"Thank you for saving me from Giovanni," Maura said, getting the leftovers from the fridge. Even after Giovanni had left last night, Maura had lost her appetite.

"Oh, whoa, you got the good stuff!" Jane said, excited, taking containers from Maura and opening them up, loading them into microwave safe dishes. "And hey, it's no trouble. He can be a bit thick."

Maura eyed Jane curiously. "I know you can lie, so why did you word it like that?"

"Plausible deniability. Plus I was trying not to use any words that'd make him ask us to let him watch us kiss or something equally gross."

"Oh. Gross. Right." Jane looked up, puzzled at the forlorn expression on Maura's face.

"I mean, not that you'd be gross to kiss, just that he'd be gross for asking us to. And you know he would have."

"Yeah. Yeah, sure Jane." Maura's mouth and jaw tightened and Jane sighed, grabbing herself a beer and digging in to her dinner. It had been awkward enough holding Maura like that, trying to insinuate rather than say they were in a committed relationship. And Maura was right, normally Jane had no problem lying, especially to Giovanni, but something had kept her from saying they were in a committed relationship. From saying they were romantically involved. It wasn't that she was homophobic - she still felt the sting of Maura saying she didn't want to sleep with Jane. And she didn't want to examine that too much either, how she'd felt exactly how Maura looked now as she listlessly stirred her pasta. It would have hurt her, somehow, to say it. Knowing it wasn't true.

"Thank you," Maura said again. "I know it was hard for you to do that."

"Anything for you," Jane said, throwing Maura a jaunty little smile she didn't really feel. "You know that, right? If it's a face licker you need getting rid of or a serial killer, either way I've got your back."

Maura remembered the sensation of Jane holding her from behind, how snugly Jane had fit to her back, how, despite the awkward situation it had felt soft and comforting to be held like that, when Jane literally had her back. And while Maura had said Jane wasn't her type - when clearly she was, Jane was right about everything she found attractive in Giovanni being available, with the added bonus of intelligent conversation, in Jane - it had hurt that Jane might think kissing Maura would be gross somehow. That Jane thought she was gross somehow.

Maura sighed again, and Jane mentally kicked herself. She knew Maura was rejection sensitive, why would she say something Maura could interpret as a rejection? How could she explain that Giovanni was gross and probably imagining them in some physically impossible position going to town on each other right now? How could she explain that the idea of Giovanni thinking about them being intimate was gross without suggesting that the idea of being intimate with Maura was gross? Jane sighed too, and Maura picked up on the dejected energy that matched her own.

"This is great," Jane said, digging in again, trying to lighten to mood a little. She was aware they were leftovers from a failed date, and sighed once more, unable to find any words that would make this better. She swigged at her beer and stood, rounding the counter, turning Maura's stool to face her. She brushed some hair back out of Maura's face, fingers lingering on her cheek, in front of her ear. Maura watched Jane, comfortable, curious and cute. Totally trusting in Jane having a purpose to interrupting her meal.

Jane cupped the cheek she'd been touching, leaning down to brush her lips against Maura's, then pressing forward, mouth open and tasting of beer, which somehow wasn't gross to Maura, not in the way it had been on Giovanni's breath when he'd leaned in. It wasn't gross, or nauseating, and when Maura felt Jane pull back a little she leaned in, catching Jane's lips with her own, the softness surprising her, Jane's willingness surprising her. When Jane pulled away again, it was with a smirk.

"See? Not gross. The idea of Giovanni wanting to watch us would be."

"Agreed," Maura said slowly, her mind processing this new information, her hand somehow resting above one of Jane's hips where she'd clutched her at some point. "Not gross." She looked up shyly. "Kind of nice?" she said timidly, trying to read Jane.

"Yeah, kinda," Jane shrugged, pulling away properly, tugging at her jacket lapels to feign disinterest and going back to her meal. "Too bad you don't want to sleep with me," she teased, giving Maura a cheeky grin.

"Well, I have new information since I made that assessment," Maura said slowly. She looked up at Jane, looked away again. "Would you mind if my stance on that had changed a little?"

"I knew it! Is it my 'exquisite long bones'?" Jane asked suggestively.

"I think it's that you're interesting," Maura admitted. "And you don't want to lick my face. Do you?" Maura asked, shooting Jane the same panicked look Jane had thrown her in the car.

Jane chuckled. "Not on my list of things I'd like to do to you," Jane confirmed, blushing a moment later as Maura's mouth dropped open as they both realised what she'd said.

"Wh-what is on the list?" Maura asked, clearing her throat nervously.

Jane knew Maura had turned down Giovanni yesterday and didn't want to be another one of his leftovers. Not right now. She wanted to savour that kiss, to take it home with her, to calm down a little and tell herself that it was ok that she'd kissed her best friend, that her best friend might want to sleep with her. She wanted this to last a little longer before she somehow, inevitably, ruined it. Having someone like Maura Isles look at her the way she was looking at her did something to her. Made her feel worthy. Inflated her sense of self, made her feel important. Special. Like one of the popular girls in highschool, like a queen bee, like a winner. She shrugged. "Take you to the rink and teach you some hockey," Jane said casually. "Then maybe dinner at that place you like - the one with the French whatsits." She could see Maura's disappointment. She swallowed. "Maybe kiss you goodnight," she added. "Since now we have evidence that it's not gross."

