A/N - And here is the penultimate chapter that you have been waiting for. No further ado. Read and enjoy.


As the last remnants of the day faded into the light of the stars, Jane opened the door to Maura's townhouse. She turned on the lights in the foyer and started slowly moving to take off her boots. Looking around anxiously, Jane realized that Maura was not home yet.

Suddenly, a scratching sound coming toward her attracted the brunette's attention to the floor. "Oh no…Bass, I'm not your mommy. You don't have to greet me at the door. We've gone over this. Several times."

With a slow as molasses pace, Bass – Maura's pet tortoise – finally made the turn from the hallway into the foyer. "Bass…wait, come on!" she exclaimed at the sight of her dog on top of Bass's shell. "What is Jo Friday doing riding your shell? Jo! Get off of Bass. Maura would torture me if she saw you on him like that."

Jo jumped off of Bass with a bark while Bass continued shuffling forward. Damn it, Jane thought. Every day Maura came home – rain or shine – Bass would greet the blonde at the door. If a tortoise could smile, he'd be smiling each time Maura leaned down to playfully caress his scaly head. Normally, Jane and Maura would have come home together so she hardly needed to deal with this evening ritual but since it was just Jane today, she had no choice. Jane had to greet Bass.

"Hi, Bass… It's just me today. Maura should be here soon." Jane lowered her tired body down to scratch the tortoise's head as it gradually came out from its shell. "She went to talk to some friend of hers." With a reptilian purr, Bass tilted his head slightly, enjoying the brunette's movements. "Don't give me that look. You know Maura can't lie. I know that I need to be more trusting, Bass. But my gut is telling me that your mommy is giving me the abridged version of the whole story."

And I bet that story involves him. Jane didn't need to be a rocket scientist to connect the dots to their obvious conclusion. Whispering another man's name while in bed with your girlfriend and then all of a sudden going off with some random "friend" without telling anyone beforehand…it all added up. And it nearly killed Jane to admit it. She didn't think Maura was physically cheating – it was too soon for that – but something had to be going on.

Jane stood up with a weak smile. "For a scaly beast that lives in a shell, you're not as bad as I thought. Come on, we can wait for Maura together."

-!-

As Jane walked out of Maura's bedroom – now changed into more casual clothes – the familiar sounds of Maura's arrival echoed through the quiet space of the house. Despite the rapid ideas ping-ponging through her mind, Jane felt eerily calm as she moved to meet the other woman. Her mind might be a mess but her heart never led her wrong. She's done something wrong. It's just a matter of what.

With a sudden burst of speed, Bass ran from behind Jane's feet and toward Maura, bringing a sigh to her lips. "So that's how it is… I didn't even know you could move that fast. You never move that fast when I come home."

The muffled sound of excitement from Maura hit her ears just as Jane shuffled out of the hallway. "Is that you, Bass? How's my little Bassmeister? What are you doing out of your bedroom this late? I know how much you like to turn in early. Did you stay up for Mommy Maura? You're such a sweetheart," Maura cooed affectionately, grabbing a strawberry from the refrigerator before she leaned back down to Bass. "Only the best sulcatas get a treat and you are such a good sulcata."

Jane coughed slightly, causing the kneeling blonde to jump up in surprise. "If you keep spoiling him, Maura, he's going to get lazy." Her eyes wandered over Maura's unusual attire. "What's with the funky get up? Did your colleague turn out to be a dumpster diver?"

"No… My clothes were ruined. And when you'd become the expert of tortoise care?" Maura asked with a weak smile, lifting herself up from the floor. "For someone who can't even remember the differences between a turtle and a tortoise, you certainly have a lot of opinions."

"My opinions are usually right when it comes to others. It's what makes me a good cop."

Maura frowned. "And I'm sure that's a great asset to you when you're working a case or interrogating a subject. In situations you are unfamiliar with, however, your instincts have a higher probability of being incorrect, Jane."

Bass, sensing the changing mood between his two mothers, slinked off to his bedroom, leaving Jane to glare at Maura in frustration.

"I highly doubt my instincts are wrong when it comes to you and Elias," she said smugly as Maura's eyes twitched slightly with the mention of Elias. "You were at his place weren't you?"

"Yes."

"How long has this been going on, Maura? Did he evade your advances at first until tonight when he finally succumbed to temptation or did he pursue you? Either way, it doesn't matter. Cheating is cheating. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."

"I'm not cheating on you. I just met Elias yesterday when we were getting our dresses for the party. His father died, Jane."

"Ohhkay," she began sarcastically, "so when your father dies it's a-ok to sleep with other people's girlfriends. I'll keep that in mind when my mom goes postal after hearing about my dad's engagement to the Blonde-Bambi-Bimbo."

Reaching across the space between them, Maura grabbed Jane's arm aggressively. "Listen to me, Jane. I didn't cheat on you. You know I can't lie," she pleaded, tears coming to her hazel eyes. "When I saw Elias…he looked so lonely. I wanted to help him so I told him if he wanted to talk, he could talk to me. And that's all that we were doing tonight, talking."

Jane rolled her eyes before snatching her arm back from the blonde. "I want to believe you, really I do, but we need to face the facts." Running her hand through her tangled hair, Jane turned her attention to the ceiling with a sigh. "You and I have been with men. What's stopping you or me from going back to hairy chests that leave the toilet seat up?"

"Trust," Maura muttered shyly. "I trust that you'd never do that to me because…I love you, Jane."

