Back at work the next day, Jane had nothing but the night before on her mind. She was terrified. If word got out that she and Maura did the big nasty, Jane would be the laughing stock of the bullpen. Practically ripping her chair out from under her desk she sat down and rolled back towards the desk. Placing her elbows on the desk, she put her hands up to her face and rubbed just above her brows with her fingers. Reputation reputation reputation. That was the only word pounding through Rizzoli's head.
Jane hated being so distant from the woman she had just made love to. Swallowing hard she got up from her desk and attempted to go down to the morgue and grab Maura for lunch but stopped one quarter of the way there and just left without her. The only thing she would want to do is make out with the gorgeous ME. Jane couldn't risk getting caught.
Maura had no regrets of the night before, but she was scared that Jane did. She kept her distance that afternoon at the office. When she finished the report Jane needed, she ran into Frost half way up and had him take it to her, when she needed anything from the Police End she would ask Frost or Korsak before asking Jane. This was exactly what Maura had been trying to avoid, she had wanted them to be okay but she just had a weird feeling that Jane was anything but okay.
Once Jane came back she worked nonstop until she only had thirty minutes left to go.
Finally when she finished her second report for the day for the other case they had been working on, she took it upstairs herself. "Jane," she put her hand on Jane's shoulder softly to alert the woman of her presence. "I just wanted to make sure you got this before the end of the day." She smiled sweetly, locking eyes with the detective.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder and hearing Maura's voice, the detective spun in her chair slowly and reclined it back to get the doctor's hand off discretely. "Thanks." She looked into her eyes but only for a brief second before she smiled slightly then looked away.
Maura sighed, seeing Jane turn away quickly. She said nothing after that and left the room as quickly as she'd come in. She went to her office, gathered her things and decided it was best to just leave. When she got home that night, she cracked a bottle of wine and ate the food that she and Jane never got to eat the previous night.
She sighed, "Oh Bass..." she looked down at her tortoise. "How could I have been so stupid? I'm going to lose her..."
Jane hated practically giving Maura the cold shoulder. She didn't deserve it at all. The blond was such a wonderful friend and now Jane was sure she was going to loose her best friend.
Once she got home, Jane went straight for the fridge and grabbed a beer. Sitting down on her lonely couch she sighed heavily and drank the night away.
The next morning Maura didn't go to work, she called out, not feeling well. She had drank far too much wine the night before, drinking her sorrows away.
The next morning, they got a body at the end of Maura's street. Frost called Jane. "Meet us at Tescadero and 45th Street." He told his partner, waiting for her response when it clicked that it was the same street as Dr. Isles' house
"Yeah...I'll be there." She had barely spoken to Maura since the night they shared. Jane drove to the street Maura lived on and helped process the scene. It was a woman that was drug out of her house in her night gown, beaten until she was dead. The girl was only a few houses down from Maura. That was what scared Jane the most.
Maura came to the scene not long after Jane, she didn't even look at Jane for fear of upsetting the detective or seeing the fear and pain in her eyes that she had seen the other day. They were both a complete mess and Maura didn't know how to fix it.
When she examined the body, she looked at Frost and Korsak since Jane was behind her. "The victim shows signs of strangulation. There is poetical hemorrhaging and strangulation marks. I will no more when I get back to the lab."
Jane followed Maura to the lab and watched silently for as long as she could. "Maura, this killing was too close to you." She said softly as she still looked down at the body. "I..want you to stay with me until we find this guy."
Maura spun around to look at the detective. "No, Jane, thank you but I will be perfectly fine. I won't impose on you. There's nothing to worry about."
Jane shook her head. "I've been acting like a jerk, Maura. I want you to stay with me until we catch this guy. Please."
Maura raised an eyebrow. "Really Jane, I'll be okay. I can handle it."
"Handle what, Maura. The threat of a killer on your street or me being a jerk to my best friend?"
Maura raised an eyebrow. "Well, both now that you mention it. but more specifically I'm quite capable of taking care of myself and I don't want to make things harder for you."
