A/N: Hey, all! Turns out that fics and my OTP are one of my coping mechanisms, and I figured we could all use a little Rizzles fluff/intimacy. This will be a two-shot with the second part posted soon. Stay safe and stay well, friends!

Maura swore under her breath as she turned the corner onto her street. Either she had left the lights on at her house again, as she was wont to do in periods of stress, or Angela had welcomed herself in to the main house for some reason. That normally didn't bother Maura at all, and in fact she often liked having the company. But after a grueling days-long conference she had helped to organize which happened to begin shortly after days of extensive prep for a court deposition, all Maura wanted to do was have some good takeout and wine by herself, take a long bath, and go to sleep.

Or that was what she thought she wanted until she opened the front door and saw Jane sitting at the dining room table, which had been set for two. Jane had stretched her long frame along two chairs (at least sans shoes) and had been scrolling on her phone before Maura came in. She sprang up at once with a smile and a bright greeting.

"What smells so good in here?" Maura asked, taking off her coat. "Did your mother make dinner?"

"Excuse me, I made dinner," Jane said. "I sent Ma over to Cavanaugh's for the weekend so she wouldn't bug you. I hope you realize how much that means I care about you, because trust me, encouraging her to go sleep at her boyfriend's was not a fun or easy task."

Maura's tone had a hint of defensiveness to it that might've kept a more tactful person at bay: "I didn't ask you to do that."

"No, I was merely anticipating your whim, madam," Jane said in a posh accent, with a stiff half-bow. When she straightened up, she was glad to see that at least had gotten Maura to smile. "But I am realizing that I probably should've asked you before just coming over to set this up. I promise I won't be offended if you need to just, like, hang by yourself tonight."

When it looked like Jane was reaching for her keys on the kitchen island as if to go, Maura impulsively grabbed her arm. "No, no, please stay. Please. It's been days since we've really spent any time together."

"Yeah." Jane shifted to pry Maura's hand off her arm, but rather than remove it and step away, she held onto it, intertwining their fingers together without a second thought. "Work kinda sucks without you on hand."

"Yes, I don't know how you'd manage without being able to barge into my office to rant about whoever's bothered you that hour."

"Oh, I still did that, I just made sure to do it when Pike was out. Really freaked out your techs to see me raving alone in your office. I made a show of things, don't worry."

Maura laughed softly, and her eyes turned to the covered pots and pans on the stove. "Did you really make dinner? I was just going to order some food in, but this is so nice..."

"Yes, I really made it! C'mon, grab a plate and let me serve you up some Angela-approved, Jane-made recipes. Just been keepin' it warm for ya."

She had made gnocchi with pomodoro sauce, grilled vegetables, and bruschetta. It was a little richer meal than Maura would usually make for herself, but something so filling felt really good after the hectic week she'd had. Jane had joked about initially placing the table settings at opposite ends of the long table, but it had seemed too much like seating for an aristocratic couple in a passive-aggressive fight, so she put Maura at the head and herself just to her right. They laughed as they caught each other up on the last few days and shared wine. Maura even amazed herself by joining Jane for a small second helping of the gnocchi.

"Wow! You know, I kinda worried you were just being polite and not wanting to say anything bad about this food. But I take this to mean you liked it okay?" Jane asked, setting Maura's refilled plate back in front of her.

"Oh, it's delicious, Jane, really. It's just what I needed."

"Italian food?"

"Sure," Maura chuckled. "No, I don't know, it feels like comfort food? And no one's ever cooked for me before. It's nice."

Jane waited for Maura to recollect something, but she just kept on eating. "What? I mean, my mother's cooked for you, right?"

"Mm, well, she's put on those lovely family dinners for your brothers and you and me, yes. But nobody's ever cooked something just for me. Not even my own mother."

"No one else you've dated has done this for you?"

Maura took a moment to regard Jane, wondering if she realized what she'd just said. "No one else?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of wine.

