Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and sorry for posting this chapter a bit late.

Chapter 10:

"Congratulations! How are you feeling?"

Maura cast a glance at Tommy who was sitting next to her and she smiled of happiness. A real – warm and deep – happiness. Everything was making sense as if she finally had found that personal balance she needed to enjoy life to the fullest.

Though she let Tommy answer the journalist's question. Her mind was not in the press room. It was still on the rink, in that lightness of her skating that had earned them the first place after the short dance competition. They hadn't won yet but she and Tommy couldn't have asked for a better start: not only were they ranked #1 after their program but they had broken a world record in the process.

And she partly owed it to Jane. Maura was certain of that.

"What about you, Maura?" Maura looked up as a journalist called her name. "You look like you're on cloud nine. Have you changed something in your routine practice? Unless you've met someone?"

The last question made the whole room laugh innocently. Maura was very quiet about her private life. At no moment in her career had she introduced anyone as her life partner. Even less a woman. She assumed most of people thought that she was straight. It showed through their remarks. Their wrong assumptions made her smile.

"Tommy and I have been working with the best team these past few years so I guess today simply is the result of all this work we've done together. Our efforts are paying off."

Neutral answer to a not so neutral question. And a smile.

It was Maura's way of dealing with the media and what she had been taught since she and Tommy had become professional athletes. Her private life was nobody's business. She wasn't ashamed of it though. She simply wanted to keep it for herself.

"Your coaches also train your rivals. How do you cope with that?"

Maura smiled again. Classic question: she was expecting it right from the start.

...

"Look at your goofy face! You're happy she won, right?"

Against all expectations, Samantha's question made Jane blush which caused the whole hockey team to crack up. Their practice was about to start. Jane had attended Maura's short dance competition – discreetly – but she hadn't had the chance to talk to her afterwards. It was only fair. Jane knew that Maura would be busy with the media all day long now.

"Enjoy it till it lasts! Boston is just at the corner now."

Jane nodded. She didn't smile this time. As a matter of fact, the remark got the effect of a cold shower on her heart.

"Why should Boston put an end to it?"

Jane's question hit the air of the locker room with such fragility that the girls barely heard it. She had said a lot more than what she wanted through that question. She had said it all somehow.

Her curiosity piqued, Stephanie frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Jane shrugged.

"Perhaps it can be more than just a fling."

"Really?!"

Stephanie seemed surprised but Jane couldn't be mad at her for that. It was fair. Jane had never talked about settling down with anyone. Even less with someone she had met a few days earlier only. It was pure madness, something that she didn't control nor could explain.

"Maybe she's the one..."

The words slowly slid on her lips with all the vulnerability that Jane's heart was made of, that vulnerability she never wanted to show anyone. She locked her eyes with Stephanie's. Her friend looked touched. She didn't seem about to make any joke about it.

Jane immensely appreciated it. It was the first time she dared to confess her feelings and she had to admit that it was relieving to do it.

...

The sound of someone coming closer made Maura turn around. A bright smile lit up her face as she saw Jane. The hockey player was standing next to the rink with her arms crossed against her chest. Maura skated towards her playfully.

"I thought that you wouldn't show up... Or that you hadn't got my message."

Jane looked up at the giant clock that overlooked the rink. Maura had told her to meet her at 10.35pm at the rink. It was 10.40pm.

"I'm only five minutes late...?"

"Do you have your skates with you?" As Jane took them out of her bag, Maura nodded and showed her the rink. "Then come over here."

"On the rink?! What about the next practice?"

"I booked the next 30 minutes... And asked for privacy."

This was not something Maura usually did. She was a quiet athlete. She never asked for any favor nor anything. Yet she desperately wanted this.

Surprised and amused, Jane put her skates on before joining her on the rink. Maura looked down at the hockey player's feet. She pouted.

"You don't have the proper skates but I'm afraid it will have to do."

"For what?"

Maura skated to the edge of the rink where she grabbed a remote control. She pressed a button and music instantly filled the empty arena.

"To dance with me."

And without waiting for an answer from Jane, Maura grabbed Jane's hands and she began to skate.

"I'm not an ice dancer."

"Just let me guide you..." Maura laughed as she noticed how focused Jane was on her steps. "Look at me. Look at me, Jane. Look at me straight in the eyes. Trust me."

And let me lead.

Jane did. The moment her dark eyes found Maura's hazel ones, she forgot about her constant fear over what people may think. Something changed in her skating, something that she couldn't describe and that she didn't understand.

The sensations had nothing to do with the one she felt when she played hockey. The heat of Maura's hands on her hips and the grace of her smile brought along something intense and unexpected.

They sped up. Little by little. As the seconds went by.

And they didn't speak because no words were needed. Their attitudes said everything that had to be said: their smiles, the flame in their eyes, the lightness of their skating. The position of their bodies.

That moment was unique and it was theirs only.

They forgot about the passing of time, about the Olympics and whatever was supposed to happen after PyeongChang. They lost themselves in the music, in the speed of their skating and in the balance of their heartbeats.

By the time the thirty minutes that Maura had booked came to an end, they had reached the bench back again and they had put an invisible, necessary distance between the two of them to not get caught by whoever would show up then.

A Canadian ice dance pair came in. Maura greeted them then she left with Jane without explaining Jane's presence in the arena.

And it is only when they both walked into the empty locker rooms to change that they allowed to kiss. Eagerly. Sweetly.

As Jane helped her out of her shirt and began to trace a path of kisses down her neck, Maura closed her eyes and she smiled of happiness. Yes: she was happy and it was thanks to Jane.