Jane moved closer to Maura and took her hands, gently pulling off her gloves. Holding the doctor's soft hands in her own rough ones, Jane looked into her eyes. "Maura..I'm scared okay. I'm afraid of what they may say and how hard they'll laugh at me. And the words that would come out of their mouths. I knew it. I knew she was gay. But I'm also afraid of loosing you. Loosing my best friend. That I can't deal with. So please, come to my place and stay until we catch the killer...so we can work on our situation."
Maura looked away, tears threatening to flood her eyes. "Fine Jane... fine... I'll stay." She sighed, hating that she caved to Jane's begging. She wanted to keep her distance because she felt like it was better for Jane. "Don't you think I'm afraid of all that too? Don't you think I wonder what will happen to us when it gets out? But I'm willing to take the chance Jane because I want to be with you... you are what makes me happy."
Jane nodded her head. "You make me happy too." She took a deep breath and kissed her hands. "Lets go to dinner tonight before we get to my place."
Maura raised her eyebrow. "In public? you wanna be seen in public with me?" Maura smiled when Jane kissed her hands, Maura pulled her closer and hugged her. "Thank you, for taking care of me."
Jane didn't realize how Maura would appreciate what she said. "It's just dinner but yeah, I wanna be seen in public with you. Are are my BFF after all." She smiled and hugged her back. "I lo..You're welcome."
Maura wasn't oblivious to Jane's near slip of the 'L' word and it made her smile. "Yes Jane, I am your BFF as you call it but things are a little different between us now." she blushed, looking into Jane's eyes. "at least, I hope that they're different."
Jane smiled and nodded her head. "It is different." Looking around them she smirked then moved in for a kiss. "'l'll see you tonight." She then walked out of the morgue and back up to her desk.
Maura smiled. She went back to work for a while but she couldn't get Jane off her mind. She texted her while she sat at her desk. "were you worried this morning when you heard about Abby Nichols dying?"
Jane looked down at her cell and sighed softly. "Yes I was. It was too close to you for comfort.""
Maura didn't like that Jane had been upset but it brought a smile to her face, knowing the Detective was truly worried about her. "Jane, it will take more than some killer on my street to take me away from you. We still have so much to do and say to one another. I'm not leaving you yet. :) I'm ready to go when you are. My paper work is done."
Jane smiled at the reply. "Good b/c Im not ready to let u go. Im done with everythin as well. B down there soon."
Maura smiled and sat on the edge of the autopsy table waiting. She thought about the idea of living with Jane even on a temporary basis and it brought a smile to her face. She was falling in love with the detective and nothing could change that now.
Jane came through the doors of the autopsy lab and looked at the gorgeous ME. "Hey, sexy." She smirked as she waited for Maura to grab her stuff and saunter towards her like she always did.
Maura smiled, taking Jane's arm as she grabbed her purse and her jacket. "Hey baby." she said simply as she rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "Ready to go?"
Jane looked down at her and smirked. "Baby? Well that's new." She kissed the top of her head. "Yeah, I'm ready. C'mon."
Maura smiled. "Well is baby okay? I wouldn't want to upset you. I just didn't want to say the same thing as you. I like to be different especially when describing you." Maura went off into her usual google banter when she was nervous. She smiled at the Detective. "Lead the way."
Jane smiled. "Baby is fine. I like it." Jane then led Maura out to her car and opened the passenger door for her, then got in herself. She took off towards a nicer restaurant then parked in front of the building with a smirk on her face. "This is the best Italian place in Boston. Well, except for Ma's."
Maura couldn't help but smile when Jane approved of the pet name she had chosen. Things were progressing quite nicely for the developing couple. When Jane pulled up in front of the best Italian restaurant, Maura smiled. "Wow, Jane... this is nice. Doesn't seem like your style. I'd have been fine with the Robber if you're more comfortable." She smiled at the detective again, knowing that she hated fancy places.
