Chapter 2: New Directions

A/N: FFN did something weird when I deleted the old chapters and added the new chapter one. It seems like those who were signed up for notifications received an email for chapter 2. My guess is I deleted the old chapter one and added the new chapter one too close together, so the new chapter 1 registered as chapter 2. Anyway, this is chapter 2.

I realized that I want to get through the angsty part of this fic before I start posting FBL, so for this week and next, I'm going to post every other day. I will move back to the Sunday/Wednesday schedule when I start posting FBL.

Maura: July 2016

Maura struggled to keep her eyes open as she traveled through the streets of Paris back to their hotel. She hadn't intended to stay the night again with Ian, but things had heated up quickly. Before she knew it, it was the middle of the night and she decided it would be safer to just head back in the morning.

As she relaxed in the back seat of her taxi, her mind returned to Jane. She felt bad for spending so much time away from her the last few days. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was trying to avoid Jane. The realization that Jane was actually leaving was really starting to set in and whenever she was with Jane, all she felt like doing was crying. She knew, though, that she would regret missing this time with Jane. As they pulled in front of their hotel, she promised herself that she wouldn't see Ian again for the remainder of their trip and that she would spend all of their remaining time with Jane.

Maura began mentally planning out what they should do for the rest of their trip as she rode the elevator up to their floor. She needed a shower, but then she would order room service for breakfast for the two of them.

She tried to be as quiet as possible while opening the door not wanting to wake up Jane. She was surprised that the door from the living area to the bedroom was open. When she switched on the main light, she could see that the bed was empty and still made. Frowning, she laid her purse on the counter and headed towards the bedroom. Quickly looking around, she could see that Jane's things were missing. Feeling tears pricking at her eyes, she searched the rest of their suite for any trace of Jane, finally spotting the note on the table.

Maura,
I got a call from the FBI. They need me in Quantico a few days early. I was able to get a flight back to D.C. tonight. I am so sorry I wasn't able to say goodbye. I didn't want to ruin your evening by texting you, so I'm leaving a note. I'll text you when I land and when I get to my apartment. I already miss you.
️❤️ Jane

No longer able to hold her tears, Maura let out a loud sob before running to find her phone. She immediately found Jane's name and tried calling her, not caring that it was the middle of the night. It went straight to voicemail. Opening up their text conversation, she sent Jane a quick text: Jane, please text me as soon as possible. I need to see you before you leave.

After sending the text, Maura hoped to see the indication that the message was delivered, but it didn't come. Jane's phone was off.

Without taking her clothes off, Maura threw herself into the bed and sobbed into the pillow until she fell asleep. She knew this was her fault, and she hated herself for it. She didn't believe for a second that Jane had left for work. Jane had left because she felt like Maura was choosing Ian over her, and the worst part was, Maura had done that. Just not for the reasons Jane probably thought Maura did.

Waking up hours later, Maura felt terrible. Her face and pillowcase were both covered in dry tears and smeared make-up.

She immediately searched for her phone, hoping but not expecting to have heard from Jane. She had a few missed texts from Ian, but nothing from Jane. Checking her text conversation with Jane again, she could see that the message she sent a few hours prior still hadn't been delivered.

Despite the fact that she wanted to bury herself back in bed, she decided she at least had to take a shower, or she would regret it. She turned on the shower before stripping down, leaving her clothes on the floor – something she hadn't done since she was four. Stepping into the shower, she felt the tears return and didn't try to stop them.

Just as she was stepping out of the shower, she heard her phone buzz. Nearly slipping in her haste to get to her phone, she pulled herself together and saw that she had received a text from Jane: Arrived. Maura immediate pressed the call button but was disappointed when it went directly to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message and threw herself back into bed, this time on Jane's side, without getting dressed.

Jane: July 2016

Jane was exhausted by the time she turned the key to her new apartment. She hadn't slept at all on the plane, instead beating herself up for lying to Maura and leaving her behind like that.

Between the time change and her weird flight time, it was still early in Virginia, and she knew she needed some things for her apartment before she went to bed. She hadn't anticipated going right to Virginia. Since her phone was dead, she plugged it in while she put away some of her things from her suitcase, trying to figure out what she absolutely needed to get today. As she was going through her things, she heard her phone come back to life. The wake sound was immediately followed by buzzing. Knowing she couldn't avoid it forever, she headed towards her phone and cringed when she saw the number of missed calls, voicemails, and texts from Maura.

While she was trying to decide what to do, her phone started ringing in her hand, and Maura's name and face popped up on her screen. Chewing on her lip, she decided to bite the bullet and answered.

"Hey, Maur. I was just going to text you. I literally just walked into my apartment and charged my phone since it died soon after I landed." Jane paused, not knowing what else to say.

