Sorry for the delay! I've been super busy!
Thank you all for you reviews!
Eve: Thank you for your beast of a review! To answer some of your questions, sure they are jumping back to old habits quite quickly, but we have to bare in mind that Jane just told her one of the biggest things that was going on with her and also Jane's health is really bad so Maura is finally able to do something about all of that. HOWEVER, we will get to see Jane become hesitant to hang out and sleepover, so there will be some struggle because I know from experience that no one just jumps back to how they used to be with someone after they've been hurt by them. Ahh! To explain Maura's answer to Jane about being hurt by Jack, Maura can bend the truth, Jane didn't specify a duration so to Maura she would establish the question as 'has he hurt you since Tuesday' (just as an example) to which she would reply no because he hasn't as perhaps she hasn't seen him in a few days etc…, I hope that clears some things up!
Thank you for your reviews, favorites and follows!
"Maur I'm going to head ho-" she paused mid way through speaking she saw the side of Maura's torso which was now on display due to her stretching "-what the fuck are those?!" Jane nearly yelled, Maura followed the brunette's eyes to her body which she quickly covered,
"it's…it's my hip" Maura tried,
"no Maura, what are those on your hip?" Jane said specifically pointing to the bruises,
"I..Those..Um…I-"
"Maura Dorthea Isles do not even try to lie to me, hives remember?"
"they're bruises" Maura said resignedly , she sat down on the couch,
"from what?" Jane asked fearing the answer,
"Jack" Maura said simply, Jane sat down next to Maura and stared at the blank TV screen,
"you said..you said he didn't hurt you" Jane stammered,
"you didn't specify the time frame" Maura responded emotionless, which scared Jane, they both were staring at the blank screen,
"I'm going to kill him-" Jane said after a few minutes silence, "- I am going to fucking kill him",
"Jane.."
"NO! HE HURT YOU!" Jane said nearly in tears which showed how deep her feelings for the doctor really ran,
"it's over now Jane" Maura said softly, Jane stood up and started pacing,
"he..he hurt you…he hurt you…why would anyone hurt you?!-", Maura went to say something but Jane carried on "-you're..you're awesome, caring, compassionate, loyal, quirky and smart, why..why would he..I am going to kill him",
"Jane please.." Maura said her voice full of emotion, Jane stopped and sat down next to Maura, holding her hands in her own,
"I'm sorry Maur…Are you okay?" Jane asked softly,
"I…I will be",
"why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"because I was ashamed, I let him do this to me, I should have fought back but I didn't",
"Maur this is not your fault, okay?-", Maura didn't say anything "-this is not your fault, the only person at fault is that jackass, he should be in prison",
"I…I'm s…sorry Jane" Maura said allowing the tears to flow freely, Jane pulled her into a hug,
"don't apologize Maur, I won't let anything happen to you" Jane said, she felt Maura nod against the crook of her neck, inside Jane was fuming, her protective instincts in full swing, oh he was going to pay for what he had done to the love of her life.
"Hey Maur-" Jane said softly, they had fallen asleep on the couch, Maura was practically lying on top of Jane, she heard Maura mumble something that sounded like five more minutes, "-Maur, you have work, in an hour, I don't want you to be late" Jane said softly, Maura slowly opened her eyes, still unaware of why her couch was so comfortable,
"I booked the day off" she said sleepily,
"oh…",
"mhm" Maura mumbled before dropping off to sleep again, Jane didn't have the heart to move Maura, she couldn't deny that she loved having her this close to her, with all this hurt in the last month, she felt calm to just be, there was still a lot that they had to work through but that could wait for a while, they were both hurting, so yes, it could wait, even if just for a few hours, she felt Maura stir again,
"you're really comfortable to sleep on" she said her voice still laced with sleep, Jane froze, she didn't know that Maura had realized that she was lying on Jane,
"oh well um, you can move if you want t-"
"no" Maura responded interrupting, Jane chuckled softly,
"you okay?" Jane asked her voice barely a whisper,
"I feel safe-" Maura said her eyes closing again "-I haven't felt safe in a long time",
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here for you",
"it's not your fault, I said some horrible things, I wouldn't have spoken to me either", they both went silent, Jane was about to say something when…
"GIRLS! Why aren't you at..-" Angela burst through the door startling them both, Maura jumped up suddenly wide awake,
"Angela" Maura greeted with a nervous smile,
"oh…um I'm sorry did I..interrupt something?",
"no Ma you didn't" Jane snapped, Maura glared at Jane, Jane just shrugged her shoulders with a 'what' expression on her face,
"would you like some tea?" Maura asked politely,
"no dear, I need to head off to work, I saw your car outside, I wanted to make sure you were okay because you're normally gone before me", Maura smiled at the older Rizzoli's concern,
"thank you Angela but I'm just taking the day off",
"oh right, well I'll see you two later…behave!" Angela said as she left,
"MA!", Jane yelled before flinging herself onto the couch,
"what does she think is going on between us?" Maura asked genuinely curious,
"god knows" Jane lied, she knew exactly what her ma thought was going on between them,
"so what would you like to do today?",
"I was going to head back to my apartment, clean up an' stuff" Jane said honestly,
"oh.." Maura said disappointedly,
"I was going to clear out my alcohol" Jane explained,
"ohhh-" Maura said finally understanding "-would you like me to help you?"
