Jane giggled as she turned to her side to face Maura, whose face seemed almost golden in the light of the bedside lamp: "I'm not entirely sure yet. Maybe you should kiss me again, just so I can confirm my suspicions".
As a response, Maura leaned in and gently kissed Jane, who let her hand wander underneath the sheets to caress Maura's back. She almost withdrew her hand, when, instead of the silk of Maura's pajama, she touched a different kind of silk – that of Maura's skin. How could she have forgotten that Maura always slept in the nude? The idea of Maura's naked body right next to her made her nervous, but also curious… and desperate to touch every millimeter of it. "Yeah, okay. I think I'm definitely attracted to you", Jane whispered when Maura's lips finally parted from hers after another passionate kiss, "You are completely naked under there, aren't you?" Her hand was shaking as her fingers wandered up and down Maura's back, retracing her spine, afraid to explore any further.
Maura merely nodded, and reached back to take Jane's hand and lead it up her side, shoulder and neck before bringing it up to her mouth to place a gentle kiss on it: "I understand if you're not ready yet. I don't even know if I am. But I'm so glad you decided to join me, anyways."
At a loss of words yet again and trembling like a leaf, Jane leaned forward and kissed Maura's forehead, tip of the nose, chin and finally her lips before putting her arm around herself and resting her head on Maura's naked shoulder. Her own arm across Maura's chest, she could feel the warmth of her breasts on her skin – a promise of the future. For now, all she wanted to do was enjoy the closeness of their bodies and fall sleep in her arms. "Good night, Maura", she mumbled and closed her eyes. Who knew love could be this exhausting in all the good ways?
When the song of a particularly enthusiastic bird led her back to the surface from a beautiful dream (Maura was in it, obviously), Jane was momentarily disoriented. How could that bird be so close to her bedroom window if there wasn't even a tree in front of it? Only when she finally opened her eyes and saw the sunlight fighting its way through the half-closed blinds of Maura's bedroom, Jane remembered the events of the previous night and smiled as she turned around to wake Maura up with a kiss – to find the bed empty. With a sigh, Jane buried her face in Maura's pillow and, breathing in her scent, replayed everything that had happened since they caught Johnson's killer the day before. The longer she thought about her first kiss with Maura (and how it had made her feel), the less real it seemed. And yet here she was under Maura's expensive satin sheets, wearing nothing but a T-Shirt and her underwear and feeling more well-rested and relaxed than she had in a long time. One part of her wanted to stay in bed forever and wait for Maura to return to her side, the other ached to see Maura's face and shower her with good-morning kisses. How could she miss someone whom she could clearly hear rummaging in the kitchen? With another sigh, Jane got up, borrowed Maura's robe and tiptoed barefoot into the hallway.
For a moment, Jane stood in the open doorway and silently watched Maura preparing breakfast in her pajamas. Her hair in a messy bun framing her face, a warm smile on her lips, Maura was humming a song as she poured coffee in two mugs and carried them to the table, on which Jane could see all sorts of delicious morning treats: leftover fruit from their chocolate-y dessert, yoghurt, something that looked like pancakes, toast, eggs and two glasses of milk. Granted, Jane usually wasn't a big fan of breakfast (who needed anything other than coffee, anyways?) but a loud stomach rumble both made her think breakfast was the best idea Maura had ever had and gave her away. "Good morning, Jane. Your borborygmus tells me you woke up at exactly the right moment. Breakfast is ready", Maura chuckled as she walked over to Jane and pulled her into an embrace.
Jane smiled as she put her arms around Maura's hips and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. The unpronounceable medical term Maura had just used confirmed it – the woman in her arms was indeed the Maura she had known for so many years, and yet she seemed like a different person now; just like everything else seemed to be different, somehow brighter and more colorful today. "Good morning, Maura. How did you sleep?" Jane asked but didn't give Maura time to answer, as she lifted up her chin and got the good-morning kiss she had been longing for.
Maura smiled as she took Jane's hand and led her to the table: "Heavenly, with you by my side. Were you dreaming something nice this morning? You had the cutest little smile on your face when I got up. I almost gave up on breakfast just to watch you sleep but then I thought 'What would Jane want upon waking up? Me staring at her or a triple shot of espresso?' So here it is, cheers".
