Author Note: Hello, my old friends! It's been a while. Life has been very busy but I have been working on a story. It's not yet finished and I'd like it to be complete and tidied up before I share. Instead I found inspiration for a short story, at least two chapters long but it may end up four or five. Let's take a trip to a Paris...

"A whole month," Jane said, kicking off her shoes and falling backwards onto the couch. Everything had changed in just thirty days. Now they were at the end, on the precipice of the rest of her life, changed beyond recognition.

Maura perched on the seat beside her. She bowed her head slightly, enough to remind Jane how difficult the next day would be. "It's hard to believe it's over."

"It's hard to believe I lasted that long," Jane said, stretching her arms across the back of the couch. She needed to pretend, a little while longer, that this was her new normal.

"Why?" Maura narrowed her eyes. "I would have said it's hard to believe you have been in Paris for a month and have learned very little French."

"That's not true!" Jane shouted, sitting forward. She had been cajoled and prodded and yet had insisted against speaking the local language. She didn't need to; she had Maura, willing enough for the both of them.

"Isn't it?"

She grinned. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?"

Raising an eyebrow, Maura stared at Jane, her mouth slightly parted. "Do you even know what that means?"

She shrugged. "No."

"You asked me if I would sleep with you."

Jane rolled her eyes, her breath caught ever so slightly in her throat. She tilted her head to one side and chewed on her bottom lip. "Never mind French. In all seriousness, it's been the best month of my life."

"The best?" Maura asked, leaning back.

"Yes." Jane settled beside her. Tears threatened to choke her. She wanted to breath easily but the reality of her life choices forced her to feel more than she was willing to allow. "Makes me wanna quit my job and move to Paris."

"Maybe if you'd spent the last month learning French, you could do."

Jane tried to smile but the creases round her eyes barely faltered. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"You're not old!"

"No." Sometimes she felt old, when she thought about it. Who did she think she was to be starting a new career? She was born to be a cop, after she realised it wasn't necessary to become a plumber like her father. The career path she chose for herself inspired her brother. He was who he was because of her. Why was she so willing to throw it all away for somewhere she openly hated?

"I didn't know it was possible to feel this happy," Maura whispered. She pressed her lips tightly together. The great gasp of air she took in made her sound like she was about to inflate a balloon. "And this sad, all at the same time."

Closing her eyes, Jane breathed in slowly. She gritted her teeth. She couldn't do this, not without Maura. "Are you sure you won't come back to the US with me?"

Lowering her gaze, Maura shook her head. "I'm sure. Boston isn't the same now you're not going to be living there."

"There's more to Boston than me," Jane said, trying to fight her own fears. It didn't work, not that she ever expected it to.

"What are you saying, Jane?"

"I dunno." She sat forward, twisting her body. Her eyelids drooped. Her heart ached. Jane reached for her hand. "Selfishly, I want you in the same country as me."

"It's only an eight hour flight."

"Eight hours and a bucket load of money."

Maura opened her eyes wide. "I have the money. If that's what you're worried about, I can afford it."

"I don't!" Jane said, narrowing her eyes. Money had never been an issue between them, despite the difference in zeros at the end of their annual salary. She wasn't about to start arguing about it now.

"That doesn't matter," Maura said. "I'll pay."

"I can't expect you to do that."

"Why not? I want to. You're my family."

Gripping the edges of her jeans, Jane closed her eyes again. A tear strolled down the side of her face. Her mother was sat at home, waiting for her return, looking forward to the day she informed her she was safely in Washington DC teaching instead of roaming the streets of Boston looking for trouble. While Maura sat in her new apartment in Paris. Thousands of miles from home. "Stop. You're gonna make me cry."

"Don't cry," Maura said, brushing the tear from her cheek. "It'll make me cry."

The physical touch of Maura's fingers against her skin made it worse. Despite the lack of strength in her voice, Jane persevered. "I haven't told you I love you enough times."

Swiping her fingers across her own eyelids, Maura pressed her lips tightly together. "You don't need to. I know."

Jane stood up. Fresh tears followed the tear that Maura wiped away. She spun around and wandered over to the window. The large glass door showed off a Parisian scene something akin to the movies. Sans le Eiffel Tower. She shook her head. "Why is this so difficult?"

Maura followed her across the room and they stood, shoulder to shoulder, staring out across the Arc de Triomphe. "We have another twelve hours."

"It's not enough." Jane cleared her throat. They could have twelve days and it still wouldn't be enough. "I need to sleep. Even if I didn't, it's not long enough."

