"I still can't believe that you got up on that stage and told the entirety of the Boston Police Department that you were in love with a woman," Maura says as she takes a bite out of the pepperoncini.
Jane was on her third slice of pizza and had almost fallen to her knees when she was finally able to have something greasy after Maura had forced her to eat more healthy food lately. She was taking full advantage of Maura being nice to her and watched as Maura swallowed every urge to remind Jane of the dangers of high cholesterol. Jane picks up an anchovy from the pizza, placing it in her mouth with delight.
"What can I say? I was inspired in the heat of the moment."
Maura peels the sticker of the beer before putting it back on again. "Did you mean what you said?"
Seeing Maura feel insecure about their relationship made Jane feel like an idiot. She had failed to show this beautiful woman just how much she meant to her and Jane was ashamed. Putting her pizza down, she wipes her hands on Maura's cloth napkin before putting her hand on Maura's thigh. "Maur, of course I meant it. I have been in love with you since the first time you set my nose back in place."
Maura wrinkles her nose. "Only you would fall in love in the middle of a crime scene."
Jane laughs. "In my defense, I had a very beautiful woman holding my face in her hands," she says, taking a swig from her beer.
"We were so young then," Maura replies as she looks lost in thought, reminiscing about what life was like when the two women had first begun working with each other. "I'll never forget how you shut those detectives up when they called me the Ice Queen."
Jane scoffs, grateful that some of her useless colleagues had been transferred, many of them riding the desk. "Those assholes never made it past the whole 'be a jerk to a woman if you have a crush on her phase'. They were just butthurt that you never paid them any attention and that their case close rate was embarrassingly low."
Maura flashes Jane a smile. "Still, it was incredibly thoughtful of you to stop them. You were my first real friend, Jane."
As she thought about how Maura had suffered through life, with people coming and going as they pleased while taking advantage of Maura's kind soul, Jane felt anger rise in her chest. "Just showing you what you've always deserved, that's all," Jane replies.
Maura kisses the cleft in Jane's chin before taking ahold of Jane's face with the same spot. As she kisses Jane again, Maura feels a surge of dopamine, thinking about how kissing Jane Rizzoli would never get old. They sit there for a few minutes, giving each other small kisses, both of the women excited that they had the ability to kiss each other freely now. Jane's phone buzzes and the two finally separate, laughing as they do so.
"Pizza's gonna get cold if you keep that up," Jane says with twinkles in her eyes.
Maura picks up another anchovy, shoving it into Jane's mouth. "There. Now you're all full and we can get back to kissing."
Jane leans in, but another buzz comes from her phone. She picks it up and looks at the screen, annoyed as soon as she sees the reason for the interruption. "Damn it, Frankie. Way to kill the mood."
Maura checks her own phone, making sure that she didn't miss a call from dispatch. "What happened?", she asks.
Putting her phone face down, Jane turns her attention back to Maura before saying, "Nothing important. They're having a get-together at the Dirty Robber tonight and he was hoping that we would stop by."
Maura finishes the last of her salad, debating whether she was interested in going or not. "It would be nice to see everyone again. It's been a while since we have both been on leave for a bit of time. However, I do worry that it may be too much for you so soon after leaving the hospital."
Jane nods as she considers the merits of Maura's thoughts. "I feel okay. I do kind of miss all of them. What if we just dropped in for a bit and came back here to watch a movie?", she offers.
"Anything you want. Plus, maybe we will even get lucky and Frankie will tell us about him and Nina."
Janes sets her beer down in record speed, spilling a bit on her shirt as she does so. "Him and Nina? What?"
Dabbing at Jane's shirt, Maura smirks as she thinks about how her detective could be so oblivious sometimes. "Don't tell me you haven't seen what's going on between the two of them," Maura teases.
"You've got to be kidding me. Those two? Together? Frankie is batting above his league with that one."
With a laugh, Maura says, "Oh come on. Frankie is a sweetheart. They make a wonderful couple."
Jane thinks about how far the two of them had come. A year ago, Frankie was moping about his love life while Jane was pining after Maura. Now, Jane had finally let Maura know how she felt, and even better, Maura had returned those feelings. And now Frankie was with Nina, a brilliant woman whom Jane highly respected. Jane gets up, putting her hands on her knees. "Looks like we better show up then. I need to see this with my own eyes."