Jane giggled as she leaned in to steal another kiss: "After sleeping like a log, a triple shot of Maura would have been just as amazing, but thank you anyways. I was dreaming about being on vacation in Hawaii with you, and it was perfect. I wish we could do that in real life. But for now, breakfast is just as perfect. It all looks great, and you even made pancakes. Please tell me they don't contain… like… kale or one of your other mysterious superfoods."
Maura almost spat out the sip of coffee she had taken and laughed until she cried: "Kale in pancakes? Not even I would think of such a horrific recipe. That doesn't even make sense. The only thing that might be different is the fact that I only had wholemeal flour but I tried to make up for it by using real butter instead of margarine and I melted the rest of last night's chocolate to use instead of regular syrup – which I don't own."
"You know me so well. I think I can forgive you for the flour situation", Jane laughed as she was already bathing her first pancake in chocolate.
Maura, opting for a healthier breakfast, poured yoghurt over a bowl of fruit and mixed it with a spoonful of chia seeds. She closed her eyes upon tasting it, sighed happily and mumbled: "Oh, that's divine" – and Jane almost dropped her pancake. Had Maura always looked this sexy while eating? How had she never realized it before?
They were still enjoying their coffees, feeding each other the last grapes from the chocolate fondue between sips (and giggling like teenagers), when they suddenly heard a key turning in the door lock and a confused 'huh?' when the door chain stopped Angela from entering the house. Jane almost dropped the coffee mug as she stared at Maura in panic. How on earth would she explain being in Maura's living room in her underpants and a robe that wasn't even her own? Maura, her eyes just as wide open in shock, shrugged and quickly shook her head. Then she grabbed Jane's plate, glass and hid them under the overhang of the tablecloth on another chair and mouthed a single word to Jane: 'run!' Still in complete panic mode, Jane jumped up, almost knocking the chair over, and ran out of the living room, her coffee mug still in her hands. Hiding in the safety of the hallway, she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry because, even well in her thirties, her mother had managed to destroy a romantic situation for her and covered her mouth with her free hand to not give herself away by accident.
Maura had gotten up and let Angela in and Jane could clearly hear their conversation. "Wow, Maura, what a breakfast. Treating yourself after a difficult case, I guess?" Angela said as she walked to the table and scanned the room. "Wait, is Janie here?"
"What, why? No", Maura blurted out and Jane could hear her nervousness from the hallway. Hopefully, Angela wouldn't pick up on it as easily.
"Isn't that Jane's jacket hanging over the back of the chair?" Angela replied and Jane had to refrain from slapping herself on the forehead. Maura had probably picked it up from the floor in the morning and now it was about to out them on their very first day together.
Maura, however, surprised her by offering a fairly believable explanation and Jane hoped her hives wouldn't betray her: "Oh, you're right! She must have forgotten it last night. I'm sure she'll come pick it up when she realizes."
Jane couldn't see her mother's face but perfectly visualized her watchful eyes squint when Angela said: "Really? I could swear she took it with her. But anyways, tell her to call me when you see her. I came over to ask if I could borrow a bit of milk from you."
A few minutes later, Angela left and Maura was carefully locking the door again when Jane snuck back into the room. She laughed as she put her arms around Maura and buried her face in Maura's hair for an instant: "In another life, that woman could have been a badass P.I. That was close and now I feel like a teenager sneaking around with my first love again".
Maura chuckled and gently kissed the tip of Jane's nose: "Well, in that case we should probably go on our first official date, don't you think?"
Jane grinned as she nodded enthusiastically: "Absolutely. Where do you wanna go?"
Author's note:
Dear readers, after two really difficult final exams and a lot of work, I'm finally back and it took me a while to get into my Rizzles flow again. Because of that, this chapter is a bit short but I still giggled a lot at their cuteness. I hope you enjoyed it as well!
Anyways, I would like to start a little experiment that I've been thinking about for a while now. I ended the chapter with Jane asking about their first date because, even though I have a few ideas of my own, I would love to include you, my readers, in answering her question. If you have any ideas or wishes for their first date, please tweet them to me ( AT dateileiche ), send me a PM on here or even leave them in a review. The best idea will feature in the next chapter as those two cutie pies go on their first date! I'm excited to get in touch with you and hear your ideas! It's so great to be back. xoxo Dateileiche