Paladin, the more I read your reviews, the more I like you. I love that you tell me so much and give me so much constructive feedback... it's fantastic! And yes, I agree that, particularly in this story, I have not been trying so hard to keep the minor characters IN character as much as possible... you will have to forgive me for that... my concentration is not at brilliant levels at the moment. I have already changed the 'removalists' part, as it was pointed out by another reviewer (perhaps you got in just a tad before the site got around to actually replacing the chapter for me) and no, the rainbow thing was not symbology for the 'gay pride'... in fact, that's why I added the extra notes about red meaning this, green meaning that etc. I felt that otherwise, it could be taken as that, and that was not my intention at all, much as I appreciate the whole gay pride movement. Of course, if readers choose to take it that way, that is entirely their prerogative :-) Your other points were similarly good, so I will have to consider them when I write this chapter (as I'm writing this part before I even touch the next chapter... aka, the chapter below!). As you may be aware, if you've read my profile, my dream is to be an author one day, so I find this good practice. Of course, when that day comes, I will be able to come up with my own characters and let them find their own nuances and mannerisms, but until then, I find this good practice. So thank you once more! (also Hershey's are not as readily available here as I imagine they are where you live... I'm not sure if I've ever tried them! So I will be sticking with Lindt as my all time favourite haha!). Aaaand I haven't reread your reviews when typing this chapter as I said I would. Eep. Oh well, I'll read them for the NEXT chapter! :-D
A huge thank you to Julia DeRoussie and Kaitlyn Eddy for helping me out with a part of this chapter! Much appreciated. And, as promised, this chapter is dedicated to you Julia! :-P
Also, I am sorry for the delay in chapters this time... I think it's been like five days since I've posted? And I usually try not to go more than two or three days. I've just had a baaad pain week, and have only just had enough concentration for work... once I get home, my brain is fried. I don't even remember driving home most days lol, how bad is that? Anyways. Apologies again, and hopefully I will have the next chapter up much more quickly this time.
Also, I apologize if the quality of my writing had been affected for this chapter... if it has, please be patient with me! :-) I will try to get it back up to par immediately! And let me know if there are any glaring errors please :-)
Onto the chapter!
***CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR***
"... so they finally kissed, and..."
Jane stopped in her tracks, teetered on the balls of her feet for a second, then slowly reversed, craning her neck suspiciously towards the break room where she could hear the very familiar voices of Frankie and Frost.
They're talking about me and Maura!
Wait, they don't know I kissed Maura.
No, she kissed me.
Whatever. They don't know though... do they?
Unless Ma was somehow spying on us.
I so wouldn't put it past her. Train a telescope or binoculars or something on our window...
You're getting carried away.
AM NOT. THEY KNOW SOMETHING.
Jane felt very tempted to kick the door in and demand answers, but before she could even properly formulate the thought...
"What are you doing?"
Jane jumped, turning around to look at Korsak guiltily. "Uh... nothing?"
He looked at her sceptically. "Nothing."
"No?"
He sighed. "Why are you standing outside the break room?"
Frost and Frankie came to the door, looking at Jane curiously. "I... was tired? And having a rest?" She attempted glaring at Frankie without the other two seeing. He looked somewhat taken aback, but as she watched, realization slowly dawned in his eyes.
"With your ear practically pressed up against the door?"
Jane tried to sound convincing. "I was really tired. And," she added indignantly, "my ear was not pressed against the door, thank you very much. I was just... standing here."
"Uh huh."
"I... felt dizzy?"
A familiar clicking of high heels announced their owner's arrival. "You know, Jane, it is very obvious when you try to hide something. You continually phrase your sentences as questions. It's a very telling sign."
Jane closed her eyes. Just what she needed... Maura fucking Isles.
Ooh, fucking Maura Isles.
No, bad brain!
Making love to M...
WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?
"Hi Maura."
Maura smiled sweetly. "Hi. So what were you doing?"
"Nothing!"
Maura raised an eyebrow. Korsak frowned at her in concern. Frost looked bewildered, while Frankie looked as though he was trying not to laugh.
Jane also noticed that he was keeping a safe distance from her. Stupid brothers.
Well, shit.
Jane looked around at the four pairs of expectant eyes and groaned, rolling her own eyes back dramatically as she theatrically buckled her knees and ran her hands through her hair. "Oh my God. Fine. Get in here!" She stormed into the break room and shot a death glare at Officer Armstrong and Officer Collins who were still sitting in there (seriously, did Frost and Frankie not care about her privacy at all?). The two officers very quickly left for some strange reason (Jane was exceptionally proud of her glares, really), and she waited until the other four had filed in before slamming the door shut and rounding on Frost and Frankie.
