Note: Final chapter! Thanks for all of the reviews & please let me know your thoughts!
MLH, thank you.
...
Jane woke up the next morning, grimacing at the memory of the previous night. She had to admit, her brothers had some ball, bringing up Maura like that. Was it really that obvious? In Chicago she could pretend, she could push her thoughts about Maura out of her mind. The city was a blank slate of memories of Maura. She could go to the local cop bar for a beer after work and not be reminded of hours spent over drinks, she could collapse on the couch in her apartment and suppress the memory of Maura curled up next to her. Boston was a minefield of memories. Even the street signs reminded Jane of Maura. She walked to the window of her hotel room, staring out at her home, her former home, the city she devoted her life to helping. Her brothers were right, Chicago was where she ran, it wasn't her home.
"Boston is my home. This is my city. Maura is my home."
She had to figure out a way to come home.
...
A few hours later, Jane walked into the salon, bracing herself for Hurricane Angela.
"Janie! You made it!" Angela had her hair in curlers, make up half completed.
"Of course Ma," Jane rolled her eyes. She hugged her mother, voice serious, "I am so happy for you, no matter how hard of a time I give you, I love you and I'm honored to stand up with you and Vince."
"Oh Janie," Angela looked as if she were going to burst into tears.
"No Ma! Your makeup!" Jane turned to one of the stylists, "Tissue, now!"
The women gathered around Angela, handing her tissues, trying to make her laugh instead of cry.
Jane sat down in a chair, accepted a glass of champagne and allowed a make up artist to get to work.
A few hours later, Angela stepped out of the dressing room.
"Ma, you look beautiful," Jane said with sincerity. She was already dressed in her hand-picked-by-Maura dress. She crossed the room in a few steps and wrapper her mother up into a hug.
"No tears," she whispered.
"They're happy ones."
They posed for photographs, then got into the waiting limo.
Jane was all smiles, knowing how happy her mother was with Vince after her years of heartbreak over her father.
"Janie," Angela's voice had that familiar tone that said she was about to say something Jane wouldn't like very much.
"Ma..." Jane's voice had a warning tone.
"Janie, I just want you to be happy. We don't always get second chances, I got lucky, I'm getting a second chance."
Jane resisted the urge to comment that Vince was getting a fourth chance.
"When we do, we have to take them and hold on." Angela paused, taking a deep breath, knowing that her daughter would probably not be happy to hear what she was about to say.
"She loves you."
Jane knew who her mother was talking about.
"She's waited for you for over five years."
"I know Ma," Jane's voice was resigned, but it was better than the anger Angela was expecting.
"Frankie and Tommy already got to me last night. I ran away for the wrong reason. I was stupid, I was bullheaded, I was..."
"Yourself?"
"Thanks a lot!"
"So what are you going to do? You can't keep running."
"I'm done running Ma, I promise. I just have to figure out what if she'll have me. She has Evan now."
"She'll have you. I know she will." Angela didn't reveal that she had seen Evan leave late the previous night, suitcase in hand.
"I just don't know." Jane straightened and Angela knew the topic of conversation was closed.
"Let's go get you married!"
...
The ceremony was amazing. Frankie and Tommy walked their mother down the aisle to Vince, as Jane stood next to him. All three shook his hand, then Frankie and Tommy took their places next to Vince.
There wasn't a dry eye in the church as Vince and Angela said their vows. Jane stood in front of the church, watching her mother walk back down the aisle. Her eyes drifted over the guests, drawn to one person. Maura was watching Angela and Vince, smiling broadly, tears in her eyes. Jane looked to either side of her, hoping that Evan would be there to comfort her, to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she was surprised when she didn't see him. She resisted the urge to stop and comfort Maura when it was time for her to walk down the aisle. She accepted her brothers' arms and they linked together, smiling at each other at their mother's happiness. As they passed the row where Maura was seated, Jane turned and the two women made eye contact for the first time in over five years. Jane gave her a small smile, which grew to fill her whole face when Maura returned it. Her body warmed at the sight and she walked confidently down the aisle.
The Rizzoli-Korsak family piled into a limo.
"Let's get this party started!" Tommy pulled out a bottle of champagne and a smaller bottle of sparkling cider. The family toasted to the newly married couple's happiness.
