Hello, again! Chapter Seven, yay! Still very fluff-filled rizzles goodness, just for you guys! Enjoy!


This is Love, Part II

Jane awakens to the feeling of morning light shining through curtains onto her face, and directly in her eyes. She squints, and moves to shadow her eyes with her hand, but soon realizes that something's on top of it. Someone is on top of it. She turns her head to the right; only to reveal that the someone that's on her arm is staring right at her…and it looks like a dinosaur.

"WHAT THE-" Jane screams as she pulls her arm out from under the 'dinosaur' and regains full consciousness. She slides backwards on her backside using her legs, only to realize that it's not a dinosaur, but Maura's pet tortoise that she mentioned, before backing directly into another object.

This object lets out a loud "UMF," as Jane hits it, successfully scaring Jane out of her skin once more. The curly haired girl twists her body so she can see that it's Maura, asleep on the floor, which she's crashed into.

"Oh! God, Maura. I'm so sorry," Jane mumbles as she places a hand on Maura's side. "Did I hurt you?"

"Mmm, no, I'm alright," Maura whines as she sits up and rubs her temples. "What happened?"

"Your friggen turtle scared the crap outta me. Kinda thought it was a dinosaur for a second," Jane laughs embarrassedly.

"First of all, he's a tortoise. Secondly…a dinosaur? You know they're extinct, right? And thirdly, watch your language!" Maura half-teases.

"Tortoise, sorry. And ha-ha, you're very funny. I know they're extinct, but what do you expect me to think of a huge scaly creature staring at me when I first wake up?"

"Bass likes to observe. You'll get used to it," Maura says as she gets up. "And what I meant was, what happened last night, that we both fell asleep on the floor and I have a pounding headache?"

"The last thing I remember is playing chess at like 6am," Jane says, thinking aloud. "I guess we were just so tired that we fell asleep where we were sitting,"

"Yes, I suppose you're right. And sleeping on a hard-wood floor would explain my headache," Maura makes her way into her kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," Jane says as she manages to get up and drag her sleepy body into one of the barstools in Maura's kitchen island. "Holy shit, it's noon!" Jane exclaims as she looks at the clock on the honey blonde's microwave.

"Well, Jane. We did go to sleep at 6. It's understandable that we'd sleep until noon,"

"Yeah, makes sense I guess. So what's on your schedule for today?" Jane asks.

"Well, it seems as though I've already slept through my 8am class, so I suppose I'll study today," Maura says as she slides a mug full of freshly brewed coffee across the island to Jane, which she gladly accepts.

"Oh, Maur I'm sorry! I didn't know you had a class today," Jane says, feeling genuinely guilty for keeping Maura up late.

"Don't worry about it, Jane. I had a great night. Maybe even the best night I've ever had. I should be thanking you," Maura says with a slight blush.

"Well, how about we make tonight your best night ever?" Jane asks, smiling. "Let me take you out. On a date. Jane Rizzoli style!"

"You're sure you're not sick of me yet?" Maura asks.

"Of course not," Jane smiles and places her hand over Maura's. So what gonna happen, is, you're gonna drive me home, come back here, and shower and stuff. Whatever you need to do to get ready. And then at 7, I'm gonna show up here and you're gonna be ready to go, okay?"

"7? Sounds perfect. How should I dress?"

"Casual," Jane shrugs. "No…Jane casual. I'm sure Maura casual means a little dress and three inch heels," Jane jokes.

"It never killed anyone to look nice!" Maura defends herself.

"I know, I just don't want you to ruin any shoes that cost more than one of my paychecks, okay? So, casual," Jane explains.

"I can do casual," Maura smiles. "Let me drive you home. I don't want to get on your mother's bad side by keeping you here all day!"

"Maura, I think my Ma likes you more than she likes me," Jane laughs. "That whole marriage and kids talk yesterday put you at the top of her list of favorite people,"

"Honesty is the best policy," Maura smiles as she grabs her car keys and heads out the door.

Maura drives Jane home, and then returns to her house to begin getting ready for her big date. She showers, does her hair and makeup, and picks out an outfit that she hopes will meet Jane's standards of 'casual'. She feeds Bass dinner, and looks to see that it's quarter to seven. She seats herself on one of the stools at her island, and looks at a National Geographic Magazine to pass the time until Jane arrives.