"thanks Maur, but I think this is something I need to do by myself ya know?", which was partly true, but Jane also needed some space to process how quickly everything had changed between the two,
"of course Jane, but if you need me, just give me call" Maura said smiling warmly at Jane,
"you got it Maur" Jane stood up and stretched before she began pulling on her coat,
"see you later?" Maura asked hopefully as she walked Jane to the door,
"sure thing-" Jane paused and turned to look at Maura "-are you going to be okay?" , Maura knew what she was referring too,
"yes Jane, I'll just clean up, look at all the mess!" Maura said waving to the immaculate living space, Jane just shook her head smiling,
"well if you need me, call me",
"of course", Jane was about to leave when she remembered something,
"um Maur?",
"hmm?"
"you drove me here",
"yes I did-" Maura responded, Jane stared at her waiting for her to catch on to the dilemma, "-OH! You can't get home!"
"yes Maura" Jane said chuckling,
"would you like to take my car? I won't be needing it today",
"oh yeah that'd be great", Maura handed Jane the keys,
"drive safely"
"don't I always?!", Maura glared at her, Jane just smiled cheekily at Maura before leaving.
Jane let herself into her apartment, she sent a quick text to Maura,
'I'm home, so you can relax - J', her phone beeped almost immediately,
'If you were driving within the speed limit you wouldn't be home for another 3 minutes! Jane were you speeding? - M'
'yup! - J'
'JANE! - M' , Jane chuckled lightly before setting her phone down and looking at her apartment, beer bottles scattered on the floor and even more whiskey bottles, she sighed and put on some music before setting about clearing up, she picked up the bottles and threw them into the bin, she felt emotions run through her, memories flooding back, drinking. Crying. Drinking. Anger. Nothing. She shook her head and walked over to the kitchen where she knew she still had a large amount of alcohol, she prepared herself before opening the cupboard, she took a deep breath and drained each bottle one by one, by the time she was done, she felt drained, physically and mentally, it was all part of the process of moving on, she knew that, but it didn't make it any easier. She slumped to the floor and looked around, her apartment was now alcohol free but that didn't mean that the pain and hurt was gone, Jane stared at her phone debating whether to call Maura, she needed her, she needed to see her, needed her to hold her (Jane would deny needing someone to hold her, but sometimes even the badasses need to be held), she rubbed her forehead in frustration, there was a point that Jane wouldn't have even hesitated to ring Maura but now…things were different. Jane didn't call Maura, she had to be without her for weeks, she wasn't going to rely on Maura when she didn't know if she was going to stay, she just didn't trust Maura that much yet, so, she took a deep breath and stood up, she walked to her bedroom and collapsed on her front, maybe if she slept she would feel better…maybe.
Maura was pacing her lounge, she had text Jane nearly 3 hours ago and had yet to hear back from the detective, it was safe to say, she was worried. She had just completed her tenth lap of the living room when her phone rang, she answered it instantly,
"Jane are you okay? Do you need me to come over? Jane why aren't you talking?!" Maura asked frantically,
"well if you let me get a word in…I'm fine Maura I was just sleeping" Jane said before yawning loudly over the phone, Maura felt a little silly,
"oh"
"yes oh, how come you were freaking out so bad?"