"I suppose you are right."

Turning, Jane stared into her eyes. Her breath caught, stranded in her throat. "How do I do this?"

"Leave Paris?" Maura asked, turning to face her.

"Leave everything." She lowered her gaze, gasping for air. "You."

"You spent the last month away from everything," Maura said.

"But I was with you." Maura being beside her made everything easier. She was the gentle push towards her retirement from front line policing and into something more. She was the reason she even considered doing more with her life. She was the one thing in life that always made sense. Until now. "You're home. I don't know what I'll do in DC without you. I don't know how to live without you."

Maura's bottom lip quavered. "You lived without me just fine for years."

"It's not the same."

"We can Skype every night. This isn't the end."

"It's the end as we know it."

"Don't be so melodramatic."

"I'm not melodramatic." She just couldn't bear the thought of a future without working and living near to Maura. "I've lived in the same city since I was born. I've moved half a dozen times at most, and that was pretty much just in the last year."

She cleared her throat, her voice shifted from emotional to emotionless in a split second. "You're going to have the best time in DC."

"How do you know?"

"You'll make friends."

"You have met me, haven't you?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"When you let people in."

"I don't need anyone else."

"You do." Her resolve broke apart, revealing the vulnerable fruit of Maura's insecurities. "It's important you try to meet new people."

"I don't need new people!"

"You do need new people."

"I don't want anything to change this," she whispered, struggling to compose herself. They were slipping closer to the edge, to the end of the night when it would be all over.

"Change what?" Maura asked. Jane stared at her. She couldn't be playing the fool, Maura didn't do that. Nor did she really pick up on the realities of their relationship.

"Me and you," Jane said, slowly, forcing the words out in the simplest way she could. She searched for the things she longed to say, but they got stuck, stranded in the abyss until she found new words. "Our friendship."

"Our friendship changed long ago."

Her breath hitched. She swallowed the lump in her throat. Twisting her fingers around the fabric of her jeans again, she tried not to hope for the best. "What do you mean?"

"You're my family." The words overshadowed everything else pulling them in a different direction leaving Jane disappointed. She wiped at fresh tears, conscious of how Maura attempted to disguise them in her voice. "Nothing needs to change. I will always be here, no matter how many miles between us. You gave me a family when I needed it the most."

She closed her eyes and covered her eyes. "Maura."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Jane opened her eyes and stared into Maura's. She stepped forward, scooping her up into her arms, hands spread across her back, holding her close. The seconds turned to minutes. Jane rested her cheek against Maura's hair and closed her eyes, lapping every second up. She could feel Maura stepping back. Regret followed a feeling of deflation. They'd reached the end. The moment when everything was going to change and they would never see each other again. Probably. Staring into Maura's eyes, Jane felt the magnetic pull. She rested a hand on each of Maura's cheeks, leaning down until her lips touched Maura's. She didn't move, frozen under her touch. Jane moved her lips slowly in an attempt to spring Maura's response to life. When nothing happened, she pulled back.

She shook her head and put distance between them. A brief clearance of the throat and she was ready to speak. She only hoped her actions hadn't destroyed the small chance they had of staying in touch. "It's bed time."

"Jane," Maura whispered, her voice sprang to life.

"Goodnight Maura," she muttered, spinning round and heading for her bedroom.

"Jane!"

The desperation in her voice barely matched the embarrassment spread across her own face. She continued on her path. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." Disappointment. Sadness. Jane didn't stop moving. She wondered if Maura knew that it would be the last moment they'd spend together. "Goodnight."

x

Maura woke to the sounds of the city in the streets below the apartment building. Cars travelled through tiny streets, a man shouted to his dog in French, friends greeted each other. She stretched her arms above her head, her thoughts a jumbled mess. She checked the time: ten forty six am. Her heart raced. She sprang out of bed in little more than her nightdress and sprinted through the apartment to Jane's bedroom. Stopping in the doorway, a lump formed in the back of her throat. Somehow it didn't surprise her to find that Jane's bed was made up, the room absent of her belongings.

"Jane?" she whispered, quiet desperation in her voice. She walked into the en suite and stared at her reflection. Two small semi-circles below her eyes didn't reflect the amount of sleep she'd had.

Tears built up against her eyelashes. She swiped at her eyelids, brushing them away before they could fall. She clenched her first around the satin nightdress. She was disappointed. It didn't surprise her, but she was still heartbroken to realise how easily Jane had slipped out in the early hours.

