A/N: Hello, beautiful humans!

I don't know if all you read the little note I put here earlier today, but I was thinking about rewriting the whole story. That was until some of you gave me some amazing ideas and suggestions. But to take this story through its new path, I had to rewrite this chapter. It's pretty much the same, but I did alter Jane's and Maura's dialogues, so you might want to read it again.

I want to shoutout to tkent, .90, DiciEtdAilleurs, Justagirlfangirling, firevolcano93 and to all of the other amazing readers. I love all you.

Happy reading.

Maura sat at her sofa, facing the window while nursing a cup of her favourite green tea. She longed for something a lot stronger, for some liquid courage to face the conversation that was bound to happen very, very soon. The doctor knew it was wrong. Keeping the truth from Jane, from Katherine, was wrong. But it was the way she found to feel safe, to keep her heart from breaking even more.

Jane hadn't arrived yet and for the very first time, the silence was killing her. It was giving room to nostalgic thoughts. Maura tried - she had been trying ever since Jane left - to understand what went wrong between them. They used to be so happy, and then all of the sudden they weren't anymore. Memories, both good and bad, danced around her mind. Every date, every kiss, hug and even the arguments came back to the surface and yet she couldn't find a single thing that would make Jane leave.

She was completely lost in her thoughts when she heard the bell ring. Her heartbeat accelerated and she had to remind herself to breathe. That was it, the moment she had been dreading for sixteen years. Maura could feel a lump forming in her throat. She knew that Jane would hate her after this. And Kate, she didn't even want to think of her little girl's reaction.

Slowly and reluctantly, the blonde doctor got up from the couch, smoothing invisible wrinkles on her pants. She could feel everything trembling under her feet and she knew that soon enough everything would fall. Maura sighed deeply and made her way to the front door. Taking a look into the peephole, she saw the raven mane she used to love, that she still loved. She wondered for a moment if the locks were still soft and she had a sudden urge to touch them. Maura shook her head and took one last breath before opening the door. The brunette turned when she heard the sound of the door. She felt all the air in her lungs escape as she took in the blonde in front of her. Maura was an incredibly beautiful woman and Jane felt her heart break a little. Thoughts of what they could have been invaded her mind and she sighed.

"Hey." Jane tried to smile, but failed miserably.

"Hello, Jane." Maura moved aside to let the tall detective in. The sweet and familiar smell of lavender filled her nostrils and Maura had to close her eyes for a moment. That smell had once been so addictive. For years she couldn't smell lavender without breaking down.

"Sorry I'm late. It's just that I, uh-"

"It's okay, Jane, really." Maura interrupted the brunette. She should've been mad, after all she hated tardiness. She should've been mad at Jane for coming back all of the sudden and demanding answers. She should've been mad at herself for lying and for being weak. But something inside her told her that everything was alright. The blonde closed the door behind her and walked toward the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

Jane looked at the white and blue mug on the counter and turned to the doctor. "I'll have whatever you're having."

"Are you sure? I'm having green tea." Maura arched her perfect brow. Jane had never liked green tea, but then again she didn't know what Jane liked or didn't like anymore. A lot could have changed in sixteen years. "I think I have a couple of beers if you'd prefer. Or soda."

"Is it the panda poo tea?" The lanky detective couldn't help but smile. She remembered all of the times they had argued about that damn tea, specially after she found out that her mother was drinking it as well.

Maura laughed at the brunette's serious question. Maybe things hadn't changed after all. "Yes, Jane, it's the 'panda poo' tea. But I'll have you know that pandas' excrement is rich in fibres and nutrients and contains an element that can prevent cancer."

"Hard to believe that, Maur." Jane chuckled lightly. "A soda will do. And uh, you don't have to be nervous around me, ya know."

Maura froze for a moment when Jane's words sank in. Nervous was an understatement, there was not a word that could describe everything that she was feeling in that moment. "Nervous?" She couldn't say that she wasn't, she still had the whole 'breaking out in hives' problem. "Why do you say that?"

"You always splutter random facts when you're nervous. And I know that this, what we're about to do, isn't something you're actually looking forward to do. I mean, I don't even know how I would be feeling if I were you right now. But you don't have to be nervous around me. I know I made a huge mistake, but I'm still me."

