A/N: I take no credit for these characters or anything pertaining to Rizzoli and Isles. I only write for my own enjoyment and I share in the hopes that others will get some enjoyment out of it as well. Mistakes are my own.
Hey, y'all. It's been forever and a day since I've posted anything. This came to me while listening to a new song and I thought it was worth sharing. Hope you enjoy!
Always You
All she can see is blackness, not even sure if her eyes are open or closed. A brand of emptiness and despair settles in her chest that she can only ever remember pairing with the heart-wrenching sobs of great sorrow. But she is unable to shed a tear. A weight settles on her body, intensifying in her chest, while a lump forms in her throat, making it hard to breath.
It dawns on her that maybe this blackness is the depth of a sea that she is drowning in. She tries to fight it, swim through the suppression and break through the surface of such crippling sadness. But the pressure on her body does not cease and she finds herself…stuck.
Despite her mind screaming silent commands at her limbs, she remains immobile. Destined to stay here; to remain alone. Always alone.
Through her suffering, she manages to feel a presence next to her. It soothes her, but only slightly.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" A question; voiced with a heavy-heartedness that is not difficult to relate to at the moment.
The familiar voice echoes in her mind. The melodious timbre reverberating in the cavernous shell of her empty being.
Despite the slight accusation in the question, she takes comfort in the fact that she, apparently, is not completely alone.
She wants to answer back, but realizes that there is nothing an ethereal voice can do to aid her in her current predicament. She can take comfort in it, but her problems are hers, alone, to bear.
The weight on her chest and limbs remain and the lump in her throat turns into a hand, calloused and harsh, that begins to close around her neck.
Panicked, her thoughts begin to race, desperately willing her body to respond. To fight back. To scream. To do anything. Knowing, in her terror-stricken mind and maddeningly suppressed body, that only she can save herself from whatever fate has her in its clutches.
"You're not alone, you know. You've never been alone."
As she listens to the statement resonate, she feels her own heart, beating inside of her chest. It's the first time, she realizes, since she gained consciousness in this hellish nightmare. The grip on her airway lessens.
"I'm here. I've always been. Just waiting."
She focuses on the voice, like that of an angel. Pure light and hope. A promise. She lets it work like a salve that alleviates the pain of her burdens.
And suddenly, the hand on her neck is gone. The pressure that had plagued her chest and limbs dissipates, replaced by weightlessness. She is no longer trapped at the bottom of a black sea.
Bright specks of light and color appear all around her and swirl into a dazzling show that sets the blackness around her ablaze with life. She is floating amongst the stars.
She heaves a relieved sigh as the anguish from before is replaced with a feeling of calm and contentment. She gives into the urge to close her eyes and revels in the absence of crushing defeat and sorrow.
A hand returns to her; this one soft and warm. It cups one side of her face while a delicate digit caresses her cheek, back and forth.
A small smile graces her lips, but her eyes remain closed.
Another hand comes up to mirror the one already holding her face.
"You need to wake up."
She's dreaming. It doesn't really surprise her, now that she thinks about it.
As if reading her mind, the voice speaks again. "That's not what I'm talking about."
Slight confusion triggers her eyes to flutter open and she finds herself gazing into hazel depths that shame the stars dancing around them. A face, so close to hers, that she can't see too much more than those sparkling orbs, that appear to hold the whisper of a smile, and a few faint freckles, peppered across the bridge of a shapely nose.
The voice speaks once more. Authoritative. Pleading. "Wake up, Jane."
Dark brown eyes shoot open and she gasps a quick breath as the world around her falls into place. She's not in her own bed, but that doesn't cause her concern. She knows where she is.
Jane carefully sets up in the ridiculously soft bed, doing her best to not disturb the beds other occupant, who she does not have to see to know is there.
Jane raises a hand and drags it down her sweat-dampened face as she sighs. Her eyes fall to the alarm clock on the night stand by the bed. The green numbers tell her that its 2:27 AM and her shoulders shudder in a silent chuckle as the memory of the voice telling her to wake up flashes through her mind.
What a terrible suggestion.
Jane looks to the other side of the bed, expecting to see her friend, peacefully sleeping.
She was not anticipating to find her awake, and staring at her with an expression that Jane is unable to name.
Jane's breath catches in her throat and she freezes in place. Her friend's Hazel eyes look damn near silver with the light of the moon, shining through the bedroom window, reflecting in her bright irises. Soft freckles peppered across her delicate nose.
Another memory from her dream flashes through her thoughts like a bolt of lightning.
Wake up, Jane.