Angela looked at her children, proud of who they had become, laughing as they joked with each other and Vince, excited for the next chapter in her life.
...
Maura watched the Rizzoli family with a mixture of happiness and sadness. Happy for Angela and Vince, happy that they had found love together. Happy that the family had come together to celebrate such an occasion. She knew how much Angela, Frankie and Tommy had missed Jane. Her sadness came from knowing she was the reason they had been without her in their lives for five years.
If only she hadn't hesitated.
She looked up, tears in her eyes, and saw Jane, her Jane, smiling at her. It was tentative, questioning. It was everything to Maura. She smiled back without hesitation and saw the smile she'd pictured in her head every day for five years. It filled Jane's whole face, from the dimple in her cheek to her dark eyes. It was a smile just for her and it gave Maura hope for the first time since Jane had returned.
...
A few hours later Jane sat alone watching her mother and Vince dance, their happiness radiating off each other.
"Jane," she heard a familiar voice ask tentatively. She turned to see the blonde haired woman pull up a chair.
"Maura, I..." Jane trailed off, not really knowing what to say.
"Your mother is so happy you came home, back to Boston," Maura decided to keep the topic as neutral as possible.
"She's so happy. I don't know why it took them so long to realize what was right in front of them," Jane said wistfully. Maura wasn't sure how to respond. In her head she was thinking that Jane's statement just as easily could apply to them. Or at least at one point in time it could have.
"Sometimes it just takes time," Maura hoped Jane would understand that they weren't just talking about Vince and Angela.
"Maur," Jane looked at Maura, searching for an answer to the question she had asked so many years ago.
"Please, join Angela and Vince on the dance floor!"
"Saved by the DJ," Jane smirked. She suddenly remembered.
"Where's, where's Evan?" Jane didn't really want to know, but she hadn't seen him all day. She hoped the bastard hadn't hurt her. She also hoped he was out of the picture.
Maura's face reddened.
"Last night, we, uh...we had a fight," Maura finished lamely. Jane's heart dropped, realizing that he was still in the picture.
"I'm sorry Maur, he seemed like a really great guy. You seemed happy, really happy. I'm sure it will work out," Jane hoped her voice didn't give away the sadness she felt. Maura's face reddened as she looked at the dance floor.
"Jane, will you dance with me?" Maura asked her. Jane didn't trust her voice not to give away her feelings. She reached to Maura's outstretched hand and allowed herself to be led to the middle of the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around Maura, settling her body against Maura's and trying to settle her racing heart.
She didn't trust herself to look into Maura's green eyes without telling her her feelings, so she fixed her gaze at a point somewhere in the distance. Her mind raced, a mixture of emotions. She was touching Maura, something she had only dreamed of for five years. She held back, what if Maura turned her down again? Maura had Evan, someone who didn't run, he lived with her. Fight or no fight, Jane knew that when Maura made a commitment to someone, she would never cross the line.
Jane knew what she had to do.
"I can't do this Maura, I thought I could but I can't," she tore her arms from around Maura and walked away. She knew she was running, she knew she had broken the promise she made to her mother, but she couldn't be rejected again. Making her way through the lobby then to the parking garage, she got in her car and drove to her hotel.
...
Maura watched Jane watch her mother and new step-father dance. She wondered what she was thinking, her face not giving away her thoughts. She had avoided her all night, not even offering congratulations, afraid of saying and doing the wrong thing and making Jane run again.
"Last night, we, uh...we had a fight," Maura finished lamely. She was still embarrassed at how their relationship had ended.
"I'm sorry Maur, he seemed like a really great guy. You seemed happy, really happy. I'm sure it will work out." Jane's voice was laced with sadness.
Maura's heart dropped, realizing that Jane still didn't know how she felt. She still hadn't made it clear. She looked at the dance floor, at the couples dancing closely.
"Jane, will you dance with me?" She extended her hand. Her heart swelled as Jane reached out with acceptance. They walked hand in hand to the dance floor, coming together face to face. Her heart beat raced with a mixture of lust, of love, of fear, as Jane wrapped her arms around her waist. She wanted the moment to last forever, to have the feeling of Jane's strong arms around her forever. Her brain kept shouting, "Tell her how you feel, tell her!" but she was afraid of losing Jane. Afraid of Jane running away again. Afraid that Jane had moved on. Her heart couldn't take the heart break.