"You two..." she said, pointing a finger accusingly between the two of them, "were talking about us!"
"What?" Frost said, at the same time as Frankie said,
"No, we weren't!"
("Us?" Korsak piped up confusedly, but everyone ignored him).
"Yes you were! Don't deny it!"
"When were we talking about you?" Frost looked honestly confused, but that was okay because Frankie was continuing to look highly amused and Jane was blaming him anyway.
"Just then!"
"What were we saying?" Frankie asked, and she glared even harder. He just looked more amused, moving himself a little further back. Presumably, she thought, in case she tried to kick him.
Seriously, this was the problem with working with people you grew up with. The effectiveness of The Glare just did not have the same impact.
"You know! About me and... about kissing. You were saying... you know," Jane found herself flailing wildly but seemed unable to stop. "You were gossiping! Saying we're a couple!"
"Oh, so you are a couple now?" Frost this time, with growing awareness in his eyes.
("Who's a couple?" asked Korsak, looking between them all with a furrowed brow).
"So we were talking about kissing... and you automatically think it's about you and your new..." he hesitated, "coupling?" Frankie's eyebrows rose.
("We're a couple?" Maura asked, brightening the room with a ten thousand watt smile).
"Well... wasn't it?" Jane asked, suddenly feeling unsure.
("You and... wait, you and Jane? Really?" Korsak asked).
"Not exactly..." Frost said slowly, smiling.
"Not at all!" Frankie practically guffawed.
("Yes. Last night." Maura squeaked when Korsak hugged her tightly).
"So... what were you talking about?"
("I knew it! Oh, I'm gonna be collecting some money today... oh, congratulations, of course. So, did you...?")
"Bones," Frankie said, not even bothering to conceal a smile.
"Say what now?"
(Maura blushed. "We kissed. That's all.").
"Bones? The TV show?"
"There's a TV show called 'Bones'?"
("Was it...?")
"It's a crime show, finding out how people died and stuff. An anthropologist and..."
"Wait, you don't get enough of that stuff in your actual job? You have to watch a TV show about it?"
"It's interesting!" Frankie this time, speaking up and looking offended.
"Factually incorrect, but interesting," Frost added.
("It was..." Maura bit her lip, "perfect.").
"It's a crime show, you are police... never mind. So what were you talking about?"
"Booth and Brennan kissed."
Jane gaped. "You were talking about a TV show kiss?"
"Yes. But you totally just outed yourself!" Frankie started laughing as Jane shot him her very worst Glare, but he just laughed harder.
Frost began to sing, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G," under his breath.
Korsak hugged Maura again.
Maura grinned at Jane happily.
Jane felt like she was losing her mind.
"Don't tell Ma!"
"Uh..." Maura suddenly looked bashful, pulling away from Korsak. "She... kind of already knows. I mean, I'm not absolutely certain she knows, but all evidence appears to point to that conclusion and..."
Jane glared. Maura bit her lip.
Hey, not fair. I want to bite...
SHUT UP BRAIN.
"ShewastheoneItalkedtobeforeIkissedyoulastnight."
"Oh my God, you guys finally kissed?" Frankie asked.
("Wait, how did you two know about this?" Korsak said, looking between Frost and Frankie.
"She came to me for advice," they answered, almost simultaneously. All three men suddenly frowned at each other.
"I thought she trusted me most of all..." Korsak mumbled.
"I'm her brother, you'd think she'd come to me first..." Frankie grumbled.
"She said she felt weird talking to the others but she did anyway..." Frost bumbled.)
Jane sighed. "Yes." She turned to Maura. "If you talked to her before you kissed me, what makes you so sure that she knows that you did kiss me?"
("Wait, Maura was the one who kissed you? Sissy." Frankie swore when Jane swatted him without even looking).
"I don't know for sure! But... I saw her in the cafe. She raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner, and I nodded in response. If, as I assume, the reason she raised her eyebrows is the reason I am thinking of (which I can't think of any other thing it could be), the fact that I nodded in response surely gave her the answer."
Jane stared at her for a long moment before rolling her eyes back in her head and falling dramatically back into a chair, running her fingers through her hair. "Ma knows. Awesome."
"If it helps, she seemed very supportive."
"She always wanted a doctor in the family!" Frankie piped up.
Jane sat up. "You three! Out!"
"But...!" Korsak and Frost began, but Jane waved an authoritative finger towards the door.
"OUT."
Mumbling under their breaths and shuffling their feet, the three men filed out the door, and with a final grin, Frankie shut the door behind him. Jane threw a nearby pen at the closed door and groaned once more, flinging her head back.
