A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well. I got an idea for another one-shot to add to this series. There isn't anything very M-rated about this update, so I'm sorry if that is what you were hoping to see. I've been a little blue lately and just wanted to type a sweet, simple, and fluffy scene to lift my spirits!
As always, I take no credit for these characters.
At ten minutes till three o'clock on a Friday morning, a deliriously exhausted detective stumbles through the threshold of her apartment, after waging a brief battle with the locks on the door.
Jane has spent the last week investigating a triple homicide that occurred on the previous Sunday. The situation had been made even more stressful when a witness to the crime had gone missing.
After five days of almost non-stop work, four nights of catching no more than a few quick naps in the bunk room at the station, and a solid forty hour period since she's done anything to properly take care of herself, Jane had a break-through in the case. Following a lead, the detectives finally located and apprehended the murderer, as well as the witness who he had abducted. Amazingly, the witness was still alive.
The killer is now securely locked away in a cell and faces multiple charges that will eventually see him sentenced to life in prison.
Unfortunately, the detectives didn't have a single ounce of energy to celebrate their successful investigation. The whole team was run ragged and, after promptly finishing their paperwork, had been granted Friday off from work.
As Jane continues to blindly stagger into her dark home, she makes her way over to where she knows her couch is located. She removes as many of her clothes as she is able before collapsing into the furniture.
Left in only her boy shorts and a bra, her head halfway resting on an uncomfortable decorative pillow, the detective's eyes fall closed and she succumbs to a deep and dreamless sleep.
Jane isn't sure how long she's been asleep when she is awoken by a noise that comes from the kitchen area of her home. She blinks her eyes several times, noticing that a few lights have been turned on in the apartment.
Hearing another 'clang', Jane realizes that she has a visitor and pulls a blanket, which she does not remember covering herself with last night, tighter around her half-naked form.
Cautious brown eyes peer over the back of the well-worn couch, then soften at the sight they behold.
Maura has obviously used her key to allow herself into the apartment and she is currently preparing something in Jane's kitchen.
The detective stands from her make-shift bed, not bothering to bring her blanket with her, and makes her way toward the medical examiner. She spares a glance out her living room window and notes the faintly lit sky.
"Hey, you." Jane husks in a sleep heavy voice.
Maura turns to face the detective with a happy smile. "Hello, Jane."
Rubbing at her blearing eyes, the detective asks. "What time is it?"
"Nearly eight o'clock."
Jane nods her head in acknowledgement, grateful for the five hours of uninterrupted rest she obtained.
Any further dialogue is interrupted as the timer on the stove goes off. Maura turns around to peek at the contents inside the oven, then opens a cabinet and drawer to grab dishes and silverware.
Not particularly thrilled at being ignored, Jane walks up behind the blonde and wraps her arms around her belly. The detective kisses an exposed portion of a freckled shoulder before speaking quietly into her girlfriend's ear.
"I didn't hear you come in. You should have woke me up."
Maura hums in appreciation at the feeling of being held. "I tried, but I couldn't seem to speak over your snoring."
Jane scoffs, "I do not snore that loud."
"Loudly." Maura instinctively corrects
The detective rolls her eyes, even knowing the gesture will go unseen. "Yeah…loudly." She concedes with a playful pinch to her lover's stomach.
Maura giggles and squirms out of the taller woman's hold before making her way over to the oven. She grabs a hot pad, then removes a glass dish from the metal rack and places it on the stove top.
A familiar aroma assaults Jane's sense of smell and she steps forward to investigate. She raises a skeptical brow as she watches Maura put the finishing touches on the dish.
"Did you make lasagna for breakfast?"
Maura gives her a curious look. "No."
Further scrutinizing the meal, Jane adds. "Sure looks like lasagna to me…"
The doctor cocks her head to the side and looks at her girlfriend with amusement. "Yes, I'm making lasagna. No, I'm not making lasagna for breakfast. It's eight o'clock in the evening, Jane. I'm making dinner."
The detective's brows shoot to her hairline in surprise. Five hours of sleep…seventeen hours of sleep…who's really counting at the end of the day?
"Oh." She says, still a little disoriented.
Maura turns in Jane's arm to face her. She slips her arms around the brunette's hips and intertwines her fingers together at the small of the taller woman's back.
"I know how hard you've been working." Maura says, "You were sleeping so soundly when I walked in, I couldn't bring myself to disturb you."
Brown eyes gaze adoringly into hazel and the two women bask in the happy moment. However, when the medical examiner reaches up to plant a kiss on her girlfriend's lips, the detective turns her face to the side to avoid it.
Jane turns back to see her girlfriend, pouting heavily.
"I haven't brushed my teeth in two days…" Jane states, sheepishly.
Maura bites her lip to keep from cringing. "Well, I suppose it would be prudent to brush them now." With a teasing smirk, the blonde further leans in a makes a show of sniffing at the air around the detective. "A shower may also be useful."
Jane glares down at her, an impending protest on her lips, but it dies as she sniffs at her own skin. "I guess I could stand to wash up a bit."
Jane relinquishes her hold on her girlfriend and begins to walk to the bathroom.
"Would you like company?"
The detective pauses and looks back over her shoulder upon hearing the flirtatious proposition.