On the other end, Maura was speechless. She clearly hadn't expected Jane to answer and didn't know what to say. All she was able to get out was a shaky, "Jane…"

Jane's heart broke at the sound of Maura's voice. She'd never hated herself more than she did in that moment. Part of her wanted to confess, but she knew that would likely only hurt Maura even more, so she continued her lie. "I'm so sorry Maura. I had to go straight to Quantico. I didn't even have time to stop in Boston. I'm going to have to ask Frankie if he can drive my stuff down here next weekend on his own. I don't have anything I need. I'm going to have to go to the store. I don't even know the last time I've been to the store without you." Jane laughed nervously before continuing, "I'm so sorry I didn't have time to say goodbye. I already miss you. I don't know what else to say," Jane trailed off. She knew she was rambling, but she really didn't know what else to say. She could not lose Maura, no matter how stupid she had been.

Finally finding her voice, Maura answered quietly, "Jane, it's okay. I just wish you would have called me. I would have come back right away. I really wanted, no I needed to say goodbye to you."

"I'm sorry, Maura. I didn't want to ruin your night."

Jane almost missed Maura's response, "I'm sorry I wasted so much time with Ian."

"It's okay, Maura. I know you love him. Hopefully, you can enjoy the rest of the week with him."

"Yeah, maybe…"

"I'm sorry, Maur, but I have to go if I'm going to get the things I need for this week." Jane didn't think she could stand to hear the sadness in Maura's voice anymore.

"Okay, Jane. Have a good afternoon. I know it will be late here, but will you at least text me when you get back to your apartment for the night? And can we talk again this week?"

"Of course," Jane answered. "Bye, Maur."

"Bye, Jane."

Jane could feel the tears threatening to fall, but she pushed them back and dialed Frankie's number.

"Hey, Jane. I didn't expect to hear from you today," Frankie answered.

"Hey, Frankie. Yeah, so I had a change of plans. The FBI called and asked me to be here early. I just got to my apartment in Quantico." Jane felt like she could hear Frankie's skepticism on the other end of the phone, but he didn't say anything. "I know we were planning to drive down here together next weekend, but would it be possible for you to drive down my stuff on your own and meet me here?" She knew it was a big ask, but she also knew Frankie wouldn't say no.

"Sure, Jane. Of course," Frankie replied, and Jane instantly knew that Frankie didn't believe her story.

"Thanks, Frankie. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna head to the store to get some stuff to hold me over until then. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye, Jane. Let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks, Frankie."

After hanging up with Frankie, Jane looked for nearby stores. There was a target not that far away, so she ordered an Uber and got ready to head out.

Maura: July 2016

Maura looked around the seating area outside her gate. Spotting two open seats near the window, she made a beeline for them. She sat in the seat closest to the window and sighed. She was already exhausted, and she hadn't even boarded her flight yet.

Maura hadn't slept well the past few nights since Jane had left. She spent every night tossing and turning alone in the too large bed as she tried to get thoughts of Jane out of her mind. She hadn't seen Ian again, instead telling him that she wanted to 'focus on Jane,' which was true, just not in the way her text messages implied.

So, she'd spent her final days in Paris revisiting her favorite parts of the city on her own, and in its own way, it was healing. She recognized that she'd treated Jane poorly – really, she'd just been stupid. However, she was determined to turn over a new leaf when she returned to Boston. Jane was gone, and Maura had to figure out how to live with that. Jane would always be her best friend, nothing more, nothing less. Maura would do everything in her power to support Jane in her new life, but she also needed to move on. She needed to rebuild her own life.

"Is this seat taken?" a voice broke through Maura's thoughts.

"Oh, no, it's free," she replied with a polite smile before looking back out the window. She couldn't stop herself from wishing the seat was taken…by Jane.

Jane and Frankie: July 29, 2016

Jane's face broke out into the biggest smile she had had in almost a week as she saw her car turn onto the street. It was finally Friday, and Jane had never needed to see her little brother more than she did right now. Her new job started on Monday. Usually, she would have given herself more time to settle in, but she had wanted to maximize her time with Maura.

She had worked up the courage to talk to Maura a few more times since she had arrived in Virginia. Every time they talked, they both avoided talking about Paris or why Jane had left, letting Jane know that Maura likely didn't believe her story. If she had, Maura would have asked more about what was going on at the FBI. Instead, they kept their conversations casual. Still, they seemed to be moving forward. Neither of them was willing to let their friendship go. Despite this, Jane still felt like crap and had spent more time than she was willing to admit crying over the past couple of days.

Jane was still grinning as Frankie pulled up. He jumped out of the car and wrapped her up in a big hug – one they both knew she needed.

"I'm so glad you are here. Thank you for coming down to help!" Jane told Frankie.