Why had her alarm failed her? Or should she be asking how Jane had managed to retrieve her cellphone before it went off? They'd talked about the journey to the airport countless times, or more accurately, she had. Jane had never said a word.

Now it all made sense. She didn't want to say goodbye, not in the place where goodbyes lingered for eternity.

She returned to her own en suite and stood under the hot stream of water, relishing the relaxing moment. She dressed quickly, ran a comb through her hair and dried it into place. Rushing down the stairs, she hopped into the first available cab.

"Charles de Gaulle," she said, without so much as a sil vous plait.

The driver didn't question her. She didn't question herself. She was going to the airport without her luggage, with only her purse and the clothes on her back. It didn't matter. She had clothes in Boston.

Which didn't really help her when Jane was on the way to Washington. She tried Jane's cell phone, to no avail. She'd probably already switched out the French SIM card for her American one. She tried her other number, but once again received no response.

She paid the driver on arrival and sped through the airport to the ticket counters, doubting her knowledge that they still existed in the age of internet bookings. She stopped in front of the desk and, with her heart pounding against her chest, she forged a smile.

"I need a ticket for the first available flight to DC, quickly!"

"Pardon, Madam?" The woman's French was thick, though Maura suspected it was merely her accent and the choice of words she'd used.

"Parlez vous Anglais?"

"Yes, Madam, I speak English," she said, her fluency shone through, despite the accentuation of her Parisian accent. "You want a ticket to DC, would you care to elaborate on the location of DC?"

"Washington DC, in the United States," she said, staring at the Delta airlines sign above her head. "America. Quickly."

"Washington DC, we have two flights today but one is already in the process for boarding, why do you need it so hurriedly, Madam?"

"What do you mean why?" She stared at her, her mouth open. Her heart slowed only slightly. "I need the first available flight to Washington DC as soon as a seat is available."

"Are you…I mean, you seem," she paused, the crease between her eyebrows deepened. She looked to her left side, then to her right. Maura's desperation only increased the longer she deliberated. "Is there a reason why I shouldn't book you the flight?"

"Why wouldn't you book me a flight?" Maura asked. "I need to get home. Now."

She lowered her gaze again, then stood up and glanced over the counter before picking up the phone beside her. "I should maybe call my superior."

"Why?"

"In case…you could be…are you trying to evade the police?"

"Evade the…no." Maura clutched her purse to her side and stared at her aghast. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Most people don't come here demanding I book them a flight right without their baggage."

"Of course I'm not evading the law. I am a law abiding citizen," Maura said. "Unless you count the gum I stole in middle school. My parents hadn't spoken to me for six days, I thought it might get me some attention but it didn't."

"Excuse me?" she asked, narrowing her eyes further.

"I'm not a criminal. I need to go home. I have to speak to someone I care about."

The woman's frown barely softened as she sat back down. She clicked the computer mouse a couple of times and began typing. "You do know there's internet and telephones, don't you? They would be a lot faster and not quite so expensive."

"Well, of course I do. But some things cannot be said over Facetime."

"Of course." She continued to tap away at the computer.

"Are you booking the flight or do I have to find another airline?"

As though the last five minutes of conversation hadn't occurred, the woman's smile shone like a typical air hostess serving coffee to a couple she had seen leaving the restrooms one after the other. "How soon would you like?"

"I told you, immediately. The first available flight. The sooner I can get home, the better."

"The flight for one twenty-five has just a moment ago been prepared for boarding, there is no time for security."

"I know. My friend is on that flight."

"I'm sorry we cannot get you a seat on that flight."

"I know! How soon til the next one?"

"The flight will take at least eight hours, that doesn't include time waiting before boarding."

"I know it doesn't include waiting time. How long until the flight departs?"

"Four hours."

"Four...are there no sooner flights? Maybe on another airline? Or an airline that goes faster?"

"There are no faster airlines, Madam, this is not the concord."

"No, it most certainly isn't. I would have appreciated needing this journey in nineteen eighty nine, then it wouldn't take so long to cross the Atlantic."

"I have an economy seat on the four twenty flight to Washington DC, United States of America."

"Do you have any in business class?"

"No. Business and first class are fully booked."

"Oh."

"I can check later flights for you, Madam."

"No. No. I don't have time. That will have to do."

x

The apartment smelled like pee, and sweat, and everything that didn't feel like home. No matter how many air fresheners or scented candles she used, she couldn't rid the place of its history. She lay a sheet on the couch, the very stained couch. She regretted letting the FBI provide her with a furnished rental, and bought a newspaper the second she arrived, if only to start the process of finding her own. She had yet to accumulate new furniture after the fire, so she was able to start again, and with the increase in her wages, she could start sooner rather than later.

