A sigh is just a sigh
Chapter 7
Fenway Park. Jane's apartment.
"Home sweet home." Jane said.
Jane locked the door and left the keys on the hook by the entrance. She turned around to find Maura standing immobile, hands clutched together in front of her.
"What are you doing?"
Maura shifted her left shoulder. Her eyes were a symphony of trouble.
"When your mother hugged me, she told me that she is really happy that we are together."
"She did…" Jane nodded thoughtfully, the question squashed by the weight of the revelation. "Is that why you were so quiet on the way here?"
"Well, Angela is assuming something that we have not explicitly agreed yet..."
Jane took the gun holster off and locked it away. She unclipped the badge and then the phone; a meditated set of slow-motion actions meant to give her time to find the right words. When she turned back to Maura, she found eyes covered by a film of something in the ballpark of fear. Her hands found the straps of Maura's bag and guided them off her arm. The bag ended up next to the keys.
Maura's hands were now estranged from each other; Jane's hands rescued them as her chest expanded, drawing in the energy required to deliver the words that fought to come out.
"Are we together, Maur?"
"Would you like us to be… together?"
Jane smiled softly, her eyes giving a tiny yes muddled with a shadow of a doubt.
Maura swallowed a metaphorical piece of cardboard.
"But?" The word got disentangled from the roof of her mouth, but barely.
Jane snorted. The smile came in between slow headshakes.
"I just keep thinking about what we were talking at back at the Robber. You seem so confident that the fact that we are so different in so many things is not gonna get in the way now, or that my mess and my habits won't clash with yours… Or that we will not miss being with a man."
"I can't be certain of anything, except that I do not want to be with anyone else. And I tend to think that somehow we've been together for years, even if we never had sex."
Jane winced.
"The thought of having sex with me displeases you?" Maura asked softly.
Jane shrugged, her face a study of a non-verbal apology.
"No. Is not that! Although… so far all that we did was kiss."
"I recall having your hands on my—"
"Ah, ah. Don't say it. I know where I had my hands."
Maura laughed.
"Seriously, though. What if we —you know— and we don't..."
Maura considered Jane's comment for a brief moment.
"Oh. You mean that we may find out that we are not sexually compatible. Or is it that you think we, or you, may not like sexual intimacy with another woman?"
The words "sex" and "intimacy" threw a tight noose around Prude Ole Jane and pulled.
"God, Maura…" Her eyes flew downwards, trying to hide the intense discomfort.
Maura jumped over the childish prudishness and caught Jane's chin with her thumb and index finger, masterly guiding up a face that wouldn't move.
"Look at me, Jane."
Jane complied, as she would comply with anything Maura told her in that low, commanding voice. Hazel eyes ensured she had no armor to hide the nervousness behind.
Maura leaned closer –leaned up, actually , and went past her lips, her cheek, until she finally reached Jane's ear. A deliberate, slow flicker of her tongue on the earlobe snatched Jane's breath away.
"I don't think that will be an issue..." Maura whispered and Jane, of course, shivered.
Maura leaned back and found Jane's eyes, brown turning black. She held them with all tenderness of her smile until the line between Jane's eyebrows disappeared. Maura's hands reached out and landed on Jane's side, just above her belt. Her hands moved up slowly until the thumb reached the underside of her breasts.
Jane swallowed.
Maura smiled, took Jane's hand and quietly led her away from the entrance hall, past the kitchen and the bathroom.
Once in the safe semi-darkness of the room, their profiles barely outlined by the streetlights, Maura held Jane as close as she could. The kiss came in measured steps of half an inch at a time, feeding the trembling that had taken over both of them.
The self-assured detective, that could shoot and hit the target with eyes closed, found her pulse wavering.
The medical examiner, who thought at one point in time she was good only with the dead, handled the very much alive woman in her arms with exquisite prowess, succeeding in maneuvering Jane into forgetting prudishness and doubts and time.
When a thousand kisses and caresses got dizzy and hungry for more, hands found themselves wrestling with belts and zippers and fabric.
The fluid motions suddenly tripped as Jane's fumbled with Maura's bra fastener.
"Let me." Maura smiled to see Jane's profound embarrassment mixed with melting desire.
Maura took a step back, finished removing her top as if she had all the time in the world. She unhooked her bra with a one-handed gesture, and slowly removed it until it was handing limp from her hand.
Jane's brow knitted, her eyes hypnotized by the sight.
"Oh god."
"Should I stop?" Maura said, her voice tremulous and barely above a whisper, unable to conceal the fear or the need to be touched. She waited for Jane to meet her eyes, to move, to breath. Finally, uncertain hands reached out, almost asking for permission, and drew feathers along those curves with tremulous fingertips. She exhaled, a torrent of emotions raking through her body, and took a step forward until their skins touched. The kiss that followed was deliberate, tender, and knowing. The kisses after that were mingled with stifled moans and soft laughter, as they fumbled and fell on the bed.
It didn't take them much effort to know how to fit their bodies together as if they shared the same skin.
It didn't take Maura much practice to learn the rules of the road. None of her medical training prepared her for the miracle of Jane's accelerated heartbeat with just a tiny flicker of a finger. No painting masterpiece had her ever as enthralled as the sight of Jane's eyes shut tight and perfect lips drawing a silent O. No sounds ever existed on the world until she heard the air exhaled as Jane arched her back and let go.
