Authors note at the end;
It was early Monday morning and Maura woke up with a slight headache. She quietly thanked her tipsy self from the night before for caring for sober morning self. She chugged the glass of water and took an Advil that rested on her bedside table. She rubbed her face before making her way to her en suite.
Maura smiled while she grabbed her phone to send a good morning text to Jane. Last night couldn't have gone more perfectly. Maybe, just maybe her and Jane could be more. Angela was so welcoming and accepting of them when she had thought they were a couple. The Rizzoli men treated her as if she's always been part of their Sunday tradition. Maybe, maybe her and Jane would take things slow. Maybe-
She cut her train of thought and shook her head. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Isles." The honey blonde then jumped into her tub for a cold shower.
Maura found herself taking her time getting ready for work this morning. She made sure her curls laid out perfectly. That her foundation was blended down into her neck. She made the choice to do glowy bright makeup. Then choose a new outfit that she hasn't worn before. Brand new brown high waisted slacks paired with her Calvin Klein white button up and her Tom Ford beige heels. She even switched out her teacher purse that she's been using since the school year started.
The Dr went down her stairs swiftly to feed her tortoise Bass before fleeing out the door to make sure she still got to the school within enough time to prepare herself for the day.
"Good morning Doctor Isles" Donna said. There was something noticeably different about the Dr that Donna had noticed but couldn't put a pin on it. "Good morning to you as well Donna." Maura smiled politely as she clocked in then walked over to the desk to retrieve her class attendance. Donna reached into the folder pile and went to hand it over to the younger blonde. Maura went to receive it but Donna didn't let go. Which caused her to quizzically look up at the older woman. "You look different today, Doctor." Donna tilted her head, trying to access her more. But Maura interrupted her from doing so.
"Oh I do? I think I look the same way I always do." Maura flushed suddenly, uncomfortable from the intense questioning look Donna had on her face. She tugged at the folder causing Donna to just shake her head and let go. Winning at their game of tug of war, Maura adjusted her bag and nodded her head curtly before turning on her heels and out the door.
"Hello Ms Chang." Maura greeted her colleague softly, finding her hunched over a medical journal that belonged to Maura. "Oh Dr Isles! I hadn't realized you walked in. I hope you don't mind me reading your medical journal. I came in to grab the microscopes and noticed your large collection." Maura smiled and settled her belongings onto her desk. "No worries Susie. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do so. We are friends after all." The blonde sat at her desk and opened up her laptop to check any emails she may have missed. Susie tilted her head and looked at her. She has never referred to their relationship as friends. Always introduced each other as colleagues. "Yes, I suppose we are friends." she nodded and pushed her glasses up. Maura's eyes crinkled up in acknowledgement but her focus stood on her screen.
"You seem different today" This caught Maura's attention. Why was this the second time she was hearing this, this morning. "Why do you say that?" She asked curiously. Susie shrugged her shoulders. "I can't exactly pinpoint what it is. You just seem more at ease?" Susie's voice went up to emphasize her uncertainty with her answer. All Maura could do was nod slowly while her mind drifted away as she picked out her phone from her purse.
Jane hasn't replied to her good morning text. Had she overstepped? Susie saw the change of emotion but before she could ask if everything was okay the bell rang. Singling homeroom has started. Susie quickly said her goodbyes before quickly leaving the room. Brittney and Veronica walked in arms linked. "Good morning Dr Isles, how was your weekend?" They asked in unison. Maura was pulled from her thoughts and she put on a soft smile to the students she's grown so fondly of.
"My weekend was just lovely, how about the two of you?" Veronica blushed and Britteny smiled wide. "Oh well we just hung out and went to the movies." Maura had noticed the pink tinted cheeks of Veronica but decided not to comment on it. "Well that sounds very nice. Have you two had a chance to see Coach Rizzoli yet?" The doctor hadn't planned on asking about Jane, but her anxiety was taking control. "Um nope, but we were planning on stopping by after this period to go and drop off some permission slips." Brittney responded. "Would you like for us to send a message?' Veronica offered.
Maura just shook her head. Suddenly feeling silly for having asked anything in the first place. "No, it's okay. Thank you girls." Brittney nodded her head and walked to her seat but Veronica lingered behind. Maura tilted her head and waited to see if the brunette needed to say anything. "Dr Isles, I just wanted to compliment you and say that you look very nice today. You seem different." Maura's eyes widened. "Why do you say that?" Maura needed to know, these comments weren't by mere coincidence any more. "You just seem lighter, you know like when you feel like you've been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?" Maura nodded slowly.
"Well it's like ever since the game last week you decided to toss the weight away." Veronica said quietly, getting insecure about voicing her observation on her favorite teacher. Maura nodded her head. "I understand what you mean. I've felt different myself as well. Well thank you for the compliment Veronica. Please go to your seat, so we can start class." Veronica smiled and skipped to her seat, relieved that her compliment wasn't out of bounds.
"Good morning class, today I will be introducing the topic of the human body" Maura announced to the full class room. They all collectively groaned and Maura rolled her eyes. "Teenagers" she thought to herself.
The rest of the work day went by as usual for Maura. Besides the fact she never heard back from Jane. She was now officially worried. It was her prep period, so she decided this was the best time to go investigate. The blonde swiftly grabbed her purse and marched down to the gymnasium.
"Hello Coach Frost, is Jane in her office?" Maura asked when she entered the empty gymnasium. Though not waiting for an answer, because where else would Jane be. Frost was on a ladder replacing the old basketball nets with new ones. "Morning Doc!" He tried to get down the ladder as quickly as he could but Maura made it to the closed office door before him. She quickly knocked as she opened the door.
"Hello Jane, I-" Maura stopped in her tracks. Frost right on her heels hitting his forehead with his hand. A man was just leaning over Jane's desk kissing her. The brunette pushed him away quickly "Hey Maur" Jane said while clearing her throat. Maura stood there silent. "Oh um" Jane cleared her throat again and stood up, gesturing to the man to do so as well. "Casey this is Dr Maura Isles" Casey put out his hand to greet the blonde. She shook it strongly. "Hello." Maura smiled curtly then put her attention back on Jane. Feeling the tension in the air she decided it was time to leave.
"I was only coming to check in on you, since you haven't cared to respond to my text that I sent you hours ago now. But I see you have company, and you seem well. Pardon my interruption." Jane winced at Maura's words. The doctor immediately felt regret but she couldn't control herself. Unsure as to why she felt so territorial around this stranger. She turned around only to face Frost whose face seemed solemn. He stepped aside allowing a free passage and she started to walk back the direction she came from.
"Maur!" Jane yelled. Maura stopped in her tracks and turned around. "Jane not now, please" she practically begged, barely being able to hold back the tears that were threatening to come out. "Oh Maura, let me explain." Maura shook her head, embarrassed. "Please let me go '' Jane took her hand off as if she were burned, she hadn't realized she stopped Maura by grabbing her wrist. "I'm sorry, can we talk later then? I can take you out for lunch" Maura sighed and looked at her shoes.
"Okay, I want sushi" Jane pretended to sound disgusted but then smiled. "Then sushi, it is."
A/N : Okay in all honesty this chapter was hard to write and I'm far from proud of it. It's been sitting in my docs since the summer, I tried to fix it up today but honestly I don't know. At this point I'm think of scrapping this story and starting over. Ofc with the same plot, but I'm a lot older now compared to when I first started this story. I feel like my writing has matured a little and reading this story back in cringey to me bc I know I could do better. Please be honest in the comments about your feelings towards me starting over again. I feel like it's the best option for me to do so in order to be happy with the story again.