Author's Note: And here we go with the final chapter :) Thank you all for reading and reviewing, I hope you had as much fun reading the story as much as I had with writing it. Now, let's see if that crush Jane's struggling with really is so one-sided or not ;)
The thing Frankie found in the dumpsters turns out to be a pair of latex gloves – bloodied latex gloves, which just makes my day. I also make Frankie's day by telling him that Tommy wasn't the one who stole Maura's stuff, so we're both happy when we part ways again and I take our newly acquired evidence back to the station where Maura is already waiting for it.
"You can get some prints off them, right?" I wanna know while I watch her work, the gloves now hanging from blue plastic hooks in a transparent container, "not from the outside, but the inside? Please tell me you can."
"This is not CSI: Boston, Jane", Maura tells me, not even looking at me, but fully focusing on the gloves, "I can't promise anything."
"Aw, come on, Maura", I almost whine again, giving her my best puppy dog look in case she looks at me now, which unfortunately, she doesn't, "we only got those because I gumshoed, the least you can do now is get me a print."
"I can't promise anything, it's a very delicate and complicate procedure", she replies stoically, dammit, she should have looked at me after all, maybe that would have weakened her resolve, oh well, I put on the puppy dog eyes again just in case she will look now and answer in the nicest tone I can manage. "Aww, Maura, I know you can do it."
"I'm distracted", she sighs in reply, that doesn't really answer what I said, but I automatically look over her clothes to see if they are wrinkled, I know this distracts her, but before I can get done with that, she turns, looks at me after all – and crosses her arms over her chest. What is she doing?
"What are you doing?" I wanna know, and her answer makes my eyes go wide for a moment.
"Waiting for you to leave."
What? Why?
"What? Why?"
"Because you are distracting me", she accuses, "and as I said, this is a complicated and delicate procedure."
"I'm not leaving", I declare, but my mind is picking up speed behind the careful mask I put on the moment she said I distract her. I distract her? Why? How? I wasn't doing anything. Okay, I was talking, but… I distract her just by talking? And by being there? She's never said that before, and I've often been there when she did "delicate and complicate procedures", so why is it bothering her now? Could this mean that—
She steps closer to me, really close, I mean, personal-space-invading close, and actually tries to stare me down. "Leave."
There is the bossy voice again, the same she used when she told me to unzip her, and man, this time, it sends shivers up and down my spine and my hands get sweaty again. She's so close now that I can smell her, not just her perfume, but her, her very personal scent, and suddenly I understand how a mere presence can be distracting.
"Please, Jane", she adds, in a kinder tone this time, "if you want those prints… Go and apologize to Tommy while I get done here."
"…okay", I manage to say, and dammit, my voice trembled just the tiniest bit there, I wonder if she noticed. Oh jeez, of course she did, she's an M.E., it's her job to notice tiny things other people miss.
She raises an eyebrow, as if she wants to say something – or maybe ask me something, a question I know I'm not ready for, not yet, so before she can do that, I turn around and walk off so fast that I'm nearly running, feeling her gaze on my back the whole time, burning there and sending more shivers up and down my spine.
I really need to get a grip. I was a hair's breadth from just grabbing and kissing her now, and I know I can't do that – no matter how big my crush on her gets, and the damn thing just seems to grow and grow since I acknowledged it. Dammit.
Knowing that I owe my brother an apology, I do as Maura suggested and find him to apologize; it takes him a while, but finally he accepts, and we just sit on the sidewalk for some time and talk, and I tell him that he's still welcome at Maura's house and that he can stay there as long as he needs to. He's visibly relieved and happy about that, then we talk about his new job as a dog walker for a while; and then, my phone interrupts me, and my heart skips a beat when I see that it's Maura who's calling.
"Please tell me you got prints", I tell her, and she does just that, and I can't hold back a happy "YES!", making her giggle on her end of the line.
"I'm on my way", I let her know, then tell Tommy that the job's calling and that I'll see him later; he nods, wishes me good luck and continues his walk with the dogs while I almost jump back into my car and drive back to the station as fast as I can, rushing to the lab immediately once there, where I find Maura waiting, the gloves already sealed up in a plastic Ziploc baggy.
"An almost perfect set", she tells me, smiling proudly, "and we already have a match."
There are other people around, but I don't care, I got an excuse to cuddle and hug her again and as an answer, I do just that – I rush up to her side and pull her into a hug, and she lets out a funny little squealing noise, I can't tell if it's from surprise or delight or maybe even both.
