Hi there, so it's come to my attention that I pulled this fic while people were either reading it or hoping to re-read it. I did it kind of without thinking to be honest, it hadn't occurred to me that people might be still interested in it, so I'm posting it back up in the interest of not being a dick. I know what it's like to be frustrated with a TV show and want to read fanfic to fill the gap, and although I have abandoned Rizzoli and Isles for reasons I won't get into, I'm stoked if people like this.

I'll do it in batches when I get time and a lot of the original author's notes will probably be there cos I am far too lazy to remove them all. Oh and the page breaks – I'm probably not going to fix those either. You have been given fair warning ;)

Thanks to the people that messaged me about this – I'm actually really flattered that people care about my lil fic. xo

Chapter One

Jane rubbed her fingers over her eyes, blearily sipping from a mug of black coffee while her mother cooked breakfast. Every now and then she would slide a pan full of fluffy-looking scrambled eggs onto one of Jane's brother's plates but Jane waved her away. The smell of food was making her queasy.

"You know, you really shouldn't drink so much. I don't care if you're at college and that's what everyone else is doing. What do you think the coach would say, if she knew what you've been up to?" Her mother was tapping her fingers on the table next to Jane for emphasis, and it was only making the pounding in her head more intense.

"The coach would mind her own business," Jane lied. "Ma, I'm 22 years old, if I want to have a few beers with my friends after a game I don't see the problem."

"A few beers? You were wasted, I heard you stumbling past my room," Frankie said through a mouthful of toast.

Jane glowered at him across the table. "Really? And which young lady were you entertaining at the time, in your room?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous Jane, Frankie knows he's not allowed to have girls over, don't you honey?" Angela said as she heaped a second helping of bacon in front of Frankie.

Frankie waited until she'd gone back over to the stove, then leaned over to whisper towards Jane. "You wanna go there? Maybe I'll tell mom about the girls you've been entertaining in your room!"

"What?" Tommy, who had until now been oblivious to the conversation, had paused with his fork in mid-air.

"Nothing, Frankie's just being a dick," Jane said with a warning look towards Frankie, who was laughing and stuffing his face. She let out a frustrated groan and pushed herself back from the table. "Okay, that's enough family time to last me a week. I gotta get to class."

"Wait honey, I made your lunch," Angela called out as Jane was nearing the door.

Jane rolled her eyes but turned and smiled towards her mom, taking the brown bag and kissing her gratefully on the cheek. "Thanks, I'll see you later."

"You smell like a brewery. And watch your language, you think I didn't hear that?"

Jane managed to make it through all of the day's classes without throwing up or falling asleep, and for that she was grateful. She'd gone out with her best friend Lauren the night before, along with a few of the others, for a night of heavy drinking at one of the campus bars. They'd won a big game and it was their tradition to have a few beers with the team afterwards. Unfortunately she and Lauren had continued the party into the early hours of the morning and they'd definitely taken it to the next level. They were bad influences on one another, that was for sure.

She'd met Lauren when they'd both been freshmen and rookies on the basketball team. It was hard to believe the fact that graduation was not far away now, and Jane didn't know how she would have made it through the last four years without Lauren's support. Sometimes it felt like Lauren was the only person who really knew her. When they met she'd never told anyone that she were gay; nor had Lauren told anyone about herself – but they'd recognised one another instantly. Lauren was not unlike her, she was tall and athletic. In contrast to her own dark features, Lauren had light brown hair and pale Irish skin. They'd been friends from the start and over the years they'd become more like sisters.

Jane went directly to Lauren's dorm room after class. Seeing as it was an economic necessity for Jane to live at home, Lauren's room had always been a valuable connection to the campus. There were times when she'd practically lived on Lauren's floor, and it was customary for her to check in before she went home even if they didn't have any plans.

Lauren opened the door and pulled Jane into the room, looking breathless and rushed. "Oh good, you're here. Maura just called, she's coming over in like half an hour. I thought we could take her out to grab dinner somewhere, show her around to some of our favourite places," Lauren said as she was pulling on her shoes and socks.

"God, how are you so energetic?" Jane said, stepping over her friend and then flopping down onto Lauren's bed. "You have a hollow leg or something, you drank even more than I did."

"I blew off class, I've been asleep all day. So what do you think?" Lauren said expectantly.

"Wait, who are you talking about? Who's coming over? I'm sorry but I'm going home. To bed," Jane said emphatically.

"Jane, you promised," Lauren reminded her.

"When did I promise? I swear, I have no idea what you're talking about. Is this some random hook- up from last night? Because I'm not interested in playing third wheel."

Lauren had come over to her and was pulling on Jane's hand, because Jane had her eyes closed and was looking dangerously close to falling asleep. "I told you about this last night! Maura is a girl I went to boarding school with, she e-mailed me yesterday out of the blue and told me she'd enrolled here. She's moving back over from Europe?" Jane tried to pull her arm back, but Lauren kept tugging on it for emphasis.