Jane still needed a second to register it, and when she did, it didn't come with overblown you-know-what-I-mean gesticulating that Maura would've expected. Jane was much more subdued, leaning back in her chair and calmly taking another bite before responding. "Sorry, I meant, no one you've dated?"

"Is that common? I mean, has anyone ever cooked for you, besides your mother?"

"Huh. I guess not."

Now that she thought about it, as they continued eating, making this had taken a bit of time and money. Not tons, and it certainly wasn't as fancy as something else she might've tried, but it was more than she usually did for herself and nothing she'd ever even considered doing for someone she'd dated. She was happy to bring food in, or take meals offered by her mother, but she'd never put the effort in to make something for someone else herself. And no one had for her, either, outside of her mother or grandmother.

As if reading Jane's mind, Maura asked, "Is this something you've done for others before? Have I finally reached some special relationship tier with you that comes with homemade meals?"

That got a quiet laugh out of Jane. "You're on your own special tier, Maura, because—well, in a lot of ways, but no I've never cooked for someone before." She grinned, folding her arms and testing her luck: "Boy, I sure must like you a lot."

Maura smiled back. "Well, the feeling is mutual."

Here they were, back on a familiar precipice that for one reason or another they had always shied away from. They'd both had their reasons, neither ever broaching the subject, but there seemed to be a tacit understanding between them now and it seemed to come out of nowhere. For Maura, it had been the act of opening her front door and just wanting to be alone, and instead finding the only person on Earth who felt like home to her. Time could never pass too slowly when they were together. Once Jane had realized her feelings for Maura were beyond platonic, she hadn't been sure how to proceed, and she felt stuck for a long time in a ships-passing-in-the-night scenario. The timing never seemed right. But they weren't ships passing. Maura was the lighthouse, the constant glow in Jane's life, the only person she was comfortable seeking refuge with.

And all of a sudden, it had just seemed silly not to say something about it. It didn't take a traumatic, life-altering incident to come about. Just dinner together, a small and simple thing like so many nights they had already spent in each other's company, with nothing reigned in going forward.

"Hey, you've got some sauce there," Jane said, indicating the spot on her face. She reached over with a trembling hand to wipe it off as a romantic gesture, but Maura had been quick and already dabbed the spot with her napkin. Jane leaned back in her seat, trying not to look too awkward after a temporary setback.

Maura seemed to regret her swiftness, but didn't want to make Jane uncomfortable by belaboring the point. "Well, Jane, that really was wonderful. Thank you so much."

Jane's voice was soft, sincere in a way it usually only got when she was around Maura. "My pleasure."

"Let me help you clean up."

"Uh-uh," Jane said, getting to her feet when Maura stood up to move to the kitchen. "If I know you, the first thing you'd have done after eating alone tonight would've been to take a luxurious bath. You go do that and relax, and I'll take care of all this. Don't ask me if I'm sure," she said, anticipating the question Maura had just opened her mouth to ask. "Because this was already a given when I broke into your house to make you eat my food."

"Oh, my gosh," Maura laughed. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Ask me after your bath, I'm sure I'll have thought of some ideas by then," Jane quipped with a cheesy wink.

After the evening they'd just had, Maura wasn't sure how much of that she was supposed to take as a joke. "So you won't leave before I get out, then?" she asked.

"Nah, of course not. And don't rush. Take as long as you want, I'll be here." Jane stacked the dishes from the table and picked them up, but en route to the kitchen, stopped to give Maura a kiss on the forehead. "Now git! I'll wait till I hear the water stop running before I start to get up to my elbows in hot water over here."

Feeling a bit dazed, Maura retreated to the bathroom where yet another small surprise was waiting for her. There was a bottle of bubble bath Jane had "borrowed" from the guest house, and she had also left several scented candles inside, all of them aromas Maura had mentioned as comforting in the past. She lit two large vanilla-scented ones and started the water. It was a much-needed, very calming experience—but instead of getting out and feeling ready for bed, which a bath usually did for her, she felt rejuvenated.