Maura's words were nothing but a Band-Aid on an open wound, too little too late. Jane's mind had already conceded defeat to her insecurities regarding Maura's love for her. Closing her eyes, Jane pondered whether she should ask the question that had been on her mind. Part of her wanted to bypass it because of the potential hurt it would inevitably cause, but Jane couldn't back down. She needed to know.

"Are you attracted to him?" Jane asked in a whisper.

"What?"

In a quick motion, the brunette turned around to face Maura, unexpected anger coloring her wild eyes black. "Are you attracted to him, Maura?"

Silence spread across the room as they both processed the magnitude of the question. "No...but I was. It didn't mean anything," she stammered, looking down in shame.

"Did you want to sleep with him?"

Maura started to bite her nails. "Yes…but, Jane, I didn't. At the end of the day, I didn't do anything."

"And you think that makes everything okay?" Jane chuckled, shaking her head. "It doesn't surprise me that you'd do this. I've always thought that I wasn't good enough for you. I'm a homicide detective, daughter of a Boston Italian plumber going out with the chief medical examiner. I just…thought that our love for each other could get over all of our differences. I guess I was wrong. It hurts just to admit it."

"Jane, please," Maura pleaded, moving toward Jane, trying in vain to reestablish some kind of a connection with her. "You'll always be enough for me. You know that. What I did or didn't do…nothing changes the way I feel about you. Yes, I should have told you about him before but I'm telling you now. We didn't do anything. He just needed someone to talk to." She sighed. "He didn't have anyone else. You know how much I can't stand seeing someone in pain."

Maura's words were lost in the endless buzzing noise pounding through Jane's ears, everything ceasing to exist. As much as she had wanted to know, craved to know, whether something was going on with Maura and Elias, Jane hadn't expected this. Anger and disappointment swirled in her heart as the ramifications of Maura's actions hit her hard.

"I don't get you."

"What?"

Jane shook her head, lashing the brown locks across her face. "I don't get you. Why do you… Why do you always care so damn much about everyone else? You don't even know him and he becomes priority numbero uno. It doesn't make any goddam sense."

A flash of hot anger darkened Maura's sad eyes. "Because I know what it's like. To be alone. To feel like you don't have anyone in your corner," she said. "Not everyone has what you have, Jane. A family to love unconditionally, to turn to, to confide in. You'll…never understand what it feels like to be alone. The pain is unbearable."

"Oh cue the violins for Christ's sake," Jane exclaimed sarcastically, mimicking a small violin with her fingers. "If he's in such unbearable pain, why don't you go back to him, Dr. Isles? Give him two teaspoons of sugar and a blow job. I'm sure he'll perk right up."

"Jane," Maura started, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "Please… stop being so mean. What do you want me to say? I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She had to stop as the other woman's cold eyes lowered, gazing at the trails of tears. Jane was shutting down, protecting herself from Maura as if she was a threat.

Grabbing Jane's shirt, Maura struggled to maintain her composure. "I know you're angry. But…can't you forgive me?" she cried passionately. "Everything you've done to me…I've always forgave you. Why? Because you're my best friend. I would never hurt you on purpose. Can't you…do the same for me? I'm sorry."

Jane shivered uncontrollably. "Are you serious? Regardless of what you want to call whatever you did with Elias, I can't just sweep it under the rug like it doesn't matter. I made you wait for me. I nearly lost you to the job. And I shot your father. Those are my mistakes. They don't even begin to compare to you cheating on me with some guy you just met nine months ago. Everything I've done to you…doesn't even begin to compare to how you've hurt me. I have never hurt you like this. Never. And you know what? Now I know how you felt when I used to say sorry, sorry, sorry. Sorry isn't good enough." Jane screamed in a twisted facsimile of her normal voice. She hardly noticed Maura's jump in surprise before stepping backwards, away from Maura and her tears. "I can't do this right now. I…need some space."

I need to get out ofhere, Jane thought rapidly as her feet took her away from the blonde and back to their bedroom. A small voice in the back of her mind registered as Maura's voice, but she was already too far gone to process it. All Jane wanted was to be alone.

Upon reaching the bedroom, she grabbed a bag from the closet and stuffed random clothes in its depths. Pleading eyes burned in her back but Jane was unperturbed.

"Where are you going?" Maura asked bewilderedly.

Jane zipped up the bag before walking out of the bedroom with a frown. "My apartment."

"You don't have to do this. There's nothing in your apartment. You'll starve."

"So I'll stop at the store."

"For goodness sake, Jane, stay in the guesthouse. You can have all of the alone time you want there. Please…don't leave. We can talk about this."

"The last thing I want to do," Jane huffed as she shifted the bag on to her other shoulder to open the front door, "is talk about this," she turned to glare icily at Maura, "with you."

In a last ditch effort, Maura blocked the door with her body. "I respect that. But…at least tell me that you love me. Tell me you'll come back," she pleaded, tears still coming down her blotchy face.

Jane looked away with a shrug, whistling to Jo Friday to come to her. "Please…don't make this difficult. Let me go, Maura," she commanded with the last remaining bit of strength in her body. The world was becoming blurry and out of focus. Blinking rapidly did little to cure the problem. It was getting harder to breathe. I have to get out of here…away from her…

Lowering her arm in defeat, Maura finally stepped back from the door just as Jo came to her owner's side, scampering around Jane's feet. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"But you did," Jane whispered tiredly, opening the heavy door. "And nothing is going to change that."