A/N yeah. I was on a roll there for awhile and then I hit a block. Sorry. I've got some new ideas for this fic, so hopefully I'll grind out a few chapters soon. Thanks for staying with me.

It was a couple weeks later, once Maura's classes calmed down a bit, that Maura was able to accept an invitation to the Rizzoli residence again. When she arrived, she found a young man standing on the porch with two pizza boxes. Jane was signing something and smiled when Maura walked up, "Perfect timing Maur!"

Maura smiled politely at the pizza boy as he walked away and she walked in the door.

"Hi." Jane said with a big smile

"Hello." Maura smiled back, slipping off her jacket.

There was a thudding of small feet down the hall and then a squeak, "Miss Maura!"

Maura held her arms out for what had become the norm between the blonde and the little girl. Haley ran into Maura's arms for a hug and looked up at her with wide eyes and a bright smile, "I missed you!"

"I missed you too Miss Haley Mae."

"Are you going to eat pizza with us?"

Jane chuckled, "Yes, she is Haley Mae. Like I've told you multiple times today."

Maura just laughed as she followed the two women into the living room.

"I hope you like pepperoni or cheese. I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I just got the basics."

The blonde shrugged, "I'm open for anything."

Jane dropped the boxes on the coffee table and walked towards the kitchen; Maura on her heels.

"Wine or beer?"

"What goes better with pizza?"

"Beer!" the brunette pulled two beers from the fridge and they made their way back out to the living room to see Haley already putting a DVD in the player.

Jane sat on the couch, Maura joining her, "Haley got a gold star on her spelling test today, so I said she could pick the movie tonight."

Haley beamed at her mother as she plopped down on the floor.

Maura tickled Haley's neck playfully, "Wow! Good job Haley!"

A few minutes into the movie, Jane looked over to Maura, who was pulling her first piece of pizza from the box. She placed it on her plate and started to look around the table for something.

Maura got up and went into the kitchen, coming back a moment later with a fork and knife. Haley looked at Maura with a confused look and then giggled, "Miss Maura! You don't eat pizza with a fork."

Maura looked at Jane and then back at Haley, a look of innocence on her face, "Then how do I eat pizza?"

Haley stood up and took her own piece, showing Maura to fold the crust in half, lengthways, and eat from the tip, "Like this!"

Maura nervously picked up the pizza and did as shown and took a bite.

Jane smiled to herself at how easy Maura interacted with her daughter.

As the movie ended, Haley was passed out on the floor. Jane picked her up carefully and after depositing her in bed, returned to the living room to see Maura curled up on one end of the couch. Maura's legs were tucked under her, and held a glass of wine in one hand.

The brunette sat on the other end of the couch and sipped at her own wine. They saw quietly for a little while before Jane finally spoke, "Can I ask a personal question?"

Maura nodded, looking at her friend.

"You said at lunch a few weeks ago that you're not out. Have you ever talked to anyone about being gay? Like, just to talk it out?"

Maura sighed and shook her head, "You're the first."

Jane smiled softly, "I had a feeling. Would you like to maybe talk about it? No pressure."

The blonde looked down at the glass of wine in her hands, "I'm not sure where to start."

Jane turned her whole body towards the other woman, lifting her legs to sit cross-legged, "How about this…when did you first know you were gay?"

Maura blushed hard and out fought through her nervousness.

Jane watched the younger woman war with herself, trying to find the right words.

"Deep down…maybe four or five years ago. Accepting I was gay…last year."

Jane nodded, content to listen.

Maura took another deep breath and sighed, "However, my first experience of being gay, as you could say, was in high school."

The librarian smirked, "You kiss a girl?"

Maura blushed even harder and Jane heard her breathing pick up a little in nervousness, "A little more than kissing."

Jane's jaw dropped with a wide smile, "No…"

Might as well bit the bullet, Maura thought. "Her name was Meav. She was an Irish… goddess." Maura said wistfully, "Beautiful red hair, pale skin, great body." Hazel eyes glassed over a little as she went back into the memory fully.

"We were the same grade though we were two years apart. She was 16 and I was 14 and I had this terribly…wonderfully deep attraction to her. She was so smart and knowledgeable about not just school, but the world. Her parents were biologists and she'd grown up traveling the world with them. I could listen to her for hours." Maura paused, "She was very mature and by the time she turned 17, she was known to be what everyone called… a huntress."

Jane's face showed confusion.

Maura slapped herself inwardly for blushing so much, "Well, she had a habit of sniffing out closeted lesbians in the school and uhhh…." Maura's blush traveled down her neck, "deflowering them." She smirked

Jane chuckled and nodded.

"It was never forced." Maura wanted to clarify, "she just had this air about her that made everyone just fall in love with her."

Jane lifted the beer to her lips and took a sip, "did you fall under her spell?"

