A/N - For future reference, Maura IV is a gift discussed in my oneshot "Wish Upon A Star". If you haven't read that story, I suggest you run off and do it before the final chapters come out.

Inside her walk-in closet, Maura sat waiting for Jane to arrive. Her plan was going well so far. After forcing the store to let her in and breaking every speed limit in her Aston to get home, Maura had called Jane to tell her to come by, hoping Jane wouldn't let her call go to voicemail. Maura had been surprised to hear the other woman pick up and even more shocked to hear her agree to come by.

For a brief couple of minutes, Maura reflected with a smile, everything had been like it used to be. Just hearing Jane's sultry voice replicated over the cell-phone connection had been enough to ease her heartache. But talking to Jane made the potential pain of being turned down that much worse. Instead of feeling comforted that her plan was running smoothly, Maura knew that everything hinged on Jane at this point; nothing she did would have any effect unless Jane wanted to talk and, more importantly, listen.

Sighing, her eyes appraised the dwindling section of the closet she had given Jane when the brunette started spending nearly every waking moment at Maura's house instead of her own apartment. Compared to her carefully maintained and catalogued section of the closet, Jane's side was…uniquely hers. There was hardly any rhyme or reason to the way Jane shoved t-shirts next to suit jackets except that every piece was wrinkled. No matter how many times Maura advised Jane about the importance of maintaining one's appearance, the brunette insisted on doing things her own way. Jane and I are so individualistic. We're so used to flying solo in our own lives that we don't think about what the other needs… I've told her that I love her, but I never once considered that she may need to know how important she is to me. No wonder Jane had so many insecurities regarding our relationship.

The soothing melody of Smashing Pumpkins' "1979" – yet another musical choice from Jane's collection – flowed through her ears and provided a brief salve to the ever increasing pain in her heart.

"Why didn't I see how much you were hurting?" she asked in a whisper, leaning against Jane's clothes, taking in the woodsy remnants of her perfume. "I'm so miserable without you, Jane…" Maura released a sob as the tears came down yet again. "I need you. Please…come back. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

Unexpectedly, the familiar sound of her doorbell being pushed repeatedly took Maura's attention away from her pity party. Wiping away the tears, she walked briskly toward her front door with a beaming smile before opening the door to reveal the expectant look of her girlfriend. She looks so good.

Maura cleared her suddenly dry throat. "Jane…would you like to come in?"

"I can't," Jane replied, brown eyes flitting from Maura's welcoming gaze. "I just got off work and Ma' is watching Jo for me. Both of them will go crazy if I keep them waiting for too long."

"Oh come on," Maura pleaded with a bright smile, hoping she didn't look as desperate as she sounded. "I'm sure they won't mind a couple of minutes." She opened the door wider, allowing the sounds of Beck's "Timebomb" to echo softly out. "I know how much you love…what is it called? Becker? Come inside for a little bit. Please?"

With a reluctant sigh Jane cautiously walked into Maura's bright home. "It's Beck by the way. Not Becker. Becker is an old TV show," she said. "Do you mind if I call my mom to tell her I'm going to be a little late? Oh my god, did I just say that? I sound like I'm fifteen again…"

"No, it's alright. I need to get something really quick anyway."

Maura left for a brief interlude to grab Jane's dress from the closet. When she came back Jane was preparing to sit down on her couch with a bag of organic potato chips and a bottle of water while taking to her mother about Jo Friday.

Smiling to herself, Maura set the dress down on the kitchen counter and joined her friend on the couch, grabbing the bag of potato chips from Jane's hands.

"Hey!" the brunette mouthed angrily before turning her attention back to her mother. "Ma', please, stop arguing and watch Jo for the night. Okay? Thank you. Love you. Bye."

Jane threw her cell on the coffee table and turned back to the blonde eating her chips. "What are you doing? Those are my chips. You don't even like that flavor."

In response to her pouting, Maura returned the bag of chips. "Ketchup flavored chips aren't all that bad. Opening a bag of them and eating a fluffernutter sandwich always reminds me of you."

The sadness in her voice was unmistakable as Maura pleaded with her body to keep the tears at bay. It was embarrassing to be so emotional all of the time, especially when the cause of all of that emotion was sitting across from her with a world-class poker face. Sitting next to the emotional rock that was Jane made her feel like a blubbering bowl of banana pudding.

"Eating coq au vin always reminds me of you," Jane said reassuringly before releasing a chuckle from her lungs. "I even tried to make it at my apartment last week. I thought maybe it would help with missing you so much but…it didn't quite work. I had to call the fire department."

