A/n: Major fluff ahead. (Also, most of you said you wanted Maura to stay so...)

Disclaimer: Don't own characters. Not making money. ETC.

Jane cursed under her breath. With each step her irritation at herself only grew. She was alone in her apartment again. She could still feel the light weight of Maura's body resting on top of hers. Her lips still tasted like the peach flavored whatever Maura was wearing. She sighed. She wanted Maura back in her arms and that was so sappy and so stupid. It was all stupid, she was stupid. She should've told Maura more. She should've confessed to her what she confessed to her mother. She shouldn't have done what she did, which was fall asleep on the couch with her mouth hanging open after they got done making out. But she was so freakin' tired and Maura was there and she was just so darn comfortable and warm. The freaking out she'd been doing for the past two days, the buildup to actually leaving Maura's bed probably even longer, had worn her out emotionally and her job wore her down in all ways and all she wanted to do was sleep. She sighed again. She and Maura were actually on the same page and she always slept better with her than without her. She didn't ask Maura to stay and that was probably the stupidest thing of all.

She looked down at her feet where Jo Friday was sniffing the toes of her sneakers, her tail fully wagging behind her. "Jo Friday," Jane said playfully. Jo looked up, cocking her head to the side. Jane couldn't help but smile. "Do you need to go potty?" Jo spun in a circle before looking back up at Jane with a small yip. Jane laughed. "Well, hold on."

…

Maura was halfway to her house when she realized she left her cell phone at Jane's. As she turned back around, she reasoned that since her phone was so vital to her job that she definitely needed to go back and get it. And she thought since it was so late, and it would be even later if she went back home, that she could just stay the night with Jane, if the detective didn't mind of course.

Over the past few weeks they had spent more nights together than apart. Maura was getting used to Jane's presence in a bed they shared. She loved it, actually. There was something so nice and welcoming about having the lanky form of her best friend, her girlfriend, beside her. She loved the messy, dark curls that seemed to have a mind of their own, the sound of the soft even breath as Jane exhaled against her neck. She loved the idea that on those nights she knew without a doubt that Jane was by her side, that she was safe and secure and home. Maura let that last word settle in her mind as she drove.

Home was such a strong word. By definition it was a place where something originated from, where it was housed. It was a word that a simple dictionary definition couldn't quite emulate. It was one of those words that the idea, the practice of it was much greater than the actual word. Like love or bravery or fear or faith. Home could easily, and quite deservedly, belong with those words, because like those words it was also a feeling and feelings, at least in her experience, were much deeper (and harder to understand) than a dictionary definition. Home was about the picture that developed in the mind, it was what she thought of when she was away.

When she was younger home was a fairly large, mostly empty house. It was where she slept, ate her meals, did her homework, and studied. It was watching her mother paint in the den or watching her father work on his classic cars in the garage. It was always safe and she knew she was loved, but it was never filled with an all-encompassing warmth that she got with the Rizzoli's.

With Jane, home seemed so much more than any of those things combined. Maura loved her parents, she always would. They raised her when they didn't have to, they gave her clothing, food – anything she would've asked for. Only, she never knew how to ask. With her new version of home she didn't have to ask. Home was Angela Rizzoli butting into her life, her home, with food, a warm heart, and good intentions. It was Frankie and Tommy and Frost and Korsak. It was a warm meal, a shoulder to lean on, a place to relax and let her guard down. Home is where the heart is, the expression had never been laid out so clear for her until that moment. As much as she loved to travel she knew her heart would always be in Boston. And the sole purpose, the entire reason, she had this new definition was because of Jane. Jane was where she felt safest, who she could go to, where she could fall apart without judgment. Jane introduced her, dragged her in some cases, to her family, to gatherings, to drinks with the guys. And it was wonderful and she was eternally grateful and she wanted to thank Jane as soon as she possibly could.

