Maura's house looked exactly how Jane expected it to look. Everything was put away nice and neatly exactly where it belonged. There were walls and walls full of medical books and dictionaries, and other walls with original paintings by famous artists. Jane was surprised at how big the space was. She didn't expect Maura to live in such a lavish place, even though practically every time she saw her she was dressed nicely.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Maura asked Jane, smiling at the look on Jane's face.

"I'll take a beer if you have one."

Maura went into the kitchen and Jane sat down on the couch. She couldn't help but think about the kiss in the car. Maura kissed her back, and she even went in for a second kiss. What did it mean? For all Jane knew, Maura was straight. Jane had heard horror stories from her friends about straight women who used gay women as an experiment. A one-night rendezvous, and then they never heard from them again. Maura didn't strike Jane as that kind of person, but she sure as hell wasn't about to be someone's one-night experiment.

"Sorry, no beer." Maura came into the room holding two glasses of red wine.

Jane almost never drank wine; not unless it was a special occasion. This made Jane's mind start to race. What did Maura want from her?

Maura sat down on the couch next to Jane and started laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" Jane said after taking a sip of her wine.

"Did I dribble or something?"

This made Maura laugh even harder.

"No, you should see the look on your face right now," she said in between hysterics, "You look like a kid waiting in line for his first real roller coaster." Maura continued laughing.

Something about the way she said it and her laughter made Jane stop laughing too. It was contagious.

All of a sudden Jane spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh my god, what is that?" She asked laughing harder and almost spitting out her wine.

"That's Bass," Maura said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You have a turtle?" Jane asked.

"Tortoise!" Maura started telling Jane about how they were very good pets to have and they didn't make any mess.

"You couldn't have had a normal pet? Like a dog.. or a fish?"

"Bass is just as amiable as a dog," Maura answered matter of factly.

"I just didn't expect you to have a turtle."
"Tortoise!" Maura said again.

"Right, tortoise," Jane smirked. She couldn't help but notice how cute Maura got when she was frustrated.

They were sitting on the couch, not facing each other, not talking; just sitting there. There was a certain comfort in the air, but at the same time Jane was uncomfortable. She didn't know what she was doing on Maura's couch, or how she even got there. All she knew was that they kissed, and that scared her.

"What are we doing?" Jane finally asked when her nerves got the best of her.

"Sitting on my couch and drinking wine," Maura raised her eyebrows, "Come on Rizzoli, I thought you were a detective."

Jane gave Maura a look, but she couldn't help but smile.

"No, really," she got more serious, "what are we doing? We just kissed twice, and you like men."

"You have no idea what gender I like. You've never asked."

"Fine, do you like men?" Jane asked sarcastically.

"Usually," Maura replied.

"Oh." She had to look away.

They sat there silently, again. Jane didn't know why she was surprised. Maura looked and acted like the straightest person Jane had ever seen. But because of the connection Jane felt to her, she had to hope. She stood up to leave right before Maura started talking.

"Usually, I like men. I'm attracted to them. But as soon as I met you at the precinct, I felt some sort of connection to you. I can't explain it. I just, want to know you. I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I want to know your secrets and your fears. I can't explain it. That's just how it is."

Jane sat down on the couch again. Hearing that from Maura made her stomach flip over and over, and she could hear her heart pounding all the way in her head.

"But you could only ever be friends with me. I can't give you what you want in a relationship. You're used to men. You are attracted to men. And I am definitely not a man. I cannot let myself get too close to you or my heart will break."

"Whoa, slow down," Maura looked at her, "Why are you so focused on the fact that I like men? Gender doesn't matter to me. If I like you, I like you. I want to get to know you Jane. You are one of the most interesting people I have ever met, and I would really like to keep you in my life."

"Well, okay then." Jane smiled, finishing off her wine.

"And besides," Maura said nudging Jane's leg with hers, "You're gorgeous my friend."

At that, Jane blushed. She was falling hard for Maura and she couldn't seem to stop herself. This woman was everything she wanted, but she knew she had to be careful.

They spent the rest of the night talking about everything and anything they could think of. Maura told Jane about where she grew up, her family, and how she spent most of her teenage years trying to find out who her biological parents were. Jane told Maura about her younger days at the academy, when she realized that she was gay and how she was too scared to tell her mom and dad, her life in New York, and Kate; leaving out most of the details, of course.

Before they knew it, it was 10:30 pm. They had spent five hours talking, neither one of them paying attention to the time.

"It's getting late." Jane said, standing up. She hadn't noticed how much wine she had been drinking until she stood up and felt a little wobbly.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Maura said standing up as well.

Jane yawned. "It's been a long day. I should get home if I'm going to get any work done tomorrow."

"Yeah, I guess you should." Maura could feel all the blood rushing to her head. She walked Jane to the door, handing her jacket over.

"Well, good night then Detective Rizzoli." Maura said smiling, with her back to the door.

"Good night, Maura."

She worked around Maura and opened the door slightly. All of a sudden they were kissing again. Jane didn't know how it happened, but she had a feeling it was the wine giving her the courage to do something she would have never done if she were more sober.

The kiss was not like the kiss they shared in the car. It was more passionate; there was more desire in it. Jane felt warm all over, which made her never want to stop kissing Maura. She had Maura pinned to the door, pretty much forcing it to shut. With that sound, Jane stopped kissing her.

"I have to go home," she said trying to catch her breath and smiling.

"Or, you know, you could stay." Maura slipped out around Jane and started walking to her bedroom.

Right before she got to the door, she looked over her shoulder with a smile on her face.

"You coming?"

Jane stepped away from the door and followed behind Maura. There was no way she could resist.