Jane opened her eyes, instinctively reaching over for Parker. When she saw that her girlfriend wasn't lying beside her, Jane sat up. She looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was near 7 and that she had to start getting ready for work. She quickly showered and got dressed wanting time to catch Parker at the museum if she had already left for work.

"Where in the hell are my keys?" she mumbled to herself as she searched through the several papers and magazines on the coffee table.

"They're in the bowl by the door." Jane looked up at Parker who stood in the kitchen placing several things into her art bag. The blonde hadn't even bothered to turn towards her. Jane slowly walked over to where she stood, abandoning the search for her keys.

"Parker." She whispered reaching out to grab her hand only to have her hand pushed away.

"Don't touch me, please." She demanded calmly and continued to place brushes in the bag.

"I'm sorry." Jane said, desperate to get her to look up at her. "Can we please talk about this?"

Parker stopped moving, and stood there silently with her head still down.

"I can't share you." She finally spoke after some time.

"You don't have to."

"Yes I do. God Jane! You still love her!" Parker screamed looking up finally to reveal that she'd been crying.

"You were hurting last night and instead of coming to me you went to her for comfort." She wiped at her eyes and tried to walk away but Jane grabbed her from behind, and wrapped her arms around her to stop her from leaving. She was desperate now but she couldn't let her leave. She was going to fight for her.

"What do I have to do to prove to you that I want you and only you?" Jane hadn't even noticed she began to tear up until she heard her voice crack with emotion. She quickly wiped away the tears.

Parker, on the other hand, didn't care if Jane saw her cry because she wanted the detective to know how much she was hurting right now.

"There's nothing you can do." She said, wiping away a few tears as she grabbed her bag off the table. She walked to the door and as she prepared to open the door Jane screamed out,

"Marry me!" Parker stopped, slowly turning around to face Jane. She shook her head,

"No." Jane stayed silent. She didn't know how to respond to the rejection and just stood there waiting for Parker to explain.

"Jane, I really didn't question your relationship with Maura because I had no reason to. I'm not envious of how close you are or the fact that you were once married, but by kissing her last night you proved you still have some feelings for her."

"No, I don't. I was drunk and I was crying about the case. She was there." Jane tried to frantically explain.

"Why didn't you come to me?" Parker asked somewhat hurt that Jane didn't trust her enough to come to her in her time of need.

"Because …" Jane sighed, running a hand through her hair. The thought of what happened to Harry was making her emotional all over again but she couldn't cry about that now. "The things I saw yesterday I never want you to experience… I don't want to burden you with the terrible world I see."

"Well I'm a big girl. I know how terrible some people are. You should learn to trust me."

"I am. I'm trusting you with my heart by asking you to marry me." Parker dropped her bag, slowly walking over to where the detective stood.

"Why? Why now?"

"Because I love you."

"That's not a good enough reason. How do I know you aren't only proposing because I'm mad at you?"

Jane chuckled, running her hands through her hair once again.

"If that were the case I would have proposed every time you yelled at me for drinking out of the milk carton." She became silent when she realized that Parker wasn't laughing with her and that she still wore a serious expression. Jane reached out and pulled Parker into her arms.

"I realized last night that going to bed without you in my arms and waking up the same way isn't the way I want to live my life. You fit in my life perfectly and I want you in my life permanently. I love you." Parker was silent, anger still evident on her face before a smile slowly replaced it.

"Yes."

"Yes? You'll marry me?"

"Yes I'll marry you." She shrieked in surprised as she was lifted off the ground and spun around as Jane kissed her. The detective carried her into the bedroom, not breaking the kiss. She could feel Parker smiling against her lips and couldn't help but smile too.

She laid her down gently on the bed, straddling her waist as she leaned down to kiss her once again, but this time more slowly and sensually.

"Wait, what are you doing?" she asked breaking the kiss when she saw Parker reaching over for the phone.

"I'm calling the precinct. You're calling in sick so we can celebrate." Jane sat up, smiling as she forced out a fake cough.

"It must be the cold weather."

Maura walked into the bullpen looking for Jane. Maura's smile faltered a little at the empty desk. She walked over to Frost who was on the phone and waited patiently until he finished his call.

"So what's the real reason she can't come in?"

"Oh just a recent engagement." Parker said trying to stifle a laugh.

Maura sees Frost laugh into the receiver before telling the person on the other end congratulations. He hung up the phone and turned towards Maura.

"Hey, Maura."

"Hey Barry. Have you seen Jane? It's near nine o'clock. She should be here by now."

Frost looks at his phone and smiles. He still couldn't believe what he was just told.

"You didn't hear the good news? Jane proposed this morning."

Maura felt her heart splinter at the thought of Jane marrying Parker. 'I'm too late.' She couldn't let Frost see that it was affecting her so she faked enthusiasm and walked to the elevator to retreat to the safety of her office where she could cry privately.

Frost had to give the doctor some credit; her facial expression didn't change a bit at the news although he knew her heart had shattered. Watching her walk away after thanking him gave him ambivalent feelings towards the news. One, he was really happy for Parker and Jane because he genuinely liked Parker but on the other hand, he knew Maura made a mistake and was paying for it dearly. As he turned back to his computer he hoped that Jane and Maura have time to figure out what is they want before the time comes for Jane to walk down the aisle.

Very short but only because it's a continuation of the last chapter. The next one will be up in a couple of hours.