The following weeks passed fast and winter soon turned into springtime. When all the bruising and pain was gone, Jane decided that it was time to stick to the promise she had given to Maura in the hospital to show her some of her favorite places.
Both were in an excellent mood when getting ready to head out of the house, armed with a picknick basket which had been thoroughly filled with all kind of food and beverages. Jane also made sure to bring a blanket to sit on to the mustang.
With everything neatly stuck into the trunk they drove off to a lake to which her father used to take her and her brothers when they were little for fishing.
It was almost summer and warm; therefore the top of the mustang was down and Jane kept glancing to the blonde who wore a headscarf, resembling a damn hot movie star like Grace Kelly. Huge sunglasses completed her outfit and the woman made her completely forget everything.
Angela and her brothers had settled into the guesthouse, and they occasionally met in the garden. Jane had been surprised to find out that her mother was interested in growing vegetables, which the good doctor had embraced, setting up some beds in the garden for herself and the older woman. So, both could spend hours in the garden or talk about the garden while Jane usually watched games with her brothers or talked about games. Everything was perfect, which scared the hell out of Jane. Whenever something was so perfect, she feared that it would crash.
These worries had clouded her mind a lot recently. As well as the approaching end of the term. There were still some hard exams to take. She constantly declined Maura's offers to help, wanting to succeed by herself.
Once at the lake they took out their stuff from the trunk and made themselves comfortable on a nice spot close to the lake, but a bit further apart from other people to have some privacy.
Jane laid down, crossing her arms behind her head and glanced at the deep blue sky. Perfect. Too perfect? Her thoughts faded when Maura asked if she could put her head onto Janes stomach.
"Sure." The brunette replied an let her left hand lace up with Maura's. Perfect.
"A penny for your thought, Jane." The ME interrupted the prevailing silence, which had been hovering comfortably over them for quite a while.
Jane thought about pretending to be asleep, but then decided to reply. "Nothing, really. Stupid things."
"I think I told you a while ago, that nothing is really stupid if it bothers you." Maura replied, tensing up a bit in her arms.
Jane took a deep breath which made the blondes head move up and then down a bit because of its deepness. "I'm scared." She whispered, elaborating further when Maura didn't speak. "Whenever something is perfect, I'm scared it might go away if I enjoyed it too much."
There was silence, then Maura sat up to look into Janes eyes. The brunette had a hard time looking into the puzzled hazel colored eyes. Even when they became soft and kind, she had to force herself to keep looking at them.
"Oh Jane. I know that feeling all to well. I practically have a degree in it. But I'm not afraid with you, or your family. And I think there is no reason to be. Were doing great right? Why not just enjoy it?" she took up Janes hand which was still entwined with hers to place a soft kiss onto the back of it before leading it to her heart. "Experience told me, that fear doesn't stop disasters from striking. But enjoying life can give you the strength to cope with it."
Jane closed her eyes, feeling Maura's strong heartbeat against her hand while the words sank in. She knew that the blonde was right, but there was a long distance between brain and heart. But she was willing to keep that wisdom in mind.
Maura bent down to plant a soft kiss on Janes mouth. "Somebody once told me that its all going to be fine." She mumbled while leaving more kisses to Janes sensitive spot close to her ear. Goosebumps showed and Jane shivered.
"Hmmm, must have been a wise person." She replied softly when cupping Maura's face and bringing her lips back to hers.
"Yeah. Very wise. And very sexy." Came the blondes reply in a husky tone. Jane made a humming sound as she deepened the kiss. They enjoyed some time kissing and touching in a decent way and ended up laughing when one of Janes legs had fallen asleep and she had to limp for a while until she could walk normal again. It was just a small lake and they walked all around of it before settling on the blanket again to eat something.
Maura was quite surprised when Jane took a traveler's chess game out of her backpack. "Dare to play with me?" the brunette teased her girlfriend. "If you don't mind losing." She replied playfully provoking Jane.
"Honey, I wont loose. I never lose at games." Jane was all in.
"All right. How a bout a bet then? If you lose you have to give me a massage tonight."
Jane chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You know if you bet there should be a punishment for the loser. I don't feel punished if I have to uhm massage you." She replied and winked.
"Yes, well, I see we have different ideas of the massage. I talked about massaging my shoulders and neck and you.." Maura's voice trailed off a bit. "But okay. If you lose you must cook the next seven days. And no takeout!"
Jane laughed slightly. "Okay. If you lose you have to wear some of my sweatpants and t-shirts as leisure cloths all week."
She watched Maura frown. The woman even wore skirts as leisure clothes. She was fine with Jane wearing sweatpants and all of these. It was just Jane and she loved it on her. But never once in her life she had considered wearing this. Pajamas were fine in the evening, but a whole weekend and entire afternoons in these clothes sounded like breaking several laws at the same time. But on the other hand, she was sure not to lose so she agreed.
Jane watched amused how Maura went through different emotions, lingering a long time at horror, before holding out her hand to seal the bet.
The game started slow, but the brunette tried to stay focused, nibbling on her thumb like she always did when being a bit nervous. And although she knew it was just a game, she felt nervous now because it actually looked like as if Maura would win. She didn't want to cook for sure, but she was more eager to see Maura in real leisure clothes for a whole week.
"Are you shitting your pants, Maur?" she tried to deflect and irritate her opposite. But to her dismay Maura stayed cool. After being in a relationship with Jane Rizzoli she had grown an elephant skin and new a few of her tricks.
She gasped though when Jane made a move with the king which showed that her thorough logic brain had overseen something. With one move of Janes king her game was risking to lose. The brunette grunted contentedly. Thank god she had taken her time to study the game once more to find the whole in Maura's defense.
Unfortunately, the blonde found a solution and grinned as she leaned back triumphantly.
The game consumed the better part of the afternoon and it was getting kind of cold when Jane finally jumped and pumped her fists in the air shouting "checkmate Maura! Told you. I never lose. I'll lay out some nice sweatpants for you when we get home."
Maura grunted, but gave in. It was a question of honor after all. "Well, wise, sexy and brilliant. I'm proud to call you my girlfriend." She said, smiling honestly at Jane who pulled her into a hug. "you're the best player I was honored to play with." She said, thankful and in awe that Maura was such a good sport. "I love you, Maur." She said and kissed the soft lips before they wrapped up to go home.
R&I
Jane silently opened the door to the bathroom. She glanced at the shadow moving under the spray of the shower behind the tainted glass and undressed herself smiling to herself. Maura was singing some kind of song Jane didn't know, and gasped, when Jane moved her body into the spacious cabin.
She wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist from behind pressing their bodies together so that their skin touched and both gasped at the sensation. The brunette couldn't help but notice how well their forms fitted with each other as she started to make love to Maura.
"Jane?" Maura asked into the dark bedroom afterwards.
"Hmm?"
"Do you think we could invite detective Korsak for the Rizzoli dinner Sunday? I think he is pretty lonely."
"Sure. If you think he can hold up with the Rizzoli madness." She chuckled softly.
"I think he would love that."
