"My backpack and phone against your dress and money." She said as soon as Maura had opened the door to her. The blonde raised an eyebrow and made a strange face. "Excuse me?" she politely asked, which made Jane roll her eyes. She held up a plastic bag in which she kept the dress and money hostage.
But that rich spoiled girl probably even hadn't noticed that either was missing. A bad sign Jane mused, because this meant that these things weren't important to the doc if she hadn't missed them yet.
"I want my backpack back." Jane stated, sounding fiercer and braver than she felt. The doc looked indeed serious and nodded. She walked into her apartment and when she came back, she said: "I wanted to give it to you all along. I've even been looking for you at university and chasing behind your car, which by the way seems to need oil."
"Oil?" Jane squeaked, ignoring the explanation for Maura chasing her. Shed still rather believe that this was a psycho.
"Yes, the exhaust fume is black which means that the motor of your car burns oil. Which you should also have repaired by the way." The girl said in all seriousness and Jane blinked. "I thought you were a doctor." She stated slowly.
Maura gave her an apologetic smile. "I am. But I read a lot and…" the blonde seemed to pull her head a bit deeper between her shoulders "Well, uhm, I'm sorry."
Jane bit her lip and felt a bit sorry. No, this girl really didn't seem to be the monster she had thought she was. "Why? No, please." Jane said in a lack of words not knowing what Maura was sorry for. She quickly pressed the plastic bag into the petits hand.
"I keep doing this uhm thing you know. I keep diagnosing people and things and I know that people hate that. But I can't help somehow." The blonde sighed and averted her eyes. There was a faint blush on the girls face. "And I almost ran you over with my car." Maura continued. "I am sooo sorry." Her voice was full of emotions.
"Well, you said that I stumbled and fell onto the road in front of your car." Jane remembered, not knowing what to say or do. She hadn't many friends either, apart from Frost.
"Shit!" she mumbled also recalling that Frosts assignment was due in a few hours. She had to keep moving otherwise she, no he, was going to be late. Maura's eyes widened at her swearing. Jane gave her an apologetic smile. "I just remembered that I have an assignment to deliver tonight." She lifted her hands. "I need to run. I still have to write an analysis about one of Rilkes poems." She explained but somehow her feet refused to move as she refused to leave.
Maura's eyes brightened. "Oh, I can help you if you like. I used to read Rilkes poems when I was little." Jane squinted her eyes, but yet she shouldn't be surprised. "Really?" she asked and saw the docs face falter a bit over the tone in her voice. Jane recalled how Frost had told her that people made fun of her because she was such a nerd and know it all. She actually believed that this girl didn't do these things on purpose.
She also mused that the doc must have had a lonely childhood as many of these kids with rich parents. "Well, I'd like that." She said with a smile, her eyes darting into the hallway behind the threshold. Maura seemed to sense, that Jane was ready to come in and took a step aside.
"Which poem?" she asked after leading Jane into her living room. The late afternoon sun reflected on the painted walls, that were decorated with classic artists. Maura walked to the adjoint kitchen area to make coffee.
"Again and Again." Jane replied while studying Maura's CD collection. Most of the music were classics from Mozart, Schuberth and others. Nothing contemporary or mainstream for their age. "Here you go." Maura said as she handed a cup of steaming coffee to Jane. "Milk? Sugar?" she asked and Jane nodded at both. Then she unpacked her laptop from her backpack and opened a fresh document.
The doc took a seat in the armchair, while Jane occupied the sofa. Her laptop hadn't lost much battery, so Maura hadn't checked its content she thought with some kind of relieve that sprung from the fact that her laptop was full of self written stories and poems. Jane would be highly ashamed if she knew that the blonde had read some of her stuff.
But no, Maura was silently sipping her coffee and studying Jane who gave her a smile. "Okay. I never know where to start with the analysis. And im not good at teamwork to be honest." She admitted. "Me either." Maura confided in Jane. But we will manage. "Why not begin with a short introduction to the author?" she offered and began forming sentences which Jane quickly typed down.
"We should add a short paragraph about the poem next." Jane stated and talked while she typed. Having read the poem several times at school she remembered well what it was about. And she was pretty sure, that Maura could even read it in German. This woman was a genius for sure.
