A/N: Uh...Hi? That was quite a break I took, but I'm back to normal now, back to writing. No more procrastinating on Tumblr and in life.
Thanks for sticking with me, those that still are. And much thanks to the message to get me back here.
Once again, I own nothing and no one in this story.
On with it...Enjoy!
Maura propped an eyelid open, the small amount of sunlight filtering through the bedroom window was enough to let her know that it was time to wake up. Taking one last long blink, she forces her eyes open as Jane's room comes into full view. Jane. She finds herself smiling at just the thought of the Italian detective who's slender arm is protectively curled over her stomach, those long tan legs of hers are intertwined with the honey blondes own and that toned athletic frame pressed flush against her back effectively making her the 'little spoon' as Jane used to say to her. Slowly and carefully as to not wake her sleeping bedmate, she turns her body around so that she could do something she hadn't done in almost two years; watch Jane sleep.
When they were dating, she used to always automatically wake up a few minutes before the alarm went off and just lied there watching the rise and fall of Jane's chest and when she felt the need to be close to the detective, she would place her head on top of her chest and just listen to the detective's strong steady heartbeat.
Just as she was about to do just that, Jane's voice, raspier than usual in the early mornings stops her as dark brown eyes slowly come into view. "Good morning."
"Good Morning Jane."
"I miss this."
"What?"
Jane smiles at the confused face of the doctor. "Falling asleep next to you," she says as she scoots her body closer and drapes an arm around the smaller woman's waist pulling her flush against her own, momentarily shutting her eyes and relishing at the contact of the doctors warm body heat. "Best of all, waking up next to you," she finishes, placing a long lingering kiss on the doctors lips.
Maura smiles widely at the woman across from her. "I missed this too." She brings her hand up and slowly brushes it against a well defined jaw line. "I missed you."
The warmth in Maura's voice coupled with the love she can see radiating from those sparkling hazel eyes causes a string of unexpected emotions to surge through Jane's body, her eyes glistening with tears.
Seeing this, a look of concern etches across Maura's face. "Jane? What's wrong?"
Jane bites on her bottom lip, forcing back any tears that threatened to fall. After letting out a deep breath to compose herself, she smiles shyly at the honey blonde across from her, embarrassed at her own emotions. "I'm….I'm just so fucking in love with you."
Maura's eyebrows furrows in confusion for a second and then her mouth breaks out in a cheshire grin. Scooting forward, she presses her lips against the detectives, the light scolding of "language" gets muffled against cherry flavored Chapstick lips.
The kiss quickly becomes heated. Jane carefully moves her legs over while gently pushing the doctors shoulders back so that she was now completely on top of the honey blonde, hovering above her. She feels Maura's lips part, an invitation to slip her tongue inside. A moan erupts from beneath her as her hands have found their way underneath the cotton thin shirt she let Maura borrow. Her hands continue to roam the doctors smooth flat stomach a little longer before moving their way upwards, inching closer to those perfect ample breasts but just as she was about to do just that, she feels Maura suddenly tense beneath her. A breathy whisper of "Jane, wait" causing her to immediately stop, pushing herself off.
"I'm sorry. I-I got a little ahead of myself," her breathing rapid and face flushed, Jane moves back a bit to sit up straight.
"No. No, it's okay. I did too. It' just-I-I'm still engaged to Ian and until I break it off I shouldn't be doing anything more…I shouldn't even be doing this…" she trails off guiltily.
Jane nods, exhaling sharply. "Right. You're right" she repeats, running a hand through her hair. "Just give me a moment to uh…get my heart rate back to normal."
Maura smiles leaning over to give her detective a peck on the lips, when a high pitch squeal quickly pulls them apart. They both turn their heads towards the doorway to see a bundle of clothing land on the floor with a thud, the culprit gasping loudly as hands zoom up to cover their mouth.
"Ma!" Jane groans loudly.
"Oh, please tell me this is what I think it is."
"No. It's too early in the morning for us to tell you what it is, let alone see you. And are you cleaning? That key is for emergencies only."
"Oh hush you. I was talking to Maura anyway."
Maura grins at the banter between mother and daughter. Deciding it was time to get out of bed either way, she smiles fondly at the elder woman, straightening out the wrinkles in her borrowed night wear. "Good morning Angela."
"Oh, it is." Angela hurriedly runs over and embraces Maura in a tight bear hug.
Maura lets out a surprise squeak causing Jane to yell out to her mother. "Ma, lighten your hold. She can't breath."
Angela immediately releases the honey blonde, clasping her hands together. With the permanent smile never faltering from her face, she bounces giddily on the heels of her feet. "Oh, I'm sorry honey. I'm just so happy. Thank you for giving my Janie another chance Maura. I will make sure she doesn't mess it up again this time. Believe me." Angela raises her eyebrows at her daughter marking her point. "Lord knows she is not the easiest person to be with, but you would think that being with a woman would-"
"Oh my god. Really?" Jane grumbles out loudly effectively stopping Angela from continuing to embarrass her any longer.
