Chapter 1: The Game

A/N: This is based on the 2018 book The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory, not to be confused with The Proposal, the 2009 movie with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds (which I definitely think needs to be made into a Rizzles story at some point). While the book The Proposal takes place in the same universe as the book The Wedding Date, my Rizzles version of this story does NOT take place in the same universe as my Rizzles version of The Wedding Date.

And yes, I know some of you are annoyed that I started another new story, but you don't really need to let me know in the comments. I won't be offended if you wait to read my stories until they are complete. I have the same problem when it comes to reading books. {shrug}

Maura

Maura was pretty sure that she would rather be anywhere but here. True, it was a beautiful summer day in Boston, but she had never understood the draw of sports. It didn't help that she had no idea what was going on on the field. She didn't know the rules of baseball. She had no doubt that she could learn if she put in even an ounce of effort, but she didn't really see the point in doing so. There were many more useful things she could spend her time learning.

To make matters worse, it was quite dirty – she definitely should not have worn her new Alexander McQueen. The seats were sticky, and sweaty people were packed into the space around her. It was also loud, very loud.

Maura sighed as the teams switched places on the field, and she wondered how much longer the game was. When her boyfriend Jamison had invited her to the game, she didn't love the idea, but she also didn't have a reason to say no. Besides, he was always bugging her to spend more time getting to know his friends, and she figured a baseball game with them was a relatively controlled way to do so.

There were so many better ways she could be spending her Saturday afternoon though. She had worked nearly 100 hours over the past week, and she would much rather be relaxing at home with a good book and a glass of wine. Hell, she'd rather be working.

Jamison sat back in his seat next to Maura and nudged her. "Hey, you payin' attention?" he asked her, pulling her from her thoughts. He pulled her into an awkward side hug and kissed her cheek.

Maura gave him a strained smile before looking down at the field in the hope of at least appearing interested. However, nothing was going on.

"Maura, are you looking?" he asked loudly.

Her eyes searched the field again in a desperate attempt to figure out what he wanted her to see before she noticed that he was pointing at the scoreboard. She looked just in time to see a message on the screen: MAURA: WILL YOU MARRY ME? JAMISON.

Maura froze and her jaw dropped. He had to just be pointing out that another couple shared their names, right? Wrong. To her horror, Jamison dropped down on one knee in front of her. The only thing she could think was that she hoped he wasn't kneeling in the beer he had spilled earlier.

She watched in dread as he held up a box, flipped open the top, and showed her the ring. She had never understood the phrase 'it's like watching a train wreck' until this exact moment. She wanted nothing more than to look away, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the man kneeling in front of her. No, actually, there was something she wanted more: to disappear.

"Maura Isles, I love you. Will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?" he said with a gigantic smile on his face.

Had he ever even told her he loved her before this moment? She fairly certain that neither one of them had said it, and she had a very good memory. And they definitely had not talked about marriage.

"N-no," Maura choked out. It wasn't until she heard the collective gasp around her that she remembered that they were surrounded by thousands of people.

This was a nightmare.

"What?!" he said angrily, the smile dropping from his face, but he didn't get up from his position on one knee. "Maura, did you hear me? I asked you to marry me."

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that she would wake up, that this was all a horrible dream.

"Jamison," she whispered, trying in vain to maintain a modicum of privacy. "Can we please not do this here? We've never even talked about…"

"Are you serious?" he shouted as he finally stood up. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're seriously turning me down? You're saying no. You're gonna humiliate me in front of all these people?"

"I-I'm sorry," Maura said thickly.

"Fuck," he cursed before turning on his heel and rushing out of the stadium. Each of his friends threw her their most disapproving glare before following him out.

Maura sank back into her seat, no longer thinking about how dirty it was. She was too shaky to attempt to walk out, but she was also too embarrassed to stay here. The game had started again, but no one was watching it. All eyes remained glued to her – the train wreck they couldn't stop watching.

Jane

"I still can't believe you won the BPD raffle," Jane said with a smirk as she sank back into her seat. She watched as her beloved Red Sox took the field to start the eighth inning.

"Hey, at least I brought you with me," Frankie quipped, giving her a light smack with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, you can be a decent little bro when you try," she said affectionately. "And these are the best fuckin' seats we've ever sat in."

Frankie laughed. "Well, yeah, we could never afford to sit directly behind the dugout," he agreed.

Jane laughed too as her eyes returned to the scoreboard. "Oh, god," she said as a marriage proposal showed up on the screen. "If anyone ever proposes to me that way, just shoot me, please. Take me outta my misery."