She looked up, hoping to catch Jane's eye. Jane stared into the distance, an unreadable look on her face. She finally understood what it meant to see the gears turning.
Finally Jane looked down at Maura.
"I...I can't do this Maura, I thought I could but I can't." Jane broke their embrace and walked away.
Maura stood on the dancefloor, shocked. Not again. She'd made her feelings ambiguous again. She prided herself on clarity in her work and her words, but when it came to Jane, the person for whom her feelings were unambiguous, she couldn't put the words together correctly.
She tried to follow Jane, looking in the restroom, in the lobby, but she was gone. Again.
Maura left the reception, driving home in a trance. She didn't even have Jane's phone number this time, she couldn't flood her phone with calls and texts, trying to explain everything. She got home, and for the second night in a row, cried herself to sleep.
...
Jane woke to someone pounding on her door. It was just after 1am.
"What the hell? Go away!" She looked through the peephole on the door and saw Frankie and Tommy.
"Janie, you'd better open this damn door!"
"Thomas, you'd better leave me the hell alone!"
"What are you doing? You promised Ma you weren't going to run this time!" It was Frankie's turn.
She opened the door, not wanting to have security called on them. Plus, if she murdered them, the hotel's hallway security cameras wouldn't record it.
"Guys, I appreciate it, but I can't. She's still with Evan."
"You're such an idiot Jane. He's gone. Why do you think she was alone tonight? Why do you think she asked you to dance? For a detective, you're really horrible at seeing the evidence right in front of your face."
"Francis Rizzoli..."
"No Jane, I'm tired of this. Get your head out of your ass already."
"I ruined my chances again. I ran again."
"Just go to her." Tommy's initial anger had subsided. He knew how much Jane was hurting.
"I will."
Her brothers hugged her, then stood up to leave.
"You know we do this because we love you. Plus, we want you back in Boston."
She smiled, "I love you too."
She closed the door behind them, then sat at the edge of the bed, head in her hands.
"What am I going to do? She probably hates me, even if she did love me, she probably hates me now. I ran. I ran again."
The next morning Jane checked out of the hotel and drove to the airport, returning her rental car on the way. She was ready to come home.
...
Maura pulled into her driveway, dreading the empty house she'd walk into. Evan was gone, Jane was gone, even Angela wouldn't pop over, having left earlier that day on her honeymoon. She had lost so much. She was alone.
She had woken up that morning, determined to find Jane and force them to talk. After getting Jane's hotel information from Angela, she drove over, rushing to the front desk.
"I need to speak with Jane Rizzoli, room 419." The clerk typed into her computer.
"I'm afraid she's already checked out ma'am."
"NO!" Maura didn't care how crazy she seemed. NO, her heart screamed.
Running to the parking lot, she called Angela.
"What's her flight number? She's gone."
"Um, United 244. Maura, she loves you." Maura had already hung up the phone.
Maura drove to the airport as fast as she could, hoping that she didn't get pulled over and hoping that if she did, her credentials would get her out of any delay.
Pulling into a parking spot, she rushed into the airport, searching for an information board.
"United 244, DEPARTED."
"NO!" Maura screamed, still not caring how crazy she seemed. She collapsed against a pillar, crying. She had lost Jane again.
Walking into her house, she noticed the TV on.
"Weird, I don't remember turning on the TV this morning," she thought.
She walked toward the living room to turn off the television, jumping a bit when she saw a flash of dark hair on the couch. Jane was lying asleep on her couch.
Her heart lept. Was she imagining things? Had she gone so crazy with grief that she was hallucinating?
"Jane?"
Jane's eyes opened, a smile forming.
"Maura." It was like a dream. It was like waking from a nightmare.
"Maura, I'm sorry. But I came home. I came home for you. I love you. I promise I won't run again, even if you don't love me, I need you in my life." Jane's dark eyes were hopeful.
"Jane...I lov..." she felt Jane's arms around her before she could even get the words out, lips pressed against hers and Maura deepened the kiss, trying to express every feeling she had into it. Finally, they pulled apart.
"I love you too Jane," Maura finally responded to Jane.
Five years later, Maura said the words she'd wanted to say.
Five years later, Jane heard the words she had wanted to hear.