A huge thank you to all my reviewers and a quick note to the guest reviewer 'Paladin'... thank you for all your comments! I read back through the last chapter and fixed what I could find in the manner of spelling/grammar errors, but please let me know if you see any more. I was in a fair amount of pain when typing that chapter, so I guess I must have been somewhat distracted :-) And yes, you have caught me out... I do NOT use a beta reader LOL. What can I say, I'm a rebel :-P haha
Some AWESOME SUGGESTIONS! Someone was worried... I can't remember if it was a review or a PM or on the facebook Rizzles group... that I was going to take a really silly suggestion and just completely destroy the story with it. NO! I will take ones I think I can feasibly work in without taking away the general tone of the story, but I am not going to go silly with it. I will leave the silliness to my little crazy author notes at the top and bottom :-P
ALSO omg the response to the synaesthesia thing from last chapter! BEST THING EVER. And now I think I'm going to do a one shot or perhaps more based around that because my brain's been whirring all day... but I'll wait till I finish this story first :-D
Oh one more thing... a guest reviewer raised the question: why would Maura write down 'I love you too' rather than say it back, especially to someone as doubtful and nervous as Jane?... I hope this addresses that a little bit for you. (and I'm sorry the teasing from Frost annoyed you, I just tend to think that he and Jane have a relationship almost akin to a brother/sister type, hence the teasing). :-)
Enough rambling... ONTO THE CHAPTER
***CHAPTER TWENTY***
Maura wasn't there. Jane knew she shouldn't be surprised... after all, she was the one who left in the first place. But all of her stuff was here so surely that meant she was coming back... it's not like she had anywhere else to go.
Unless she was going to kick Jane out.
But then why would she go to the effort of unpacking all of her clothes? Surely if she was going to kick her out, she would have left the stuff still in the suitcase, only unpacking her own belongings.
Jane shook her head. She didn't know. She just didn't know.
All of a sudden a horrible thought occurred to her... what if Maura hadn't been the one to write that message on the mirror? They were in a hotel room after all... an insanely expensive hotel, with a somewhat ridiculously pretentious (if wonderful) shower, but a hotel nonetheless. They were by no means the only people to have ever stayed in this room.
But I recognised the handwriting...
It was writing on a mirror though... surely that meant it would look different to writing on paper. Perhaps someone else wrote that message... someone with similar handwriting to Maura's. Perhaps they were writing to their lover... not just their best friend.
Jane let out a groan, dropping her head into her hands and massaging her temples. She hadn't even gotten dressed after her shower yet... simply wrapped a towel around herself and headed out to sit on the (unbelievably comfortable and freakin' HUGE) bed. Perhaps all in all, it was a good thing that Maura wasn't there... that way Jane had a chance to process all this before she came back. After all, it would be rather embarrassing to come flying out of the bathroom, thanking Maura for a message she hadn't even left.
But what if she did leave it?
Jane let out a frustrated growl, hating her own indecisiveness just as another thought occurred to her. Best friends say I love you to each other sometimes... what if Maura had taken it that way? That Jane had just confessed her love... as a friend... and so then she returned the sentiment as a friend.
Jane didn't know if she liked that idea or hated it. On the one hand, yay for returned love. On the other, it was not quite what Jane had in mind when she originally said it.
Suddenly the door beeped, indicative of a card being swiped for entry and Jane leapt to her feet, clutching her chest worriedly as it slammed open and in came... Maura.
Well, of course it's freakin' Maura, who else were you expecting? Bob Hope?
"Hi."
"Hi," Maura replied softly, having stopped dead in her tracks to stare at Jane.
Or perhaps gawk was a more appropriate word.
Jane stood up a little straighter, pulling her towel up a little higher. Maura's eyes darted down to her legs.
"Uh... the door?"
"Oh!" Maura quickly stepped inside, letting the door slam shut behind her. "Uh, you... figured out the shower then?"
"Yes."
"The... uh... the mirror is quite large in there... the bathroom... isn't it?"
Wow, had she been taking subtlety lessons from Angela? That was about as subtle as a steam train.
"It is."
Maura waited, but Jane didn't say anything further. She didn't know if she could. Eventually, Maura just bit her lip. "You went to visit the pets."
"I did." Jane wasn't quite sure why she was sticking to these monosyllabic replies, but it didn't seem like her brain was capable of transmitting more complicated words to her mouth right now.
"You made quite the impression on their new student employee."
"Sheryl?" Jane asked, and when Maura nodded, she snorted. "Yeah, well..."
"What did you talk to Bass and Jo about?" Maura interrupted, spewing the sentence out as quickly as possible, as though the words were acidic and burned upon exiting her mouth.
"Stuff."
"Me too." Maura nervously scuffed the toe of her heels into the carpet, and Jane thought it was just about the most adorable thing she'd ever seen.