It would take a couple of weeks for the internet to be installed, and even then she wasn't sure she'd have much time to use it. Maybe all she really needed was to acquaint herself with her local coffee house and borrow theirs. Then again, the next time she talked to Maura she knew she'd insist upon her having her own.

If she ever spoke to her again.

Leaving in the early hours of the morning wasn't really fair on her. They'd spent every moment of the last month together, bar a few hours here and there, and Jane knew it was an insult to their friendship to abandon her at the last second.

A knock at the apartment door pulled her from her reverie. She crossed her fingers and toes that her new neighbours were not wishing to greet her. Without a second thought, she tugged open the door, then stepped back.

"Maura..." She didn't know what else to say, or do, except stand there staring at her. She didn't know where she stood. Whether Maura was angry, whether Maura was confused, whether Maura wanted to whisk her back to Paris, no argument necessary.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked, staring at her as though she'd merely walked into the next room the night before.

Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Jane clung to the doorframe, regretting it as something unpleasant touched her hand. She dropped it to her side. "No hello?"

"Jane," Maura whispered, emotion seeped into her words.

"You came all this way to ask me that?" She stepped aside, inviting her in with a flick of her hand. "How much did that cost?"

Maura walked inside. "You kissed me. I want to know why."

The moment had arrived faster than she anticipated. In reality it could have happened instantly, but after she kissed her she hoped it would merely be too much of a surprise that Maura wouldn't know what to do with it. She didn't expect...this. "I...I dunno."

"You don't know?" Maura closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Jane, I travelled six thousand one hundred and ninety three miles and you don't know?"

"Do you need an Advil?" she asked, walking across the room and rooting through a small toiletries case. She held out the box. "I didn't ask you to come here!"

Maura shook her head. "Didn't you?"

"No." Jane dropped the packet onto the couch and slouched down beside it.

"You kissed me!"

"I was..." Telling you how much you mean to me. Trying to show you that I see you as more than a friend. She dropped her head into her hands and sighed. "Saying goodbye."

"Friends do not say goodbye by kissing each other." She stood in front of her, shadowing over her. Jane wanted to look up but the mere thought of locking eyes with Maura sent her head into a spin.

She shrugged. Making a big deal out of it was one reason she was glad to leave without saying goodbye. She hadn't planned it. She was never going to say goodbye at the airport, but the kiss, that wasn't part of her plan. "They do in Paris."

"Not like that."

Jane shook her head. She ran her fingers through her dark mane and stared at her, avoiding her eyes. "I didn't ask you to come. I don't know why you're here. It was too hard to say goodbye, why are you making it harder?"

"Me?" Maura narrowed her eyes. "I'm not the one who confused the situation by kissing me."

"I was saying goodbye," Jane repeated, regretting it the second she spoke. But she didn't know how else to deal with what she'd done. She wanted to say goodbye, she wanted to show Maura what she meant to her. Then she was supposed to stay in Paris, leaving Jane alone in DC, miles from the mistake she didn't want to make. If she admitting what she'd done everything would change and she wasn't about to ruin the remaining sliver of friendship they had left now they lived on opposite sides of the globe.

Tears overflowed from Maura's eyelids. "I stood in line for almost two hours. I had a full pat down at security because I had forgotten about the nail file in my purse. I came all this way."

"But I didn't ask you to come," Jane whispered. Disappointment spread once again across Maura's face. "I'm sorry. Look, we're both probably shattered; it's late, it's even later French time."

"I should go," Maura said, wiping at her cheeks and twisting round.

"Wait," Jane gripped her arm. "At least stay for dinner. I have a tin of tuna fish from nineteen eighty five and a bag of cheese puffs, but I'm sure there'll be a restaurant round here."

"No." Maura shook her head. "As you said, we've both had a long day. Being several hours behind will only be making it worse. I'm tired. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather check into a hotel and go to sleep."

Jane shrugged. "Okay. When do you go back?"

"Back where?" Jane frowned. Maura closed her eyes. "Paris? I didn't plan that far ahead."

Ignoring the obvious diversion from Maura's normality, Jane nodded and stood up. She pulled open the front door. She didn't want to push her away, but she didn't know how else she was going to survive living so far apart. "Goodnight, Maura."

Maura nodded and headed for the door, her tone terse. "Goodnight."