Finally she pulled onto Jane's street and put her car in park. She walked into the apartment building and used her key to walk inside Jane's apartment. After relocking all of the locks Maura saw her phone sitting on the coffee table next to an empty beer bottle. She slipped off her heels, leaving them by the door. She put the empty bottle in the trash and picked up her phone before walking quietly down the hall to Jane's bedroom.

The detective was asleep lying on her right side with half her face shoved into a pillow. Maura smiled softly. She set her phone down on her nightstand before going towards Jane's drawer. She changed into a baggy faded Boston Police tee shirt and boxers she knew Jane loved to wear. Navigating through the dark she slipped her clothes onto a hanger and put Jane's discarded sweatpants into the hamper by her door. Finally, she crawled into the bed next to Jane.

Jane cracked an eye open when the bed dipped. "Am I dreaming?" She asked although she knew she wasn't. She smiled lazily as Maura lifted her left arm high enough so she could settle against Jane's chest. Maura leaned forward brushing her lips lightly against Jane's chin. "If I am don't wake me up."

"I forgot my cell phone." Maura tangled their legs together.

Jane shivered. "Your feet are cold."

Maura laughed quietly as Jane brought her closer. "You don't mind me staying?"

"Never." Jane yawned. "I was actually kicking myself for not offering." Maura smiled. Jane suddenly opened her eyes wide as the feeling of Maura's legs against her own. "I'm not wearing any pants."

"I noticed." Maura giggled. "If it makes you feel better, I'm not wearing a bra."

"Strangely, that doesn't make me feel better."

Maura moved her hand so it rested against Jane's heart. "You're not wearing a bra either."

"I thought I was the detective in this relationship?"

After a short moment of silence Maura spoke again. "Jane?"

"You keep talking and I'm gonna have to pretend to kick you out of the bed."

"Pretend?"

"Well, I'm comfortable. Actually kicking you out would just make me uncomfortable again."

Maura smiled although Jane couldn't see it. "You never told me what your mother said."

There was a long silence that followed her words. For a brief moment Maura thought Jane had fallen asleep in the middle of their conversation. But then Jane spoke, her words soft in the dark room. "She wants me happy." When Jane sighed Maura could feel it ripple through her entire body as if the tension Jane had been holding in over the past few days finally evaporated. "And you make me happy."

Maura could tell the second Jane fell asleep. Her whole body kind of went soft and her breath evened out. Maura brought one hand up gently stroking Jane's cheek. She kissed her lightly on the nose and smiled, before settling back down. "You make me happy too."

…

Maura woke up to an empty bed. She stretched lazily across the mattress and let her mind focus. She could hear Jane in the kitchen. She smiled remembering the night before, Jane's hot breath against her ear, how their legs intertwined together, and the way Jane's arm seemed to mold into her waist. She was glad she left her phone on the coffee table. She loved waking up in Jane's clothes with the scent of her wrapped around her. She stood with another stretch. One glance at the clock on the nightstand told her that it was still very early. At just after six they didn't have to be at work for a few hours. She yawned walking into the bathroom.

Jane stood in her kitchen as she mixed all of the ingredients together. Flour was everywhere, on her shirt, and her hands. She wouldn't have been surprised if it was all over her face with the amount of time she had to brush a stray strand of hair out of her line of sight. That was the primary reason she didn't like to cook. Even in her mid-thirties with her could-be-a-chef of a mother she still couldn't figure out how to do it properly without making a giant mess. But Maura was asleep in her bed and she woke up early for once and pancakes seemed like the best and only choice, really.

Jo Friday sat at her feet, diligently waiting for some food stuffs to land on the floor that Jane would inevitably drop at some point. "You know, I don't just cook for anyone, Jo." The dog scooted closer to Jane's feet at her words. She laughed. "And as I general rule cuddling is usually a no-no, I always feel suffocated. But I cook for her and sleep all over her." Jane shrugged as she poured the ingredients into the pan. "Maybe I just never had the right combination, huh? I break all my rules for her." She looked down at Jo who was looking at her with big brown eyes. "You know that lady you see me with all the time? The one with the yard and the turtle?" Jo barked. Jane grinned as she used the spatula to rearrange the pancake batter in the skillet. "We're more than friendly, if you get my drift." After a moment she flipped the pancake. "I don't think that's going to affect your little doggie life all that much, but I thought you should know." She flipped the pancake again before putting it on the plate with the others.