Maura sighed wistfully, "I fell so hard for her. And the next day, she had disappeared. I woke up in my bed, where we had been, and went searching for her. I knew what she was and what she did, but I had this thought that I could change her. That I could be the one to get her to settle down and be my girlfriend." She sighed, "That's what you get when you're fourteen."

Jane nodded knowingly, "I went looking for her, but someone said she'd left for a trip to Ireland to see her family. When I heard she was back, I went running to her dorm room to find her with a senior soccer player's head between her legs."

Jane hissed, "ouch."

"I was devastated. I cried for a week. It was my first sexual relationship."

"You must've been so confused." Jane cooed

"Yes, I was. Two years later when I was home after graduation, I met a young boy who fancied me. I…decided to have sex with him, to see if I really was gay." She trailed off

"And?"

Maura leaned her head against the back of the couch, "he didn't even get his pants past his hips before I stopped him. I had absolutely no desire to see what was between his legs."

Jane laughed, "Yeah, I know that feeling."

They were quiet a moment.

"When did you know?"

Jane smirked, "My first kiss was with Sally Walker in first grade. I was in love with her until I saw her kiss Joey Fatone at recess a week later."

Maura beamed, "Aww. Poor little Jane."

Jane shrugged, "It wasn't till middle school that I realized I was gay. I didn't even know it was a thing, you know, being gay. Ma and Pop always talked about me marrying a nice man someday and having a whole bunch of kids. I never realized why I was never into the idea until eighth grade when our sex-ed teacher told us about same sex couples. After that class, its like I knew who I was suddenly. Things started to make sense."

The blonde nodded as she sipped her wine. She knew the feeling all too well.

"I realized that there was a reason I always tried to sneakily get a look at girls in the locker room during PE. There was a reason I liked hanging out Jamie Peterson, and it's not because we were best friends." Jane shrugged, "I didn't come out till after high school, but after that class, I knew what I wanted."

"Then why did you have sex with a boy?"

Jane sighed. She knew this question would come at some point. "Casey had grown up in England, and still had an accent, even though he'd lived in the states since elementary school. He was an amazing athlete, but people always teased him still. I was super boyish, and played all the sports, so I was a little bit of an outcast as well. So we hung out a lot once we got into high school. People left us alone once we started dating. I wasn't out, and no one knew, at all. I was tired of being alone, and his company was soothing. He was so nice, and kinds and sweet. I think, deep down, he knew. I got kinda depressed my senior year. You know, the weight of carrying a secret, like being gay. It was really getting to me. I even went through a time where I thought I had imagined it all, and I should try being straight. That's where Casey came in. He was a year older, and had joined the Army. When he came back after basic, we slept together a few times. A few months later, he was stationed somewhere in Texas and I was pregnant."

Maura was fascinated by this wonderful woman sitting next to her.

"When did you tell your family?"

Jane shrugged, "I never really did. I just brought home my first girlfriend, Emily. Ma told me she'd known since I was a kid. My brothers just shoved me and asked me to come play pick up football like nothing had happened. And my pop wasn't in the picture, so I didn't need to tell him. Have you told your parents yet?"

Maura shook her head, taking a sip of wine, "No."

"Why not? Are they very traditional?"

Maura chuckled, "No, definitely not. They're very modern. My mother is an artist and my father is a professor of cultural anthropology. So he's very with the trends."

"Then why are you nervous to tell them?"

Maura sighed, "I've never been close to either of them, especially my mother. We don't talk like stereotypical mothers and daughters. I haven't talked to her in months. She has her own life, and I have mine. And my father doesn't really talk unless its about work, or books."

"I'm sorry." Jane said sincerely

Maura waved her hand slowly, "It's quite alright. I've gotten used to it."

"Yeah, but it sucks when you don't have parents that care."

Hazel eyes met concerned brown, and felt Jane's words hit her heart. They weren't said to cause pain or judgement, but just a simple understanding between friends.

Maura smiled sadly, "Yeah, it does suck."

Jane touched Maura's leg comfortingly, "I think, that when you're comfortable, you should tell them. It might help solidify some of your mixed emotions and do you some good."

Maura nodded, thinking how that conversation might go.

"Okay, enough heavy talk. Let's talk about something more fun. Or hey!" Jane jumped from the couch and picked up the pizza boxes, "Let's make some cookies."

"For what?" Maura followed her friend into the kitchen

Jane shrugged, "To eat, babe." the term of endearment slipped out easily as Jane laughed

The blonde just sat at the island counter with a big smile and watched Jane pull out all the ingredients.

After baking a couple dozen cookies, Maura left the Rizzoli residence with a tupperware of still warm cookies and drove back to her apartment.

When she walked in the door, her earlier conversation with Jane kept nagging at her. Sitting at the desk in her room, she watched the clock a moment before picking up her cell phone. Dialing a familiar number, Maura waited until someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello?"

Maura's heart pounded, "Hello mother." her voice shook slightly, "do you have time to talk?"