The cold air in the examination room was crawling up the back of the medical examiner's neck, making her feel uneasy. Here she was, on Christmas Eve, working. Well, there's nowhere else she could really be, right? She was always alone around Christmas time. She always told Jane that she was leaving for the holidays, not wanting to intrude, and not wanting the pity party Jane's family always seemed to throw when she went over there for the holidays since she had no other family to celebrate with. She hated thinking about her family. She hated it when the memories started stirring up inside her, making the tears fall. So, for the holidays, she stayed until the late hours of the morning at work, trying to find something to do, anything, really. Once she got home, she'd fix herself a glass of her finest red wine and relax the best she could with Bass by her side. She enjoyed Bass's sweet, quiet, peaceful, and comforting company.

This particular case had her stumped, though, and it had her doubt herself. I mean, it looked like a suicide. Although… She felt like there needed to be more investigating. Maura Isles had doubts. "I must have missed something… Something is wrong…" She rustled through her files in a hurry, wanting- no, needing to find some kind of evidence to prove her wrong. She dropped a folder, and then, almost like the domino-effect, all the folders perched on her desk started sliding off and onto the floor, creating utter in-organization. Pictures, files, folders, notes, papers, everything you can think up had completely covered the sleek floor of the examination room. Maura glanced over the mess, the realization of what had happened had settled in her. She put her hands to her face and fell to her knees. She just couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to be alone. Why was she even here? Why does she doubt herself? She knows she's right, so why is she trying to prove herself wrong? What is she even doing here? It must be the "Christmas" in the air. Around Christmas, she never acted like her usual self. Even though Christmas was supposed to be a time of joy and giving, Maura had this feeling of guilt inside her chest every year. She just doesn't want to be alone anymore. She needs family. She needs friends. Who was she even kidding? She needs Jane. "Damn." Maura muttered. Jane. The only person who comes to mind when she thinks of family. Well, sure, Angela and Frankie and everyone from the department are there for her too, but… It's just… Jane. She's different. She's her best friend. Her closest friend. God, she just can't ever get Jane out of her head! It's like she's omnipresent. Always there. Sighing heavily, she continued to work her mind until exhaustion washed over her.

Jane rolled her eyes at the sound of her mother's loud, booming laugh penetrating her ears. She swears her mother has been laughing after every goddamned minute. Jane could definitely tell that she was drunk. She only got drunk on the holidays, thankfully. Man, did she really hate this part of Christmas. Well, it wasn't exactly Christmas, it was Christmas Eve, but her mom threw a dinner party for the family every Christmas Eve. Although, it looked like she invited the whole goddamned neighborhood.

Jane stood in the kitchen, fixing up the feast that she was going to serve her family in just a few more hours. Then, after those god-awful, dreadful hours of eating and chatting… She could finally go see Maura. Well, not exactly see her, but talk to her on the phone or on Skype since she was away. The entire time that she's been with her family, all she's been thinking about is Maura. Jesus, just look at her! She loves her family to death! Why is she all of a sudden acting so distant and unusual? It was driving her crazy. Is that even okay for someone to do? To think about someone else when you're with family? Especially since she's a… girl. She seemed to be doing that a great number of times recently. Thinking about Maura, that is. At times, Jane has thought even deeper, making up detailed fantasies in her head about- oh, what is she even thinking? This was Maura, her best friend. Her closest friend. "Jesus, I really need to lay off the beer for a bit…" Jane thought to herself, shaking her head to clear her mind as she slipped past the crowds of idiotic drunkards to get to Frankie so she could try and rid her brain of Maura for a moment in this long, torturous night, unaware of the events yet to come.

"So… Frankie. Having a good time?" she managed to find him through the tons of people.

"Oh, hey Janie! Yeah, yeah, having a great time, actually." He leaned closer to Jane, lowering his voice, "I think I'm totally impressing this girl, too. She digs me, I can tell." He smiled widely.

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh, great. Yeah, you keep up with that." She held back a chuckle, "And don't say "dig", what are you, a rapper?"

"Sorry. Well… Is Ma still flirting with that one guy…?"

Jane cringed, "Ugh." She pointed to her mouth and pretended to gag, "Vomit. Yeah… She's still…" she made a gesture with her hands towards the direction of her mother, "Over there."

Frankie nodded, took a sip of the beer he had, trying to get the visual of his mother flirting out of his head. "Did you get some? It's your favorite."

"Oh. Uh… No, not yet." Jane said, obviously distracted by something… or someone. She was officially uninterested in this conversation with her brother that took a quick turn towards awkward town.

Frankie nodded, knowing she was done with the conversation, and that she had turned off her listening ears. "See ya at dinner, Jane."

"Yeah, see ya Frankie." Jane muttered as she hurried off to the kitchen to check her phone for any calls for about the hundredth time tonight.