"Alessandra, do you think your mother would find it odd if I applied for a job in the medical examiner's office here in Boston?" Janie settled on the sofa in the living room, handing a bottle of beer to the other young woman already seated.
"No, I think she'd be thrilled. You know how mother feels about you, and you're good at what you do. I say apply. Your internship is over in, what? Another 6 months?"
"Yes, and I would like to move back to Boston. Mother and Father have sold the house here. They've decided to make their permanent residence somewhere in Vermont, so I would be without a place to immediately move in once I found a job here, but it shouldn't take me long." Janie frowned. "I must admit, I'm not looking forward to continuing to live alone."
"I know what you mean. I miss the hell out the family, and I hate going back to my empty apartment. I think I spend more time working than I do at home just because I don't want to be there." Ally grabbed the remote and started flipping channels, found nothing interesting, and turned the tv off again. "I bet Ma and Mother would be okay with us crashing here until we could find a place on our own," she said absentmindedly.
"Together?" Janie's head quickly turned to regard the dark haired brunette next to her. "Alessandra, do you want to move in with me?"
"Well, I mean I… wait, what?" Alessa's head quickly snapped toward the blonde. "No! I mean, sure, but no… that's not what I … crap."
"I don't understand your reaction." Janie turned on the sofa so she was completely facing the still sputtering lawyer. "What has prompted this?"
"Nothing. I just… nothing. I'm good. I mean, if you want to be roommates once I manage to get a job here, then I can handle that." Ally gave her best reassuring smile, which turned out more as a grimace.
"Ally," Janie's voice was soft as she tried to coax the other young lady to talk about what was bothering her. "I don't want you to 'handle' anything. If you don't care to be my roommate, I understand."
"No, that's not it. I think we'd be great roommates. I mean, really good roommates. Really awesome… oh man," dark curls bounced as Alessa shook her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "Janie, do you remember when we were juniors in high school, and there were all those nasty rumors about us going around the place?"
"Yes, vividly. I seem to recall they upset you quite a bit. I was never as bothered." The blonde tilted her head as she listened, eyes intent on the other woman.
"Yeah, it bothered me because I … well…"
"God, Ally, just say it already!" Jane furiously whispered from her hiding place at the back of the house.
"Give her time, Jane," Maura whispered, gently rubbing circles over her wife's back. "Remember how long it took us?"
"Hey, stop interrupting my tv show," the detective quietly snapped back as her eyes stayed glued to the two young women sitting on the sofa across the room.
"This isn't a tv show, my wonderful detective. This is our daughter's life."
"Yes, my little ME, and it's getting to the good part. Now hush," the lanky woman said as she reached to pull Maura into her arms while they watched the scene play out.
Janie laid a hand atop Ally's. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to. It's okay."
"No, it's not. It's not okay anymore, Janie. We keep skirting around this. I mean, remember San Antonio? I almost… I mean, we were close, and then… God, you know… okay, this is ridiculous. I'm a freaking genius and my degree is in talking. I should be able to say what I'm thinking here."
"Emotions are not an easy thing to verbalize," the blonde answered softly.
"You know how Ma told Mother how she felt?" Ally shifted uncomfortably where she was seated. "They were having a fight because Mother told Ma how she felt, and Ma, being Ma, freaked out. In the course of her freak out, she wound up spilling everything. One moment Ma is saying they can still be friends but things would be different, and the next moment, Ma is telling Mother that she has feelings for her. Just like that." She gave a snap of her fingers. "It wasn't all smooth sailing, but the rest is pretty much history. You know, up until that point, they were just really good friends, best friends."
"Yes," the young doctor answered quietly. "Maura has told me that story. She said that many thought they were a couple long before it actually happened."
The brunette nodded. "Yeah."
"She's said that, because of how close they were and because of the lack of personal space they shared, the transition from best friends to a romantic couple was not as complicated as one might at first believe." Janie gave the hand in hers a gentle squeeze.