It only took them one hour to complete the assignment and Jane sent it to Frost after hooking her device up to Maura's Wi-Fi. Then she grunted happily and their eyes met while doing so. "That was great, thank you so much!" Jane said. "Yes, it was quite nice indeed." She confirmed, replying to Jane's smile. "Maybe we're not so bad in teamwork after all." Jane stated and took the last sip of her coffee.
It was 7pm now and Jane was suddenly aware of her phone ringing in her backpack. She hadn't really thought to look for it until now. "I also added your clothes to the backpack. I hope you don't mind." Maura said as Jane opened to look for the annoying device.
"It's probably my mum. I'm late for dinner." She explained feeling the sudden loneliness of the blonde who probably never had the chance to eat dinner with her parents except for special occasions. She could read it in Mauras eyes that had turned a bit jealous.
"You have a car right?" Jane asked and Maura nodded confused. Jane picked up the phone and said: "I know ma. I'm with a friend doing homework." Then silence. "What do you mean which friend? I told you: I can have friends. And I'm actually going to bring her over for dinner."
Mauras eyes widened in disbelief. "You are going to come to ma's house for dinner, aren't you?" she asked in her dark voice and Maura was so flabbergasted that she could only nod. Jane smiled warmly. "Good, because ma made her specialty: lasagna. You would really miss out if you didn't come."
Jane followed Maura downstairs to the garage, hoping that Maura now wouldn't believe that she was getting used to show Janes ma that she could have friends. The brunette had literally no idea why she had asked Maura. Normally, she should simply have gone home, right? But somehow, she wanted to be with this girl. Jane just couldn't explain it.
When they had settled into Mauras Jaguar sports car, Jane felt even more uncomfortable with the idea of bringing the doc home. "Are you all right?" the blonde asked and slightly touched Janes knee with a worried look.
"Yes. Why?" Jane feigned to be cool.
"You got pale for a moment. I'm really sorry for the accident. You're not going to sue me, are you? My parents would hate me for the rest of my life." The tone was sad and full of fear. Up to this point Jane hadn't even thought about sueing Maura. And she wouldn't certainly now. Getting mellow for the rich? She thought but bit her lip. No, just for Maura, the girl who seemed to be all alone on this planet.
"No, I just.. I've never imagined sitting in one of these cars one day." Jane replied which was partly true. "I see, rich kid gets all she wants without having to work?" Maura asked and Jane tried to ignore the little sharpness in her voice. She slightly blushed. "Yeah, not the kindest thing to say and not the best choice to judge a book by its cover." She smiled apologetically.
Maura replied to her smile instantly and touched Janes knee again, which made the brunettes mouth go dry. This lightning bolt that traveled through her body felt so good. Oh lord, had she lost her mind? NO, but she wasn't far from doing so if the blonde kept touching her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it either." Maura stated and Jane glanced at her. "Maybe we should just stop to apologize and move on or start over." She said. The blonde didn't seem convinced that this was possible or that whatever they had would last. It felt for Jane that she expected for Jane to jump out of the car any minute. Little did she know that the brunette had no intention to do so.
"I'll give you directions. My ma is absolutely going to love you. Consider yourself as adopted in all of your cuteness." Jane said and meant every word. But again, why shooting so fast? This wasn't her. She usually picked on every detail and possible outcome before speaking or taking a decision. Life had taught her to be cautious. Hence, usually she would never call someone cute – like at all.
The blonde raised her eyebrow and Jane wondered at which part of her statement. "You called me cute." She teased, obviously finding some self-confidence. Was Maura gay Jane wondered as she bit her lips while they drove through the dark streets of Boston.
R&I
"She's great!" her mother whispered while Maura was in the bathroom after dinner. "Where did you find her?" came the expected question. Jane rolled her eyes. She knew, that if she didn't answer right away her mother would bother her on and on. So, she told her that she had Maura on campus, which wasn't a lie for sure.
Her mother liked Frost as well but wished for Jane to have female friends. What for Jane wondered. She for sure didn't want any of these mindless Barbies. She wore make-up, but usually in a decent fashion. And she hated all the activities which girls usually liked like shopping, gossiping or fashion.
She always came in a very natural or sportive look which made her mother groan. "Why don't you wear a dress for a change? Why do you hide your beautiful body under these dull cloths all the time?" Jane couldn't hear those questions anymore.
And as to her beautiful body: yes, it was nice, and she liked her body. But there was little, tiny problem and that was that she was being intersex. She had a full-grown penis at her groin and a set of small breasts.
