Full disclaimers in Chapter 1

ALERT: If you have not watched the show yet, there might be spoilers.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

I am not a native English speaker, and I don't have a beta. So all mistakes are 100% mine.

Enough of disclaimers and warnings – read at your own risk. Reviews are always welcome!

Season 3 – Episode 3 – "This is How a Heart Breaks"

"Thank you for distracting me. There is a strong temptation in my mind of spending the rest of my life curled up in the fetal position. And the couch in your house is much more comfortable for that than the couch in your office."

Between Maura and Jane there was a packet of graham crackers, a small pot of canned frosting, and two wine glasses. Not boxed Shiraz, because Maura obviously didn't have that in her home. She had learned before that this was the type of thing Jane considered "comfort food", and given what Jane had shared from her conversation with Casey, Jane was in need of a lot of comfort tonight.

"I told you before, a lot of how you feel has to do with you loving an ideal Casey. A Casey with whom you never had a face-to-face relationship to begin with. A Casey with whom you didn't even have sex yet."

"Thanks for reminding me of that…" Jane rolled her eyes, sighing frustrated.

"He doesn't deserve you, Jane. He has been in Boston for months, he knew you had been waiting for him, he knew where and how to find you, and still he didn't move one finger to find you. He does not deserve you, he does not deserve you." Maura's angry tone was clear on her lowered voice.

"Yes. The conversation I had with Casey today… it hurt… a lot… But now I at least know where he stands, and where I stand. Now I think I can reach rock bottom and then hopefully move on instead of keeping waiting."

"Will you call Agent Dean?"

"Jesus, no, Maura. Agent Gabriel Dean betrayed my trust by being there in that warehouse. As much as he tried to help after that, hinting me that the Internal Affairs investigation was going out of proportion because someone was trying to frame me, I don't want ever to see him again, or hear from him again. I wish things had been different with Dean. The same way I wish things had been different with Casey. But they weren't."

"Well, at least you didn't stop having some fun with Dean because you were committed to Casey."

"Yes, there was no such thing as a commitment, apparently, on none of the ends. Not on my part. Not on Dean's part. Not on Casey's part. Back to square one. And I am not even sure if the little 'fun' I had with Dean was worth all the mess it caused…"

Jane sniffed, eating a graham cracker and sipping her wine.

"Your mother mentioned she knew one of your CI's back in the day." Maura mentioned, intent on continuing to distract Jane and changing the subject.

"Yeah, can you believe that? Remember Rondo 'Vanilla'? His real name is Raymond Washington, known at the time as Boston's Barry White. Apparently, he was a blues singer thirty many years ago, used to perform in the Beehive, Ma and Pop used to watch him. According to Rondo, he could sing the panties right off you. Ma confirmed that, hinting that either Frankie or Tommy were conceived, you know…"

Maura laughed. The Rizzoli's were a crazy bunch.

"From an accomplished musician to a homeless CI. I wonder what sad story is behind it…" Maura mused.

"Me too… The other person he brought there, a guy he called Sour Grapes, used to play with him. I tried to get Rondo to promise to sing to me one day. I never saw him get defensive so fast…"

"What a pity… And potentially what a waste of talent…" Maura agreed, sadly.

"One day, maybe… Today was probably not a good day to listen to the blues, anyway. It would likely just make me cry more…" Jane sniffed, again. "Thank you for going there with me to see Casey, by the way. I am a mess. And thank you for doing something crazy like this with me."

"I told you, I would gladly have gone tagging with you." Maura teased.

"You do really like to live dangerously, don't you?" Jane chuckled, enjoying the distraction.

"I confessed to you, Jane. The worst part of it all was that I liked it. I liked breaking the law. It made me feel like who I used to be… someone who took chances…"

"When did you stop taking chances?" Jane asked, curiously.

"As I approached college graduation. As a doctor I had a reputation to preserve, and that would start immediately as the world would see me as a professional."

"Knowing you, I am even afraid to ask what kind of chances you were taking before that… Speaking against a professor – what a sin!" Jane teased exaggerating her reaction.

"I rode nude on a horse at an equine dressage event." Maura confessed.

"You what?" Jane's eyes went wide in disbelief, surprised by Maura's admission.

"I was protesting budget cuts to my college equestrian team…"

"I thought your only sports were ballet and fencing."

"Well, I did dressage too. I didn't do it for sport, though. In the wealthy circles in Europe, dressage is considered a kind of mastery that all young adults should dominate, regardless of competition."

"What were the repercussions… of your naked protest?"

"Let's just say funded was granted to the equestrian team…"

"Yeah, probably by the Isles Foundation to keep the scandal quiet."

"Maybe." Maura had the decency to blush.

"By the way, you never told me about your experience as Dennis model."

"I told you that he sculpts in the nude." Maura tilted her head suggestively.

"That was the abridged version. I want to hear everything!" Jane chuckled.

"Well, I was arranging a charcuterie plate with cheese and fruits, while he was setting his drawing and sculpting materials. One moment I am distracted doing this and sipping my wine, the next I raise my eyes and he is there, completely and absolutely naked."

"You are kidding!"

"I am not."

"And… well… you know… was he…?" Jane wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, yes, he had an erection." Maura was direct, always.

"How couldn't he? He was seeing you naked!" Jane chuckled.

"I was not naked… yet."

"The key operating word being yet. So okay, you were in one of your ridiculously sexy dresses, same effect. What did you say?"

"I just pointed out that he had very good circulation…"

Jane chuckled, choking with laughter. "How did he respond to that… brilliant… observation?"

"He apologized, and said he hoped he was not making me uncomfortable, that he just thought that since he was asking me to be nude, that he should be too."

"But did you know when he asked you to be his model that he wanted to sculpt you nude?" Jane was surprised Maura had even accepted such an invitation.

"He had not said I was supposed to be nude before. Although I should have inferred, since most statues are depicted nude…"

"So did you comply?"

"After a bit more wine, and reminding myself that Pablo Picasso said once that 'art is dangerous', I did. Please also remember at that moment I was still under the belief I was going to jail anyway, so, I thought, why not add fuel to the fire?"

"Adding fuel to the fire… My my, Dr. Isles. Tell me, did the fire burn?" Jane teased, knowingly.

"Hot and bright." Maura said, blushing and sipping her wine. "But we didn't have sex."

"Wha… why?"

"I had not made my bed…"

Jane rolled her eyes. Maura was unbelievable.

"And when do we get to see said sculpture?"

"I am not entirely sure. This session we had was for him to capture his first impressions of me that will be the basis for his sculpture."

"I can't see the connection between sculpting and tagging. It is odd. Sculpture is a classic art form."

"That is a preconceived notion, Jane. And you are seeing tagging as a crime or vandalism. But tagging, if stripped from the unlawfulness, is just a different canvas where to capture the artist expression…"

"You fell hard for him, didn't you?"

"Did I hear you say the word hard?"

"Maura!"

Both laughed.