"No problem. I'm glad to see you too sis," Frankie answered as he opened the trunk. The moving van with most of Jane's things wouldn't be here until the next day, but Frankie had some of Jane's essentials in the car. Working together, they quickly emptied the car. It was already pretty late in the day given the long drive from Boston for Frankie, so they decided to walk down the street to a bar that was close by Jane's apartment.

"My treat," Jane said as they walked in and grabbed a table.

"No shit, sherlock," Frankie answered with a smile on his face.

Neither one of them would ever acknowledge or admit it, but they had missed each other while Jane was in Paris. They had never gone a month without seeing each other before since Frankie was born. Jane was already dreading Frankie leaving again.

Jane rolled her eyes at her brother, but she was smiling too, "Yeah, yeah, I know. My treat all weekend."

They both ordered burgers and beers. Once their drinks had come, Frankie decided to stop ignoring the obvious. Honestly, he had been regretting the fact that he hadn't said something before she'd taken this job – not that she had consulted him. He hadn't even heard about the job offer until Jane told him that she had accepted. Still, he should have said something. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

"Alright, so tell me why you are such an idiot," Frankie said looking Jane straight in the eye.

Jane choked on her beer, surprised by Frankie's comment, before turning bright red. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Come on, Jane. I'm not stupid. The FBI did not ask you to start early, so why did you ditch Maura in Paris?"

"I didn't…" Jane started, but after seeing the look on Frankie's face, she stopped. "I don't know."

Frankie's voice turned serious, "Jane, it's me. You can talk to me." When Jane still didn't say anything, Frankie continued, "Jane, I know you're in love with Maura. It's obvious, so why won't you tell her and why did you leave her in Paris?"

Jane was stunned out of her embarrassment, "You…you know? I mean, what? I don't…I mean, I didn't…oh my god, does everyone know?"

Frankie had to laugh at this. He was glad Jane was talking though. If he were honest with himself, he thought it would take a lot more prodding before she admitted that she loved Maura. "I mean, kinda, yeah. It's obvious that you both love each other and…"

Jane quickly cut off Frankie, "No. Frankie, she doesn't love me. She loves Ian."

Frankie's face quickly turned to confusion, "Ian? When is the last time she has even talked about him, let alone seen him?"

"We ran into him in Paris," Jane told Frankie. He could see the distress on her face and felt bad for his sister.

"I'm sorry, Janie," Frankie responded.

Before Frankie could continue, Jane interrupted, "Maura is starting a relationship with him. Or, I suppose, restarting a relationship…with the love of her life. He's moving to Boston and is going to live with her." Jane couldn't look Frankie in the eye, instead staring at her hands. "She doesn't feel the same way about me that I feel about her. She never has, which is why I had to get away…why I have to get away. Don't get me wrong, she's still my best friend, but I couldn't watch her fall in love and start a family with someone else, especially not Ian."

"I'm really sorry, Jane," Frankie didn't really know what to say. "I still think she loves you and you still shouldn't have just left her in Paris without even saying goodbye, but…"

"I know. I'm a shitty friend."

"You're not a shitty friend. You're just heartbroken."

Jane rolled her eyes, "Heartbroken?"

"Whatever, Jane. You can try to deny it, but you really don't need to bother, especially with me."

"I know. Honestly, at this point, I'm just so used to hiding it. Is it stupid that I actually didn't think anyone knew?" Jane asked, a slight smirk returning to her face. "How long have you known?"

"Since she convinced you to wear a unitard that said P.U.K.E." Frankie laughed.

Jane's head shot up, "I didn't even know at that point."

"Doesn't mean you weren't already in love with her."

"I guess," Jane said.

"Want to know when I knew she was in love with you?" Frankie asked.

"She's not nor has she ever been in love with me."

"When you shot yourself – still stupid by the way," Frankie said as Jane rolled her eyes again. "She didn't leave your side."

"She started sleeping with my doctor."

"Ha, yeah because he saved your life," Frankie paused seeing the look on his sister's face. "Okay, maybe not, but just because she slept with someone else doesn't mean she doesn't – or didn't – love you. Case in point…Casey."

Jane couldn't help laughing at Frankie's last comment, "Okay, so who else knows?"

"I think most people know but I only ever talked about it to Frost and now Nina."

"I guess that doesn't surprise me. Man, I really miss Frost."

"Me too," Frankie said quietly. Deciding to shift the subject away from Frost, Frankie added, "Nina actually thought you two were a couple when she first met you."

"She's not the first."

Frankie and Jane dropped the conversation when their food arrived. Frankie decided to leave the subject alone for the rest of the weekend unless Jane brought it up. She didn't.

A/N: You will start seeing more changes in the next few chapters. In the meantime, enjoy our favorite idiots being idiotic.