"Oh yeah, yeah. I'm just going to sit this one out if you don't mind," Jane said. She could now dimly remember Lauren going on about this girl the night before while they'd been drinking, saying how she was supposedly super-smart and really pretty, blah blah blah. She couldn't remember Lauren ever talking about this Maura chick before, so they couldn't have been the closest of friends. It shouldn't be too much of a big deal if she cancelled.

"Don't flake out on me," Lauren commanded, giving her hand another almighty pull.

Jane sat up relucantly. "God, I'm up. What kind of name is that . . . More-ah? Sounds like whore-ah. I hope she's not a chore-ah," she laughed.

"Shut up plain Jane," Lauren teased back, just as a knock sounded on the door. "Damn, she's early."

Lauren went over to the door to greet her friend. Jane's view was blocked by Lauren but she gathered that there was some air-kissing and shrieking happening. When Lauren stepped aside Jane saw her - a very beautiful honey blonde woman who was dressed to the nines. Jane looked down at her hoodie and jeans feeling suddenly underdressed, or at least as though Maura was very overdressed. Maura was wearing a shirt and jeans but she'd teamed them with an expensive-looking tailored blazer, heels and handbag. Even from where Jane was sitting she could pick up the scent of what she imagined must be designer perfume and shampoo.

"Hello, I'm Maura," she said after noticing Jane's presence, walking towards her and holding her hand out. Jane stood up and shook it, introducing herself. Although Jane preferred to think that she didn't feel intimidated by anyone, being on a campus like this one did occasionally make her feel a little out of place. Affluent people made her nervous, and ultra-feminine straight women like Maura made her even more so. She supposed it was either because she felt like they must look down on her, or because she was a grudge against anyone who could have been a bitch in high school. In any case, she felt a little threatened that Lauren was bringing this girl on the scene – hanging out with them was supposed to be a club that was kind of hard to get into. She'd always known that Lauren came from money but that was different. They had so much in common that it where they came from wasn't a factor in their relationship.

"We thought we could go out to dinner Maura, would you like to?" Lauren said, breaking into her thoughts.

Jane suffered through a dinner way fancier than she would have liked. She spent the whole time worrying about the bill only to find that Maura insisted on paying the cheque. Maura and Lauren had a lot of little in-jokes about life at boarding school which made Jane feel left out. They two of them were sharing a bottle of wine and Jane found herself pounding down several beers. It was the only way to relieve the pain of a really bad hangover, after all.

"You know, alcohol only makes people think it's warming them up – intoxication expands the blood vessels and brings them closer to the surface of the skin. So it actually lowers your core body temperature," Maura was saying as they walked from the restaurant towards a nearby bar.

"Do you always talk like that?" Jane asked her. Lauren was walking between them and she had to lean forward a little to be able to see Maura. She had noticed it over dinner, this tendency of Maura's to spout facts as though she were reading them from a book. Maura looked back at her sheepishly, her dimples showing. Jane smiled back at her to show that she was only teasing. She's actually kind of cute, the thought passed through Jane's mind and she quickly dismissed it. She must really have her beer goggles on.

Lauren put her arm around Maura. "She can't help it if she's a genius. Maura was in every class for the gifted we had at school – she's going to be a doctor."

"Cool," Jane said neutrally, although if truth be told she was impressed.

"What about you Jane, what are your plans?"

"Not sure. I'm weighing up doing my masters next year if I can swing it money wise. I've thought about going into the FBI or even the CIA, something along those lines."

"That's so cool! I'm actually thinking about specialising in forensic pathology down the line, I'd love to talk to you about it," Maura said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, definitely," Jane agreed.

"So Maura, how are you settling into your apartment?" Lauren changed the subject.

When they got to the bar Jane tried to make herself scarce. She was a little pissed at Lauren; who'd invited her along only to make her feel like she was in the way. So she went up to the bar more often than was necessary and struck up a flirtation with the barmaid whose name was Tracy; Jane had always noticed her and thought she was cute.

She went back to the table to deliver a round, finding Lauren and Maura talking with their heads close together.

"Hey, we were thinking of going after this drink. We're going to split a cab, you want to come stay at my place?" Lauren asked her.

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to stick around," Jane said, motioning with her head over towards Tracy.

"Right," Lauren said, grinning at her with an eyebrow raised. "No problem."

"I'll see you guys later. It was nice to meet you, Maura," Jane said.

"Nice to meet you too."

Jane went back to the bar, and looked over her shoulder when Lauren and Maura were leaving. She waved goodbye and watched while Lauren helped Maura into her coat, just barely managing to avoid rolling her eyes.

Just as she was about to turn away Maura looked over, and they made eye contact. Those dimples again. Maura eyes were kind of twinkling, and their eyes held one another's for a beat too long. She watched as Maura's eyes dropped down and then travelled slowly back up; Jane felt her face grow hot under the attention.

Jane turned back to the bar, confused. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Lauren's straight friend had just checked her out.