Disclaimer: All rights go to the original creators of the TV Show Rizzoli and Isles

Chapter 2 – Leave

And I, just wanna leave
Oh, God, please help me now, I wanna leave
But I, I just wanna believe
Oh, God, please hear me now, I wanna believe
I just need to know, that You're really out there
Tell me if You're really out there, 'cause I believe.

[Leave by Michael W. Smith]

4 months later

A lot can happen in four months, in that time for Maura she moved back into her house and changed her locks. There was nothing Maura hated more than being a damsel in distress, waiting for someone to save her. A part of her still loved Charlie, she was never going to deny it, but that night after the clinic she realised that she deserved so much better than him.

The nurse walked her outside of the clinic, sliding a piece of paper with her number on it into her clenched fist.

"It's in case you 'fall down the stairs' again" she said softly, opening the glass door and revealing the stench of nicotine that polluted the area. Maura looked into her eyes that were filled with sympathy, she gave a small sad smile and responded with a squeeze of her hand. "You deserve so much better, my dear, you know that, don't you?"

"I love him" her voice was so small, so helpless. "God, I love him so much"

"We do so much for love, don't I know it" she continued to walk with Maura until she reached the car, Maura looked back at with slight confusion "I would like to say I left him but it was someone else who noticed and called for help, and I couldn't have been more thankful for it but at the same time I was still in love with him. A love that stripped away my confidence and my self esteem for years after, but nevertheless it was still love"

Maura just stared as she watched the small figure stroll back into the clinic and let her words sink in, was she going to be better without him?

It didn't take long for someone as smart as Maura to open her eyes and see that Charlie was nothing but destructive in her life, leaving him was the hardest part of it, but she did it. She could keep it all under, Jane never liked Charlie from the beginning but never spoke a word of it because at the time he made Maura happy and she wanted nothing less for her best friend, and Maura could keep things away from her. As far as she was concerned, Jane knew nothing about that night apart from the fact that they broke up.

Her things were packed up hurriedly in a few dark brown suitcases, each perched up upon each other, making it easier for the taxi driver to load it into the car. Maura had double checked that Charlie wouldn't be coming home anytime soon, sneakily taking the day off from work to clear out all her belongings from her room.

One thing she left behind was a note from her to Charlie, something intricate and personal that she wanted to express herself in.

-x-

"Charlie,

I don't know if you have yet to notice or not but I'm moving out, last night was the last straw. I gave you everything I could possibly give and you just spat it back in my face, I am not sorry for taking this course of action because you've hurt me too much, physically and emotionally.

I hope to God that this letter will be a wakeup call to you, you need help, professional help, something even I can't provide for you, though I could possibly leave some recommendations.

Don't come back for me, not until you sort yourself out, otherwise I will go straight to the police and lord knows I have enough proof of your wrong doings from last night.

Love is never going to be enough between the two of us

Goodbye,

Maura"

-x-

Not long after, she started seeing a therapist about her experience, though she never explicitly stated she was abused and would never dare to word in that way, but she knew the truth.

"So Maura, tell me why did you stay with him for so long?" the voice of the therapist interrupted her thoughts. She didn't mind this doctor, but god, he asked a hell of a lot of questions, this was his first patient who was on the other side of abusing and he found it intriguing as hell.

There were times she thought that keeping it all to herself would be the better option.

"Did you like the attention? Did you like the pain? What was stopping you from leaving him?" the therapist persisted and with every question something inside of her started to build.

"I stayed with him because I loved him" her voice broke at the end of the statement and she cleared her throat to speak more "I love him because we are taught that. Ever since we were children we are taught that if a boy pulls your pigtails or throws you to the ground it means that they have a crush on you, they like you or even love you.

"Some might say that it changes when you're older, it doesn't. If they tease you or hit you it means that they love you, it means that they care for you. What they don't tell you is when you're older those rules don't apply anymore.

"Suddenly it abuse. But how are we meant to know that? So every time we get hit, it's a battle of does he love me or does he hate me? We don't know because we don't know the difference between love and abuse. Nobody tells you that it's wrong"

She faced the window while saying her speech, as if she was on her own instead of feeling like she was being prodded, the tears streamed down her face and she felt numb inside. Was it better to feel numb or everything at once?

-x-

After her appointment, Maura went back to work, regretting not picking up something to eat on her way home but then remembering it was better not to since she was just about to start an autopsy on her new victim on the current case. Jane came in as she was in the middle of prepping for it.

"Hey, I thought we were gonna go grab some lunch together today" Jane said putting a bag of takeout on the side table, away from the equipment.

"Oh my God, I completely forgot" Maura cursed herself "I had other plans and I just forgot I'm so sorry"

"Are you okay, you've been a bit jumpy recently?"

"Yeah, I'm fine"

'I'm always just fine'

She thought in her head

A/N: I think this is one of the only stories that I've fully written in 3rd person and carried on until the end. I always find that the third person makes it a lot more detachable to the characters though that might just be my really bad writing.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

I only uploaded twice today because the last chapter only counted as replacing a chapter rather than a new upload …

Read and review x