Characters are still not mine

During the following weeks Maura pulled back from Jane and her family more and more.

She didn't attend the family dinners, though they still took place at her house. She just couldn't stand to see Jane. She tried to convince herself that she just wanted Jane to be happy, but it wasn't working.
She wanted Jane to be happy with her.

Jane obviously didn't even notice that Maura was pulling back, which gave Maura even more reasons to disappear out of the Rizzoli family life.

She tried her best to be strong at work, but in the evenings she drank too much and cried for hours straight. She even went to clubs just to find someone to fuck her, so she could forget about Jane for at least some minutes. It had already been three months since the announcement, yet it still hurt like it had been yesterday.

The only Rizzoli Maura spoke to regularly was Frankie.
She poured her heart out to him and he tried to soothe her every time she did. They even went out to eat or take a walk more than once a week. Maura started to consider Frankie her friend, and he did the same.

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Frankie was concerned about Maura, so he tried to talk to Jane about abandoning her best friend like she did.
She stood at Maura's door two hours later.

Her friend let her in, though she behaved differently than Jane was used to. There was no hug, no smile, no nothing. That was the moment Jane realized that she had left Maura behind.
She had started to build her life with Casey and totally forgot that he wasn't the only person she should care about.

"Maura I'm so sorry", she whispered, as Maura pointed at the couch for them to sit on.
"It's ok Jane", Maura said as they sat down. "I'm used to being forgotten", she whispered, hoping that Jane didn't hear her.

Jane put her hand on Maura's knee. She did hear what Maura tried to cover up by coughing. She hated herself for doing all of this to Maura. She ended up like she's never wanted to – abandoning her friend.

Jane's touch made Maura feel warmth she hadn't felt in weeks. Then she remembered that she wasn't allowed to feel like this because Jane didn't love her back. She didn't know what her touch made the blonde feel.

"Don't touch me!", the blonde screamed while tears were falling down her face.
"Please don't touch me", she added quietly. It broke Jane's heart.

The brunette lifted her hand.
"I could give you a million reasons why I didn't talk to you, but I guess none of them would excuse what I did to you. Holy shit how could I not see…." The words were stuck in her throat.
She promised to spend more time with her best friend immediately.

After Maura's initial breakdown things started to get better.
The blonde regained composure and the afternoon was actually fun for both of them.
Jane talked about Angela's constant reminders that grandchildren were wished and Maura had to chuckle because she knew Jane wouldn't get kids.

"She won't get grandchildren but hey, she's got an extra daughter so she has no reason to be angry with me", Jane said while looking right into Maura's eyes. She saw the hurt there.

"Maur, you do know that you are still part of this family, don't you?", she assured her friend while stroking the blondes hand.
"Me getting married won't change anything about being lifelong best friends forever." She smiled. Maura smiled back.

Could she and Jane have their friendship back?
Could she live with just being friends with Jane?
She already survived that for some years, so why should it be impossible now?

Her smile grew bigger.
She'd do anything to get her friendship with Jane back, even if that meant not being able to be together with her the way she wanted it.

The weeks went on and Maura actually felt better, now that their friendship was returning to normal. She was still hurt, but the fun she had with her friend made it seem less painful. She successfully tried to shove the upcoming wedding as far away from her thoughts as possible.

Things were almost back to normal again.