Jane has just had an epiphany. It sets her spirit on fire while her heart sings. At 2:30 in the morning, after working 72 hours straight, with so little sleep it would drive some people to a state of psychosis, Jane has never felt more alive in her life.
But, at the same time, she is paralyzed with fear.
She loves Maura, would give her life to keep her safe. But, in her mind, Maura has only ever been her best friend. Jane has never imagined crossing the proverbial line with this woman, even though she cherishes and values her, more than her own life.
She feels colorblind. Like she has been viewing the world through black and white, when it had so much more to offer. Like she has been wasting precious time.
But now she realizes…
She can't believe she failed to see it, even after all this time. Now she understands why her heart has never been satisfied with anyone else.
No one could ever hope to take Maura's place in her heart, because Maura nearly filled the whole thing.
"Was it a nightmare?" A sleepy voice questions
Maura is still lying down, looking up at Jane as Jane gazes down with an expression that has turned to one of awe.
Jane shakes her head, slightly, and Maura's brow crinkles in thought.
Without giving herself the opportunity to overthink her actions, Jane lays back down. However, the doctor's gaze widens as Jane lays her head on Maura's pillow and brings their faces so close together that their noses touch. Maura holds her breath as Jane places a hand on her cheek.
"It was you, Maur. It was always you."
After her declaration, Jane's face breaks out into an elated smile and her eyes shine.
Maura releases her breath and mirrors Jane's delight. A part of her feels that this is a dream. That after all this time, it's just not reasonable to believe that Jane would fulfill Maura's deepest desire and confess her love for her.
But, as Jane closes the few inches between them and presses her lips to Maura's own, Maura realizes that no dream could possibly come close to representing everything that she feels in this moment.
A second cannot pass before Maura presses her lips further into Jane's and their mouths part to accommodate a rapidly growing passion.
Jane's hand, that had been cupping Maura's face, moves to coppery-blonde locks and gives a gentle tug as she rolls onto her back. Prompting Maura to lay half on top of Jane's side, their lips never ceasing their sensual dance.
Maura tangles her legs with Jane's while her hands reverently roam over the taught muscles of Jane's sides and abdomen. Emboldened by the detective's pleasured sighs, Maura lets one hand slide up, just to the underside of the swell of Jane's breasts.
Jane breaks their kiss with a giggle and a smile. She looks up at an extremely flushed Maura, who is gazing down at her lips like she is starved for them.
Jane uses her thumb and index finger to coax Maura's eyes to meet her own, then smiles wider when Maura matches her gaze and flushes even more at her own eagerness.
Jane responds with a chuckle and leans up to share one more sweet kiss with the woman above her. After they part, Maura lays her head on Jane's shoulder and Jane turns her head to face her.
Their breathing calms as they continue to drink in the sight and sound of one another. Two pairs of hands continue to explore and caress as they quietly lay together.
Maura never wants this moment to end. She wants to pause this point in her life forever and continue to live, captivated, in the presence of her best friend-turned love of her life. But, her desire to understand this new development in their relationship overcomes her elation and she gives voice to the question that has started to burn on the tip of her tongue.
The doctor sits up and stares down at her hands, which she has folded in her lap.
"Why now?" She really did not intend for it to come out with such an edge of resentment. But, really. All these years? After all the things they've been through, together?
For her part, Jane's gaze takes on an edge of regret.
The raven-haired detective sets up beside Maura and reaches for one of Maura's hands, lacing their fingers together once she has the appendage in her grasp.
Jane leans in and affectionately nudges her nose against Maura's before the two women share small smiles and place their foreheads together. Two sets of eyes close. Two bodies share one breath.
"Because, Maur. It was always you. I can't believe I couldn't see it all this time. But I see it now."
Jane pulls back a fraction of an inch and opens her eyes, watching as a Hazel gaze follows suite.
"I love you, Maura."
Something between a laugh and a sob rips through Maura as a thousand watt smile makes her face gleam in the moonlight. A happy tear rolls down her cheek only to be caught and discarded by the thumb of a scarred hand.
"I love you too, Jane."
And no more words pass between the new lovers as their lips meet once more.
Jane guides Maura to lay back onto the mattress, covering the woman's smaller frame with her own as they begin a dance, that has been, literally, years in the making.
Through the bliss and ecstasy that befalls the two women, Jane can only be grateful that she will never be alone, that she never has been. All she needed was the power to wake up and realize that the answer had always been Maura.
A/N: My motivation for this one shot is "It Was Always You", by Maroon 5. Off of their newest album, I believe.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this fic! I hope you enjoyed it!
SJR