always seems to get either upset, disappointed or overenthusiastic about Janes choices. And her best friend who, for reasons Jane couldn't understand, always stood by her side and she didn't want to scare her of.

She had no real idea what to tell her, every interesting story they already had shared. At least from Janes side. The untold rest belonged to the "what I don't tell hasn't happened" pile. And then how would Maura react to whatever she was going to tell her? Would she ask for further information or just take in the story as it would be told? At least then she would have some few options what to tell. Looking at Maura while having dinner with their family gave her a thousand ideas of which untold things to tell Maura. But that would only work if there was some kind of guarantee that nigher her mother nor one of her brothers would interrupt her. That would be just too embarrassing and too easy to misinterpret. Jane was well aware of the very special friendship that connected her and Maura. They were closer than she had ever been with someone. If she had to pick just one person in her live to keep, it would be Maura. It flattered her still that she could this woman her best friend.

Maybe that would be a good thing to tell her?

No, she couldn't. The thought of saying it out loud was choking her.

This was really not relaxing. After wiping out the sink she offered herself a beer and watching Maura letting her Sauvignon Blanc fill the glass. "Would you like watching a movie?" Jane offered not wanting the night to end already. Maura always had a calming effect on her, she made her able to sit down and let the workday fade away until the next call to a murder. "Actually I'd prefer to go on a walk with you, if you like" the words were fading, the last nearly inaudible. If Jane hadn't so concentrated on a deep sip from her bottle she would have seen Maura hiding in the same way behind her white wine. This was feeling a little strange. Not Mauras idea of a night walk by itself this they have done several times before. Mostly when a case became very intense and the cool night-air was needed to cool down the overheated brains. But Maura being shy about it was something new. Giving her a questioning look Jane decided not to ask more about it right now. Instead she nodded "okay, I didn't know the Christmas-dinner was stressing you out that much. You should have said something. I could have helped." "Oh Jane, no, most of the preparations your mom did. Its just... I feel like having a quiet ending of the day and watch the illuminated city. Watching a movie with you isn't really quiet, you always complain about art-house films." Embracing the humorous way the conversation took a chuckle couldn't be suppressed from the detective "Yes! Because they're boring!"

Leaving the house a cold wind embraced both women and forced them to pull their scarfs tighter around their necks. The scenery wasn't especially christmasy. No snow this year but at least no rain either. The lights in all the windows were beautiful, witnessing all the people in holidaymood, windows decorated in all possible colors, shining, blinking. After a few blocks bells from a church became audible. None of them had noticed it already had become 11 PM.

And for just a moment it felt like time was standing still and running through Janes fingers at the same time. Her stomach tickled.