Maura puts on her most blatantly seductive dress for the Rose Ceremony. Jane has asked her to stay and not to kiss Brockton, so she knows she'll need to be as enticing from a distance as she can be.
It works. Kayla is eliminated, leaving just Maura, sweet Chloe, Brockton's favorite Kelly, and drunk Mel in the house. Maura's thrilled to stay, and hopes Brockton thinks she's just playing hard to get when she only lets him kiss her cheek at the end of the night. She gives him flirty face, and he seems frustrated but okay. She hears him and Kelly going at it later that night in a supply closet, so she imagines he isn't too heartbroken.
Yeckh.
As soon as he's busy in the closet, the cameramen hurry away, which means Jane is off for the night. Jane hustles up to her room, hoping to make her bed before catching Maura and inviting her to stay. Maura shares a bedroom with Kelly, so, based on what is going on downstairs, it might be prudent for her to absent herself for the night. And, even if the two douchebags weren't humping like remarkably well-coifed animals, Jane never really wants to spend another night away from Maura. Ever.
She hurriedly opens the door to her room and stops on her heels. Maura is in the room already. She's turned off the lights but lit a few candles that Jane knows she stole from downstairs. She's still in her gown, which, by the way, has been screaming at Jane at night. ("Rip me off with your teeth!" It says. "There is most likely no underwear underneath me! I'm already letting you see nipples through me!") Her eyes are intense and she looks like she might devour Jane before Jane can get a single hand under the dress.
Without taking her eyes of Maura, Jane closes the door behind her in slow motion. Before she can speak, Maura clears her throat.
"Jane Rizzoli." Her voice is low and heavy. Jane nearly comes. But then Maura's eyes twinkle playfully, she grins, and, if possible, she becomes even more heartstoppingly beautiful. She pulls something out from behind her back. "Will you accept this rose?" It's the white rose Brockton has just given her. She grins wider and her eyes flash with mirth.
Jane crosses over to her in two long strides. She grabs the rose and flings it away. "Hell no." She growls, immediately bending down to suck on Maura's neck, hard. Maura's laugh is loud and rich. She tosses her arms over Jane's shoulders and tilts her head to the side, leaving Jane plenty of room.
Her voice is steady but a bit breathy. "Well, Jane, if you don't want my rose, whatever is it that you want?"
Jane just growls and tugs at the dress. Maura laughs again before swatting Jane's face away from her neck. "If you leave a mark there, I will murder you." Jane pulls away, giving her the most intense puppy eyes she has ever received. Maura just smiles, before reaching up and unfastening the halter of her dress, letting it fall to reveal everything above the waist. She guides a dumbfounded Jane back until her legs hit the bed, pushing her down to sit. She swiftly stands between Jane's legs, and guides Jane's head to where her eyes are burning like lasers. "Leave one where only you can see, Jane."
Jane growls again, and Maura laughs until she loses her breath.
"I've never laughed so much in bed before." Maura is drawing lazy circles on Jane's sternum with a soft forefinger. Jane is on her back and Maura is propped up on her elbow, tucked into Jane's side.
Jane turns her head and makes a face. "I can't tell if that's insulting or, like, really sweet."
Maura dips down and kisses Jane's shoulder. "Don't be silly. You're an incredible lover, Jane." Jane makes a face at the word "lover," and Maura brushes her wrinkled nose with a smile. "I meant that, for me, sex has always been only erotic pleasure. But with you…it's just wonderful. I love it. I like that we laugh, during."
She turns slightly insecure eyes to Jane, who softly reaches up and cups her face. "Me too, Maur."
But before the sappy moment can continue, Jane flips Maura onto her back and scuttles down her body, leaving a trail of incredibly ticklish kisses down her stomach. Maura giggles uncontrollably, trying to use her legs to heave Jane off of her. Jane blows a loud raspberry on Maura's lower stomach that makes her arch up in protest, and then, suddenly, other things are happening.
The next day, Maura has to go on a thirty-minute date with Brockton. Tomrrow she'll have to do on a full-day date with him, but she's trying not to think about it. This thirty-minutes will be annoying enough. Brockton has gotten to the stage where he thinks any time with a girl, alone or not, is a guaranteed trip around second base at least.
Maura's not excited about the gymnastics she'll have to do to keep him interested while he strikes out. But Jane is worth it. You were dumb enough to get yourself into this situation, she lectures herself as she does her makeup, so now you'll have to be smart enough to get yourself out of it.
She walks out of the house to see Brockton standing by a motorcycle. He's already got gloves and a jacket on. He smiles when she walks out and leans in to kiss her cheek. He hands her a helmet. "You ready for a ride?" He doesn't ask her if she's scared, if she wants to do this, if she's ever done this before. He doesn't ask if she'd like to change her clothes or shoes. He doesn't even really ask if she's ready, because he's already getting on. Maura, catching sight of the camera, barely stops her eye roll. She wordlessly examines the helmet carefully and, deeming it sufficient, buckles it on securely.