"If you miss me so much, why don't you come home?" Maura whispered, hazel eyes demanding Jane's attention.

"You hurt me, Maura. You cheated on me. With a man."

"Jane…talking to you is like talking to a child. I can't make myself more clear that I didn't cheat on you. With Elias or anyone else for that matter," she exclaimed exasperatedly. "But you know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what could have happened. I'm sorry for what did happen. If my apology isn't good enough, fine. If you think putting me through this level of pain is necessary then I'll endure but…just because you're hurt doesn't mean we have to exist on different planets. You're my best friend. Having you in my life means everything to me." Maura choked back a sob as the tears finally fell upon her cheeks. "I need you in my life. You're my best friend, my soul mate, the only person in my life that has never judged me. Ever since I was a child…I've looked for someone like you, someone that gave me a sense of belonging. Now that I've found it… Listen, Jane, if you want to break up with me because of Eric Weiss or what I did with Elias, fine. But please don't leave me. Please…," She pointed at the open window with a shaking finger. "You promised me. When you bought me Maura IV…you promised me you'd never leave me. I love you, Jane. I could never want anyone else but you."

Surprised at Maura's passionate speech, Jane grabbed a tissue for the crying blonde. "Stop, stop, you're going to make me cry."

"Tell me you aren't going to leave me."

Jane took Maura up in an embrace. "How could I leave you? I nearly lost you once, remember? Well…actually more like twice if we're counting the first Elias Incident. Regardless, you and I are sticking together for a long time. I don't think I can match you with all of that romantic fluff, sweetheart, but you make me happy like no one else can."

"Then why haven't you come home?" Maura sobbed against Jane's neck, clutching the brunette like a lifeline. "If you're still mad at me then fine. I can accept that. But I swear…if you're having sex with Eric I'm going to…tell Angela where our sex toy drawer is."

Jane's mouth dropped. "Don't even joke that. The woman is like Bloody Mary. Just saying her name three times makes her appear. But seriously what is with you and Eric?"

Moving from Jane's arms, Maura pouted sadly. "Frankie told me about him coming back."

"Frankie…" Jane growled in frustration. "Eric came to BPD two weeks ago to pick up a residential parking pass and he bumped into my mom. His license to practice law in Massachusetts is being reinstated with the bar. Nothing more, nothing less. But seriously, I can't believe you'd think I'd sleep with Eric over you. I'd have to be drunk, high, and roofied to even consider the idea. Eugh," she groaned exaggeratedly, making a funny face.

Maura furrowed her eyebrows. "How can you say that? You were going to marry him. Obviously things were pretty serious."

"Yeah, like a decade ago. That's a lifetime to a cop." Jane sighed. "Being engaged to Eric was…a mistake. I was in my twenties, working in the drug unit, spending most of my time undercover…the last thing I needed was a marriage. I wanted security and he wanted to offer it. Honestly, the only reason we were engaged was because of my mother and her need to play matchmaker." A booming laugh broke from her lips as a memory came back. "I swear on my aunt's grave every time we went somewhere with my ma' in tow, you could see her mentally singing the matchmaker song from 'Fiddler on the Roof.' It was beyond embarrassing."

"I can imagine," Maura muttered, noticing Jane's attention moving away from the conversation and onto her. At first she squirmed uncomfortably under the attention but quickly relaxed as Jane's darkened eyes met her own. With one look, silent questions were asked, answers were given.

"I'm still mad at you about everything," Jane whispered softly, kissing the few remaining tears away from Maura's face.

"I know," Maura breathed softly, playing with the web of brown tendrils of Jane's hair. "But you can be mad later."

With a cumulative growl of relief their lips met passionately in a long-awaited reunion. A sigh broke from Maura's lips as all of the miserable tension from the last two weeks faded into a more pleasurable wave of energy eagerly building throughout her body.

Maura struggled to restrain the cry that managed to work itself from her lungs as Jane descended from her tear-stained face to more tantalizing areas waiting to be rediscovered after two weeks of absence. But knowing that Angela was no longer a potential interloper to their actions, Maura stopped trying to hold back the screams, groans, and moans that were bubbling up in her throat with each knowledgeable nip made against her neck.

As their kiss extended Maura felt Jane's playful hands starting to slowly unbutton her black pajama top, excitedly groping the firm porcelain flesh she found with each button released. Each movement was careful, deliberate, as if the other woman was teasing herself with each new piece of skin revealed.

It had been far too long since their last encounter. Each touch ignited a flame into the full-blown inferno that seemed unperturbed by their time apart. Another loud groan erupted from Maura's lips as the flame continued to build, burning away the sadness, replaced with the ashes of ecstasy. Never had she wanted something so eagerly.