After brushing her teeth Maura walked into the hallway and leaned against the wall listening to Jane talk with a smile on her face.

Jane poured some more batter into the pan. "I really like her though, Jo. Like the kind of like that could lead to love if I don't find some way to screw it up. And it's weird!" Maura bit her lip to keep from laughing at Jane's outburst. "She said to stop worrying about that though, so did Ma. Ma's the one that tries to put you in frilly pink sweaters at Christmas." Jane added conspiratorially. Jo snorted. "My thoughts exactly." Jane flipped the pancake. "Maybe they're right though. But you know I'm a detective, you don't know what that is I know but it just means why's and when's are important to me." She sighed. "You want to know the truth though, don't you?" Jo cocked her head to the side. "Alright, don't twist my arm." Jane joked. "All I want to do is be with her, around her. I want to hold her and kiss her and talk to her. I want to get lost in all that is Maura Isles. Is that what love is, Jo?"

Maura couldn't take anymore. She walked up behind Jane and wrapped her arms around Jane's middle. Jane tensed before relaxing when she realized it was Maura, not that it could be anyone else. Her face ignited in a heavy blush at the thought that she probably heard what she was telling Jo. "You've made pancakes." Maura whispered in Jane's ear. Maura saw the slight goose bumps race across Jane's skin and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She smiled.

"Some of them are turtle shaped." Jane pointed to the plate with a grin.

Maura looked at the plate with shining eyes. "I don't know, could be tortoises." Jane laughed and Maura more than any other moment wanted to say those dangerous three words. But it was too soon, and not the right time, and she wasn't ready to hear them much less say them, so instead she buried her face between Jane's shoulder blades and squeezed tighter.

Jane grabbed a dog treat from the bag and tossed it on the ground for Jo who ate it eagerly. "Are you going to come up front and tell me how much you heard me tell the dog?"

Maura shrugged. "I quite like the view back here." She took one hand from around Jane's waist and let it dance down Jane's back. She playfully pulled at the waistband of Jane's sweatpants. "You do have a beautifully proportioned gluteus maximus."

She felt more than heard Jane's laugh as she brought her hand back around. "You think I have a nice ass."

"I do." Maura laughed. They were silent for a moment just standing in the middle of Jane's kitchen before Maura spoke again. "That day you spent the night at my house because the plumbing in your building was getting worked on and you came to the bathroom to borrow some toothpaste that was when for me."

"Huh?"

Maura continued talking, speaking into Jane's shoulder. "You were wearing black slacks with your belt undone and a white tank top. You had that navy blue nail polish on your toenails and I remember thinking that you were very attractive in that moment. That was when it hit me. It might've been there all along or it might not have. I don't know, but after that moment I started to develop feelings for you that went deeper than friendship. That was when for me, if that helps you in anyway feel better about us – about this."

Jane sighed leaning back into Maura's touch before Maura let go. She watched Maura pick up the plate of pancakes and walk to the table before making two mugs of coffee. She was struck again by how gorgeous that woman was, with no makeup on, and full on bedhead wearing her clothes. There was just something striking about the fact that she was the only one that got to see Maura this way. "You know those clothes don't look half as good on me as they do on you."

Maura turned around facing Jane with a smirk. "Does that mean I get to keep them?" She looped her arms around Jane's neck.

"Hmm, I don't know." Jane murmured just as Maura brought their lips together in a slow, tantalizing kiss. All too soon, in Jane's opinion, Maura was out of her arms and walking back towards the table. Jane washed her hands off in the sink already knowing if Maura wanted the clothes she could have them. She dried her hands off with a towel and was about to sit back down at the table when Maura took the towel from her hands.