She swings her leg over the back, internally praising herself both for staying limber and for choosing to wear stretchy skinny jeans today. The stilettos are not what she would have chosen for a ride, but they'll suffice. As soon as she's settled, he starts the engine. She grips his waist tightly, and he lets out a sharp painful exhale.
She's immediately concerned. "Are you alright?" She runs her hands up and down his waist, immediately in diagnostic mode.
He shakes her off. "Fine. Had an appendix thing but I'm fine now. Just don't grab so tight."
And without another word, he kicks the bike into gear and speeds off.
The date is surprisingly easy. It helps that at least twenty, if not twenty-five of the minutes are spent on the bike, so she isn't really expected to talk to him or let him kiss her. He's a surprisingly good rider; during their short stop, he tells her that he used to ride motocross as a kid. He tells her that he feels freer on a bike than anywhere else. She wonders why he looks so sad. She wonders why he's such a douche all of the time. She wonders why he doesn't just ride more, instead of doing whatever it is that he does.
But, of course, she can't feel too sorry for him because he doesn't ask her what makes her feel free (science Jane Jane science) and instead pushes her up against the bike and grinds on her. She manages to turn around, pretending to admire the view behind the bike, so he can only grind up against her ass and leave wet slobber on her neck, rather than attempt to penetrate her through their clothes as she's seen him do with other girls. Maura has always found motorcycles to be erotic, and if it were Jane pressing her into this bike, she's sure she'd love it. As is, it's just painful.
She shudders, and manages to blame it on being cold. He backs off with a sigh and hands her a leather jacket that was stored under her seat. It's black, soft, and ridiculously sexy. She immediately starts planning how to steal this from the house and wear it over only lace to make Jane happy. Brockton pees over the side of the road and then returns, climbing astride the bike. She makes sure he doesn't put his hands on her for the rest of the date.
When they return, she leaves her helmet on for long enough that he can't really go in for a kiss. When she's ready, she leaves a long kiss on his cheek and flits back into the house as quickly as she can. She remembers to throw him a smoldering look over her shoulder to keep him interested, and is pleased no one has remembered to ask her for the jacket back.
She goes immediately to Jane's room, where she finds the detective pacing and biting a fingernail. "Jane." Her head snaps up, and she looks at Maura, both fearful and hopeful, aroused and afraid.
Maura closes the door behind her. She smiles softly at Jane. "I'm okay. It was fine. Nothing happened." Jane sags with relief. "We're okay?"
Jane practically runs over to her and cups her face in her long hands. "More than okay." A soft kiss, and Maura finally feels better. "Maur, I need to thank you. I know I've put you in this really shitty situation, and you're…amazing." Maura smiles up at her and kisses her gently again.
"You're worth it."
A few minutes later, Jane and Maura are in the bathroom. Maura is washing off her neck with a cool washcloth to rid herself of Brockton. She's filling Jane in on the date. "It was lucky that I'm not terribly afraid of motorcycles. He didn't want me to hold onto him tightly because he was experiencing some pain. Another girl might have fallen off."
"He was in pain?" Jane asks it lightly, but Maura can tell there is something behind her words. Maura shakes her head with a smile at Jane's poorly concealed schadenfreude.
"Yes. He said it was his appendix, but from what I could discern, it seems that the pain was located on his left, whereas appendicitis pain roots in the lower right-hand side of the abdomen."
"What do you make of that?"
Maura is distracted by making sure she gets all of the gunk off her neck, so she isn't even bothered by guessing. "I surely don't know. It's possible he is covering up a more embarrassing injury. Many people feel shame about a variety of gastro-intestinal issues. It is possible he is suffering from Colitis, Crohn's, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or a number of other gastroenterological conditions…" As she puts the washcloth down, Maura notices that Jane has zoned out. Belatedly realizing that gastroenteritis is not the sexiest conversation topic, even when assigning it to someone your current partner hates, Maura rapidly changes the subject.
She places her hand on Jane's stomach. "Jay." Jane's head snaps up. She pulls off her own shirt, which got a little wet during her ministrations. "I need you to erase him from me." Jane's face changes immediately. "Would you like to do that?"
Jane grabs her hand and leads her from the bathroom. They don't emerge from the bedroom until dinner.
There is something Jane needs to say. She's scared of telling Maura, but she's more scared of leaving it unsaid and being blindsided once again. After dinner she leads Maura out on the deck by the pool, which seems to be the place where she feels the safest to confess. They're next to a lounge chair but they don't sit. Jane looks at her feet for a long time, but Maura is patient. Finally, Jane, still studying the ground, begins to speak. "Maura, from the first moment I saw you, the first time we talked, you split me open and left a part of yourself inside me, right here, in my gut." Jane rubs the spot under her ribs where the icy blue shard had lived, before Maura's kisses dissolved it into honey. She's pretty sure she's being romantic, but she looks up to see Maura completely horrified.
