Out of Tune
Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me. No infringement intended and no profit will be made from their use.
Note: Italics indicate flashbacks.
Big thanks to everyone reading and reviewing.
Jane was pacing back and forth in her living room and talking to herself. "Trial period. Real smart Rizzoli. That's working out real well. I had to mess with what we had. UGH. Of course I did. It was embarrassing, and I was miserable. But this isn't really going so great either. Tonight was such a disaster. What was I thinking? The basketball game, really? I should have taken Frankie instead."
Jane was up most of the night, thinking about what had gone wrong. The basketball game wasn't the best idea, but that wasn't the only thing that was a problem. Maura didn't want them to be affectionate in public and her reasoning was a little iffy in Jane's opinion. And then there was the awkwardness at Maura's house. How do you act on a first date with someone you've already fucked quite a few times and are head over heels in love with. "Fuck if I know," Jane said out loud.
Late Friday afternoon, Jane went down to the autopsy lab to find Maura. Recently Maura had been joining the team for post-case drinks and Jane wanted to see if Maura wanted to join their semi-regular Friday evening trip to the Robber. But when Jane asked, Maura responded that she couldn't because she had a date. "In fact," Maura said, "he's meeting me here. If you can stick around a few minutes you can meet him."
Jane did stick around. She was curious about the type of guys Maura dated. The reception desk called down shortly and Maura said to send the visitor down. When he arrived, Maura introduced Jane to Ben and then gave him a quick tour.
Jane idly wondered why he was so interested in seeing the autopsy lab, but also acknowledged that he was very good looking, and dressed in what looked like a very nice suit. He had brought Maura roses (again, to the autopsy lab?). But Jane surprisingly found herself casually wondering if he could really be good enough for Maura. Would he appreciate her intelligence? Would he get her quirkiness? Two things that Jane was finding increasingly endearing. Or was he just interested in her physical beauty?
Monday morning Jane found Maura in the lab in the process of buying ridiculously expensive shoes. "You spend that much on shoes?" was out of Jane's mouth before she could stop it.
"Yes, I find it comforting," Maura answered.
"How was the date?" Jane asked.
"Nothing special. I don't think I'll see him again. There wasn't really a connection."
By the early morning hours Jane had a rough plan worked out. Jane managed a couple of hours of sleep. When she woke up Tuesday morning she fought the urge to go straight to Maura's house and instead focused on the details she had to arrange for the plan.
Late Tuesday afternoon Jane caught up with Maura, who was typing on her laptop in the autopsy lab. Maura half closed the laptop when Jane came in. "Sorry I didn't get down here earlier today. I've had a lot going on today. I'm sorry about last night, it probably wasn't a lot of fun for you. Hey, are you looking at shoes on your computer?"
"Yes," Maura guiltily replied.
"But isn't that what you do after terrible dates?"
Maura closed the computer fully and put a hand on Jane's arm. "Yes. But I also shop for shoes when I'm stressed, or happy, or for any number of reasons. Don't read anything into it."
"Yeah, well, anyway. I don't think our one month trial has started out the way it should have. So, I have a surprise for you. You and I have the rest of the week off and I have a little vacation planned."
"What? How?" Maura asked confused.
"You never go on vacation and also you are technically the boss down here, so I just set the vacation days up for you, you just have to go sign off on it. And Korsak owes me some days of coverage. If you're worried about people noticing we're gone at the same time-"
"No, don't...I'm not worried about that. Last night, I shouldn't have-"
Jane waved her hand in front of her to signal Maura to stop and said, "We don't have to talk about it now. Go home and pack a bag. Korsak is gonna feed Bass for you while we're gone. I'll pick you up around 7, okay?"
"Okay," Maura said enthusiastically.
Jane went back up to the bullpen for one last conversation with Korsak. "You know, right?"
Korsak considered the question. "I know something has been going on with you and the Doc for awhile now. I don't know what exactly that is though and I'm not sure that it's been that good for you."
"Dammit Korsak, why don't you ever say anything me when you are so observant?" Jane sighed. "It doesn't matter now though. You're at least partially correct and I'm trying to make it right. But we're trying to keep it quiet for a little while longer, okay?"