"I'm sorry, I can't take you seriously." She said quietly wiping at the flour that was across Jane's cheek.

"How long has that been bothering you?"

"Since I saw your face." They laughed before walking to the table and sitting down.

Jane passed Maura the syrup. "One of these days you're going to have to learn to let your hair down."

Maura looked perplexed. "My hair is down."

Jane smiled into her coffee cup. Suddenly she recalled Maura's words from weeks before any of it even happened. It would be easy between us. Initially she didn't take them seriously. She and Maura both were slightly inebriated that night but thinking of it now, so far they had rung true, but she had a vital question. "Will it always be like this?"

"Like what?"

"Easy. Smooth. Simple."

Maura smiled softly. "No."

Finally Jane looked at Maura with an eyebrow raised fork poised midair between plate and mouth. "Real vote of confidence you got there, Maura."

Maura looked knowingly at Jane. "We'll have bad days, maybe even bad weeks. There will be times that we won't want to talk to each other and we won't. We'll be grumpy, maybe from work or maybe it's just us. The newness will wear off eventually. But I," She bit her lip looking down at her plate. "I think we can make it."

"So do I." Their eyes met again and held. Jane smiled genuinely at her. "We never can stay away from each other long."

…

Jane got off the elevator with a cup of coffee in her hand. She raised her eyebrows at the sound of laughter coming from the bullpen before stepping into the room with trepidation. She noticed Greg Mathews sitting in her chair as he talked loudly, animatedly to Korsak and Frost and anyone who was listening. Upon seeing Jane, Frost coughed into his hand and went back to his desk. Greg spun around in her chair to face her. "Finally, Rizzoli. I was just telling the boys here –"

"Don't want to know." She interrupted. "Besides, I'm early." Jane kicked her chair pointing the one by her desk. "Get out of my chair."

He switched chairs. "You are not a morning person."

Jane scoffed. "I've actually been awake since six." Frost raised his eyebrows at her. She wanted to kick him.

"Why so early?" Greg teased.

"None of your damn business."

"Maybe you should have slept later."

"Maybe you should tell me why you're here and," She took in her desk. "Why you rearranged my entire desk." All of the things she had on the right side were on the left and vice versa. She already nearly knocked over her pen holder. She scowled.

He laughed as he pulled out a piece of paper from inside his coat. "Got the Touch Football schedule for you." She snatched the paper from him. She unfolded it and scanned the words. "As you can see, you're playin' the gang unit," He pointed to himself. "For the first game. So I gotta ask, do you want a handicap?"

Frost and Korsak looked at him like he had two heads. Jane scrunched up her face. "Excuse me?"

"Oh this'll be good." Frost mumbled under his breath.

"I mean 'cause you got the medical examiner on your team." Korsak out right laughed at that. Greg turned to him furrowing his eyebrows like he didn't know what he did wrong. "I know she's your friend and all but science dorks aren't the best with sports."

Jane raised an eyebrow choosing to ignore the science dorks dig. "Maura's good with her hands."

"Know that from personal experience, do you Rizzoli?" He laughed.

Jane shoved him in the arm her cheeks flushed a slight red. She grabbed her wallet from the inside of her blazer and took a twenty out laying it flat on the table. "I bet you this twenty," She tapped the bill. "Homicide wins on Saturday."

Greg nodded pulling out his own wallet and throwing a twenty down. "I'll take that bet."

Jane narrowed her eyes yanking out another twenty. "Double or nothing, says Maura also scores a touchdown."

"Wait, so forty bucks if your M.E. scores a touchdown and homicide wins?"

"Yeah."

He threw another twenty down. "Deal." They shook on it.

Just as Greg was about to say something else the phones on all three of their desks started ringing. "Uh-oh."