She liked her body. Nothing else to say. Maura came back from the bathroom and glanced at mother and daughter. Jane suddenly blushed slightly as she had been thinking about her body. She liked it for sure. But that didn't necessarily mean that others did. How important was this?
"Do you want to show Maura our house?" Angela asked Jane who cringed. She hadn't cleaned her room recently. Piles of dirty clothes were probably scattered on the floor and shit! There was this sketch that she had made of Maura still on her desk.
Maura gave her an expectant look which made it impossible to say no. "Okay. Let's start with the garden, shall we?" she asked and the blonde agreed while Jane walked ahead. It was a small house in an blue collar Italian families neighborhood. Nothing like the mansion Maura had probably grown-up Jane mused. Yet, there was enough space for the five people. Frankie and Tommy who had already been in their shared room when Jane and Maura had arrived.
Then there were her parents bed room and her own. She noticed that Frankie hadn't mowed the lawn as promised when stepping onto the deck. That probably meant that her mother would bother her with this task the next day.
A cool breeze came up to them and she noticed Maura shivering. "Do you want my Hoodie?" she asked, nudging Maura slightly. The doc, obviously not used to such gestures but liking it grinned. "But you will be cold then."
"Nah, I'm fine. Im a hot blooded Italian." Jane joked as she slipped the hoodie over her head to give it to Maura. She had only put it on recently so it still smelled after the washing detergent. And maybe a little bit of her. But no sweat.
"You know, I think that you're cute as well." Maura spoke silently as Jane glanced into the starry sky. Brown eyes came to study the petite who looked definitely cute in her white hoodie. Then she shyly glanced at the ground.
No one had ever called her cute or beautiful or anything. And Jane wasn't used to get compliments, so she didn't know how to handle them. But making a joke seemed highly inappropriate. She bit her lips and decided to leave it uncommented. When she looked up, her eyes met warm hazel ones. Both grinned a bit foolishly. And suddenly it seemed to be okay for Jane to let Maura see her room and the sketch.
"Come on, I'm going to show you the rest of the house." She said and her voice sounded deeper than usually which made her wonder. Maura simply nodded and the back of her hand slightly brushed Janes. Then Jane felt a very subtle striking of Mauras finger over her soft skin.
Somehow, she felt herself bracing herself for the rejection that she would get when Maura found out about her sexuality. And hell, she had no idea when or how to tell her. But she moved her index finger to hook up with Mauras. Both giggled somehow foolishly.
I like it… I like her… Jane thought amazed that Maura also seemed to like her. She suddenly felt lightheaded and wondered about stupid things like what pet name Maura would like. Baby? Babe? While walking upstairs Jane felt a sudden ache in her side and stopped with an ouch!
Maura was immediately by her side, asking what the matter was. Was is a remnant from the accident? Did she want to go to the hospital?
Jane took a deep breath and shook her head. No to all. She had just made a wrong motion was all. But she now felt a burning hot place where Maura had touched her to examine her. Once in her room Maura ordered her to lie on the bed – yes. To lift her t-shirt – what? To lay still while she examined Jane once more. But Jane got the feeling that this was rather a ruse to touch and inspect her body and giggled when Maura found her tickle spot.
Jane rolled over and dragged Maura down to her. Suddenly their faces were really close to each other and Jane understood for the first-time what kissing distance meant. She felt Mauras warm breath stroke her cheek and found dilated pupils staring at her. The breath was a bit ragged, and they hadn't even kissed. What would happen if they kissed or… made love? Jane was at the same time anxious and excited. She definitely wanted to make love to Maura.
"I like you." She whispered and Maura studied her, seemingly feeling the same amazement to be loved as Jane had earlier. Jane used her thumb to caress Mauras cheek while cupping her face. "I like you too." Maura whispered back and both took in the moment. Mauras hand was on Janes back, as she was lying half on top of her. Jane looked down into shining eyes and decided to bench down.
But she stopped when Maura suddenly turned her face away from the kiss. Janes mind was racing now. Had she misread the signs? She blushed. This was awkward. The rejection had come even before she had told Maura about her secret. But how? Why?
Jane quickly rolled away to her back, covering her face with her hands in shame. There was a silent prayer that Maura would leave and most of all leave her alone. She suddenly felt so stupid. But unlike her expectance, Maura didn't go away. Instead, she turned to her side, slowly and most of all gently taking Janes hands down so that she could see her face.