"I knew you could do it", I tell her, briefly noticing the way the other lab workers look at us, some of them with bemused smiles, others with raised eyebrows, but then I decide to ignore it, so I can focus fully on Maura. "You can do everything."
"In fact, I can't", Maura feels the need to correct me, still in my embrace, but she doesn't look as if she wants to move out of it anytime soon, hey, maybe I'm not imagining things after all, "that would make me omnipotent, which I surely am not, but you know, many humans throughout history strived to…"
"Maura", I interrupt her, not unfriendly, "no history lesson now, okay? Tell me to whom those fingerprints belong." And she does, and I can't say I'm surprised. Man, that guy had balls, taking a cop out for dinner, even if said cop was on the job and was wearing her best friend's pink – or mauve, whatever – dress.
Quickly, I get out my cell phone and call first Korsak, then Frost, telling them we have an arrest to make; they agree to meet me in front of the stadium, then I grab the Ziploc baggy with gloves from Maura and finally have to step away from her, only realizing now that while I talked to my colleagues, I kept one arm around her the whole time. Obviously she didn't mind though, I mean, she could have stepped away anytime.
"Meet me at home when you're done?" she asks, giving me one of her cute smiles, "Angela's making dinner."
"Sure", I tell her, I'm not gonna ignore an opportunity to spend time with her, even if Ma will be around, "see you later then."
"See you later", she agrees, then turns back to her work while I hurry off to meet Korsak and Frost, eager to get Jesse into handcuffs, just the way he belongs. And then, I can finally go back to thinking about Maura and how much I'm crushing on her. Hooray.
The arrest went smoothly, and so did dinner, even though I had to tease Maura about her misdiagnosing my dog after Korsak told us that her frantic licking of her paws wasn't OCD or depression, but simply an allergy to poultry; she offered to reimburse me and asked me if I wanted a check or cash, but then Ma cut in and told us to stop it, and the rest of dinner was more or less peaceful, even when Korsak and Frankie started teasing each other and Tommy joined in after a few minutes.
Now, they all are gone, Korsak and Frankie went home while Ma and Tommy retreated to the guest house; I'm sure it's understandable that I didn't want to go home yet, so I'm sitting on the couch with Maura now, a bottle of beer in hand and a critical eye on the returned TV which Korsak and Frankie put back up on the wall.
"They did a good job, didn't they", Maura comments as she joins me, a glass of wine in one hand – she did like the beer I drink just fine when she tasted it once, but still prefers that, well, matter of taste I guess. I'm just not a wine person.
"I hope so", I tell her, looking at her, okay, I'm not just looking, I'm drinking in the sight – she changed into a quite tight dress once she arrived at home, and now that she sat down, it rode up enough to let me look at part of her upper legs. If I didn't know better, I'd say she did that on purpose. But of course I know better, I mean, why would she want to dress that way for me, right? I'm the one crushing on her, not the other way round.
"You'll know if it comes crashing down in the middle of the night", I tell her, smirking, but I realize that this maybe wasn't a smart thing to say when she grows serious and fidgets on the couch a bit, sounding just uncomfortable enough to let me notice when she answers. "I'd probably think it's another burglar. I'm glad those men got caught and put in jail, but I don't like the thought of one or more of them walking through my house and looking at my things."
"Maura, I'm sorry", I apologize at once, "that was a dumb remark, I shouldn't have…"
"Oh it's not your fault", she reassures me after a sip of wine, and now she smiles again, "I can't expect you to know the associations my brain makes. It's very fascinating how this works, by the way, I just recently read an article on it…"
"Only you can go from being a bit upset to google-mouthing", I can't help it, but I just have to laugh while I say that, and her smile widens as well, then she even lets out a little giggle before she sinks back into the couch, sounding thoughtful when she speaks up again after minute of not uncomfortable silence. "That was a very interesting case, don't you think? It made us trade clothes, we got to visit the Pilgrims locker rooms…"
Somehow, I have the feeling that she's not done, so I just wait for her to go on, but she doesn't, she looks at her glass and moves it a tiny bit so the wine swirls inside.
"Um… yes?" I thus offer after some more silence, but this time, that silence was a bit uncomfortable, and suddenly my mouth is dry, so I take a sip of my beer – only to nearly do a spit take when Maura finally does go on. "It's the trading clothes part I wanted to bring up again."