"Are you really?" Maura scoffed. She was really trying to calm her nerves. "Because the Jane I knew would never leave me without giving me an explanation." Maura walked to the brunette and handed her the can of soda before making her way back to the sofa. Jane blinked aways the beginning of tears and followed her ex girlfriend. She had no right to be breaking down, not right now.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Maur, you have to believe me. It's just that everything happened so fast and I was so stupid and I couldn't handle. We were best friends and then we started dating and all of the sudden you were pregnant and to top that the whole Hoyt thing was going on."

"All of the sudden I was pregnant? It's not like the condom broke, Jane. We had plans, we discussed them thoroughly. You were completely fine, WE were fine. And then YOU all of the sudden were freaking out. I know that you have serious problems with commitment, but hell, I was your best friend, I was your girlfriend. I deserved more than the big fat nothing that you gave me in the end."

"You're right. We were young, and while you were mature and the adult in our relationship, I was stupid and childish. I thought that leaving you would be best for the both of us. So when NARCS requested me for an undercover job, I took it. I took it without thinking twice, because if something had happened to you, if Hoyt had gotten to you or our baby, I would never forgive myself."

"That's what you don't understand! I had you and Korsak, and Frost and Frankie. Damn it, Jane, I had that whole precinct by my side. Hoyt would never had gotten to me. Do you realize that in the end, he won? You stopped living the life you had because you were too scared of him and that's exactly what he wanted, remember? He said that he wanted you to have a mental and physical breakdown, for you to finally be scared of something in your life. He was a monster, but what happened between us was not his fault."

"I know that now, but back then I was terrified. I finally had everything I ever wanted, I had my best friends, I had my family, I had you and we were going to start our own family and I just couldn't lose that to him. So I walked away and God knows that I wanted to tell you. But Martinez said that the less people knew, the better. I just wanted you to be safe. And now I realize it was stupid, cause in the end I ended up losing you, hurting you."

Maura ran a hand through her blonde tresses and closed her eyes. She could feel the tears accumulating in her eyes and she was trying her best to keep them at bay. She was never the one to cry in front of other people. But Jane wasn't 'other people'. Jane knew her better than she knew herself. She knew all of her secrets, and dreams, and desires.

"I was just as scared, Jane. You were not the only one who had nightmares with Hoyt, who woke up in the middle of the night with the wind blowing in your window, wondering if he was there. You were worried about me, but I was also worried about you. Every time you touched me, I could feel your scars. I could feel and I could see what he did to you. What he was capable of and what he would do to me in the blink of an eye. And that terrified me, Jane. But then you would look at me and all of my fears would fade away because I thought you would be with me no matter what. And it still hurts to think that I was not worthy of your trust. I believe you when you say that you just wanted to protect me, but taking another job, a dangerous job, was not the solution. What if you had died, hm? I would have spent the rest of my life wondering what the hell I did wrong, wondering where the hell you were."

Jane looked down at her shoes with shame. God, how could I be so selfish? She thought to herself as Maura got everything off her chest. At the time, she thought she was doing the right thing, that she was keeping Maura safe. But in reality, she was hurting the blonde like no one ever hurt her before.

"And you know what it's the worst part? When you left, you took everything I had with you. Frankie asked to be transferred to New York and Angela couldn't stay away from him since you WERE NO WHERE TO BE FOUND, so she went as well. They were my family, Jane, you said it yourself. Angela was the mother I always wanted when I was a child and I came to love Frankie like a brother and when they left, reality struck me. They weren't truly mine. Then all I had left was Korsak, Frost and Katherine. I think that if I didn't have them by my side, I wouldn't have made it."

Jane blinked a few times. 'And Katherine'. Yeah, she had her suspicions, but to actually hear it falling from Maura's lips were a whole different story. So everything they told her about the baby was a lie. She had made a mistake, but what they did was just as bad. "Maura."

"Yes?"

"Is Katherine mine? Is she our baby?" A single tear fell from Jane's eye and made its way down her bony cheek. Sad hazel orbs looked right into her brown ones and Jane could see every feeling they held. Maura didn't even have to answer, the brunette already knew. "But Martinez told me you lost it."

"Maybe he was just trying to keep you safe. It's horrible, isn't it?"

So, what do you think? ;)

I'll post the next chapter tomorrow 3