And nothing could have ever prepared her to withstand the tsunami of Jane's first words.
"I want to touch you." Jane whispered, and all the blood in Maura's body rushed in a thousand different directions.
And when they had exhausted every inch of skin and every breath, the embrace took over washing them clean. Kisses were now like a soothing balm over burning and trembling skin.
And just like that, they ripped apart and erased six years of fighting the inexorable pull of their infinite chemistry and love.
Much later, when morning was beginning to push through, they drifted to sleep, just after a soft "I love you too" escaped from Jane's lips and was echoed by Maura's sigh.
.
Beacon Hill – A week later
"How can you possibly do that?" Maura asked, her eyes fixed on the chessboard in front of her.
"I can do what?" Jane took some more popcorn from the bowl, her eyes fixed on the TV screen.
"Beat me at chess while watching a game and eating, all at the same time."
"That's why you love me." Jane leaned towards Maura, stole a kiss and grinned.
Maura laughed. "Fair enough. You can have my Queen. I'm going to get started with dinner."
"Hm. The game is almost over…"
Maura stood up and started packing away the chess pieces.
"Does that mean you are going to help me cook?"
"Well… um… you are so much better than me at cooking and I would feel really bad to… crowd your space when you are—"
Maura lifted an eyebrow and shook her head.
"Oh, don't be like that. I wash the dishes every night!" Jane retorted just as Maura had expected her to.
"The dishwasher does the dishes every night." Maura pointed out.
Jane stretched a hand and brought Maura close, guiding her to her lap. She nuzzled her nose in Maura's neck. Maura closed her eyes and tilted her head back.
"But you still have to wash the dishes."
"Why don't we order in? Japanese? No dishes." The last words were mumbled against Maura's lips.
"Don't you want to know the final results of the game?" Maura whispered back.
"Hm… Who cares about the game…"
Maura laughed and yielded.
The knock on the backdoor made them jump. Maura made a motion to stand up but Jane brought her closer and kissed her.
"Jane?"
"Fine. But look, isn't my pout adorable?"
Maura shook her head trying to hide her smile, and went to the door. Angela stood outside, smiling.
"Hey sweetie. Are you busy? I saw lights and… I made this lasagna and thought that…"
"Come in, Ma. Lasagna is always welcome." Jane stood up and went to meet her mother. The hug startled Angela.
Angela's eyes darted around the room, assessing the situation.
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude…"
"We hardly ever see you these days. We miss you. Don't we, Jane?" Maura smiled and guided Angela in.
"Sometimes…" Jane shrugged, a mischievous but endearing smile absolving her.
"I can't stay long anyway, Ron is picking me up. He's taking me to this snazzy restaurant and then to the movies."
Jane smiled. "Nice… I'm really glad for you, Ma."
Angela's face lit, her eyes moving from Jane to Maura and back to Jane.
"I'm also glad for you, Janie." Angela motioned for a kiss on the cheek and Jane squirmed away, grinning mischievously but eyes shinning with love.
"So, lasagna it is, then." Maura said as she took the tray from Angela's hand.
"Okay girls, really need to run now. We will have family lunch tomorrow, won't we?"
Maura linked her arm with Angela's and walked with her to the door. When she came back to the kitchen she saw Jane leaning on the island and smiling softly. Maura walked up to her and pulled her into a hug.
"What's that smile for?" Maura asked.
"It so strange. I never really had a conversation with Ma about…this. " Jane gently squeezed Maura. "She can be noisy as hell, but she has never asked me a thing about us. She just knows."
"I guess she figured it out that evening at the Robber." Maura said, her hands idly roaming along Jane's back.
"But we didn't do anything that night. We were just talking."
Maura laughed. "Non verbal clues are extremely powerful."
"Do you think everyone knows? We are really careful at work."
Maura laughed. "Oh. I am certain of it."
"Dr. Isles, do you have irrefutable evidence that can support your case?"
"In fact I do. One of the lab techs told me yesterday that my girlfriend had come by."
"No way. Poor guy, did you give him the "I'm Da Boss and you will talk to me with the appropriate respect" speech?"
Maura smiled and flickered her shoulder. "Well, I might have asked him who he was referring to, and clarified the appropriate etiquette."
Jane laughed and shook her head.
"Well, Korsak confessed the other day that he had given up on the idea of us being together."
"Vince said that? I didn't know he felt that way."
"Yeah, me neither. It's like everybody knew except us. Do you regret that we haven't done this sooner? You wouldn't have fallen for the walking dead artist psychopath, or—"
"Oh, don't remind me." Maura scooted closer to Jane and kissed her as if she had all the time in the world. "I don't regret anything, Jane. It happened when it was meant to happen."
"Yeah, but… I mean… nothing has really changed. It just got better. Lots better."
Jane's phone beeped, just as she was about to kiss Maura. A second later, Maura's phone echoed it.
"Rizzoli."
"Isles."
"See? Nothing has changed." Jane rolled her eyes and covered her phone. "Can we make a lasagna sandwich and take it with us?"
Maura laughed silently as they got ready to go.
After locking the front door, she saw Jane strutting towards the car. The sigh came in and lingered on as she hummed the lyrics of Casablanca's famous song.
.
/ THE END /
Author's Note: Thanks for sharing with me this easy, light-hearted, angst-free short story. Hope you enjoyed it! I'd love to hear from you :)