Pressing a kiss to Maura's cheek, Angela decides to leave the newly reconnected couple alone. For now. "Of course, I'm going to leave you two to it. But I expect you both to be at Sunday night dinner. Together." She says pointedly, turning to leave but not before whispering into Maura's ear, not so quietly. "I know Jane's new at this...what's the word...um, this lesbians or life partner or oh! domestic arrangement thing or whatever you kids are calling it these days, but just have a little bit more patience with her…" An irritated grumble of "ma" sounds out, but is pointedly ignored, "…than usual. Love you both."
Jane watches as her mother skips, skips, the woman was literally skipping out of her bedroom.
Shaking her head at her mothers antics, she turns towards Maura who speaks first before she can voice a sarcastic remark.
"Your mother is surely taking this well."
"Yea, too well if you ask me. But I guess it's better than shunning me and kicking me out of the family will, if there was one." Jane jokes.
Maura smiles half-heartedly at the joke. "I should really go, I still need to stop at home to change before going to work."
Jane nods her understanding. "Want me to go with you?"
Maura contemplates it briefly, but knowing that Ian was still upset at the situation last night and not having a chance to speak with him yet, she decides it best if she went home alone. No reason to throw more salt in the wound by bringing Jane over so quickly.
"No. Ian might be home and it would probably be best to not have you there. I shouldn't be long though. How about I meet you for coffee?"
"Perfect." Jane replies. She watches as Maura gathers up her belongings from last night before walking her to the front door.
Maura stops and turns around, "goodbye Jane."
"I'll see you later." Jane leans down to kiss Maura goodbye. Shutting the door behind her, Jane drops her head against the frame with a loud thud. With her eyes closed, she lets out a deep breath. "Cold. Shower."
The closer she got to her home, the more she can feel her anxiety start to build at the prospect of facing Ian. She really does love him, but her mother was right. She just wasn't in love with him anymore and it was best if she were to end it sooner rather than later. She really hopes they can remain friends as they have so much history together and he was and is still her best friend, but understandably she knows the likely hood of that happening is very slim.
Opening the door, her eyes first sweep over the living room looking for any signs of Ian. Nothing. She sets down her purse and blazer on the back of the couch before continuing on her way to the bedroom to take a shower.
Once cleaned and fully changed into a new outfit, she makes her way into the kitchen to pull out some fresh strawberries for Bass before leaving for work. She locates her beloved turtle in his favorite spot, right next to the refrigerator. A smile graces her face immediately at the sight of him. He slowly lifts his head upwards when he hears the noise of her heels clacking against the tiled flooring. She bends down and runs her hand up and down his shell lightly, "Hi Bass, are you hungry sweetie?" she coos tenderly.
"Where were you last night?" The booming voice from behind startles her. She whips her head around to find Ian leaning against the far end of the island, hands crossed firmly around his chest, eyes narrowing in on her. She stands up to answer him, hesitating just briefly, she resigns that there was no reason for her to avoid the truth. "I was at Jane's."
She sees him push himself off the counter and slowly make his way towards her, his eyes dark and menacing, never once faltering from her own as he gets closer. It wasn't hard to tell that he had been drinking. If not for his slurred steps and blood shot eyes, it was his alcohol fueled breath wafting off him that made her want to hurl. She couldn't help, but take a small step back which immediately made him halt a half foot away.
Cocking his head to the side, his eyebrows furrow slightly as realization sets in, then anger quickly followed. "You afraid of me Maura?"
Truthfully, she was more than a little afraid at this moment. She could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Ian drunk and only once she had encountered a aggressive drunk Ian and fortunately never was it because of her. This time though, it didn't take a genius to know that this reason was because of her.
"You've been drinking," she says cautiously, evading his question.
"And you're real good at dodging my question," he snaps irritably.
She finches involuntarily which causes him to lower his voice, but his tone none the less still unpleasant. "There's no reason you should be afraid of me. I am still your fiancé after all. Am I not?" he raises his eyebrows challenging her to correct him.
She swallows nervously. She needed to find the best way out of this before things get out of hand. Ian was not a violent person, but given the current circumstance, she was not willing to take any chances.
"Yes, Ian you are. I do have to get to work. We'll talk more later this evening okay?" She quickly sidesteps to his left but not quick enough as she feels a hand grab at her wrist pulling her backwards.
"No. Lets talk about this now," he snarls out, spinning her around in the process.
Maura gasps at the contact as his fingers curl tightly around her wrist causing her to wince at the pain.
"Two years, Maura. I put two fucking years into this relationship and overnight you throw it away like I meant nothing to you. Like I was just a fucking replacement until Jane got her fucking shit together and you just go running back to her like a stupid whore."
"Ian…please" she cries out as his grip on her wrist was not lessening one bit. In fact, the angrier he got the stronger his grip became.
"Well, no way. No fucking way am I letting Jane win. We are getting married in three months," Ian's booming voice blares through the empty house.
Maura stays silent not knowing what to say, but more than that terrified that whatever she says will just anger him even further.
"You're staying with me. You're mine. Mine, you got that?" he barks out loudly. He pounds his fit on the counter, making her flinch, his eyes angry and wild as it bores into hers.