Korsak responded by miming zipping his lips shut.
Jane pulled up to Maura's house a few minutes after 7pm. When she got of the car Maura was already coming outside with several bags, which Jane loaded into the trunk. "You never asked where we're going."
"I know. I realized that when I started packing so I just packed a lot of different clothes. I decided I could be spontaneous today."
Jane pulled the car onto the road. "An old family friend has a place on the Cape about two hours from here. I thought if we could get away for a few days it might makes things easier. Maybe there will be less awkwardness if we leave familiar territory.
The rest of the ride was spent in comfortable conversation. When they were close to the house Jane stopped to grab groceries and some takeout for dinner. At the house, they ate and then Jane gave a quick tour and told Maura, "The master bedroom and bathroom are yours for tonight. I'm gonna sleep in the other room tonight. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I didn't get much sleep last night so if it's okay I'm gonna go to bed now."
Maura agreed that they should both get some sleep and after giving Maura a chaste kiss on the lips Jane went to her room.
Maura woke up the next morning determined to have a great day. Jane was still sleeping so Maura made coffee, eggs, and toast for breakfast. When it was all ready she knocked softly on Jane's door.
"You don't have to knock," Jane called out.
Maura opened the door and Jane started getting out of bed. "Breakfast is ready in the kitchen."
"Thanks!" Jane grabbed Maura and pulled her into a hug. "After we eat we can walk down to the beach and relax there. Sound good?"
"Sounds great."
They ate and showered. Jane found a cooler and packed food for lunch and found a blanket for the beach. The day was warm and bright. Jane wore cargo shorts and a t-shirt and Maura wore a light sun dress.
Once settled on the beach, sitting side by side on the blanket, Maura asked who the house belonged to.
"It belongs to a friend of my father. They've been friends since they were kids. This guy worked his way out of the neighborhood though, went to college, made a bunch of money. After he bought this place, when I was a kid, we usually came down a few times during the summer. Pop and him are still good friends. I don't see him as much now."
"You make it sound like it's unusual for them to still be friends."
"It kind of is. The neighborhood I grew up in, if you became successful and left the neighborhood, a lot of people saw that as turning your back the people who made you what you are. You weren't necessarily welcomed back. It's a double-edged sword. Growing up in a tight-knit community like that, you learn the value of loyalty and family, and a lot of other positive lessons, but if you step outside certain expected boundaries you can be seen as a traitor. It's not really like that anymore though. It's not as insular."
"How come you moved out of the neighborhood?"
Jane laughed. "Ma is so up my ass now, imagine if I lived close to her. She'd show up every night with blind dates for me."
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Maura asked, "Are you worried about how she's going to react to us?"
Jane turned on her side, propped on one elbow, towards Maura who had lain down on her back on the blanket. Jane started tracing patterns on Maura's stomach. "She might freak at first. But I think she'll be fine in the end. It won't change how I feel though, even if she never accepts it."
"You shouldn't say that. You might feel differently depending on how she responds."
Jane withdrew her hand and lay on her back. "I suppose it's not worth worrying about yet anyway, right?"
Maura sat up and looked at Jane. "I didn't mean it like that and it isn't fair for you to imply that I did." Maura stood up and reached her hands down to Jane. "Come on, let's go back to the house. There's something we need to talk about there."
Back at the house, Maura led Jane into the bedroom and indicated for her to sit on the bed. "You told me that we were in a great position because we were already past the awkward getting to know you part of dating. So I think we should stop pretending that we're going on first or second dates or whatever. We both know that's not a strength for either of us anyway. I don't need convincing that we can date. But I may still need convincing that we can be in relationship." Maura pulled her dress over her head and tossed it on the floor and positioned herself between Jane's legs. "And I appreciate that you wanted to be chivalrous but we're way past you needing to preserve my virtue. So now we're going to spend the rest of the afternoon making love, like people who are in a relationship and on vacation should be doing." Maura pushed Jane back on the bed and climbed on top of her.