A week had passed since the last time Jane and Maura had seen each other and Maura was experiencing what her friends called Jane withdrawals. During their days apart, she had begun wearing Jane's beanie and a hooded sweatshirt that Jane had left at her dorm the last time they saw each other, but it still didn't compare to having Jane's arms wrapped around her. They talked on the phone whenever they could, but with midterms and Jane's work schedule, even their phone conversations were few and far in between. Still, Jane was in her heart and in her thoughts and she was counting the days until she could see her again.

While seated at the dining hall before class, Roxie and Markie were starting to take notice of some changes in Maura. Their once fashionable friend was now wearing Jane's hooded sweatshirt, Jane's beanie, some black tights under her denim shorts, and an oversized band t-shirt that they assumed had once belonged to Jane. Instead of talking to them, she was writing in a notebook that she refused to let them read. When she began singing a Nirvana song under her breath, it was the final straw for Markie and Roxie.

"Who are you and what have you done with Maura Isles?" Markie asked. She pulled the beanie off of Maura's head to reveal messy hair underneath. "I know my best friend is in here somewhere."

"And what's this notebook all about?" Roxie asked. Before Maura could stop her, Roxie grabbed the notebook and started to read it aloud to Markie and Maura. "All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here in my arms."

"Those are Depeche Mode lyrics," Markie pointed out.

"There's like no order to this notebook," Roxie said as she flipped through the pages. "There's scribbling and doodling and words everywhere. Aww, but listen to this. Five things I like about Maura—"

Maura snatched the notebook from Roxie. "That's private!"

"Maura, chill," Markie told her.

"Yeah, like don't spazz," Roxie added.

"Nobody other than Jane and myself can read what's inside that notebook," Maura informed them. "We use it to write notes to each other or lyrics from songs that are special to us. Sometimes we use it to write things we're too shy to say aloud."

"It's pretty lame," Roxie said nonchalantly. "Except for your poem entitled 'Ode To Jane's Va—"

Roxie was interrupted by Maura's hand covering her mouth. "You weren't supposed to read that. That's only for Jane."

"Maura, you wrote something that perverted?" Markie asked. "I'm impressed."

"It wasn't meant to be perverted," Maura pointed out. "The title is misleading. Jane was helping me with my analytical writing after that D I was given on my essay and, to unwind, we started writing poems about our first time together. They're all poorly written and make absolutely no sense, but they're special to us and, I'll repeat, private."

"What's with the big yellow star on one of the pages?" Roxie asked.

Maura held out her wrist and slightly rolled one of her sleeves up to reveal a bracelet with threads that were starting too look tattered. "Jane gave me this wish bracelet on our first date. It was the first time I had ever wished for anything and, when I told her that, she said we had to make up for lost time, so we spent the rest of the evening looking up at the stars and making wishes while she held me close to her. She drew that yellow star in this notebook two weeks ago and I drew one for her that she now has hanging in her room. These are our wishing stars and, every time we're apart, we look at our stars and wish for a chance to be together soon."

Maura knew her friends weren't going to be envious of what she had with Jane, but what she didn't expect was for Markie to shake her head and for Roxie to spit out her toast into a napkin.

"I think I just vomited," Roxie announced. "That's like so cheesy, Maura, and like so creep-o."

"Creep-o?" Maura asked. "How is that creep-o?"

"You two are obsessed with each other and have your own little Jane and Maura world," Markie pointed. "You're my best friend, Maura, and I just don't want you to get hurt. She hasn't even asked you to be her girlfriend yet, Maura."

"Mark hasn't asked you either," Maura said defensively.

"Mark and I aren't obsessed with each other, though," Markie pointed out. "We really like each other, but we're just casual. My world doesn't revolve around him and his doesn't revolve around me. You have a girl and that's cool, but don't lose yourself because if she hurts you you'll be lost, Maura, and you won't even know how to find your way back to the girl you once were."

"I won't lose myself," Maura promised. "Thank you for caring so much about me. Nobody besides Jane has ever been so concerned with my well-being."

"Anytime, froom," Markie said to add some levity to the situation.

"I think this calls for a group hug," Roxie added. When her friends stared at her, Roxie immediately changed her tone. "Fine, I didn't want to hug either of you anyway. Screw you guys. If Stash were here, she'd hug me."

"Where is she?" Maura asked.

"She's studying in the library," Roxie pointed out. "She has a history midterm this morning, but my poor girl is exhausted."

Markie gave her a confused look. "Your girl?"

"Yeah, we totally had sex last night," Roxie said a few decibels louder than she should have, but since most of the freshman were used to hearing such statements from her, she hardly drew any attention. "It was so beautiful. I think I'm in love with her, you guys."

"Does she feel the same way about you?" Maura asked.

"I don't know," Roxie shrugged. "But she will. I mean, look at me, I'm so cute. How could she not fall in love with me?"

"Stash doesn't even like girls," Markie pointed out. "Roxie, you don't even like girls. You're having an affair with your professor. You've been passed around frat houses. You hook up with a different football player before each game and call it school spirit. How? What? Ugh, I don't even know what I'm saying."

"How did this happen?" Maura asked since her best friend couldn't form any questions.

"We were like drunk last night," Roxie responded. "So, I don't know exactly how it happened, but it was still beautiful. Plus, she tastes amazing. I didn't know girl cum could taste so good. I want it all the time now. I think I'm going to be a girl cum guzzler. Is that how you are with Jane?"

Maura looked down in hopes of avoiding any follow up questions. "Jane and I have never had oral sex."

"What?" Roxie asked in disbelief. "Then, like what have you done?"