"You're hurting me," she finally pleads, tears uncontrollably rolling down her face.
They both look down to where his hand is still gripping onto her wrist tightly. He immediately releases her hand as if on fire, instantaneously taking a step backwards.
Letting out a sigh of relief, she rubs on her now very bruised wrist, wincing as her fingers accidentally grazes the welt that was left by his fingernails that dug deep into her skin.
"I'm-I'm sorry Maura. I didn't mean to do that. I didn't…I-I-fuck," he yells out frustratingly.
She swallows nervously. "It's okay, it's okay." Wiping at her eyes, she puts a little more distance between them before speaking again, her voice weak and shaky."I know you didn't mean it."
Ian picks up on the slight tremor in her voice, disappointment and anger at himself, the cure he needed to get sober quickly. "I'm really sorry, Maura. Please know that I would never hurt you intentionally. I need you. I love you."
Maura nods. "I know you do, sweetie. Bu I-I need to get to work. Why don't you go sleep it off? I'll be back to check on you afterwards, okay?"
He hangs his head unable to look her in the eyes. Keeping his head down, he nods slowly before making his way to the bedroom.
Maura watches him go and as soon as he is out of sight, she closes her eyes and takes deep breaths trying to settle her racing heart and labored breathing. Splashing cool water onto her face, she tries her best to clear up any evidence of her jitterness. Knowing Jane as well as she did, the detective would sense something was wrong instantly and the last thing Maura wanted nor needed was a confrontation between the two people who couldn't stand each other.
Ten minutes later and she was on her way. Her breathing was back to normal, any semblance of tears and puffy eyes was wiped away as best as she could. Now she just needed to completely cover up the bruise on her wrist. That should be relatively easy. The hard part was remaining as normal as possible around Jane. Avoidance was key to this strategy.
Then she would have to decide how and when to break it off the engagement and her relationship with Ian. She knew one thing, it wasn't going to happen tonight like she had hoped to do.
Jane saunters into the cafe glancing at her phone one last time for any message from the ME. "Hey Ma. Has Maura been here this morning?"
"No, I haven't seen her yet. But I find it so sweet that you can't even go a minute without asking about her. I can already envision-"
Jane lets out a dramatic groan. "Ma! Please. I'm begging you to please tone it down with that kind of talk. We aren't technically back together, so don't go throwing us a wedding just yet, okay?"
"Did she not come back to you even after Ian put doubts in her head?" Angela prods at her daughter.
"Yes, but-"
"Did she not spend the night with you?"
"She did, but nothing hap-"
"Nonsense. Did she not-"
"Ma!" Jane calls a little louder. cutting her mother off abruptly. "I love that you are so supportive of me and Maura, but I mean technically, she is still with Ian. So please just reel it in a little bit and don't freak her out. She's already too worried and stressed enough as it is."
"I just am so happy that you found someone you are actually willing to put in the effort to keep around. And Maura…you know how much I love her already. Oh Jane, you couldn't have picked a better girlfriend." Angela couldn't contain it any longer, stepping around the counter she wraps her arms around her eldest child.
Jane fails to hold in a smile at her mothers excitement and support. "Me too, Ma. I'm just grateful that Maura is giving me another chance."
Angela releases her daughter, stepping back to look her in the face. "Exactly. Now if you mess this up again Jane Clem-"
"Really? You just like to scold, don't-"
A small voice from behind shuts her up instantly. "Hi."
Angela watches with a smile on her face as her daughter's whole demeanor quickly changes from annoyed to happiness in less than a second at the sight of the doctor.
"Hey." Jane replies. She walks closer keeping her eyes trained on hazel ones, squinting slightly. Something was off. She could feel it. Never mind that she could clearly see Maura had been crying, but she lets it go thinking it must have been quite an emotional morning for her with Ian. "How did it go? Are you okay?"
Maura forces the best smile she could muster. "Yes, I'm fine now." She fidgets with the lapels of her jacket as she watches Jane's dark brown zero in on her hands. Worried that Jane had already figured it out, she decides to cut the greeting short. "I think I'll just head down now. Get an update on those tox screens we are waiting on." She turns towards Angela, smiling lightly. "Goodbye Angela."
"Bye sweetheart." Angela replies, her voice higher in pitch than normal as she waves goodbye excitedly, causing Jane to discreetly roll her eyes.
"I'll see you later, Jane?" Maura asks. Once she gets an okay from the detective she turns to leave but a gentle hand on her shoulder causes her to stop mid turn.
"Hey, we're in this together okay? Whatever you need, call me and I'll be there in a flash." Jane says as she leans down and places a chaste kiss on the ME's lips.
The small, but simple gesture along with Jane's comforting smile and soft tone warms her heart and bring out a true smile from her lips. She nods appreciatively and walks out.
Once the ME is completely out of sight, Jane turns to find her mother trying but failing miserably holding in a squeal. Rolling her eyes, she sharply pivots and heads out of the cafe "Bye ma," she calls over shoulder, a slight amusement to her tone.
A/N 2: Next one should be up sooner rather than later.