The day took quite obviously too long. Maura continuously stared at the clock while tackling some of her "light" reading and knocking small errands out of the way. Jane's head swarmed with how to prepare for their official "date". The night before was not technically a date until mid-way through after the jokes had settled and they declared it so. The clock was hitting 4:17 and Jane was still uncertain about what to prepare for dinner tonight. Her mind began to wonder over all the past meals that her mother had ever made her, and all the meals Maura would find acceptable to eat. Although the doctor would indulge in some small snacks with Jane, she tried to keep her diet healthy and consistent.
Lasagna. No. Casserole. No. Steak. That sounds delicious right now but I know Maura wouldn't enjoy it as much as I would. I should do something memorable. I want to make tonight special. Pizza. Pizza is always good. Not exactly healthy though, unless. Jane took off to the grocery store quickly and picked up a number of ingredients to make the pizza tonight. All of which, could be as healthy as possible. She even bought wheat flour. By the time she arrived back home, the clock was ticking 5:06. Shit. I'm not even ready yet. Maura is going to have to help me make tonight's dinner if either of us are going to want to eat. Jane jumped up and headed into the shower. She was able to quickly get dressed. She threw on her nicer pair of dark jeans and a burgundy shirt. She forwent the undershirt allowing a more appreciating view of her cleavage. She rearranged her hair and applied a small amount of make-up on. As she put on the last of her make-up and glanced back at the mirror. The buzzer rang. She glanced at the clock. 5:47pm. Impatient doctor. Jane slightly amused herself with the word "patient" in "impatient" combined with the word "doctor" as she allowed the doctor in and awaited her arrival at her apartment door.
She headed to the door and opened it up to see a stunning Maura Isles. Maura wore a black leather skirt with black boots and a blue top that accentuated one or rather two of her most promising features. The detective stared in awe of the other woman as always. Although before she was quick to turn her head and make a comment without fully appreciating the view of the doctor, she felt welcome now to stare and admire. Jane smiled. "Hi." The ME beamed back. Jane walked up to her and planted a long kiss on the doctor's lips. In response, the doctor reached around Jane's back and held herself to her in a warm embrace. She leaned back after the kiss was finished. "Hi. I could get used to you greeting me like this."
"That's the plan. Oh, also, about dinner."
"You burnt it already?" Maura smiled up.
Jane rolled her eyes. "No, but unless you don't want to eat tonight, you're helping me." She turned Maura around and gently pushed her towards the kitchen while smacking her bum lightly.
"What are we making?"
"Pizza."
"Jane…" Maura began to whine.
"Relax. It's all that healthy stuff you like."
Maura glanced around at the counter to see all the ingredients laid out ready to be prepared. She took notice that Jane went out of her way to buy the more natural, organic ingredients.
"I'm impressed."
"Thank you, doctor." Jane was uncorking a bottle of wine before pouring Maura a glass. She settled with beer herself. As much as she knew that Maura loved when she would drink wine with her, it's hard to pick wine over beer especially paired with pizza.
They began making the dough together while heating the oven. The pair took turns slicing and dicing all the ingredients they were including. Maura was cutting the pepperoni into slices.
"Give me a piece, Maur."
"You should wait until when dinner is served." Jane moved closer to Maura, trying to stick her fingers where the knife was slicing.
"Jane, careful. Move your hand, you'll get hurt." Maura did not want to stop cutting as for Jane was the one putting herself in danger.
Maura glanced up at Jane to gauge her reaction. As soon as Maura had done so, Jane let out a loud gasp. She immediately brought her finger up to her mouth and held it there.
"Jane! Are you okay? I'm so sorry." Maura felt genuinely guilty for Jane's finger. Jane's eyes shined and she reached with her other hand grabbing a piece of pepperoni and putting it into her mouth, while removing her "injured" finger. She smiled brightly at Maura. Maura made a sour face. In reaction, the detective started giggling.
"Jane, that is NOT funny." The detective grabbed another piece of pepperoni and held it in front of Maura's mouth. At first Maura did not even respond to the gesture until an idea sparked. Eager to seek revenge, Maura took this as her opportunity. She grabbed Jane's hand and let the pepperoni slice fall into her mouth, while taking Jane's finger and sliding it in as well. She sucked on Jane's finger lightly while making erotic eye contact. She watched as Jane inhaled deeply from observing. Then suddenly the detective felt teeth clamp down hard onto her finger.
