Chapter 1 - Surprise Visitor

Maura opened the door and looked around outside. The wind had picked up and there were ominously grey clouds on the horizon. She was thankful that she'd just made it to the house before the temperature dipped below freezing. The roads would be slick now with a thin layer of ice from the rain shower just a couple hours before.

She looked down at her watch. It was nearing 6:00 pm and she knew soon the darkness and the cold would be settling over her. She smiled, realizing that she had the entire evening to relax, read books on her iPad, and sit by the fire. She inhaled the cold air deep into her lungs and shut the door.

She walked over to the fireplace and placed a few logs onto the fire, and afterward, she sat down on the floor by the couch and grabbed her iPad. She'd just started a new novel and she was extremely excited about having all the time in the world to finish it.

Ten minutes into reading, she received a text message from Jane. She sighed and placed her phone down. She had already made a promise to herself not to read any messages from Jane. She knew that Jane had probably heard about her leaving town and was probably inquiring about it. But the more she tried to ignore the text reminder, the more she wanted to read it. And if she read it, Jane would see that she read it.

She picked up the phone and held it in her hand, fighting pure stubbornness and curiosity to read the text. Finally, curiosity won the battle. She clicked on the awaiting message:

Jane: Maur?

Maura sighed and shook her head slowly. She couldn't understand why Jane wouldn't just give up. At least just momentarily. Jane was so persistent that it got on her nerves sometimes.

Jane: Why is this happening with us?

Maura inhaled deeply and composed her reply:

Maura: What exactly is happening?

Her heart relaxed a little bit. She realized she wasn't going to be forced into an uncomfortable confrontation with Jane. She wasn't going to have to face her and peer into Jane's haunting brown eyes. Those same brown eyes that gave her so much comfort on a daily basis became a reminder of the time when she stepped outside of herself and acted just like Paddy.

She didn't want to be reminded of it. She didn't want to be reminded of how easily it was to allow rage to overtake her and lead her every move. She didn't want to be reminded of how close she came to—

Jane: Do you not care about our friendship anymore? If not, let me know and I'll leave your mean ass alone.

Maura chuckled lightly and sighed.

Maura: I do care.

Jane: Then why have you been ignoring me?

Maura left her message on "read" and didn't respond. She did not want to start her vacation by text arguing with Jane. She got up from her seat and made her way into the kitchen where she made her a snack of cheese and crackers. The entire time she was going over possible responses to give Jane so she'd leave the subject alone.

Quite frankly, she didn't have a proper reply. She didn't even understand herself why she had been ignoring Jane. It's just been a rough time for her.

Maura: Is there something that you need?

Jane didn't reply for a long time. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Maura began to wonder what she was doing and what she was busy with. Then,

Jane: My best friend…

Maura sighed and clenched her phone in her hand. She hated that it had gotten to this point, but it was what it was. Maura decided not to reply to Jane's message. She placed the phone down on the side table and slid back down on the soft rug covering the floor.

The thought of how nice it would have been if Jane was here with her, flitted through her mind as quickly as a hummingbird bounces from one flower to another. As soon as it was there, it was gone. Gone without a trace.

She knew she'd probably upset her, but she wasn't ready to face her error. All she wanted to do was relax and enjoy this peaceful solitude that she had created for herself. A few minutes later, Jane had sent her a few more text messages back to back and then they stopped coming through. Maura would read them and reply in the morning. Maybe she could be able to sleep well tonight. Maybe they both could.

After she finished eating her snack, she finally got up onto the couch and settled in for a nice slumber by the fireplace. She pulled the soft blanket over her and relaxed her head onto the pillow. She watched the flames flicker and dance in the fireplace and she couldn't help but to feel even more relaxed. The radiant light of the fire warmed her body and lulled her to sleep.

Jane could barely see anything up ahead of her. She wondered why Maura picked a place out in the middle of nowhere to run away to. She shook her head and glanced out of the driver's side window.

"Christ," She groaned, "This was such a brilliant idea." She lamented.

Her GPS said that she was on the right track, only a mile and a half away from her destination but it looked like she was literally driving through space. Visibility was extremely low and it had started to snow. She knew she shouldn't have stayed and watched that recorded ball game. Bad judgement on her part. She thought she'd have enough time to beat the storm in but apparently it moved in more quickly than she had anticipated.

She slowed her speed to a mere 15 mph when she felt the traction on her wheels go a little. She really should have put the chains on her wheels like she had planned to back at the last stop. But she was hell bent on getting to Maura, she decided not to.

"Real smooth, Rizzoli," she chastised herself.

Her phone chimed with a text message from Maura.

Maura: What exactly is happening?

Jane rolled her eyes. Of course Maura was going to play dumb in all this. Or maybe she just didn't care what her estrangement was doing to her and to them. Or maybe Maura just didn't care about her anymore. And that was cool, because she wouldn't be the first to drop her as a friend and Jane was certain that she wouldn't be the last.

Jane slowed the car down even more as the snow started coming down heavily. Her GPS said she was about 15 minutes away. And honestly, she couldn't wait to get out of the car and into a warm house! She was freezing! Somewhere along the way, the heating element in the car gave out and she was freezing her tits off. All in the name of friendship!

Jane: Do you not care about our friendship anymore? If not, let me know and I'll leave your mean ass alone, she responded.

She felt safe texting, although it was so illegal, because she was going at snail's pace, plus she had to size up Maura's attitude at the moment. The last thing she wanted was to surprise a cranky Maura.

Jane kept driving, knowing that when Maura replied she would get notification.

Maura: I do care.

