A/N: Just so you guys know I love the reviews, good or bad. I know a lot of you didn't like the way I portrayed both Maura and Angela in the last chapter. As I responded to one reviewer, Maura and Jane are young and I am hoping to make them grow and change. Angela is going to grow as well because you are never to old. I apologize for upsetting any of you but stay with me and have faith. Just as a thank you for your review, I worked all morning on this next chapter. I hope you enjoy it a little more.
Jane had had enough. Even if she had just met Maura, she was still a guest in their home and Tommy had no right to treat her this way. What the hell is wrong with everyone that they are letting Tommy act this way? She stood up so quickly, that her chair flew across the room. She didn't care that everyone in the room was now looking at her. This had gone way too far. "What the fuck Tommy? You can't treat her like that."
"Oh chill out Janie. You know some women like men to be frank with them. I'm just letting her know what it's like with a Rizzoli man." Tommy stood up to face Jane.
"That's where you're wrong asshole. No woman likes to be treated like that." Jane's anger was at its breaking point.
"What do you know about what a woman wants? Frankie here is more of a woman than you are."
Angela tried to keep the peace. "Both of you, sit down. Tommy, please treat our guest with some respect. She deserves to be treated better than this."
"Oh don't worry ma, I plan on treating her really well." With that Tommy put his hand on Maura's shoulder. Before Maura had the chance to react to the intrusion, a flash of dark hair whipped around the table and Jane stood behind her. She shoved Tommy. He flew backwards and nearly tripped against the chair. "Don't speak to her like that."
Angela finally stood up. "Stop it. I have never been so embarrassed. Both of you need to sit down and behave like adults."
"What the hell ma? Are you seriously that deluded that you think this is ok? Why do you let him do this?" Jane was practically yelling at Angela. She caught Tommy in the corner of her eyes and saw him smirk.
Just as she was about to pounce again, Jane heard a booming voice behind her. "Enough. Angela, take Maura in the kitchen please. Maybe if we apologize enough, she will forgive this fiasco of a dinner we brought her to. Tommy, when you are in this house you treat people with respect. You start treating people with respect or you can leave. Jane, come with me. Now." Vince demanded. He grabbed Jane by the arm and pulled her to his office. He shut the door behind them and turned back to Jane.
"Janie, you need to calm down."
"Calm down, Vince. What the hell is wrong with this family? Tommy comes home for dinner and we let him get away with anything. The way he was talking to her is despicable. And ma just plays it off as some "boys will be boys" bullshit."
"Your mother has always had a blind eye towards some of your brother's flaws. She tries to protect him and he spits in her face. It breaks my heart. But you pummeling your brother in front of a guest isn't going to change anything. We can deal with Tommy together but you going off on him is just going to embarrass you and upset your mother. Sometimes it's better to stay calm and work together to deal with the problem than going off like some mad woman."
Jane seemed to calm some at Vince's words but the anger was still there. "He had laid his scummy hands on her. She deserves better than that. She deserves to be treated like a queen."
Vince could see the sparkle in Jane's eye. "What's going on, Janie? There's something you aren't telling me."
Jane sighed. She looked down at her feet. "It's her."
Vince was confused. "What about her?"
"No, Vince, it's her. She's the one I was telling you about last week. She's the woman I met. The one that I am attracted to. The one that I am kinda dating." Jane looked up at Vince. "I took your advice last week and I called her. We have been kinda hanging out this week." Jane smiled. "She makes me happy. So when I see Tommy disrespect her, when I see him touch her, I can't help but see red."
Vince laughed. "Well, I can see why you are so hell bent on rearranging your brother's face. Maura's the girl? Of course. She's a great girl and I am happy for you Janie. Ha, well your mother was hoping to set her up with one of her children. I guess she got her wish."
"Ma's the problem. I don't know how she is going to feel about all this. I don't want to hurt her but I really like this girl."
Vince pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry kiddo, we will deal with her together. Now let's get out there and deal with that creep brother of yours."
Jane and Vince walked back to the dining room. When they walked in they saw an angry Frankie standing in front of a smirking Tommy. Tommy looked over at Jane and nodded. Jane, trying to stay calm, walked past him and into the kitchen.