She brushed her teeth and was going to rejoin Jane in the kitchen, but lingered for a minute before making her presence known. It wasn't a conscious choice; she just realized she hadn't taken the time to really stop and take in Jane that night.

Jane's back was to her as she washed dishes at the sink. She was in an old pair of jeans and dark blue plaid top, her hair in a scraggly ponytail and a dish towel slung over her shoulder. This was Jane at her most laid back and comfortable, and though it was when she was dressed up for a court date that the guys at the office would wolf whistle (at their own peril) or Angela would shower compliments on her, it was the casual Jane that Maura found herself most attracted to. Most of Maura's fantasies were innocent ones that involved resting her head on Jane's shoulder, cuddling with her on the couch, things that leant themselves better to a casually-dressed, comfortable Jane than a stiff, awkward Jane in a skirt and heels.

Nothing that followed was planned. Maura liked assessing things and being sure and getting as technical as possible, but it seemed that when it came to Jane, instinct needed to take over.

"I can't believe you let me just go unwind while you've been cleaning this entire time," Maura said, walking to the kitchen. "There were only two of us, I didn't think there would be so much to clean!"

"It's this damn garlic press," Jane chuckled, waving it. "I cleaned the stove and then the dishes, because like a dumbass, I picked all the things that aren't dishwasher-safe."

"Well, that is," Maura said, nodding at the press.

Jane laughed. "Oh, right. Sheesh. In it goes!"

She tossed the garlic press in the dishwasher a little more cavalierly than Maura would've preferred, then made quick work of rinsing out the sink. As she did this, Maura put her hand on the small of Jane's back and thanked her. Jane shifted to dry her hands, then reached for the trash can under the sink to spit out the minty gum she'd been chewing to clear the flavor of their meal. Throughout all this, even as they laughed, Maura kept her hand on Jane's back. This wasn't a thoughtless gesture; it was a conscious choice, and Jane felt herself reeling as Maura started to massage the spot.

Jane half-turned to face her, putting her hand on Maura's shoulder, rubbing the silky texture of her robe. There was a muted smile on her face as she drank in the sight of Maura, looking relaxed and lovely.

"Hey," Jane said quietly.

"Hi. So, did you think of something?"

"Hm?"

"Before my bath, I rhetorically asked what I was going to do with you. You said you'd have thought of something by the time I got out. Did you, or were you being rhetorical as well?"

Jane took her time answering. What surprised her most in this moment was how calm she felt. The reassuring look in Maura's eyes told her everything she needed to know. The fact that Maura's grip on her back was getting a little tighter told her more. She took a deep breath.

"Okay. First of all, just so you know where my head's at—if you're tired and want me out of here, I'm gone. But—"

"Don't you dare even think about leaving."

"Okay. Cool," Jane said with a slow smile. "Because what I was going to say is that I didn't want to go home, either. But that's usually what I do because I feel like I have to. We'll hang out at my place, and I wish you'd you stay. Or I'll be here, and I'd wish I could stay. Which I guess sometimes we have, like, I even have my own side of the damn bed," she said with a chuckle. Her smile faded as she went on, and she couldn't quite bring herself to meet Maura's gaze. "When I coaxed Ma into going to Cavanaugh's for the weekend, she… said something."

Maura was breathless. "What?"

"She said sometimes she felt like you and I were in some weird domestic partnership. She said she'd heard guys joking about it at the café when they thought she was out of earshot. She thought if I put half the effort into meeting a guy that I did into my friendship with you, that I'd be a married mother of four by now." Saying that out loud she had to laugh a little, but Maura's smile remained subdued, and Jane realized Maura was waiting for more before she said anything herself. "Ma got a little bent out of shape about it, I mean, what the guys were saying at work. She got all, 'men don't understand how close women can be' and 'what happened to two women just being friends,' and…"

Maura had to interject. "I don't care what your mother thinks. What do you?"