Jane smiled. It made her feel somewhat better knowing that Maura still cared about their friendship… and her.

Jane: Then why have you been ignoring me? Jane decided to be bold and put it out there. She was tired of sugar coating things in fear of making Maura more upset and further driving a wedge between them. Enough was enough. Maura needed to just get over it.

And of course she went silent again. Maura read Jane's message but did not respond. Maura didn't respond for the better part of seven minutes. Jane counted. It was exactly seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

Maura: Is there something that you need?

"Is there something I need?" Jane gasped. "What the fuck!" Jane was beyond herself with questions as to why Maura was treating her like this. "Yeah, I need my friend. I need you!" She said out loud as if Maura could hear her.

Here she was, she'd just driven 3 hours to surprise her and now this stupid snow storm was making the last few minutes seem like an eternity. She was cold, she was hungry and she just wanted her friend back. Was that too much to ask? Jane slowed the car to a stop and allowed herself to shed those angry and hurt tears that were boiling up inside of her.

She couldn't understand why this affected her like it did. If it was anyone else, she could care less if they wanted to give her the cold shoulder. But when Maura did it, man it tore her up inside.

She was having second thoughts and all she wanted to do now was turn around and run back home with her tail tucked between her legs. She couldn't take face to face rejection.

She speed dialed her mother.

"Hello?" Angela answered.

"Ma." Jane choked out.

"What's wrong?" Angela asked worriedly, "Did something happen?"

Jane forced herself to hold in the tears. "I can't do this; she is in such a crappy mood."

"How close are you?"

"I can see the house up ahead."

"You've gone that far, Honey. There's no reason to turn around now." Angela reassured her.

"I know you're right, but…"

"No buts, Janie. It will be fine. Trust me. Sometimes a friendship has to be subjected to a little heat before it can be refined and made better."

Her mother's words were so profound. And true. This was by far the hardest time that she and Maura had ever gone through. But she didn't want to give up yet. She wanted to see her at least and talk to her. And she knew she had to get there fast and get out of this storm.

"Thank you, you're so right."

"I know I am. Now go and win your friend back, sweetie. I'll text you later to make sure you made it okay. I saw on the weather channel that the storm is moving in faster than they had thought and it's going to dump a lot of snow."

"Yeah, it's already nasty out here."

"Go and get inside. Love you sweetie."

"I love you too, Ma… Thanks." She said as she disconnected the call.

She sat for a moment, slowly collecting herself and gathering enough courage to face her. Her heart pounded in her chest and her palms began to sweat.

She opened up Maura's message dialogue and replied:

Jane: My best friend…

Jane waited and waited and waited. But Maura did not respond. And that was okay, because she could see the house from where she was, and she was so close. She slowly increased the speed of the car to the slowest and safest operating speed.

The snow now came down in blankets, and she had nothing but the lights of the house up ahead to guide her. It was like a lighthouse, beckoning her to safety and warmth.

In just a few minutes more and she would be able to see the face of her beloved best friend and spend some time with her. Even though Jane had her fears, she knew Maura would not turn her away. She knew that even if she would be completely pissed at her for crashing her solitary vacation, Maura wouldn't act like a total ass the entire time.

Jane chuckled to herself as she turned the bend to head up the hill. As she was ascending the slight incline, the wheels began to lose traction again. Jane slowed down, but her decrease in acceleration didn't work. She felt the car sliding backwards.

"Oh no no no!" She yelled as she slammed the brakes in panic.

The car kept sliding backwards, and Jane had to think quickly. She knew there was a drop-off on the right as she came up the hill, so she did her best to steer the car into the trees to the left. She thought this to be extremely ironic of how close she came to the house only to be careening off into the unknown.

She glanced up into the rear view mirrors and caught sight of tall dark figures approaching. She braced herself for the impact. She knew she would survive this, and would probably end up with a really terrible headache. No to mention she was going to have to walk up the hill in the snow.

All in the name of friendship.

Jane steered the car half-blindly and braced for impact. Seconds later, she crashed into the lining of trees, the thick brush absorbing most of the impact. She sat stunned as her head spun from fear. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and herself.

A second later she realized that she was still holding her phone. She tried to call Maura but her calls went straight into voicemail.

"Damn it, Maur," she groaned as her head began to hurt.

Then she composed series of frantic and not so coherent texts to Maura. She couldn't even think straight, let alone text complete sentences.

"Come on, reply please." She begged.

After her text pleas went unanswered, she finally decided to get out and brave it. Her head still spun, now it ached too. And dizziness had started. She pushed opened the door and crawled out of the car. She may have had a bump on the head, but she knew better than to make that walk without a coat.

She shrugged into her coat, and set her sights on the glowing orange lights of the house up ahead. She calculated that the house was about a quarter mile away. She pulled her coat in tight, covered her face and walked the rest of the way.

She knew she'd get there, but she'd probably be frozen half to death. But none of that mattered. The closer she got to the house, the more she was determined to get there. All she wanted was to see Maura, and to hug her, and to just be near her again.

As the house became clearer in sight, Jane knew that if she was going through this, then their friendship was definitely worth fighting for. And if Maura couldn't appreciate her efforts after this, then she didn't know what she'd do with her.

She reached the bottom stepped and stumbled to climb up onto the porch. She couldn't feel her feet anymore and her she was chilled to the bone. She pulled herself up and with the last bit of energy she had, she rang the doorbell.

She sunk down against the threshold leaned against the door. She was tired, spent of every last bit of energy that she had. She may be tired, but she made it.

She had finally made it…

A/N: Thanks for reading! Sorry for errors. I tried to catch them.