Vince on the other hand, did not walk past Tommy. He walked right up to him. Frankie, seeing the fire in his stepfather's eyes, moved to the side. Vince moved within inches of Tommy. When he spoke, his tone was even and calm, but there was no mistaking the anger behind it. He never raised his voice but instead spoke just above a whisper. "Thomas, your mother may put up with a lot of your shit. We allow you to live in our home, even though I know what you are doing when you aren't here. I put up with a lot of behavior from you because I love your mother. But I will not allow you to come into my home and treat a guest of mine with the amount of disrespect you have shown here tonight. So you have two choices. You sit down and behave yourself while we finish dinner or I arrest you right now for underage consumption of alcohol, search you incident to that arrest and bust you for anything I find on you, and then I call some of my buddies from the force to sit on your ass all day every day and arrest you every time you so much as cross the street on a don't walk sign. You got me."
Tommy wasn't one to be scared off easily but knew that Vince could make life very difficult for him and his friends. "Fine. I'll behave."
Jane walked into the kitchen and saw Angela apologizing profusely to Maura. Maura stood there assuring Angela she was fine. "Angela, please stop apologizing. I am fine. It just shook me. I don't hold any of this against you or Vince."
Jane was embarrassed. Not only was Maura's first interaction with her family a nightmare, but she acted like a mad woman in front of her. She knew there was a line between being protective and cracking her brother's skull open and she had been very close to crossing that line. But Tommy had always gotten under her skin. Maybe it was because she herself had been so similar to Tommy when she was young but she chose to change her ways. Maybe it was because every day she encountered punks like him. Whatever it was, she knew she needed to control her temper.
"Ma, we are back in the dining room. Why don't we attempt to have a civil dinner? I'm sorry I overreacted but I promise, I will try to control my temper."
Angela gave Jane a big hug. "Honey, I'm sorry about Tommy. Thank you for standing up for our guest. I'm sure she appreciates the gesture."
"Ma, if you want to thank me, stop apologizing for Tommy. Make him accountable for his own actions."
"I know Jane. I know." She kissed Jane on the cheek. "I am so proud of you. You are a great kid." With that Angela walked back in the dining room, leaving Jane and Maura in the kitchen. Jane walked over and put her hands on Maura's arms. She looked into her eyes. "Are you ok? I am so sorry about my crazy family."
Maura smiled. "It's ok Jane. You know, I'm not really as fragile as I seem. I was really worried at first. This is your family Jane and I want them to like me. I have dealt with men like your brother before. Usually, I would be able to stand up for myself. But this is your family. You mean something to me. I didn't want to jeopardize something between us by assaulting your brother." Maura chuckled.
"Well, if he lays his hands on you again you have my permission to put him in his place." She quickly kissed her. "Now let's get back in there. I kinda liked how much you were enjoying that chicken parm."
Maura blushed. "It is quite delicious." With that the two walked back into the dining room. When they entered the room they saw everyone seated again. Tommy had shifted his chair to give more space between him and Maura. Everyone else was seated quietly enjoying their food. Jane and Maura sat back down at the table and began to eat. Angela's chicken parm was one of Jane's favorite dishes and she could see why Maura let out the little moan.
The room was filled with the awkward silence that comes after a big fight. No one knew exactly what to say. Trying to ease some tension, Maura decided to speak. "Frankie, you look slightly different from the last time I saw you."
Frankie rubbed his head and laughed. "Yeah, I started the Police Academy this week. Apparently, it's a requirement to make us look as ridiculous as possible. Although, I don't remember Jane ever running around bald."
Maura burst out into laughter. "Hahaha, I'm not sure if I could imagine Jane without all those curls. But I am sure she would still be able to manage to be quite attractive without any hair."
Jane blushed. "Shut up you two. Frankie you know they don't make the girls look ridiculous like you guys."
"Wait a minute." The three spun to face Angela with a puzzled look on her face.
Crap. Jane thought. Maura called me attractive. Did ma catch that? Did she figure out about Maura and I? "What ma?"
"Maura, have you met Frankie before?" Jane sighed a sigh of relief.
"Oh yes Angela. I met Frankie and Jane last Saturday night. I believe they were out celebrating Frankie's birthday."
Angela looked at her two children. "Why didn't you say you knew Maura before?"
Jane and Frankie looked at each. "We were just kinda shocked to see her here." Frankie said. "I didn't talk to her much that night, but I'm kinda, um, seeing a friend of Maura's that I met that night."
Maura looked at Frankie. "You and Annie are dating? I didn't know."
"Yeah. Well I don't know if we are really dating but she has been calling me every night at the Academy. I think it is one of the things really helping me through the hard times. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."
"Oh, well, I have been a little busy this week." Maura smiled at Jane.