"Jane! I have never left a foreign object in a body! That's a terrible health hazard! Live patients die from sponges left inside at a truly alarming rate, and even in my line of work, leaving objects – especially an object of mine! – would be not only a travesty for science but could compromise an entire diagnosis or criminal case!"
She's working herself up to a frenetic pitch Jane has never seen. She does the only thing she can: reaches over and softly covers Maura's mouth with two of her fingers. "Maur. Hey. It was, um, what's it called. Symbolic imagery. Not literal, okay? I know you didn't leave a literal sponge in me." The light snaps into Maura's eyes. She's quite a literary scholar. Symbolic imagery is something she can handle, excel at, even. But Jane still deserves to be punished for that scare, the insinuation! She really needs to learn to be more precise with her language.
Jane tentatively raises her fingers about half an inch from Maura's lips. Maura's eyes narrow and she snaps her head out, biting down hard on the fingers. "OW!" She sucks on them gently, her smile turning devilish. "…oh."
After a moment or two, Jane forcefully takes her fingers back and shakes her head to clear the image of Maura sucking on all kinds of things wearing all kinds of nothing from her conscious mind, shoving it back into her spank bank to join seventy million other images of Maura. "Wait, Maur, I mean, that was, well, yes, please, but later? I'm trying to be like…" She looks pained. Maura helpfully puts up a happily neutral curious look. "…romantic." She mumbles it, and Maura completely melts. Her instinct is to walk directly into Jane, scoop her up, and kiss her for hours. But she can tell Jane wants to use her words to be romantic, something Maura knows will be a rare occurrence. So she holds her body still with an iron will, and just nods supportively.
"Maur, before, um, this," gesturing flatly between them until Maura nods again in understanding, "I could feel you, inside here. When you were sad or lonely, especially, I could feel it." She rubs her ribs again, and Maura suddenly makes sense of that nervous tick. Jane always rubbed her ribs when Maura seemed particularly sad. Knowing that was about her, not about Jane's past injuries or indigestion from her appalling diet, melts her even further. "It…I don't know. It's never happened to me before. I get gut feelings, you know, at work," Maura's eyes make it clear that she does not, in fact, know. Jane smiles softly and explains. "I have instincts, at work, that I feel here, in my gut." She moves her hand a bit lower. Maura nods. She's heard this colloquialism before, but never understood it. "But this was different. This was just, I don't know. It was you. And all I wanted to do was make you happy, and whenever I made you smile or laugh or feel good, it would get smaller. But when I would see you with him, or when I made you sad – it got bigger."
"Oh, Jane." Maura can't keep it in anymore. She reaches out and gently touches Jane's face, just to make sure she's real. To remind her that Maura's real. That it's all okay now.
Jane turns her head to kiss Maura's palm before taking the hand in hers and playing with the fingers. She can't look at Maura as she says this last bit. "When we slept together that first night, it, like, melted. It felt like, just warm all over, you know?" Maura nods again, eyes shining.
"But then, I mean, you know what happened." She can't look at Maura at all, but she trusts that Dr. Memory Card hasn't forgotten. "It froze again. But it was everywhere. Not just in there, you know, but everywhere. In my fingers, behind my eyes, all over, I just froze. And I'm still…I don't know."
Maura squeezes Jane's hand with both of her own, letting her tears run down her cheeks unchecked.
"Maur, I'm scared. It's melting again, and it's almost gone, and it's everywhere, and I'm so scared that I won't survive this again. That if you leave again, I'll…" She sniffs.
Maura tries to make her voice as loving and supportive as she can. "You'll what, Jane?"
"I'll crack. I'll freeze. I'll die."
Maura drops Jane's hand and steps immediately into Jane. With a finger under her chin, she brings Jane's eyes up to hers. "Oh, Jay." She holds Jane's face in her hands, tenderly but firmly. Jane's barefoot and she's still in her heels, so for once they're the same height. "Jay, let it melt. It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Let it melt, love."
Jane's eyes snap to hers, asking the question.
Maura smiles, softly, and pulls Jane into her. Jane drops her head into Maura's collarbone, and Maura rubs her neck and scratches the bottom of her scalp softly as she murmurs her answer. "I'm here, love. I'm not leaving. I'm here. I know you're scared, but I've got you now. I won't hurt you again. Let it go, love."
Jane's response is quiet and muffled, but it nearly kills Maura all the same. "Could you...maybe call me that again, sometime?"
Maura's unseen smile could melt an entire warehouse of ice sculptures. "Every single day, love."
The shard completely melts, flooding Jane's veins with molten honey. She burrows into Maura, who just gathers her closer and keeps whispering it. "I'm here, love."