It's exactly 6:59 when Jane rings Maura's doorbell, and a wave of nervousness suddenly takes over her body. Her palm begins to sweat and her fingers tightly grasp the stem of the rose she's holding as she hears Maura's footsteps coming towards the door.

As the door opens, a very Jane casual Maura is revealed. Jane needs to do a double take to make sure that this is the same woman whom she'd spent the night with yesterday, and she finds her jaw dropping at the sight.

"What? Is this not good? Too casual? I knew this wasn't right! Let me go change!" Maura panics as she looks down at her outfit. She's wearing black skinny jeans, a red and black plaid flannel shirt with an exposed tank top underneath, black lace up boots, and her hair is up.

Before Maura can even turn around, Jane is kissing her. She takes one large stride forward, and connects her lips with Maura's in a fervent kiss, almost knocking the smaller woman off balance. Maura responds enthusiastically, wrapping her arms around Jane's neck.

After a few moments of heated kisses, the girls break apart for a much needed breath of air. "Maur, y-you look fantastic!" Jane says, smile evident in her words.

"I do? I'm not underdressed?"

"Not at all. You look great. Beautiful," Jane says as she plays with the rose in her hands. "Oh! This is for you," Jane extends the flower towards Maura, smiling like a child in a candy store.

"Oh, Jane. It's beautiful. Let me put it in some water-"

"No," Jane says, taking Maura's hand. "Take it with you. I have something better to do with it,"

The girls are driving for about fifteen minutes before Jane pulls into an empty parking lot and parks the car. She gets out quickly, and makes her way to the passenger's side to open Maura's door for her. She takes Maura's hand and leads her to the nearby park.

"Jane…" Maura starts. "This is the park we were at yesterday…what are we doing here?"

"Very observant, you are!" Jane says while looking straight in front of her. "We are near the park, yes. But that's not where we're going. We're going through the park,"

Confused, Maura doesn't say anything. She decides it's best to just go along with what Jane's planned. Just like Jane said, the pair walks through the park and onto a narrow trail in between the trees of the nearby forest. After a few minutes of walking, the girls happen upon an opening in the trees, which leads to a small picnic table in front of a beautiful lake. It's still just light enough out to see the sunset reflecting on the water, different shades of pink and orange painting the scenery.

"Oh, Jane. This is absolutely beautiful. How did you ever find this?"

"I used to wander a lot when I was a kid," Jane shrugs as she leads Maura towards the picnic table. As they approach it, Maura notices that the small picnic table is set with plastic plates and utensils, and what seems to be take-out Italian food.

"How did you keep the food warm?" Maura asks, curious.

"I had Frankie come and drop it off when I was picking you up," Jane says. "He owed me big time after that whole bet with Tommy,"

"That was very sweet of him!" Maura says. "I still have my rose, you know," she smiles.

"Oh, right! Follow me," Jane says as she walks towards a large tree near the water's edge. "Look," she says as she places a hand on the small of Maura's back.

Maura is overwhelmed with so many different feelings as she sees that Jane has carved 'J+M' into the tree, right above a large hallow. Jane takes the rose from Maura, and places it into the hole.

"Now this can be our spot. We can come here whenever we want, together or alone, when we want to be together or just think about each other," Jane says. "Or something more romantic than that," she smiles down at Maura.

"Jane," Maura says, tears threatening to fall. "It's perfect. This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you," Maura leans up to place a short kiss on the brunette's lips. "I love–this," Maura says, stumbling on her words. "I love this," she repeats, as a whisper.

"C'mon. Let's eat," Jane says, leading Maura to the picnic table.

"I figured we could eat dinner outside, and wait until we can see the stars," Jane says as she seats herself across from Maura. "When I was little, I always loved the stars. Looking at them made me feel so small, but not insignificant, ya know? Like, anyone could be looking up at those very same stars I was at that very same moment. My future best friend, the person I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with…maybe even you once looked at the stars at the same time I was," Jane doesn't need to look down from the night sky to know that Maura is smiling.

"Maybe I have," Maura says with a happy sigh. "Maybe I have,"


Yay for fluffiness XD Thanks for the read! You guys are awesome! Hope you enjoyed xoxoxo