"Are you just trying to make me feel better?" Maura asked suspiciously. "That's so like you - you don't think before you speak, and then you go throwing me into a whirlwind of - of confusion and frustration trying to prove that you weren't trying to hurt me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, and I'm sorry that I did," Jane said gently. "But I'm not sorry that I..." Jane raised her fingers to her bottom lip, traced it for a moment, an intense stare fixed on Maura's mouth. "I'm not sorry that I kissed you, even if it was to make a point. At least now I know what it's like."

"And the hockey?"

"Yeah, I'd like to teach you to play."

"And the Chez Charife?"

"I don't mind some of their food," Jane shrugged.

"And the - the goodnight kiss?" Maura asked, touching her own mouth, partially to obscure it from Jane's gaze, partially to remind herself that Jane had actually kissed her. Jane ducked her head.

"Yeah," Jane said, her voice low. "I mighta just been proving a point but... yeah, now that I know. Now that your stance has changed," she said, standing and putting her empty plate in the dishwasher. She grabbed Maura's plate too, put away the forks. "You ok with that?" Jane asked gently, concerned at the consternation on Maura's face.

"Oh. I'm just wondering how I missed this. Usually I run all variables before coming to a conclusion, but I'd factored your gender and discomfort with any perceived sexual innuendo between us incorrectly, it seems. This is why I don't guess, Jane."

"If it's any consolation, I hadn't guessed either. Not really. I mean, you think about it sometimes, don't you? When it's someone you're close to. Trying to see if it would work out, but I could never quite... see it working out." Jane shrugged again. "Someone like you could have anyone you wanted," Jane said, resting her hands on the counter. "What would you ever see in someone like me, huh?" Jane asked, looking down at her hands, pulling them back off the counter when she saw the scars displayed, rubbing them anxiously without really expecting an answer.

Maura stood and rounded the counter, took Jane's hands to stop the fidgeting. "What do I see in you?" Maura asked, looking thoughtful as she examined it Jane's hands. She looked up with a little smile, a little shy, but sure of herself. "I see a future. I see my future," Maura said seriously. "I always have. Maybe it looks different now, but it always had you front and centre." Jane looked away, tugged one of her hands free to touch the back of it against her nose, eyes watering.

"Geez, Mau," Jane choked out, trying to laugh. "You know I don't fall for sappy stuff."

"Too bad," Maura said, faux-pouting. "Because I'm sappy, and I fell for you."

"It was just a kiss, we can't possibly know if it's going to work out," Jane said hesitantly. Maura nodded seriously as Jane composed herself.

"True. That's why I suggest further data collection."

"Such as?"

Maura hesitated. She'd rarely seen Jane cry, and knew she must be feeling just about as vulnerable as Maura herself did right now. She'd been about to suggest going to her bedroom and finding out, but instead she used her free hand to cup Jane's cheek, leaning in with all the confused, exasperated emotions she had for Jane, all the love and joy Jane had brought into her life, and the comfort Jane had offered, all the acceptance and compromising. Jane met her with the same energy, the softness of her staggering for such a formidable woman, the stubborn, implacable detective with a heart of stone. Maura could feel that heart melt with her own, and she pulled away, not daring to look up as she heard Angela at the door, pulling in to hug Jane so their proximity wouldn't seem too strange.

"Janie, have you been crying?" Angela asked, coming over in concern. Jane shrugged but didn't pull away from Maura.

"Yeah, Ma, it's not every day I get myself a LLBFF," Jane joked, pulling away from Maura finally to let Angela slip an arm over her shoulder and kiss her cheek.

"Is that why Giovanni was congratulating me when I called to thank him? You two," Angela shook her head, giving Jane a little slap and Maura a kiss on the forehead. "I know he's persistent, and a little, well..." Angela made a face, "but he's a good boy! You shouldn't trick him like that." She watched as Maura and Jane eyed each other with trepidation, her eyebrows raising as she read the room. "Oh," she said quietly. She gave Jane a big hug, ignoring Jane's complaints that she couldn't breathe, then gave a much gentler, much more nurturing one to Maura, who didn't squirm like Jane, who returned it. She faked a loud yawn. "Well, I'm going to turn in, thanks for picking the car up."

"You're welcome," Maura called after her as she left, eyes locked on Jane's.

"That was..." Jane exhaled. "That was surprisingly supportive."

"And that was..." Maura exhaled too, stepped forward to hug Jane. "That was a hell of a day."

"Yeah. Wish we coulda..." Jane trailed off; it always bugged Jane when there was someone they could have saved by working harder, faster, but the woman who'd died in hospital had already been taken by the time they'd found the first victim. There was nothing they could have done for her. Jane shook her head, evidently coming to this realisation herself. Maura nodded, knowing Jane knew that she knew. They had a sense of each other like that, a kinship in crime solving.

"I don't suppose..." Maura looked up, a little more confident. "I don't suppose you'd want to stay? After a day like that. For the company," Maura clarified.

"Yeah? Yeah, I'd like that," Jane said. She'd intended to go home, to process this on her own, think about why she'd thought that women weren't an option and unpack all that Catholic guilt. But she knew she'd spend the whole night lying awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering if she'd ruined everything. Maura nodded, her mouth quirking, and Jane planted a small, quick kiss on her, just because she could. Just for the joy of it. Just because she finally had a Life Long Best Friend Forever, and maybe more. Just because it was Maura, and Maura wasn't gross, not even a little bit.

Notes:

One shot.