"Jane…you're awfully…eager," she panted, leaning back against the sofa and taking Jane down with her.

With the room their new position offered, Maura soon found herself on display for the passionate woman on top of her. The cool draft played havoc against her exposed skin but Maura kept her eyes trained on Jane's blackened eyes.

"Jane?"

"Hmm?"

"I want you. I want this. But promise me something."

Maura's opened top shifted slightly to reveal her beautifully proportioned breasts which, unsurprisingly, quickly grabbed Jane's full focus. She knew how much Jane got off on her breasts. The taller woman was practically drooling, her eyes glazed over, hands twitching in excitement as she debated which delectable globe of soft flesh she would savor first.

Poking Jane in her exposed navel, – one of her few ticklish areas – Maura smiled at her girlfriend's strangled attempt at a laugh. "Promise me you won't do a fuck-and-run," she whispered, playing with the long loose curls of Jane's hair.

"Yeah…ok," Jane growled. "God, Maura, I've missed you so much."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Promise, Jane."

Sighing, Jane reluctantly moved her dark eyes away from Maura's breasts. "I promise you, Maura Isles, that I, Jane Rizzoli, will not do a fuck-and-run and will stay with my girlfriend to give her adequate time to have post-sex cuddle-time and or conversation. Is that good enough?"

"Stop being such a smarty-pants."Maura grabbed a pillow and threw it at the smirking brunette. "Let's move this to a more comfortable spot. I'm getting far too old to be having athletic sex on a couch."

-!-

With a groan of exhaustion, Jane rolled off of her equally exhausted girlfriend, licking the tangy sweetness from her swollen lips.

"I see why you wanted to move to the bed," she muttered, turning to face Maura with a wan smile. "You needed room to work your magic."

Maura giggled, stretching lazily. "Magic is just an illusion. What we just did was certainly not an illusion."

"Trust me, I know. My whole body is on fire," Jane whispered reverently. "I'm pretty sure that last thing you did with your tongue is illegal in several states. It felt like you were trying to eat me alive."

"You didn't seem to mind."

"No," she muttered, staring at the long expanse of her lover with an amused smile. "I sure as hell didn't."

Silence took hold over the two women as they both sat with their own individual thoughts. As Maura's eyes wandered over Jane's prone body she saw the same level of relaxation that she felt reflected back at her.

"I picked up our dresses for the party," Maura stated.

In response, Jane sighed heavily, lifting herself up from the bed.

"If you don't want to go, given everything, I'd understand." Taking Jane's hand, Maura struggled to keep the building hurt from her voice. "I can always go by myself."

Jane shook her head in confusion. "What? Are you kidding me? No, no, no. Unless I misunderstood your little speech earlier, we're still together. Which means you and me are going to that party. Unless…you don't want to go."

"No."

Jane's eyebrows raised and Maura frowned, quickly clarifying her previous statement, "Not no that I don't want to go. I meant no about not wanting to go. Telling everyone that we're in a relationship would be stressful even at the best of times. And we aren't exactly in the best form after…everything." Maura lifted herself up, embracing Jane's slim frame. "We need time to work on us. The last thing we need is to put undue stress on our relationship for something that can be easily rescheduled. Jane…you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"You're so cute when you worry. Your face gets all squinty like you just ate a lemon," Jane purred, pushing the golden brown waves from Maura's upturned face. "Honey, don't worry about me. I'm a homicide detective. I live off stress. It's like my fertilizer." Her eyes narrowed in seriousness. "Please, let me do this. I love you. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has changed that. I just… I want…to show everyone that you're mine and I'm yours. Don't worry."

Maura moved back from Jane's embrace with a coy smile. "Sounds like you have something big planned. Should I be worried?"

"Hardly," Jane grinned in a mysterious way, clearly thinking hard about something known only to her. "Being away from you for two weeks gave me some time to think about what's important," she leaned back against the pillows, taking Maura with her. "Now, do you think we can have cuddle-time? I really missed cuddling with you these last two weeks. I've been an absolute wreck without you."

"Trust me I know." Maura laughed. She happily entered Jane's waiting embrace with a bright smile. "But can I ask a favor?"

"Anything," she replied back in a sleepy mumble, grasping the blonde possessively.

"Could you tell your mother to stop making me pancakes shaped like cats and rainbows? It's really odd…"

Jane's eyes closed, holding Maura close after pulling the covers over their exhausted bodies.

"That's my ma' for you. Weird, loud, nosy…the list goes on. Funny, though. She's been doing the same thing to me. I wonder…" Jane whispered just as sleep took hold over the two women.