Not that, you know, she'd ever admit to thinking that.
Ever.
"I'm gonna... you know, put some clothes on," Jane finally said, and Maura wrung her hands.
"Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." she trailed off, turning around abruptly with a faint blush covering her cheeks.
"It's okay... I just... forgot... to put clothes on after my shower." She pulled her underwear up over her hips, still clutching the towel.
"You forgot?" Maura asked the door curiously.
Jane wondered if she was just imagining the touch of laughter that coloured her voice softly.
"Yeah, well, something might have distracted me."
"You did see my message!"
Jane pulled her pants up, doing the button up. "Maybe."
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything when you... when you said it."
Jane finally dropped the towel, putting her bra on. "It's okay. It was kind of out of the blue."
"Yeah, but I still feel as though I should have said something."
Jane pulled on her faded grey Boston BPD shirt. "It's fine." She shook out her hair, lamenting the wild ringlets that seemed even more out of control than usual, and cleared her throat. Maura seemed to realize this was her cue to turn back around so she did, her jaw dropping slightly. Jane looked back at her self-consciously. "What?"
"Nothing."
Jane bit her lip. She felt tempted to call Maura out on the lie; on the obvious hives that were forming on her chest, but she just didn't have the energy. She looked at the ground, listening as Maura quietly regained control over her breathing.
"What do you want to do tonight?" The question was quiet... so quiet that Jane almost missed it.
She waited for her brain to come up with a sarcastic or inappropriate comment, but all was quiet up there tonight.
She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
She glanced at the clock. 6:30pm.
"Order pizza and watch a movie?"
"Okay."
Maura smiled.
Whoa, look at the pretty.
Oh, and there was Jane's brain. Welcome back.
R&IR&IR&I
"Pepperoni grease! Get it off my half please!"
Jane rolled her eyes, pulling off the pepperoni and shoving it in her mouth. "You know what is truly odd about you?"
"That I'm the dumbest genius you know?"
Jane laughed out loud. "No, you dork. Well, yes, but no, not this time. That you act all grossed out by my pepperonis, but in five minutes time, you will be eating my side of the pizza."
"Will not." Maura eyed a pepperoni slice that had fallen off at some point. Jane rolled her eyes, standing up to get some glasses and when she came back... hey, waddaya know... the slice was gone.
"Hey, I thought there was a bit of pepperoni there?"
Maura looked up wide-eyed. "Hmm?"
"Pepperoni? There? Had fallen off?"
Maura blinked. "I... I don't..."
Jane held the gaze for a little bit longer before she laughed and twisted open the lid of the bottle of Coke. "Calm down, Maura. I know you ate it."
Maura pouted. "Did not."
"Uh huh. You know that pizza is actually not intended to be healthy, right? Like, at all? In fact, I'm pretty sure it's a rule that if you have pizza, it has to be dripping in artery-clogging amounts of grease and fat."
Maura wrinkled her nose, but wisely seemed to decide not to comment further. Instead, she peered down at the glass of coke. "I'd prefer wine."
"It's pizza, Maura."
"No... this looks like Coke."
Jane rolled her eyes. "I know, Miss Literal, I'm saying that if you eat pizza, it needs to both be dripping with grease and consumed with Coke. It's a law."
Maura pursed her lips. "Did you know..."
Jane held us a finger and made clucking noises. "Nope. Gonna stop you right there. I don't want to hear about how Coke will eat through my intestines or give me cancer or make my ovaries jump into my brain or anything. I want you to drink it and enjoy it, because you deserve it."
Maura flushed, but couldn't seem to stop herself from asking, "I deserve to have my ovaries jump into my brain?" Jane just smiled, watching as Maura took a tentative sip. "Oh!" she sounded genuinely surprised.
"See?"
"I believe I understand how people can get addicted."
Jane frowned. She carefully pulled the glass out of Maura's hand. "Yeah, no more Coke for you. Let's watch a movie."
It was Maura's turn to frown. "Jane... the pizza... the couch..."
"... isn't yours, so you don't have to clean the crumbs, and anyway, we'll be careful." Jane smiled winningly. "Please?"
R&IR&IR&I
"I can't believe I'm wearing a bib."
"It's not a bib. It's a napkin."
"Placed at my neck. It's a bib." Jane frowned down at the offending item.
"I'm wearing one too."
Yes, and how is it you manage to make even that look amazing?
"Yeah, looks stupid on you too."
Maura laughed. "It saves our clothes from getting messy."
"I haven't needed a bib in over 35 years Maura, I don't intend on needing one today... or making a mess!"
Maura just shook her head and turned back to watch 'The Little Mermaid' (it was that or some romantic comedy... Jane felt that the Disney movie was probably safer. Plus, when Maura said she hadn't seen it before... well, there really wasn't a choice. Jane was fairly certain it was in the Constitution that everyone should know those songs off by heart), while Jane picked up a slice of pizza.
