When Jane pulled into the driveway of her girlfriend's house, she was surprised to see Maura sitting outside. She wasn't reading or listening to music. Instead, Maura was sitting on the porch steps with her head in her hands and staring at the ground until she heard the sound of Jane's car.

"Jane!"

Maura immediately perked up, which made Jane start to smile. Jane enjoyed seeing her girlfriend happy, but she couldn't help but wonder how short-lived her happiness was going to be once Maura found out about her encounter with Dana.

Just be honest with her.

And she had every intention of being honest with her, but her girlfriend looked genuinely happy. Moments of happiness were few and far in between for Maura and Jane had no desire to take away what little happiness her girlfriend had.

Jane momentarily debated whether she should approach Maura or if she should let Maura approach her, but before she could make a decision she noticed Maura start to run to her. She's acting like herself again.

"Jane!"

"I had to see you again," Jane smiled.

They were leaning against her car, with Maura being held so securely in front of Jane. It wasn't the first time she had held Maura but it was the first time she held her as if Maura's life depended on it. Maura was safe as long as she was with her, or so Jane wanted to believe. Her friends and maybe even fashion magazines made her believe she was flawed, but all Jane could see was perfection whenever she looked at Maura.

I wish I could be with her every second of the day, Jane thought while placing a kiss on Maura's forehead. I want to counteract every negative thought she has about herself and every negative word she hears.

"Dana called me," Maura said, breaking the silence between them.

"Oh?" Jane asked in an attempt at playing clueless. "What did she say?"

"She had a hot chocolate when she went shopping with her mom."

"And?"

Maura bit her lip. "And she saw you. She's so upset, Jane, but not with you. She's upset with herself for being weak. I tried to tell her that she isn't weak and sometimes we have to eat even if we don't want to because it's best that our parents don't find out. She called me from a pay phone because she knew you were going to come over here and she wanted to talk to me before you did. We're not having a sleepover after all, but I understand why."

"And you're not upset with me?"

"We're holding onto each other in my driveway," Maura reminded her. "I ran over to you. Does it seem like I'm upset with you?"

The breeze blew one of Jane's curls over her face, which Maura promptly tried to move, but for every attempt she made the curls would return to their spot over Jane's left eye.

"It's like a pig's tail," Jane said as she played with her curls. She'd pull a few strands until they were straight and then let them spring back, making her girlfriend giggle each time.

"Jane?"

She noticed her girlfriend's giggling had ceased. Jane had wanted to do something to make her smile, but she decided it was best to be serious. Instead of trying to make her smile, Jane held Maura as close as she could. "What did you want to say?"

"Nothing," Maura shook her head.

Jane wiped the tears that were streaming down Maura's cheeks. "I know you have something to say. You can tell me anything when you're ready."

"Dana's parents care about her. Why don't mine care about me?"

"They care about you, Maur," Jane said although she had put their parental abilities into question earlier.

"I haven't eaten with them at the dinner table in two weeks. Sometimes I'll sit there and push my food around my plate and other times I won't be there at all and they either haven't noticed or they don't care," Maura pointed out. "Dana's mom notices. Jenny's mom notices. Why doesn't mine?"

"Maur—"

"I'm not doing this for attention," Maura interrupted. "Please don't think I'm doing this for attention."

Jane felt as if something inside her had been triggered. "I know you're not," she sobbed. "You don't do anything for attention. You're not that kind of girl. Just tell me why you're doing this. Tell me why you're killing yourself."

"Jane, you're—"

"I can't help it."

"I'm not killing myself," Maura insisted. "I'm just going to meet my weight goal and I'll stop."

"No, you won't," Jane argued. "This is more than just your weight, Maura. This is consuming you. Once you reach that weight, it won't be enough or you'll think you have another flaw and this is going to keep going until you either get help or—or—"

"Jane, stop," Maura interrupted. "Stop!"

"Let me help you," Jane pleaded. "I don't expect you to get better overnight, but I'll be with you every step of the way. Maybe your mom and dad aren't aware of this, but I am and I care about you so much, Maura. You're the only person in this whole world that I like every single moment of every single day."

"I'm not the only person," Maura smiled. "What about your family?"

"I love them all the time, but I don't always like them," Jane teased. "And my brothers, well, sometimes I just tolerate them, but you're different. I always like you." Jane reluctantly freed herself from Maura's embrace. "I have something to give you. Wait right here." She opened the car door and grabbed a stuffed tortoise from the backseat. "There's someone who wants to meet you."

"Jane!" Maura squealed. "You bought me a stuffed tortoise." Instead of hugging Jane, Maura smiled as she hugged the tortoise. "I love you already."

"You—" Jane paused when she realized Maura was talking to the tortoise instead of her. "I'm glad you love him. I meant to give him to you last night. I didn't buy him, though. Can you believe I made him during our sewing unit in Home Ec.? I was going to buy a pattern to make a plush basketball in our school colors like one of the other girls from my team, but once I saw this tortoise was an option I changed my mind because I know how much you love tortoises."

"Thank you." Maura placed a kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. "You need to go home before you get grounded."

Jane playfully lifted her up and, before Maura could protest, she carried her over to the passenger seat. "I'm going to Maura-nap you."

"Maura-nap?"

"Yeah," Jane said as she finally let her girlfriend's feet touch the ground. "It's like kidnapping, but instead you take someone named Maura."

"Let me tell my parents before we leave."

"No," Jane insisted. "That would defeat the purpose of Maura-napping. We'll call them when we get to my house."

Without further hesitation, Maura sat down in the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. Her stuffed tortoise was sitting safely on her lap and she was eager to spend the rest of the day with Jane.

Jane knew nothing had been solved and Maura was nowhere closer to recovery than she had been earlier, but she was grateful to be a distraction for Maura even if it was only for a few hours.