Uh-oh. I'm quite sure it's not the act of trading clothes she wants to talk about, but what I did instead of unzipping her – she didn't like it, I'm sure she didn't, and now she's gonna reprimand me for it, now that we are finally alone and don't have to keep our minds on the case anymore. Think quick Jane, come up with some excuse so this stupid moment won't cost you that friendship… "I liked what you did back then."
What? Did she really just say that? Do I need to get my ears checked? It's the second time I wonder about this, I realize, while all I can do is stare at her.
"Jane?" she asks me after a while, now sounding a bit worried, I think she thinks she broke me, since all I did was sit there and look.
"Um", I say in reply, wow, I'm so smooth today. "I'm", I try again, then finish my beer with one big gulp and get up hectically from the couch, suddenly I'm the uncomfortable one, and I don't even know why, I mean, this is what I wanted, right, "I'm gonna get a new beer!"
Maura looks a bit taken aback, but nods, and I quickly walk from the couch to the kitchen, putting the emptied bottle on the counter before I open the fridge, my mind's racing as I try to figure out why I'm having this need to get away all of a sudden, and I feel torn again, because I also have the need to grab her and kiss her, yes, again.
And then, just I reach for a fresh beer, there's a loud smacking noise and a bit of pain. I think I'm not even here right now, when Maura said she liked that, I must have fainted or something – because surely, Dr. Maura Isles did not just sneak up to me and slap me on the butt.
My eyes must be as big as saucers when I turn to look at her, and maybe I even look a bit angry – unintentionally, I swear, I was just surprised, but that was so. Frigging. Hot. – because the mischief little smile on her face fades and suddenly she looks worried. And suddenly, it all pops into place, I can't switch off the detective part of my brain even when I'm off the job and relaxing with the woman I'm having a major crush on – the woman I love – it all clicks into place and forms one big, and very nice, picture.
She liked it when I touched, no, when I caressed her after I unzipped her.
She said I look sexy.
She did look disappointed when I didn't tell her she looks sexy.
She got distracted when I was around.
And she did want to ask me something when she noticed my reaction to how close she was to me when she told me to leave.
All of this just takes a few seconds to fall into place, seconds during which Maura keeps looking at me; and then she speaks up, says "Jane, I…" and looks as if she wants to step away, but, Hell no, I won't let her. So I grab her and turn her around and push her against the kitchen counter and then just hold her, my hands on her upper arms, my breath a bit quicker than it should be, and we just stare at each other.
Somehow, I'm still able to think clearly enough to realize that this is the last moment to back out before something will happen, something we won't be able to just ignore or even forget; I'm on the verge of either destroying our friendship or taking it to the next, wonderful level, that level I've been longing for so long.
It'd be so easy to step back from that edge, all I'd have to do is laugh now and let go of her and make some smart-ass comment about how I probably deserved that, I know she'd probably laugh too and we'd go back to how things were… but that's not what I want. I don't want the easy way out. I want to take the leap of faith. And I do just that by bending down – just a bit, I'm not that much taller – and pressing my lips to hers.
The moment I kiss her, the world is filled with her sweet taste, her perfect scent, and I swear I can hear fireworks going off somewhere and music and cheering, that's so clichéd, but it's true – and it only gets better when she immediately, without a second of hesitation, kisses me back. And then, it gets even more better, if that's possible, when the kiss actually deepens and my hands slide from her arms to her waist and I pull her close, impossibly close, so close her body's pressed against mine.
I kiss her until I feel close to passing out from lack of air, regretting it when I finally have to pull back; the way how Maura looks at me makes up for that though, she actually has a slightly dazed look, but her eyes sparkle and shine.
"You snuck up to me and slapped me on the butt." I didn't even know I wanted to say that until I actually heard the words leave my mouth. Wow, that's just the perfect thing to say after a kiss. Smooth… Well, we've been there before.
"I did", Maura now confirms, "but that was payback for when you slapped my butt. You didn't mind, did you?"
"No", I reassure her, and then something hits me and I just have to laugh, and she raises an eyebrow at me, so I try to explain, before she thinks I'm laughing at her.
"You know", I thus say, "after I did that… It's hard to explain, but, well, I wanted someone to slap some sense into me. I guess you did just that." She only looks confused, clearly having no idea what I'm talking about, but it doesn't matter, and before she can ask, I take her face into my hands – gently, of course, I'd never, ever hurt her – and kiss her again, and all is well. She really did slap some sense into me. And, man, am I glad about that.
End.