Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews.
Story Two: Of Smores and Availability
Maura checked one more time the stick that Jane was holding out to her and wrinkled her nose in obvious disapproval. Too many elements were going against the idea of her trying it out.
"I am not too sure. This is full of edulcorants and chemical products. I don't even mention the amount of calories."
Jane stared at her friend in disbelief. A year. She had met the honey blonde a year earlier and Maura still managed to leave her perplexed in spite of all that time they had spent together. In all honesty – although she would never say it openly – Jane liked it.
She took it as a game of some sort. Between out-of-the-blue remarks and eyerolls, their interactions responded to a scheme that worked out as well as it could even if it seemed odd for anyone else. Their friendship took aback way too many people.
"Wow. You're the first person who manages to ruin the smore spirit, Maura. Congrats."
As expected, the medical examiner completely missed the sarcasm of Jane's remark and shrugged in apologies before grabbing the stick reluctantly.
"Just because something is trendy – in the United States, that is – doesn't mean that I have to follow it as well." She moved on the couch, out of nervousness. "I don't mind if I don't fit in. I am used to."
Jane didn't miss the way her friend had pronounced her last sentence; how her tone of voice seemed to have lowered of an octave under the weight of a delicate past. It made the brunette's heart ache as soon as it happened. She did not like seeing Maura suffer, even if just from reminiscences.
"I promise you that you won't regret it. Remember how you liked fluff?" Jane smiled friendly as she saw her friend nod at the question. "Well, smores are just as good; if not even better."
A twinkle appeared in Maura's hazel eyes. The Italian surely knew how to convince her to try many things. Her life had changed since she had met Jane. For the better. The brunette had become a very good friend – closer than she would have ever dared to imagine – while the Rizzolis had turned into a family; a second one. She finally knew what it felt like to prepare dinner for relatives, to enjoy an entire Sunday with people who weren't just mere colleagues.
Her existence had brightened; she now actually knew what it was like to live. Just live, in its barest sense.
Taking a deep breath, she finally bit into the melted marshmallow and chewed on it. The sugar – as much as it was artificial – spread on her tongue, eliciting thus a moan of pleasure that rose from her throat with a rather obvious sincerity.
Jane grinned.
"See? This is why you should always listen to me."
The remark made Maura burst out laughing. She put the stick down – slightly turned on a side – and stared at Jane as if she had lost her mind. She crossed her arms against her chest; shook her head.
"I do recognize that smores are good but this is not enough to make a generality out of it." Maura paused to emphasize the last part of her statement. "Really."
Jane snorted but didn't insist. Instead, she stood up and walked to the kitchen for a second round of hot chocolate. It was the second New Year's Eve she spent with Maura but this one could hardly be more different than the previous one. She still had in mind the chaos on Interstate 90 and their odd conversation about red lingerie. Odd yet charming.
It had really defined their friendship.
This time around, none of them was working. They were both staying at the scientist's house for a quiet pj's evening made of smores and hot chocolate by the fireplace. A peaceful moment, intimate. And she had no idea what color her friend's lingerie was.
Mugs in hands, the Italian walked back to the couch – put the beverages down on the coffee table – then settled on the seat. They had already watched two movies and talked about a thousand things. All the detective wanted was to avoid to turn into Maura's Guinea pig for some hair or nail varnish experimentation.
"How are your parents?" Jane repressed the urge to make a face as she asked such question.
She did know how hard it was for Maura to talk about them. The honey blonde might not say it out loud but there was a lot of remorse in the relation she shared with them.
Many untold regrets.
"They are presently in Beijing for my mother's upcoming exhibition." Maura smiled – politely just as she had been taught – but didn't add anything else. Instead, she started playing with the stick of her smores.
"You should tell them."
The medical examiner looked up, extremely surprised by Jane's bold advice.
She tilted her head on a side as a mysterious smile played on her lips and she let a few seconds pass by; not that she wouldn't know what to say but because her anger needed to vanish first, as well as her frustration.
"Tell them what? That I have published an article about the importance of ultrasound pictures in forensics? That I am about to welcome new medical students at my office for the next couple of months? That I date women? That I am very pleased to have moved back here? That I have just purchased an old – very old – copy of A Midsummer Night Dream?" Disillusioned, Maura shook her head. "They aren't really interested in all this. The fact that I am healthy is the only thing they care about."
The silence that followed her rant didn't turn out to be the one she had expected.
Jane was impulsive and such statement shouldn't have let her speechless. Yet as Maura kept on smiling – disarmed – she couldn't but come to the conclusion that her friend had frozen and was now unable to say a word.
"But I am fine, you know. I mean it is o-..."
Maura didn't have time to finish the sentence she wanted reassuring enough. Jane's hoarse voice hit the air, sweeping all the rest away without any warning.
"You date women?"
The medical examiner paused, blinked. Taken aback by the question, she looked down at her lap not knowing what to say. She hadn't paid attention to the series of affirmations she had said out loud. It all had come up by itself, way too naturally.
For it being the logical truth of her life.
Jane moved slightly on the couch, the necessary inches to sit Indian style on it. Jo Friday jumped on her lap and settled there. Absentmindedly, the brunette began to caress the dog waiting for a reply to something she shouldn't have asked perhaps. Too late, though.
"Not at the moment..."
The vague answer made her raise an unconvinced eyebrow. Maura was now avoiding her gaze at all cost and not so discreetly to say the least. Jane swallowed hard. She felt confused.
She might have met the honey blonde a year earlier barely, it hadn't crossed her mind a single second that she could actually be attracted to women.
"But... I've seen you... I mean you... Guys...?" Jane heavily blushed before her ridiculous stuttering that betrayed her discomfort if not just embarrassment.
A nervous giggle escaped from Maura's lips. She shrugged and smiled almost apologetically at her friend; her trembling lips revealing her latent nervousness.
"Why should I choose between both sexes?"
A branch crackled loudly in the fireplace. Jane turned her head around to look at it then nodded a bit evasively.
"Indeed..."
She didn't mind all in all – she liked Maura no matter what – but for some reason, she quite had the feeling that the honey blonde had just dropped a bomb in the middle of a slumber party. She hadn't been prepared for this. Not the slightest bit.
Focused on the fireplace, Jane ran her tongue over her lips and squinted her eyes before invisible wonders until a grin lit up her features.
"And you're still single in spite of it?"
The medical examiner burst out laughing. The least she could say was that she was rather unlucky in love. Not that Jane was doing any better but something told her that the brunette didn't need any reminder; her mother was enough of one on a daily basis.
"Who needs a significant other when I can have smores and hot chocolate on New Year's Eve with you, by the fireplace?"
Maura's words seemed to rise in the air with a delicate strength – the one of honesty – as a shade of pink embraced the honey blonde's cheeks. Jane smiled, uncertain of how she was supposed to react before such compliment. She bit her lips as if to repress a grin then grabbed her mug to raise it high.
She locked her eyes with Maura's, nodded enthusiastically.
"Happy New Year, Maura Isles."
The scientist repeated the gesture – this time with her own beverage – and sat Indian style as well to raise her mug. She smiled back at her friend.
"Happy New Year, Jane Rizzoli."