"badly… Um well, it's just" Maura stammered,
"come on Maur tell me" Jane encouraged,
"I text you nearly 3 hours ago and you hadn't responded yet..I was just worried" Maura replied nervously,
"awh Maur, I was just sleeping, I'm okay honestly"
"I know that now Jane" Maura snapped,
"jeez I guess i'll see you tomorrow" Jane said slightly hurt with the tone the blonde had taken with her,
"oh i'm sorry Jane, I just feel so silly"
"s'okay Maur, don't think about it, I'd probably already be knockin' on your door if I was in your shoes",
"would you like to come over?" Maura asked, Jane didn't reply for a few seconds,
"yeah sure, I need to drop your car off anyway".
"Jane you should just use the key" Maura said rushing Jane inside from the cold Boston weather, Jane took her boots off, she was dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie, Maura couldn't help but let her mind wonder, Jane just looked so good in sweatpants and a hoodie, 'wait Maura where did those thoughts come from? She's your best fr… Oh I don't know!'
"Uh I gave it back to you after…ya know…that thing" Jane said awkwardly not wanting to bring up the argument,
"oh yes I remember now, well-" she pulled out the key from the draw near the front door and handed it to Jane "-use it anytime Jane, I mean it", Jane took it from Maura and pocketed the key with a small nod,
"so how are you doing?" Jane asked softly, Maura knew instantly what she meant, Jane knew about Jack,
"I'm okay, oh I picked your car up from the robber after you left" Maura said trying to change the topic,
"oh thanks Maur" Maura nodded and they both sat in silence, not knowing what to say,
"how did cleaning your apartment go?" Maura asked finally breaking the silence, Jane's mind flashed back to her break down, when she needed Maura but couldn't bring herself to call the blonde,
"it's sparkly clean, might even live up to your standards of clean" Jane said deflecting slightly,
"how do you feel?"
"I'm good Maur, don't worry about it" Jane said switching on the TV and flicking to a sports channel,
"Jack called" Maura blurted out suddenly, Jane instantly tensed but managed to stay calm,
"what did he want?",
"he..he apologized and said he wanted another chance",
"are you-" Jane gulped "-are you going to give him another chance?"
"no, no way" Maura said strongly, unfortunately Jane didn't believe her instantly, not after last time,
"I-" Jane paused "-I know we've been through a rough patch, and we fought over that bastard-" surprisingly Maura didn't say anything about her use of profanity "-but I..I am here for you, and..and if you need me to do anything, I'll do it, heck I want to go hunt the ass down now, but Maura, anything, come to me, we can't just brush our argument under the rug, but I think we've sorted it out now, I mean we've spoken enough about it, I want to move on, I want you to move on" Jane finished staring at her hands, she looked up when she heard Maura inhale deeply, she followed Maura's eyes to the window and saw Jack, Jack in the flesh walking up to Maura's front door and Jane was up before Maura could try to stop her, she flung the door open,
"need somethin'?" she spat out, startling Jack,
"I'm here to talk to Maura" he stated,
"oh no, you're lucky you're not in prison you sick bastard",
"Maura?" Jack said loudly hoping to bring the doctor out of her house,
"leave, before I arrest you for domestic abuse and harassment" Jane said standing tall and glaring at him,
"how else do you treat your woman? I'm entitled to do whatever I want to her, she's mine" Jack said chuckling darkly, Jane stood there 'is this jerk for real?!',
"you treat her with respect, you show her you love her, that you care for her, that you'll protect her. Maura is not a possession she is a person, a wonderful, amazing, smart, talented and beautiful woman and you-" Jane said poking him square in the chest "-do not deserve her, and you-" she poked him in the chest again "-need to leave", Jack squared his shoulders,
"what do you know you dyke!",
"do you really want to fight me? Do you remember what happened last time? You landed on your ass. This time, I won't be so gentle so leave. Now.",
"Jack leave please" Maura said appearing on Jane's side, she had heard everything Jane had said and felt her heart flutter, the familiar flutter she had felt since she had meant Jane but had suppressed the feeling because she didn't want to ruin the best friendship she'd ever had.
"Don't tell me what to do, I want to talk to you so that's what's going to happen, we're going to talk" Jack said glaring at Maura,
"no Jack, I want you to leave. NOW" Maura said there was no trace of fear in her voice,
"I don't care what you want Maura, we will talk when I say we will".