It's been nearly a week since she has had the opportunity to be intimate with her undeniably beautiful and sensual lover. The tempting proposal is almost more than the detective can bear to resist. However, she thinks back to the last time she made love and realizes that that was around the same time that she had shaved…anything. She flushes at the thought and glances down at the visible stubble on her legs.
Sadly, as much as the brunette would love to ravish her lover under the warm spray of a steamy shower, she knows she must tend to some decidedly non-sexy hygiene needs.
"Uh…yeah. I'll have to write you a rain check."
Maura makes a show of sighing as she shrugs. "If you insist."
Jane has to bite her tongue and hurry along to the bathroom, before she has the chance to throw dignity to the wind and change her mind.
The hot water repeatedly pelting the detective's olive skin feels like pure heaven. Despite the burning need she feels to be close to the love of her life, she's happy for the chance to wash away the grime of her job.
Jane brushes her teeth twice before entering the shower. She then takes the time to meticulously soap, scrub, and shave her body. As the water proceeds to loosen and soothe her aching muscles, she finds that a new wave of fatigue settles over her. The detective quickly finishes rinsing, then exits the shower and dries off. She dresses in a pair of comfortable old sweats and a clean undershirt, then makes her way back out to the kitchen.
In the time it took Jane to wash up, Maura has completed their meal, set two places at the breakfast island, and is just setting two plated dishes onto the countertop.
Confidently striding over to her smiling girlfriend, Jane leans down and captures her lips in a deep and loving kiss.
Maura moans in delight at the slight taste of mint on her detective's tongue. After a few blissful minutes, the doctor reluctantly places an open palm against her lover's chest and pushes, gently.
"We should eat before the food gets cold." The blonde suggests in a breathless voice.
"But, my breath is all fresh and minty…" Jane says with a slight waggle of her eyebrows.
Maura rolls her eyes but laughs. "You can brush your teeth again if you want to." She says, taking a seat in front of her own plate of food.
Jane follows suit and sits at the bar. Her stomach gives a hearty growl at the promise of being fed. The detective smiles at her meal, complete with an opened bottle of beer, before turning to her girlfriend and placing a kiss on her cheek.
"This is awesome, Maur. Thank you."
"My pleasure."
These are the last words spoken until the clanging of silverware against empty plates sounds in the apartment.
With her stomach satisfyingly full and a second bottle of beer in hand, Jane makes her way back to the couch at Maura's insistence. The detective digs her remote out of the sofa cushions and turns the television on, turning the closest sports station.
Maura takes ten minutes to clean their dishes and put away the left-overs. By the time she makes it into the living room, she is greeted by the sight of her, once again, slumbering lover.
The brunette leans heavily against the back cushions of the sofa, and her half-consumed bottle of beer is tilting dangerously in her slack grip.
The medical examiner takes a moment to enjoy the sight of her girlfriend, so completely relaxed and at ease, before leaning in and gently coaxing her awake with a soft kiss to her lips.
"Bed time," Maura quietly declares when warm brown eyes flutter open.
Jane nods in response and stands from her seat, allowing Maura to lead her into the bedroom. Once there, the blonde pushes her lover down to the mattress and encourages her to climb up to a comfortable position.
As Jane situates herself in bed, Maura takes the opportunity to go into the restroom and run through a quick nightly routine. When she returns, her girlfriend appears to already be asleep, so she kicks off her shoes, pants, shirt, and unhooks her bra, leaving her in simple panties and a camisole. She folds the articles of clothing and carefully places them on a nearby dresser, then turns back to the bed.
The doctor raises a playful, well sculpted eye brow upon seeing Jane's lidded gaze on her. The brunette offers a goofy grin at being caught staring.
Maura crawls into bed while Jane raises the covers so she can easily slide into the sheets. Once the blonde is settled, the detective props herself up on an elbow and lazily runs her free hand along her lover's tone stomach.
"I've missed you." Jane husks with something so much deeper than mere arousal shining in her chocolate orbs.
The doctor swallows thickly, the timbre of her own voice lower than usual do to the intensity of her feelings for this woman. "I love you, Jane."
Jane smiles down at her, then dips her head for a passionate kiss. Maura willingly participates, but she can feel the exhaustion rolling off her lover in waves. When the brunette's hand begins to roam farther up her body toward her breasts, the doctor captures the wandering appendage in a firm grasp and turns her head to break the kiss.
The detective lifts her head slightly, then looks down at her once more. "What's wrong?"
Maura can't discern an emotion in the other woman's gaze or tone, beyond a soul deep weariness.
The medical examiner offers an encouraging smile, then nudges Jane's nose, lovingly, with her own.
"Nothing's wrong expect for how tired you are." Maura states non-judgmentally. Before Jane can argue the point, Maura cups her cheek in the palm of her hand. "Go to sleep. I promise I'll be here when you wake up."
Jane looks at her for a moment, then drops her head to Maura's chest and snuggles contently into her side with a happy sigh.
"I love you too, Maura." Jane whispers, moments before her breathing evens out and she falls asleep.
The blonde smiles to herself as she ghosts the tips of her fingers over her lover's still-damp hair. There is no doubt that she's thankful to be with her lover, even in this simple capacity…but she certainly hopes that Jane wakes up well rested in the morning.
A/N: Hope y'all got a case of the feelz! Thanks for reading! Everyone be well and stay safe!
SJR