Jane manages to change into jeans by herself, still wanting to make sure that Maura does not see her naked yet. She puts on a jean jacket that makes Maura weak in the knees and winks as she sees the effect that she has on the shorter woman. Maura also wears jeans, choosing to put on one of Jane's hoodies.
Jane does a double-take when she sees that. "I don't think that I have ever seen you this casual, Maura. Between you and Frankie, what is going on?"
"Love is about trying new things, Jane. Also, I know that your stitches make it uncomfortable to wear any tight clothing so I wanted to wear something loose in solidarity with you so you didn't feel out of place."
Jane wonders if she can possibly feel any more love for this thoughtful woman. She pulls Maura in, thanking her with a kiss. As they head out, Jane gets a call. Maura can tell it is Frankie from the ringtone and Jane groans as she answers the call.
"Frankie, I swear to God if you contact me one more time. I just got out of the hospital, cut me some damn slack, alright? We are on our way."
Maura hears the younger Rizzoli apologize, which makes Jane feel guilty immediately. Softening her tone, she says, "I know it's important, Frank. That's why I'm getting out of my pajamas to come to see you guys. I promise I'll be there soon, okay?"
When the two women walk into the bar, cheers erupt. People who had been sitting down stand up to offer the two women seats while they applaud, commending Jane Rizzoli, the local hero. Jane raises her hand in gratitude and walks quickly over to Korsak and Frost, wanting to avoid the spotlight.
"Long time no see, champ. Nice gear," Korsak says as he points at Jane's walker.
Jane rolls her eyes, pulling Maura's seat closer to her own. "You only get one diss, Korsak. Use it wisely. Any others and you're buying tonight."
Korsak laughs, his belly moving as a low chuckle comes on. "I've missed you," he says before turning to call the bartender.
Frost beats him to it, ordering for the table. "First round is on me, Jane."
Jane gives him a friendly slap on his back. "That's what I'm talking about. Thanks, Barry." She looks around the room, taking in how busy the Dirty Robber was that night. "Where's that brother of mine? He gave me so much grief about showing up and then has the nerve to be missing when I arrive."
The bartender returns with a tray full of beers and a single glass of Pinot Noir for Maura. Frankie and Nina walk through the door and smile as they see Maura and Jane amongst the others. When they remain standing up upon approaching the group, Jane has a feeling that an announcement is coming.
"Hey! Shut up! I want to hear this," Jane commands as the voices around her quiet.
Frankie shakes his head at his sister's unorthodox ways, but thanks her before he addresses the whole group. "Guys, we have been wanting to tell you all something but we also waited until after Janie got all better. Nina and I having been dating awhile and we are getting married!"
Jane looks at Maura with her mouth wide open. She has no idea how Maura managed to figure things out way before her. Maura tries unsuccessfully to hide her smile as she shrugs. "I told you so," she mouths to Jane. Korsak stands up, taking his suit jacket off as he walks to the bar.
"Where are you going, Vince?" Angela asks as she hugs her son and her future daughter-in-law.
"I'm cracking open some of my nicest whiskey," he shouts back. "We are celebrating tonight!"
As Nina shows off her ring to the group, Jane pulls Frankie aside.
"Marriage, huh? You must really love her," Jane says as she pulls her brother in for a hug.
"I do, Janie. I really do. I don't need to explain how it feels because I know you feel that way towards Maura too," Frankie replies as he shoots Jane a wink.
Jane blushes, stumbling over her words before deciding to just be honest. "You're right. I do know how that feels." Nina returns to Frankie's side and Jane extends her hand out to the woman.
"Welcome to the family, Nina. You're a saint for putting up with this one."
Nina laughs, shaking Jane's hand but pulling her into a hug. "It's good to see you doing okay, Jane. Frankie was real hung up about you when all of that stuff happened. You mean the world to him. To all of us."
Jane nods, thinking about how much those around her suffered. "I appreciate that. Thank you for pulling him through it." Her eyes wander over to Maura, who is tossing her head back and laughing at a story that Korsak is telling. Jane feels an overwhelming sense of adoration for the woman and hopes that one day they will all be celebrating her engagement to Maura Isles.
