"She's hard to get to know."

"Oh, I think I got a pretty good idea."

Watching Maura walk away, Jane Rizzoli's heart sank. She caught her mother's eye and gestured to the door. Angela, for once in her life, understood what was being subtly hinted at.

"Wow. I'm...uh...I'm a little faggoty myself," she said, stretching and faking an enormous yawn.

"Fatiguée," Maura corrected, without looking up from the counter she was wiping.

"Yeah, I'm real fatiguée," Angela agreed. "I'm gonna turn in for the night if you girls can handle the clean up."

"We got it, Ma," Jane said, rolling her eyes a little at her mother's over the top acting, but smiling.

Angela got up and padded around to where Jane was sitting. "Time to be the perfect girlfriend," she whispered, before kissing the top of Jane's head. "Don't screw it up."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Ma." But she caught her mother's hand and squeezed it gently. It wasn't often that Jane was truly thankful to have Angela as a mother, but tonight was one of those rare occasions. Angela winked at her and headed for the door, but paused and moved into the kitchen. She put a hand on Maura's arm to stop the compulsive cleaning and waited for her to look up.

"Thanks for tonight, Maura, and today. I really had fun learning to make croissants with you."

A slow smile spread across Maura's face and she nodded.

"I had fun too," she said, her voice small, breaking Jane's heart just a little more.

"We should do it more often," Angela continued. "Maybe you can teach me the pear dessert thing next? Or I can show you how to make my grandma's gnocchi."

Jane nearly choked on her wine. Angela Rizzoli did not offer to share family recipes lightly.

"I would love that, Angela," Maura was saying, her eyes shining with tears. "Truly, I would. Perhaps we can do it one evening this week?"

"It's a date," Angela said, leaning in to press a kiss to Maura's cheek. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Goodnight Angela," Maura whispered. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank family, honey," Angela said as she let herself out. "You two behave now."

And she was gone, leaving a silence that was anything but comfortable. Jane stood up and walked to where Maura stood, still looking at the door Angela had left through.

Jane leaned one hip against the counter and reached out to brush a strand of hair away from Maura's eye, finally gaining her attention.

"Hey." She tilted her head and offered a lopsided smile, which was returned, a little sadly.

"Hey."

And without another word, Maura walked forward, into Jane's body, curling around her. Jane wrapped her arms tightly around the shorter woman, swaying them both back and forth.

"I'm sorry she was rude," Maura murmured into Jane's shoulder.

"Don't apologise for her," Jane shot back, immediately.

Maura pulled away a little and looked up at Jane in puzzlement.

"But...you apologise for your mother all the time," she said. "Often when there's no need."

She had her there. "That's...different."

"How?"

"Because Ma is Ma and your mom is...different."

Maura sighed and pressed her face back into the crook of Jane's neck. "I'm so-"

"Stop." Gently, Jane pushed Maura away a little. "Now, the way I see it is this; we thought we had to sit through some formal dinner with our parents that was stressing you out, but instead we got an evening to ourselves, with the bonus of this fancy dessert you made." She held up her fingers and counted off on them. "You. Me. Dessert. Alone." She grinned at Maura. "I'm not seeing the downside. So lets take your Helen Keller Pear thingies and eat 'em on the couch while we watch something trashy on TV."

"Poires Belle-Hélène." Maura said, with a smile. It faded quickly. "Jane, if I made you think that an evening with just you made me feel sad, then I'm so-"

"Maura, honey," Jane started, taking Maura by the shoulders. "I know why you're sad. You're sad because your mom left when you expected her to stay. I'm...not great at being comforting and nurturing and stuff. When I want comfort, usually I want you, chocolate and somewhere comfy to cuddle. So that's what I was going for in my 'avoiding talking about the awkward family situation' way."

She cupped Maura's cheek. "But if you want to talk about the awkward family situation, then I am all ears." Maura opened her mouth, but Jane cut her off. "And I am well aware that 'all ears' is an inaccurate description. But if you want to talk, I will listen. And if you want me to slash the tyres on your mom's car, I will slash them."

Maura swiped ineffectually at Jane's arm, laughing softly.

"No slashing necessary," she said, wrapping her arms around Jane's torso again and looking up at her. "I think cuddling sounds nicer than talking at the moment. And chocolate also sounds pleasant." She glanced over at the table, still set for a formal dinner. "But we have to clean up first."

Jane shook her head. "It can wait until later. Or until the morning."

Maura's eyes widened in panic.

"Okay, okay, later," Jane backpedalled. "I'll do it later." She smacked Maura's ass softly. "Go sit down, I'll get the Pears Mount St. Helens."

"Jane," Maura chided. "You know that's not what it's called."

"I know, I know," Jane conceded. "But French just sounds silly with my accent."

"You could say it in Italian?" Maura suggested with a smile and Jane rolled her eyes. She knew that Maura had a thing for her speaking Italian. She sighed and thought for a moment. Then, lifting the tray of desserts with a flourish, she grinned as she headed to where Maura was seated on the couch.

"E stasera, per ti fa piacere, abbiamo le pere della bella Helena." She placed the tray on the coffee table. "Non conosco questa 'Helena', ma non è possibile che lei sia più bella di te. Perché tu sei la donna più bella del mond-mmph."

Her lips were pressed against Maura's before she could even finish speaking and she was being pulled down on top of the smaller woman. To people who didn't know her well, Maura might seem demure. Jane knew differently. Maura was an incredibly passionate woman and had very few qualms about demonstrating that passion at every given opportunity. Jane briefly considered stopping, because Maura had seemed very upset about her mother and it felt a little like taking advantage of her in a vulnerable state. She even went so far as to withdraw from the heated kiss. The look in Maura's eyes made her breath catch in her throat.

"Vieni qui," Maura growled, yanking Jane back down.

Then she popped the button on Jane's pants and all thoughts of stopping disappeared.