Author's note: thank you a lot for all the reviews!
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Chapter twelve
"I might need a couple of weeks to overcome these past four hours. That's all I'm saying!'
Crossing her arms against her chest, Maura pouted – lightly enough – before shaking her head at Jane. The Italian hadn't stopped the allusions since they had left the science fair to get ready for the evening by the bonfire. It was teasing, pure – typical – Jane. And truth to be told, Maura enjoyed it.
"There are two bonfires: the one you are supposed to dance around to bagpipes and the one you jump over while holding the hand of the person of your choice. These two are ancestral traditions that..."
The brunette didn't listen to the rest of her friend's explanation. The word 'bagpipes' had been enough but when she came to see the flames rise in the early evening, she opened her eyes wide. She hadn't expected such a tall fire. Intrigued, she followed Maura without saying a word.
If she had had to be honest, coming back to Rugby School after their nice getaway in the county hadn't been easy, even less when Jane had noticed Maura's features deepen in the car. Little by little, the scientist had locked herself back into her world and barely replied to the brunette's attempt to make her talk.
Thankfully, the afternoon dedicated to science seemed to have cheered her back up and the blonde's eyes were glimmering again with delight. With enthusiasm, Maura grabbed Jane's hand to make her speed up.
"You will jump with me."
The statement stopped Jane right in her tracks, forcing her friend to turn around and frown before the Italian's nervous giggle.
"Do whatever you want with your lovely legs, Maur', but don't count on me to burn mine. There's no way I go and jump that fire. Have you lost your mind?"
The scientist burst out laughing and pulled her friend towards the flames, and the crowd already assembled there enjoying the music and a buffet.
"You chicken. We're both wearing jeans and baskets, the flames are low. We don't risk anything. Unless you prefer to start with the Irish gigs..."
Jane made a face and barely repressing a sigh, she took a deep breath as the flames began to warm up her face. People were staring at them, she knew it. Not only were both women holding hands but they would jump the fire together; with whatever Maura's choice for such tradition implied.
The blonde pressed her friend's hand – gave her a brief nod – before smiling brightly and taking her impulsion to go and jump.
It barely lasted three seconds, soon followed by the applause of the crowd, as the tradition went. Landing on the other side, Maura took Jane in her arms.
"See? It was nothing! Now come by the big fire for the buffet and the songs."
The blonde kept on laughing and after a couple of beers – their cheeks red – they were both dancing to the sound of bagpipes among others who didn't seem to pay much attention to them anymore.
"Hey, Rizzoli? Not too knackered?"
A guy from the rowing team patted Jane's shoulder as she and Maura were about to start their fifth jig without a stop. The brunette frowned, shook her head.
"Too what? I... I only had a few beers. I need more to knock me out!"
The medical examiner took advantage of the moment to disappear from Jane's sight.
"Knackered like in 'tired'. You haven't stopped jumping around to bagpipes for the last twenty minutes or so. Go slow with Maura, I don't want to find you both almost lifeless on the grass."
A hand slid on Jane's waist, making her jump of surprise. It was the honey blonde.
She was back, bottle of champagne in hand while her grip on the Italian turned explicitly possessive. Nobody missed it nor the mischievous smile that lit up Maura's face as she motioned at a dark area further from the bonfires.
Apologizing herself to her interlocutor, Jane finally followed her friend.
There had been nothing innocent in Maura's behavior. She knew the rumor that were going on about her and Jane yet she had just given everyone fuel to them. Not that it bothered the detective but it was out of character somehow.
Far from the flames, the coolness of the night embraced them back and soon enough the sound of the bagpipes turned into a delicate murmur in the background. They passed the stone door that led to the chapel but instead of going straight through the cloister, Maura stepped onto the patio to settle there in the grass.
Jane joined her, amused as she saw her friend drink straight from the bottle before handling it. Maura moved a bit – turned her back at Jane – then laid down holding a cigarette.
"Since when do you smoke?"
Arm under her head – staring at the sky – the medical examiner giggled then shook her head. She was relaxed, a lot more than Jane had ever seen her in her whole life.
"It is herb, 100% organic. Nothing bad at all. Do you want to try?"
Uncertain, Jane nonetheless grabbed the cigarette and laid down next to her friend. Perhaps it was just Maura's way to release the stress of the past few days.
"How come you didn't go to Oxford? It seems like all Rugby School alumni go there after."
Maura rose an eyebrow in surprise. She hadn't expected the brunette to ask such question as fair as it was. She shrugged, swallowed hard.
"I assumed that it was time for me to head back to the US and start a new life. Elizabeth passing away, things changed after that. At least in Boston, nobody really knew me and I stopped being the odd one. Retrospectively, I would say that this is when I suffered from my adolescence crisis. Once in college, I gave into provocation and all that... Have I ever told you I rode nude at some point to protest against budget cuts? It all paid off somehow and people began to talk to me. And it was great, I wasn't transparent anymore... No matter I had forced myself to be someone else."
Maura grabbed back the cigarette, a disillusioned smile on her lips. She didn't look at Jane, didn't try to understand her friend's reaction to her sudden wave of confessions. The words were just coming out by themselves.
For the first time.
"But soon I realized that it was all fake. I have never had friends, barely acquaintances. And among them – oddly enough – some ended up thinking I was charming enough for a relationship; they liked the fact I was different, or at least at the beginning. After a while, they were all thinking the same and every time I was back to be too strange. Although bearable enough for a one-night stand. Nothing ever lasts in the end. Nothing but you."
Before Jane's silence, Maura turned her head around and locked her eyes with her friend's dark ones. The brunette was staring at her, impassive.
Maura laughed it all away – bitterly enough – before not thinking too much about the rest and closing the almost invisible gap that separated her from Jane.
The Italian's lips were soft, and warm. Delicate like the unexpected kiss that went from stolen to eager and rough. As the scientist deepened it – felt her friend's tongue brush hers for the first time – a brief wave of warmth spread in her lower stomach and made her moan sightly.
Her hand moved from Jane's jaw to her unruly hair; her leg passing sensually between the brunette's as Maura rolled on her side – molded her body against her friend's – and passed on top of her with a quiet surge of desire.
She grabbed Jane's hands, abandoning them on her buttocks. Against the thin fabric of her jeans. There, in the darkness of the cloister; under the eyes of sculpted columns.