"I think you're my best friend, and nothing's ever going to change that. Ever. But I also feel like… in a weird way… um, I don't know. If I tick off all the boxes of what I want from a relationship, like a romantic relationship, I feel like I've got all that with you. You're everything that I want, and it just took me so long to figure that out because I wasn't expecting to find it with a… with you. I feel like we've been dating for months without actually calling it that. Sorry, saying it out loud makes it sound a little…?"

She didn't even know what, but Maura was already shaking her head. "No, it sounds right. I know exactly what you mean. Everything I could want from a romantic partner is what I already have in you. I think people tend to dramatize relationships because we're socially conditioned to see romance as this big, transformative force, but I think much more than that it's about just… loving people where they are, and understanding them." She shifted her other hand to Jane's arm, rubbing it gently. "I feel at home with you, Jane. I feel seen and loved and understood. And I agree, we're so intimate with each other in small, personal ways that it does feel like we've been dating for some time. We're just missing the physical part."

"We don't have to be," Jane whispered.

The attraction that had gone unspoken for so long was now just out there, floating out in the open, no holds barred. For a moment, both seemed to be struck immobile with the endless possibilities that now stretched before them. At last, Maura shifted closer, moving her arms around Jane's waist.

That one, small gesture clicked everything into place. This was like the end of so many of their evenings together, where Jane's natural impulse had been to wrap Maura in a hug and kiss her goodbye, but she'd always restrained herself. The restraint was, according to Maura, no longer necessary.

Jane kissed Maura's forehead for the second time that night, but longer this time. A burning sensation shot from her heart down between her legs as Maura pulled her even closer, and she could feel Maura taking slightly deeper breaths. There was an air of impatience, but not annoyance, in the way Maura's hands were starting to grip her tighter. Jane tried to maintain the suspense for as long as she could, leaving a trail of soft kisses down Maura's cheek, to her jaw, to her ear.

"Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?" Jane asked, her voice reverent, as if she hadn't meant to say this thought out loud.

Again, Maura figured it was rhetorical, but again she decided to press. "Objectively, yes, I have some idea," she said, and her honesty got a quiet laugh out of Jane. "But subjectively, I really want you to tell me what that means to you."

It wasn't that Jane was afraid, it was just that she didn't know how she could possibly sum it all up in a way that wouldn't be cringey or lame. She left a soft kiss on Maura's neck. "I think I may be better at showing."

"Then show me."

The moment after the request was whispered, Jane nestled her lips against Maura's. The softness was what caught Maura off guard at first, the fact that for an initial second or two it seemed so regular—but then Jane's grip got a little more firm around her waist and the other hand was all of a sudden getting gently curled into Maura's hair. Maura gasped into the kiss and after swaying for a moment, stumbled back into the counter. This effectively broke the kiss, giving Jane time to snicker and ask, "did I literally just make your knees buckle?"

Maura barely give herself the time to say "shut up" before pulling Jane in for another kiss. Jokes aside, it did seem to help them both to have something to brace against. As Jane's hands started to roam, she determined that it didn't feel like Maura was wearing anything under the robe—at least, not on top. She further tested this theory by sliding one hand down Maura's side, stopping at her ass. Jane broke off the kiss with a shuddering breath.

"Am I correct in thinking that… you've got nothing on beneath this robe at all?"

Their faces were still close, Maura's arms around Jane's shoulders, and she left a long kiss on Jane's cheek. "You know I sleep in the nude."

"Mm-hmm… yeah, that's right."

There was silence for a few seconds. Jane was very still except for the hand at Maura's waist, which was absent-mindedly massaging the spot. "What're you thinking?" Maura asked.

Jane couldn't help a quiet laugh. "I'm trying to think of a way to ask if I can spend the night that doesn't make me sound like a skeeze in light of this information."

Maura laughed too, strengthening her hold on Jane and rolling her hips against her leg. "Oh, Jane, your staying here was already a given." Jane thrust forward slightly, and Maura's voice hitched into a moan as she whispered, "take me to bed."