Au: Right, so I'm combining two chapters here otherwise they would have been really short. Again, really appreciating all of your comments, guys :)


As Maura arrived at home, she twisted her key in the bronze lock and pushed the door open. Her apartment was encased in darkness, the only lights shining through the darkness radiating from the oven and microwave in the kitchen. She threw her keys into the large china bowl resting atop of the ottoman in her hallway; on top of which stood several silver photo frames containing fond memories - mainly of times she and Jane had experienced together. Maura felt suddenly trapped as she set eyes upon them, as if her feet were glued to the spot in which she stood; looking towards the frames and yet not entirely sure how to feel about them. She felt as though she had lost a friend, lost someone she could trust – Maura Isles had lost her companion.

Slipping her feet out of her black Louboutin's, she neatly arranged them on her shoe rack, placing her black Hermès Birkin bag down besides it. Heading straight for her bedroom, she slipped easily out of the red dress she had worn that evening and folded it up neatly on the bed before pulling out a pair of pyjamas from her oak dresser and dressing herself. She ran her fingers through her hair and looked at her make-up stained face in the mirror. Her eyeliner smudged below her eyes and had set just beneath her eye sockets. Taking a make-up wipe from the counter in the bathroom, she swept it across her face, removing any visible evidence of what had transpired that evening. As she stared at herself, she saw her reflection but felt as if she was hollow; almost as if she had misplaced her soul.

Turning the light off, she headed into the kitchen to check on Bass, who appeared to be sleeping happily. Her nightly routine of checking all the locks on the front door remained unchanged before she headed to the bedroom, shutting the door behind herself and crawling into bed. Tonight, she didn't want to think or feel anything; she didn't want to watch or hear anything – all Maura wanted to do was to forget and to disappear quietly from existence.


As the door slammed behind Angela, Jane felt so furious she was sure that if she were a cartoon character you would see the steam bellowing from her ears. How could her mother be so insensitive? It shouldn't matter whether she is gay or straight, just as it shouldn't matter what colour her skin is. She had grown up listening to her mom preach about equality, how a person is defined by character and personality and not by trivial things like eye colour and hair colour and yet here they were, her mother was openly judging her for having feelings for Maura. Her whole life had been a total contradiction and her own mother was a hypocrite. To top it all off, she had shunned her best friend and told her that she needed space. What the fuck was I thinking? The one thing Jane needed was to be with Maura; to feel the warmth of Maura's neck as she nuzzled against it whilst being comforted in Maura's arms. She wanted to look Maura in the eye and apologise, tell her what a fool she had been for saying those things and reconcile their relationship. Jane Rizzoli was alone, and it was all her own fault.

Jane dug into her jean pocket and pulled out her cell; flipping it open and scrolling down to Maura's name in her phonebook. Pressing the illuminated green call symbol, the call was directed straight through to voicemail. Jane sighed and hung up. She thought about driving down there, knocking on her door and trying to convince her to forgive her but decided against it. She had told Maura she wanted space – whether her phone was genuinely off or she was blocking Jane's calls, she deserved it and decided to wait to see her at work the next morning.