"Ow! Maura!" The doctor bit her. Jane immediately withdrew her finger.
Now it was the ME who began giggling at Jane's reaction.
"You bit me!" Jane grimaced.
Maura continued giggling.
"Okay. Very funny. Laugh it up." Jane continued.
"That's what you get." Maura was bent over laughing now.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's put the pizza in the oven."
They piled up the remainder of the toppings onto the pizza and set it in the oven. They sat at the counter as they waited for their meal to be baked.
They sat quietly together on the stools each sipping their own beverage. Maura's legs were slightly linked with Jane's as they turned to face each other. She smiled sweetly, enjoying the small moment of silence they were sharing in peace.
Meanwhile, Jane's mind was suddenly rushing again with the implications of their "relationship". Eventually, Jane broke the silence, needing sudden clarity to all of her questions.
She thought for a moment how to phrase her question appropriately. "Maura, how long have you felt like this?"
The doctor took a minute to analyze the question. She began to interpret what she could see as a long line of questions coming her way which would cause her to dive deeper into the emotions she was keeping unseen for the sake of Jane's security.
"Like what exactly?"
"You know, like, how long have you had feelings for me? Beyond friendship?"
Maura exhaled slightly knowing full well that there was no escape, and Jane's comfort level is on the verge of being challenged.
"Since the day I met you."
"I'm serious!" Jane took Maura's line as a corny joke. Her mind flashed back to her prostitute attire.
"I'm serious! I mean, your clothes were horrible, but I loved your facial features. You carried yourself very well. Straight posture and you had a sense of power in your voice. Well, your voice alone I enjoyed."
"My voice? Really?" Jane asked in disbelief.
"Yes, it's incredibly sexy." Jane blushed slightly from the comment.
"Right. Well, I mean, what about emotional feelings? That was all physical. When did you feel for me more than a friend?"
Maura began to analyze the possible outcomes of these question scenarios. Either way, she knew by the end of it, Jane would have all the answers she was seeking.
"Jane, I have to be honest with you." Jane smiled back at Maura. She continued.
"I don't know if I had ever felt anything with you as a friend. I think back to our relationship and how it all started. Do not misinterpret what I am saying. We were and are friends, I just think that it is possible that my feelings may have always been a little deeper for you than either you nor I had anticipated. I never really let my mind wander the thoughts, until the past few months, what it would be like with you in physical intimacy, but once I did, I realized there was a whole other part of our relationship that we were missing all together. Or at least I was missing, because I was still uncertain of the feelings you held for me. My mind glances back at all the times I tried to set you up on dates, genuinely hoping you would find someone. Not that I wanted you with anyone else, but it would clear up some of our boundaries, and make out emotional and physical relationship a little easier to comprehend. You had always stated your sexuality as exclusively straight, and I didn't really let my mind wander past that in searching for options for the confusing emotions I was experiencing. When I look back at our whole history together, I can't help but think that I ever thought of you as just a friend. When I look back at it, I see myself so precariously IN love with you, that I could not even comprehend how to handle that you would not even consider me an option. That is, until I stepped back and noticed that you were staring at me the same way I was staring at you.
Maura's eyes met the detectives. Jane stared back as she watched Maura unravel possibly ever emotion she was feeling straight from her heart. Jane knew that this collection of thoughts were well-kept until this moment for it was one of the few times that Maura's brain jumped from sentence to sentence in no particular order, stating exactly what came to mind. Maura usually spoke so calculated; with such precision in her words, leading together a coherent string of thoughts that all built on to each other, until this moment. There was always a beginning, middle and an end with Maura. Each sentence always built onto the last until this random string of thoughts escaped her mouth. Jane's mouth went dry, as she was searching for the words to respond. Her heart had quickened in pace. Maura continued.
"Jane, I love you. I'm IN love with you. If you don't feel the same way, that is okay. I understand. I just, I think it is time for you to truly know."
Jane glanced back uncertain what to do.
The buzzer on the oven went off.
A/N Wow. I hope all of you had a nice weekend. This is probably my favorite chapter of the whole story. We will have to see where it goes from here. I put in the summary that this will probably be a quick story, and it seems to have turned into anything but! I should probably readjust that. Anywho, hope you enjoyed.