Korsak answered his phone and the ringing stopped on Jane's and Frost's desks. Korsak nodded as he listened to the other person talk. He nodded once more before putting the phone back. "Our victim's wife has our main suspect at gun point in his apartment." He said gruffly before standing to his feet.

"Double uh-oh."

"Yup." Frost said standing to his feet.

Jane followed adjusting her gun. "Hey, if you want that coffee, it's yours." She pointed to the full cup. "And keep that money safe. And," She added one last time. "If you're going to stay here can you make sure when Frankie comes by to give him this address." She handed him a post-it that was previously sticking to her computer screen.

"How do you know he'll come by?"

Jane smirked. "He always comes by."

Sure enough Frankie did come by only Detective Mathews wasn't there but he left a sticky note that said FRANKIE in big letters and an arrow pointing to the address. Frankie laughed and rolled his eyes before picking up the address. He was supposed to pick up the team shirts from a custom shirt company for Jane.

…

Maura walked into her office after grabbing a cup of coffee and a bite to eat for lunch from the café. Upon her return she found a folded red tee shirt on her desk with a yellow post-it on top. She recognized the handwriting as Frankie's.

I know if Jane was the one delivering this to you she'd probably write something really sappy, because when it comes to you she's the biggest sap there is. So to stick with the Rizzoli sappiness, I'm glad you're dating my sister. – Frankie R.

Maura smiled tucking the note into a drawer in her desk. She unfolded the shirt. It was very similar to the softball shirts the homicide team wore when they played. Boston Homicide was written in white on the front in big block letters with a gun in the middle. On the back she found her last name in the same font with the number two underneath it. She felt a warmth burst in her chest. It was a feeling almost always closely related to Jane. All her life her oddness led others to keep her at arm's length. But now she had a place to belong, friends to go to at the bar, people that waved her over, people that wanted her around. The smile remained on her face while she folded the shirt and sent Jane a text.

…

Meanwhile, halfway across Boston, Jane was having her own issues. She had no idea how she always got into these stupid situations. It must have been her 'act first – think later' attitude. She found herself standing in front of a quivering man and a severely shaking gun looking directly into the eyes of a grieving widow. She felt her phone vibrate on her side but forgot about it as soon as it happened. She could feel sweat dripping down her back. The man behind her had already started to sing like a canary. He said it was an accident, he was only meant to scare him. Jane had half a mind to turn around and ask how the hell a six inch knife wound up embedded in someone's chest by accident but she refrained. It was funny what people would say when I gun was pointed at their face.

"Sally," She tried again for what seemed the hundredth time. The woman's eyes flickered towards hers briefly. "Killing him isn't going to bring you or your family any peace."

But the woman wasn't having any of it. "He killed my husband!" Her voice cracked as a sob ripped through her vocal cords. "My children's father!" Her scream that time seemed to reverberate around the small apartment.

Jane swallowed hard. "Killing him is not going to bring your husband back."

"I know!"

"You love your kids, right?" Jane asked going for another angle.

"Of course I do." She seemed offended Jane would even ask such a question. She pulled the gun up higher. "That's why he has to pay!"

Jane almost wanted to move out of the way and let the woman destroy the man behind her. But there was a reason she was paid the big bucks, a reason she had the gold shield, so she asked the one question she knew would get her if the roles were reversed. "If you hurt him, who's going to take care of your kids?" The gun lowered a fraction of an inch. Frost inched closer. "If you hurt him, your kids are going to lose both of their parents at the same time. I know you don't want that." She gestured to the coffee table. "Just put the gun down, and we can work all of this out."

The second the gun was out of her hand Frost had her cuffed and Korsak picked up the gun. The apartment was resonating in her sobs as she hit her knees. Jane turned around shoving their guy into the wall and cuffed him. "You're under arrest for the murder of Jerry Davis. You have the right to remain silent…"

By the time they all made it back to the precinct it was well past lunch time, but their jobs were just getting started. Korsak took the woman into one interrogation room while Frost and Jane took the man. He was shouting for a lawyer the entire trip to the elevator. "You'll get your lawyer." Jane grumbled pressing the button for homicide floor a little too hard.