Mushroom covered pizza, because, as predicted, Maura had eaten the rest of the pepperoni slices.
And five minutes later, the cheesy, saucy layer of mushrooms slid off the base and fell on Jane's napkin bib.
"ARGH!"
"Oh Jane!" Maura immediately lunged over, wrenched her own napkin/bib out of her collar and started using it to clean up the mess.
Jane thought it would be easier to just take the whole damn napkin bib thing off but Maura was there, and she could smell her hair and, all in all, it was just distracting.
"Fuck."
"Language," Maura scolded absently. There was silence for a few minutes while she blotted (the napkin, but again, who was complaining?), but Jane finally spoke up.
"Uh, so maybe the bib thing was a good idea."
Maura laughed. "At least you didn't spill it on the couch... the material looks to be expensive."
Jane's eyebrows shot up. "'Looks to be expensive?' Hello, Maura Isles, are you in there?"
Maura looked up and frowned, but still did make eye contact. "What?"
"Where's the history lesson on the type of fabric, the cost, the designer...?" Jane craned her neck down, attempting to look Maura in the eye. "I'm sure you know it."
Maura's frown deepened. "I do. I just..."
"Just...?"
Maura bit her lip, then sheepishly pulled the napkin away from Jane's shirt. "Maybe I should have done that right away."
"Yeah. Maybe."
Oh, and look, it's back to the monosyllable words.
Okay, so 'maybe' had two syllables but really, who's counting?
Jane found herself wondering if there a word for two syllable words... duosyllable maybe? She'd have to ask Maura later... when suddenly the woman in question looked up, and Jane forgot all about syllables. In fact, all about words in general.
"Guh."
Maura looked somewhat bewildered. "Jane?"
"Buh."
Now she looked scared. Focus, Rizzoli.
"Green. Blue. Brown."
Aaaand now she looked confused.
"Your eyes."
A little bit of understanding.
"What, uh... what colour do you call them?"
Maura shrugged. "I put down hazel for my driver's license application."
"But they're not hazel... they're green, and blue, and brown, and gold and..."
Maura looked amused. "The term 'hazel' is generally used to describe eye colours such as mine, because of the amount of melanin..."
"No one has eyes like yours."
Maura bit her lip. Her gaze darted from Jane's eyes to her lips, and Jane suddenly found herself unable to shut the fuck up.
"My eye colour is boring."
Shut up, Jane.
"It's brown. There are no other colours. Just brown."
Seriously, shut up.
"It's so boring. Like, 'what colour eyes do you have?', 'Brown', 'Well then...'"
Why are you still talking?
"I mean, at least with you..."
Oh.
Okay, well that was one way to get her to stop talking. Cheek still tingling from the sweet kiss so recently placed on it, Jane stared open mouthed as Maura stood up, walking to the bedroom, finally turning around when she got to the doorway.
"You know, it's because of your Italian heritage..."
And there's the Maura I know and love.
"Italians tend to have a relatively high concentration of melanin in the stroma of the iris, and..."
"I love you," Jane blurted out for the second time that day.
"And..." Maura trailed off, looking uncharacteristically uncertain.
Though, in retrospect, perhaps it wasn't so uncharacteristic at all. Perhaps it was just that Jane never saw her that way... awkward, unsure of herself.
"When you say that..." she asked slowly, and Jane stood up. She shrugged.
"I mean it."
Maura trembled slightly and opened her mouth, but then closed it again. "I love you too."
There's something important you really should be doing... what was it...
Oh, right. Breathing. Breathing is handy.
Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out...
Oh, wait till Bass and Jo hear about this!
END CHAPTER TWENTY
Okay, I don't know about this chapter. I've been feeling like crap all day... cranky, tired, sore, the whole shebang! haha... so I'm not sure if that's perhaps come across in the writing? I don't know. I tend to be even MORE critical of myself when I'm not 100% (which is saying something, cause I'm very hard on myself at the best of times lol!) so please just let me know what you think... is it too rushed, does it not make sense, is it out of character, is it just crap... I'll rewrite the chapter if I have to.
But if I am just frustrating you cause there's been no kiss yet... BWAHAHA MY EVIL PLAN IS WORKING. EVERYONE WILL BE FRUSTRATED BWAHAH... *cough* who said that? *smiles innocently* LOL
Oh, and also, congrats to afret2010 (I think that's your username, I'm too lazy to go double check) who won a virtual carrot for cracking me up with their suggestion that they get sucked into Narnia via their bathtub... AWESOME. :-D *hands over virtual carrot*
And virtual broccoli/carrot/Brussels sprouts/pumpkin/cauliflower/etc to everyone who reviews. What? It's important to get your vegie intake. Even if it's virtual... :-P
Love to all! xoxo