For the first time since the blowout, Tommy decided to break into the conversation. "Wait Frankie, you've got yourself a girl? Let me guess she's blind. Or wait, she's a total dog, isn't she?" Tommy cracked up.
Maura looked puzzled. "Annie is neither blind nor is she a dog. She is very much a human."
Jane laughed and then explained. "Maura, he's saying that Annie must be pretty ugly if she is dating Frankie. He was trying to be mean."
"Oh well Tommy, I can say that Annie is very attractive and that she is very lucky to have a man like Frankie. He is quite the catch."
Tommy grumbled and Frankie beamed. Dinner continued with light conversation and no more instances of Tommy being inappropriate. Jane wasn't sure what Vince had said to him, but she was thankful that he had said whatever he did. They finished dinner without another incident. After everyone had finished, Angela stood up. "I am going to make some coffee and then we can have some dessert. I will be right back."
Maura excused herself to use the restroom. Jane decided to check and see if her mom needed any help in the kitchen. When she came back into the dining room, she noticed Maura was still gone but now Tommy was also missing. "Where's Tommy?"
Frankie looked at her. "He said he had to get something from his room and he would be right back."
Not completely trusting her youngest brother, Jane decided to make sure Maura was ok. She walked toward the hallway where the restroom was located. As she entered the entrance to the hallway, she could hear Tommy and Maura speaking. Not wanting to make a fool of herself again, she decided to just listen and see if Maura could handle the young man on her own.
"Look Maura, I was a little forward before and I'm sorry." Jane smiled. Maybe her brother wasn't so scummy after all. He continued. "It's just you are a good-looking woman and, well, I am obviously a good-looking guy. I thought maybe we could have just a little bit of fun. I promise, you'll enjoy it." He leaned in a little. Jane got mad. I guess I was wrong. He is a sleaze. But he isn't wrong. She is beautiful. But she already has a good-looking Rizzoli. Tommy better back off. She is mine. Jane felt a primal urge low in her gut. She wanted to run up to Maura and show Tommy that she was hers. But just before she did, Maura spoke.
"Tommy, you are an attractive man but I am sorry, I am not interested. When I said before that I did not have a "boyfriend" I wasn't lying but I am seeing someone."
Tommy was puzzled. But then his face changed as he realized what she was saying. He put on a creepy smile.
"I get it. You have a "lady friend". Hey, I get that. But if you and your "friend" are missing something, give me a call." Tommy walked off and right past Jane as if he didn't see her there. Maura looked down the hall away from the dining room and took a deep breath to calm herself. As she did she felt a set of muscular arms wrap around her abdomen and a chin rest on her shoulder. For a moment, Maura was afraid that Tommy had decided to try once more. But then she got a hint of that smell that was intoxicating and all Jane. She leaned into the body pressed into her.
"Come with me for a second." The raspy voice sent chills down Maura's spine. Jane stayed behind Maura and led her down the hall and into a room. Looking around Maura thought at first glance it looked to be teenage boy's room. There were posters of sports stars and trophies decorating it. But then she noticed that that the photos in the room were mostly of Jane. She realized that this must be Jane's childhood bedroom. Maura heard the door close and felt Jane whip her around. Jane pushed her against the door and stared at her with those chocolate eyes that were growing dark. Before Maura could say anything, Jane pressed against her, passionately capturing her lips. Maura could feel all the passion that Jane felt for her. Jane pushed her tongue inside of Maura's mouth and explored every inch. When she removed her tongue, Jane took Maura's bottom lip into her mouth and lightly sucked on it. Maura moaned as Jane released it with a pop. Maura was breathing heavily. She hadn't felt this yet from Jane. Still without saying a word, Jane spun Maura around so she was now in the middle of the room. Maura felt Jane's lips on her neck and then just below her ear. "Jane, I thought you wanted to go slow." She could feel Jane grazing her hands along her body.
"I do Maura. But when I saw Tommy touching you and leaning into you and staring at you, all I could think about was jumping up, grabbing you and showing him that you were mine. And no matter how much we are "missing", I never want my brother touching you." Jane continued her assault on Maura's neck before returning to her lips. Maura didn't know how much more of this she would have until Jane lost her nerve again but she was relishing every moment. She loved feeling Jane's hands all over her body. She was so into the moment that neither of them noticed the door opening.
A/N 2: I am sorry for another cliffhanger but sometimes I need it for the story. I hope you guys enjoyed.