They were the questions Maura had been dreading, but she knew there was no way of getting out of them. "We've agreed to hold off on oral sex and penetration until we're officially a couple. Neither of us are ready, but that doesn't mean making love to each other is any less passionate."

"I know I sound like a broken record, but what do you do?" Roxie repeated.

"Manual stimulation without penetration," Maura said nonchalantly.

"So you like rub each other's clits?" Roxie asked in disbelief. "That's it?"

"Tribadism is also very enjoyable and very intimate," Maura pointed out. "That's our favorite sexual activity."

"I'll have to try that with Stash," Roxie said excitedly. "I need new ways to blow her mind. Before the semester is over, she's going to be worshipping me. But, like, I just realized something. I've gone down on a girl and Maura hasn't. That means I'm more of a lesbian than Maura!"

"That means this conversation is over," Markie announced. "How dare you compare a drunken hook up to the love and intimacy between Jane and Maura. You can't just hook up with a girl and call yourself a lesbian, Roxie. That kind of trivializes actual lesbian relationships. Jane and Maura aren't just playing with each other to get off. They really care about each other."

"I care about Stash," Roxie said defensively.

"You care about sex," Markie told her. "And this is just a new way of getting it. You can say you're bisexual or you just want to experiment and I'll accept that, but don't start trivializing Maura's feelings and the intimacy she has with Jane."

Without saying another word to them, Roxie grabbed her tray and left. Markie hadn't wanted to upset her, but she knew someone had to get the message through to her. Neither Markie nor Maura knew what to say to each other after Roxie had left, so they decided to return to their room so Maura could grab her backpack before class.

"Was I too hard on her?" Markie asked. "I just felt like she was making fun of you and I hate when she does that. You and I know what's it like to be made fun of and to be the outsider for so many different reasons. When you were made fun of in high school and junior high, was it by girls like her?"

"Yes," Maura admitted, although she was trying to forget about her entire adolescent existence.

"She was captain of the varsity cheerleading squad, she was Homecoming Queen, and voted Most Desirable," Markie recited. "She's like Susie High School and sometimes I think she still hasn't left those years. Roxie thinks the whole world revolves around her and everyone loves her."

"But she's our friend," Maura pointed out. "I don't understand why you're saying these things about her."

"You really do understand dead people more than live ones," Markie quipped. "You're such a gem, Maura. I'm glad we're frooms."

Jane stood outside the door to Maura's dorm room, playing with the hem of her t-shirt. She had gone to room 804B with a purpose, but the more she thought about her purpose the more nervous she became. She knew Maura was in class, which is why she had chosen that particular moment to go to Maura's room. Seeing Maura later would be a plus, but her intentions were to see Markie and ask her what just might be the third most important questions she will ever ask anyone; the second being, according to Jane, asking Maura to be her girlfriend and the first being asking Maura to marry her, but she was years away from the most important question, which eased her mind somewhat and helped her focus on the third and second most important questions.

After a couple of minutes of deliberating, Jane finally worked up the nerve to knock on the door.

"Jane, what's up?" Markie asked after she had let her in. "Maura won't be back for a couple of hours, but you can chill in here until then."

"I didn't come here to see Maura," Jane said nervously. "Well, I did, but that's not the only reason. I came here because I wanted to ask you a question."

"Have a seat," Markie insisted. When Jane sat on Maura's bed, the very place where she had spent so many hours holding Maura and making love to her, she was immediately put at ease.

"I know how old-fashioned this seems, but since I can't ask Maura's mom for permission, I wanted to ask you," Jane began. "It's probably better that I ask you, anyway, because you know Maura better than her mom does."

"C'mon, Jane, spit it out," Markie urged her. "You knocked her up, didn't you? You knocked up my best friend. Damn it, Jane. I knew it was only a matter of time. Now I insist that you marry Maura and make an honest woman out of her."

"That's exactly what I did," Jane quipped. "Maura is with child and now I must ask for her hand in marriage."

Markie shook her head. "You're such an asshole, Jane, which is why I love you."

"Thanks, I think," Jane said hesitantly. "I love you, too, and I'm hoping you'll give me permission to—"

"To what?" Markie interrupted. "Jane, I hate the suspense here."

"I'm hoping you'll give me permission to ask Maura to be my girlfriend," Jane said quickly.

"Permission granted," Markie told her. "Under one condition."

"What?" Jane asked.

"Never and I mean never break her heart," Markie demanded. "You're her world, Jane, and I don't want her world to come crashing down around her."

Jane had suddenly become shy. "I'm her world?"

"Yes!"

"She's my world, too," Jane admitted. "Maura is the best thing to ever happen to me, which is why I want her to be my girlfriend."

"Good," Markie told her. "Oh and I hope you're not also asking her to be your girlfriend so she could go down on you. Maura told us all about how you two are saving that until you're a couple."

"She told you," Jane groaned. "Maura!"

"Well, now you can really rock her world," Markie teased. "How are you going to ask her? And when?"

The blush returned to Jane's cheeks. "This weekend, but I can't tell you how. I have something special planned for her. Maura is used to people giving her material things, but I want to give her experiences, the kind that make her feel special."

"Jane?"

"Yeah?" Jane asked, still worried that Markie would change her mind about granting her permission.

"I'm glad Maura has you."

"I'm glad Maura has you," Jane told her. "She deserves a best friend."

"And a girlfriend," Markie added. "And I don't think anyone in this world could be a better girlfriend for her than you'll be."

Jane waited in Maura's dorm room in hopes of seeing her even for a few minutes before she had to leave for work. She had requested the entire Saturday off to spend with Maura and, although, there were still four days left she was going to start preparing everything for the moment she'd ask Maura to be her girlfriend.