"Well I care what she wants, LEAVE" Jane said once again stepping in front of Maura, Jack took a swing at Jane but Jane was quicker and grabbed his arm bending it around his back,
"ow what the fuck?! Get off me!" Jack said struggling against Jane's iron grip,
"leave. If you ever, ever go near Maura again, I will have you thrown in prison, god knows there's enough to charge you with-" Jane sneered, Jack muttered something, "-what?" Jane asked pulling his arm up even further,
"I said, you're just a jealous bitch who's pissed that Maura is with me" Jack said yelping when Jane tightened her grip,
"Jane-" Maura said softly, "-let him go-", Jane looked at Maura like she was mad but Maura ignored the look and addressed Jack next "-I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear from you, I don't want you anywhere near me or Jane, I am not with you anymore, I must tell you Jack, that I am not afraid of you anymore, so do not test me because this time I will kick your ass" Maura said sternly, Jane hid her smile and thought 'that's my Maura' the smile wiped off her face when she thought again 'I wish I could call that',
"whatever, you're not worth it anyway, you're a crap lay!" Jack said immaturely, Jane released him from her grip she was surprisingly patient with him Maura on the other hand had had enough, she punched him in the face, a right hook that any boxer would be proud of, but Jane wasn't a boxer yet she was still proud, shocked, yes, but proud. Jack was now sprawled on the ground,
"it's not nice to be hit is it?!" Maura yelled at him, Jane actually had to stop her from kicking him,
"argh! Fuck!" Jack yelled standing up, Jane stood between him and Maura,
"get the fuck outta here!", he glared at her then scampered away, Jane turned to Maura,
"you okay champ?" she asked softly,
"oh no Jane, I can't believe I hit him, oh but it felt so good!" Maura exclaimed clearly at war with her own thoughts, Jane chuckled lightly,
"c'mon Muhammad Ali lets go check the damage on your hand", she gently coaxed the medical examiner into her apartment, Maura was practically bouncing up and down the adrenaline still coursing through her veins, "sit-" Jane instructed whilst moving around to get the medical kit, she tried to inspect Maura's hand but Maura was still bouncing and seemingly dancing to a song that no one could hear, "- Mauuuuuura stop movin'" Jane said trying to hold in her laughter,
"oh i'm sorry Jane but I really want to dance!-" she stood up "-dance with me Jane!" she said pulling Jane up and into her,
"your hand" Jane whispered,
"is just mildly bruised" she said placing her hands on Jane's hips and began moving, Jane had to no choice but to move with her, her arms resting on Maura's shoulders,
"this is beyond weird" Jane said laughing lightly, moving with Maura around her lounge, Maura suddenly tensed ' I guess the adrenaline is gone' Jane thought to herself,
"I punched him..Is…Is he really gone Jane? Is he going to stop…? Is he going to stop hurting me?" Maura asked her voice full of emotion, she looked so vulnerable to Jane,
"I can't promise you that he won't come back, but I will do everything to make you feel safe again Maura, you handled yourself pretty well out there, I don't think he knew you could fight like that, he knows not to mess with you, if he tries I swear that I will shove that giraffe-" she gestured to the tall giraffe statue that Maura refused to throw away "-so far up his ass that it will-"
"OKAY I GOT THE MESSAGE JANE" Maura said loudly stopping Jane from going on, Jane looked at her sheepishly,
"sorry" Jane said detaching herself from Maura's embrace and looking down at her feet,
"don't apologize Jane, but I think I may just put out a restraining order on him" Maura pondered off,
"that's probably a good idea-", Jane looked at Maura's hand, "-uh you have a cut on your hand, c'mon lets get you cleaned up", Jane pushed Maura down onto the couch, before crouching down and grabbing the wipe, she carefully cleaned up the small cut, applied some antiseptic cream and covered it with a plaster, she kissed Maura's palm softly and stood up, Maura looked at her thoughtfully, "what?"
"nothing, nothing…You're different…" Maura said softly, Jane scrunched up her nose,
"different?" she asked,
"yes, different, in a good way", Jane nodded her head still unsure of what Maura was talking about,
"food?" Jane asked changing the subject,
"yes, pizza?" Maura responded taking the subject change in her stride,,
"Maura Isles I thought I'd never see the day when you would suggest Piz-"
"order the pizza Jane!" Maura yelled while heading to her room to change,
"stop interrupting me woman! It's rude!" Jane yelled back, she received laughter in response and she smiled, and genuine smile, it had been a while since she'd smiled like that.
Sorry this took so long, I was a little unsure where to go with it, but I think i'm on the right track…?
Every time I post a chapter I have a mini heart-attack because I never know how you guys are going to respond to it!
Unfortunately we haven't seen the last of Jack (douche does doesn't get the message!),
So let me know what you think, I'm open to suggestions!
Thanks for reading!
RIZZLES FOR THE WIN!