"Psht," Frankie scoffed. "We both know you have too many control issues to ever allow some girl to propose to you. You're absolutely going to be the proposer."

"Proposer?" Jane snarked. "Really?"

"Besides, you gotta actually date someone to be proposed to," Frankie teased before his attention was also drawn to the screen. "Shit, I think she said no," he said quickly. "The guy looks pissed."

Jane elbowed Frankie. "Look, they're right there," Jane said. The commotion had alerted her to the fact that the spectacle they had been watching on the screen was actually taking place a few rows in front of them.

"Oh, man, I feel bad for her," Frankie said as they watched the man storm out. "She seems completely caught off guard."

"Yeah," Jane replied. She couldn't take her eyes off of the woman at the center of the scene playing out before them. She was wearing a fitted dark blue dress, and the sun was highlighting the gold highlights in her honey blonde hair. In short, she was gorgeous.

"Ohhh," Frankie said, and the tone of his voice caught Jane's attention. She turned just in time to see a camera crew walking down the stairs in their section.

"We gotta help her," Jane said suddenly, jumping out of her seat.

"What?" Frankie said in surprise, but he stood as well.

"Follow my lead," Jane said. Without waiting for a reply, she hurried down the stairs in an attempt to beat the camera crew. To his credit, Frankie didn't hesitate.

"Maura! Maura, is that you?" Jane said as loudly as she could, loud enough for the camera crew and everyone around them to hear. "Frankie, look, it's Maura! God, we haven't seen you in…wow, how many years has it been?" she said to the woman.

"Gotta be at least five years," Frankie said, playing along. He and Jane kept moving, not allowing the camera crew to get a good view of the woman in front of them.

Maura stood up, clearly trying to figure out how she knew the two loud Italians standing in front of her.

"At least!" Jane said loudly as she pulled Maura into a hug. "Play along," she whispered so that only Maura could hear.

When one of the cameramen tried to step closer for a better shot, Frankie quickly stepped in front of him, purposely knocking into him. "Oh, sorry," he said, using the opportunity to block the cameras even more.

"We were just gonna grab another beer and dog," Jane said. "Want to join us?" She flashed Maura her best Rizzoli smile, finally drawing a smile from the other woman.

"I would love to come with you," Maura said, linking her arm through Jane's. "However, I think I may take a look at what other food options they have. Hot dogs are…"

"No, nope, don't wanna know," Jane said, pulling Maura along with her as she hurried up the stairs. Frankie followed behind them, still not allowing the camera to get a good angle.

They kept up the pretense all the way up the stairs and through some of the crowds. Jane led them to a more secluded area along one of the walls. They were still surrounded by people, but they were partially blocked from view.

Maura dropped her grip on Jane's arm, and Jane instantly felt the loss.

"Oh my god," Maura said, nervous laughter erupting from deep inside her. "I cannot thank you both enough for saving me!"

"You're not safe yet," Jane said. "You gotta get outta here or they'll find you again."

Maura sighed before smiling again at Jane and Frankie. "Still, thank you," she said. "I can find my way out from here. I'm sure you want to get back to the game."

Jane was just about to say goodbye and return to the game when she thought of something else. "Did you drive here? Or was your…did you get a ride here?"

Maura's face fell. "He…was my ride," she said slowly. "But I'll find a taxi or call an Uber. I'm sure I can figure something out. Beacon Hill isn't too far."

Jane couldn't help but laugh. "You don't come to many games, do you?" she asked. Without waiting for a response, she continued, "It'll take you forever to find a ride, and then, they'll over charge you like crazy. Come on, we'll give you a ride."

Jane heard Frankie groan behind her, but luckily Maura missed it. Jane elbowed Frankie without taking her attention off of Maura.

Maura chewed on her bottom lip adorably. "No, that's okay," she said. "I don't want to inconvenience you. I'm sure you want to see the rest of the game. Besides, I'm sure the two of you don't want me to interrupt your date."

Jane's eyes went wide.

"Oh, no, we're not on a date," Frankie said quickly.

Jane added, "Ugh, god no, he's my brother."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Maura said, blushing adorably.

"S'okay," Frankie said with a smile as he waved away her concerns. "Don' worry about it."

"I've spent enough one-on-one time with the knucklehead, so what'ya say? Let us give you a ride?"

Maura smiled brightly, and Jane felt her stomach flip in response.

"Okay, thank you," Maura agreed.

A/N: Hopefully, this will be a fun one. I don't expect it to be super long.