Maura cleared her throat.
Jane lifted her head.
Guh. Buh. Tuh.
"Hi, Jane."
Okay, you know what? Who really cares that Frost, Frankie and Korsak know? I mean, really.
SO not important.
Maura was standing against the wall, arms behind her back. The position made her breasts pop out a little bit more, and the way she tilted her head down to the ground, looking up at Jane through her eyelashes... Jane gulped.
The dress she was wearing certainly helped too. A bright blue dress by Michael Kors.
God, Jane couldn't even believe that she knew that.
Anyway, it fit her really well, and made her boobs...
Oh right. Probably should reply now.
"Hi."
Maura pushed off the wall, sauntering slowly over to Jane. Seriously, it was like a two foot walk. How the hell was Maura doing it so slowly and... seductively?
"Are you really upset?"
Jane looked up at Maura. "I don't want them gossiping about us."
"They've probably been gossiping for a while."
"I didn't know about it then though."
"You've known about it for a couple of weeks."
"But it wasn't real then."
Maura had finally reached Jane's side, pressing up against her closely. "And to think, now it is real. They have something to gossip about."
Jane gulped.
Maura was going to kill her.
Seriously. Death by attractiveness. That's what my death certificate will say.
Jane tilted her head up and waited.
Maura kissed her cheek.
Or death by frustration. You know, whatever.
"See you later, Jane."
Jane growled.
R&IR&IR&I
"Hi Ma," Jane said, walking into the cafe and slumping down on one of the chairs.
Angela came up and wrapped her arms around her.
"Ma! What the hell?" Jane batted Angela's arms away, ducking when it became clear that Angela was going in for the hug again.
"I'm just so happy!" Angela practically wailed and Jane rolled her eyes, finally letting her mother slump onto her shoulder. She patted her back awkwardly, aware of the curious looks from the other officers and workers in the station. Amazingly enough, they all seemed to lose interest (mostly) when presented with Jane's Glare of Death and Destruction and Mayhem.
Wow, her names for her glares were getting completely ridiculous.
Shut up, brain.
"That's nice, Ma."
Angela pulled back. "You did... didn't you? I mean, I'm sure that's what Maura meant when she nodded at me this morning, but maybe she meant she was going to talk to me later... but she hasn't been in here to talk to me, so surely that means that it did happen, and..."
Jane interrupted, suddenly fearful that her mother was going to have a stroke if she didn't calm the hell down. "What happened?"
Angela lowered her voice dramatically. "You kissed her."
Jane squirmed on her seat. "Well... y... I mean, technically there was kis... yeah, but..."
"She kissed you?" Still an overly dramatic whisper. Jane rolled her eyes again.
"I guess so."
"And?" Angela looked as high as a cat on catnip. Which, okay, Jane had never owned a cat but she heard that that was pretty damn hyper. And that was exactly how her mother was looking at this time.
Jane pulled back, looking at her suspiciously. "And what?"
"Are you... you know?" Jane was pretty sure her Ma's eyebrows were about to disappear into her hairline, the way she was raising them so high in such a suggestive manner.
"No, I don't know."
"Together?" Angela hissed.
Jane let out a breath. "I think so. We haven't really... I mean, we kind of... I don't know. Yes."
Angela really did wail this time, throwing her arms around Jane once more.
And, no matter how many Glares of Whatever Jane sent around the room, no one was looking away.
Slowly, she began to plot their deaths.
You, over there, you can die of asphyxiation.
You can be poisoned.
You can be stabbed.
You can be shot.
You can be burned alive...
Maura walked in.
You can be kissed and snuggled to death...
Oh, for fuck's sake.
Angela grabbed Maura as soon as she got close enough and pulled her into the hug. With a surprised 'oof' Maura quickly acquiesced, wrapping her arms around both of them.
And... now people were stopping outside the cafe to look at them.
Awesome.
She tried to think of more death plots.
She couldn't.
Stupid Maura and her stupid pretty smelling hair and her stupid dress and her stupid sexiness and her stupid lips and...
Man, I've got it bad.
END CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
The blue dress I described? That was the dress Maura was wearing in Season 4, Episode 4, Killer in High Heels... when she gets released from prison. Her body in that dress... well, to continue my train of thought would be rather inappropriate. Suffice to say: HOT.
Anyways. A lot of dialogue this time. I don't even know with this chapter. Blaaah. Hope you guys liked it though. Let me know. Or even just leave a review to make me smile, because you all know you love me. :-P Even though my author's notes aren't as crazy this time? hehe. Next time, I promise :-P
Love to all! xoxo