Author Note: Bit of a shorter chapter but there's just nothing else that can go in this one. One more day left at work on Tuesday, so my brain should be free to think of fics soon.

"Your father would be so ashamed."

Jane sat up with a start, her heart raced inside her chest. She reached out to Maura, but the bed was empty. Fumbling around in the dark, she found her cellphone. It was nearly four in the morning. Her mouth opened involuntarily, and she stretched her arms high above her head.

"I saw you two kissing in the park…I wanted to see you. Now I wish I hadn't bothered."

She shook her head. The last couple of weeks had been so fast paced that Jane had barely had time to breathe. Appointment after appointment had been arranged for Charlie, and in between she worked, slept and spent time with her family.

"Do you want me to stay?" Maura asked a few hours earlier. She wished she said yes. She wished she was there beside her, waiting to calm her fractured nerves. She wished for every night that they said goodbye to not feel quite so painful.

Jane pressed dial on her cell. When she heard Maura's sleepy greeting, she hesitated. It was late and decisions made in the middle of the night were not a good idea. "I'm sorry."

"Jane, what's wrong?" Maura asked, quickly waking up. "What do you have to apologise about?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Jane."

She choked back tears. "I just needed to hear your voice."

"Has something happened? Talk to me."

"Nothing." Jane sighed. "I've been thinking about Ma. I had a bad dream."

"It's okay. I'm here. Tell me about it."

"Everything she said keeps going through my mind. I didn't reply the way I should have. I should have said more. I should have fought harder."

"Do you want to see her again?"

"No." She said it so quickly that she didn't give herself much time to think. Maura stayed silent and doubt crept in. "She's my Ma."

"I know." Maura paused, the silence of the night suffocated the moment. Jane opened her mouth to speak, but Maura continued. "I understand what it's like to want something from someone who should be better."

"Right. Your parents." Jane sighed again, fresh tears blurred her vision. "When I was small I doted on my Pop. He was this big guy who made me feel safe. Frankie and Tommy looked up to him too. Poor Ma, all she really wanted was a daughter to dress up."

Maura scoffed.

"You should have seen the dresses she tried to put me in."

"I'd love to see photos."

"Not possible. I burned them all."

"All of them?!"

"Yeah." Jane lay back against her pillow. "I wasn't an easy teenager. Ma did her best. The older I got the more I realised Pop wasn't that great to her. He was a conservative. He believed a woman should stay home with the kids and he should provide. Dinner on the table every night. Kids bathed and put to bed. He was the fun parent."

The onslaught of tears flowed down her cheeks, building with every second until her pillow was sodden. She rolled into one side, her voice cracked under the strain.

"It's okay to be upset." She longed to reach through to phone to Maura. "He died before you could make peace with any of that."

"I don't wanna be like him," Jane whispered. "I don't wanna be someone who cares more about what's traditional than what is."

Another silence descended over them. Jane listened intently to the sound of her own harried breaths. She couldn't breathe. The tears overwhelmed her.

"Ma deserved better." She wiped her cheeks with the corner of her shirt. "We all did. I just wish Ma could see it. After all these years, why doesn't she understand that his views were toxic?"

A car drove past the house, a shadow moved across the room. Jane cleared her throat. She'd spent too many nights crying over her family, wallowing in what could or should have been.

She shook her head. "Sorry. It's the middle of the night."

"Jane," Maura began, her voice small as it came through the phone.

"Yeah?"

"It's okay."

"Is it?"

"I love you. The last six months...I can't find the words I want to say. It's late. But meeting you was the best thing I've ever done. Your life hasn't been easy, and every day it feels like something else comes up. I'm here for you. Every day. No matter the time. I hope you know."

"I do." She swiped the back of her hand across her cheek. "I love you too."

Silence settled comfortably between them once again. The pain in Jane's heart settled. She wiped her face again and sat up. Decisions made in the middle of the night on a whim were not smart, but she'd had time to ponder, to consider, deciding whether she really wanted it.

"Move in with me."

"Excuse me?"

"Move in with me."

"To your house?"

"Sure. Or your house. Or somewhere new. I don't care." Jane kicked the bedsheets away and climbed out of bed. "This is real. It's the realest it's ever been for me and I think you feel it too."

"I do."

"But?" Jane pushed her shorts down and grabbed a pair of pants.

"There's no buts."

"You hesitated."

"It's late, Jane. I'm half asleep."

She slipped her feet into the legs of the pants. She lost her balance and steadied herself against the bed. "Wait there."

Maura laughed. "Where am I going to go exactly? It's the middle of the night."

"Oh. Yeah." She sat back down on the bed, her pants halfway up her legs. "Is it ridiculous to come over now?"

"What about Charlie?"

"Wouldn't be the first time I've taken him out in the middle of the night." She waited for Maura to speak but all she could hear was her breath on the other end of the line. "You're right. It's a ridiculous idea."

"Come over."

"Yeah?"

"If Alejandro still lived here I'd have been on my way the second you started crying. If you think Charlie will be okay, I want you here. I need you here."

"Okay." She balanced the cell against her shoulder and tugged her pants up over her thighs. "I'll see you soon."

Rushing through the house, Jane lifted Charlie into her arms and carried him to the car. She belted him in and his lolled in sleep. She set off down the main road away from her home. Away from the house that gave her her life back. Everything that happened over the last six months had been because of Maura. She glanced back at Charlie as he slept on the back seat.

A year ago their lives were changed for the worse when the fire ripped through their apartment and every moment that followed up until meeting Maura made everything feel that much harder.

Her vision blurred again. She sniffed back tears and focused on the road ahead.

"Everything's gonna be alright now, Chuck," she said. "I promise."

She pulled up at a stop light. Her heart swelled with every passing second. She could barely contain her emotions. She longed to see Maura, to be with the woman who made her whole again. The lights changed to green and she put her foot on the gas.

The car spun out of control.

Her heart raced even faster. All she could think about was Charlie, and whether he was okay. The window smashed on the driver's side. Tyres skidded.

Then everything went dark.