"Yeah, why don't you evoke your right to remain silent?" Frost quipped beside her.

The pair of them shoved the guy into the interrogation chair and left the room to wait it out for his lawyer. Jane felt her phone vibrate again just as she noticed her desk put back the way it should have been only with a purple Medical Examiner file on top and a plastic grocery bag full of red cloth in her chair. She picked up the bag and dug around before throwing Frost his shirt. "Team shirts for the game Saturday." She said as he looked at it. She threw Korsak's onto his desk.

"Nice!"

Jane picked up the file flipping through it. "Latent prints the crime techs found on the knife came back. Three guesses who they belong to."

"Our very own, Micky Cramer?"

"Winner, winner!" Jane laughed. She pulled her cell phone from her belt noticing both texts from Maura. The first one read: Thank you for picking me for you team, I heard about the bet. Don't worry, I have very good hand eye coordination. Be safe! Jane shook her head at the words a smile still plastered across her face as she read the next one. Latent prints came back from the crime lab. Results are in the folder on your desk. You're more than welcome to come to my house when you're done if you like. Feel free to call if you have questions. Jane slid her phone back into the place on her belt.

Frost laughed. "Man you got it bad."

"Shut up."

It was almost an hour before the lawyer came down to the precinct and even longer before all parties came to an agreement. The DA would come by the office tomorrow and talk to him, until then Mr. Cramer was most definitely spending the night (and many more after it) in a jail cell. Jane and Frost sat at their desks and began typing up their reports. They were halfway through when Korsak came up. He tossed his tie on his desk. "I don't know about you two, but I need a beer."

Frost stood with a stretch. "Me too." He turned to Jane. "What about you?"

She looked at the time, it was nearly eleven. "Nah, I'm just going to go home."

"Home home or Maura home?" Frost asked suggestively.

"Which would you choose?" She countered.

He shrugged. "Fair enough." Jane laughed and turned off her computer. Together the three of them got onto the elevators and headed down.

…

When Jane finally pulled into Maura's driveway it felt way later than it actually was. She was pretty sure the only thing keeping her legs moving was Jo Friday straining on the leash in front of her. Normally she probably would've just stayed home, but all she could see every time she closed her eyes were the saddest blue eyes she'd ever seen in her life, all she could hear was the woman's wails as Frost cuffed her. She sighed heavily, unlocking the door and walking in before locking it back. She turned on a lamp and threw her overnight bag onto the couch. After she was changed into her pajamas and Jo Friday was unleashed she traveled up the stairs slowly before walking into Maura's master bedroom. Lazily she pulled the covers down and slid face first into the pillow on her side of the bed.

Maura wrapped her arm around Jane. "Did Jo Friday have trouble sleeping again?"

Jane smiled, her thoughts about how shitty her job was momentarily stalled. She rolled into Maura's side, letting the other woman hold her. "Yes." She yawned.

Maura stroked her hair, stifling her own yawn. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jane shook her head. She closed her eyes letting Maura's soft touch ease the tension from the day away. "You were wearing scrubs." She whispered as Maura's confession from that morning came back to her. She wanted Maura to know the moment it happened for her too. "When I first really, really felt it you were in the morgue teaching or something. You were wearing scrubs and then we got into an argument." She yawned. "I went to the bar and Korsak told me the reason I treated you differently than everyone else was because I had a crush on you. When I accepted it, it kind of made sense."

"We make sense." Maura kissed the top of Jane's head. She moved her hand to Jane's back going slightly under her night shirt gently stroking nonsensical patterns against Jane's heated skin.

The detective shifted a moment underneath her touch. "Feels good."

Maura smiled lazily. "Go to sleep, Jane."

"Mmkay."

A/N: I mapped out the rest of the story and there's only going to be about 28-30 all together unless there's something specific y'all want to see?