She heads back to her seat and watches as Maura fits right in with her chaotic family.
"Sounds like we have a wedding to go to soon. Will you be my date?" Jane asks.
Maura's smile makes Jane's heart skip a few beats. Leaning in to place a small kiss on Jane's cheek, her hand moves from where it was on Jane's face to her neck. Maura pretends to think on it for a second, which makes Jane look at Maura with amusement.
"As long as you agree to go shopping with me," Maura offers.
"Yes! Consider it done," Jane says as she pumps her fist. Seeing Jane return back to the woman she loved felt like a breath of fresh air for Maura. Her goofy and charismatic Jane was back.
Nina comes by, pulling Maura aside in search of wedding planning advice. As the two women discuss outfit coordination ideas and what type of flowers to order, Jane is left alone with her thoughts. Frost wanders over, watching as Jane sits deep in thought.
"Everything okay, partner?', he says with his signature smile. Jane looks at him briefly before staring at everyone around them.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I guess I just can't stop thinking about how much I put people around me through on a daily basis."
Frost understands how she feels as he thinks about the way that his mother and his ex-girlfriends worry for his safety. He knew that even his emotionally absent father would worry after him sometimes. "I get it. We can't help what happens to us on the job, Jane. But we can manage how we handle the reactions from those who care for us."
Jane's eyebrows knit together in concentration as she thinks about what Frost has said. "That's true. But I can't help but feel responsible for all of it. I mean, how many times have my ma and Maura cried over me? Hell, I almost pushed Frankie to alcoholism this time around."
Frost breaks open one of the peanuts from the bowl in front of them, tossing it into his mouth. "Jane, you and I both know that you can't be responsible for everyone else. All that matters is that you pulled through and he's doing okay now."
Grabbing another, he asks, "Not having second thoughts, are you?"
Jane turns the beer bottle in her hands, wiping the condensation off on her pants. "I don't know anymore, Frost. I love this job to death but in the same way, I worry that it will be the death of me. I just don't want to make anyone feel like that ever again."
Frost sees Jane look in Maura's direction as she says that. "Well, you could always be a plumber," he jokes as he nudges Jane with his shoulder.
She rolls her eyes at him, cracking a smile. "No way. Tommy has got that handled. I'll never touch one of those nasty pipes again."
Frankie comes over, handing Frost some darts in order to settle the running bet that they had with each other. "You'll figure it out, Jane. But be sure that it's what you want before you change your entire life." Leaving Jane with those words, he jogs on over to the dart board.
Jane scrolls through her contact list until she lands on Agent Dean's number. Hitting the dial button, she walks out of the Dirty Robber as the phone rings.
"Jane, hi. I heard about what happened," Gabriel Dean says on the other end. Jane hears as he takes a deep breath. "How are you?"
Jane feels awkward all of the sudden, having remembered the weird relationship that she once shared with Agent Dean. After he had shown up unexpectedly when Jane was confronting Paddy Doyle, things between them had become strained. Jane's trust was betrayed and she hated Dean for choosing his job over Jane. It seemed like the men in her life were always choosing their jobs over her. Dean, Casey, and even her father. She couldn't blame them, though. She had always chosen Maura over any of those men. Every single one of them had been jealous of how she prioritized Maura and even suspicious of the amount of time that the two women would spend together. Regardless, Agent Dean owed her a favor and she thought that it was prime time to cash one in.
"I'm fine. Listen, Dean. I didn't call to catch up. I need a favor from you and I want to keep this on the down low for now. I just want to open my options up a little."
She hears Dean shifting on the other end as he switches the phone to his other ear. "Sure, Rizzoli. Name it and I'll take a look into it."
As she tells Dean what she needs, he seems surprised to hear her request.
"Are you sure, Jane?", he asks. "This is going to be taken pretty seriously by the people up top. Once you set this in motion, it'll be really hard to stop."
Taking a moment to pause, Jane thinks about all of the suffering that she has brought upon, knowing that there are no other options. "I'm sure. Let me know of any updates. Thanks." She hangs up before Dean has any time to object or interrogate her on her decision and walks back in, making eye contact with Maura as she does so.
She places her arm around Maura's shoulder as they hear about Nina's plans for the wedding, savoring every moment that she could share with her family, because she knew that it wouldn't last long.