For the better part of the day, part of Jane's mind couldn't help but go over what Maura had said earlier. That, had she felt differently, the previous night's conversation mightn't have ever happened. She understood what she meant, of course, but couldn't help but think that there was a good chance that these thoughts had been somewhere inside her for much longer, even if she hadn't paid them much attention. At about 3 that afternoon, she sent a text.

Hey hope school was good.
I get off work at 7 – mind if I come by after?

Jane wasn't quite sure how to word it so that it wasn't overly alarming. Thankfully, Maura was quick to reply, meaning Jane didn't have long enough to overthink it.

Hey Jane,
Is everything alright?

'Shit,' she mumbled to herself. Spoke too soon. Trying to maintain this ruse, she responded with:

Yeah. Was just hoping to have dinner and talk.

Maura hummed to herself as she read it, trying to decipher what this was really about. That was something she could ponder on her own time though.

Of course. I will cook something nutritious and delicious.

Even as she typed the smiley face it felt forced.

She wasn't really expecting a reply, more that Jane would just arrive after work and they would go from there. However, about ten minutes later her phone buzzed again.

No no no! you don't have to cook
I can just grab something on the way

And, whilst this was a sweet thought, Maura was adamant.

Jane, it's fine. I was going to have to cook for myself anyway.
It's really okay, I promise.

Maura pressed send and then began typing again.

Whatever is on your mind, we can talk it through. We'll get through it, okay? X

[sent]

•••

"So, care to tell me what the text message was referring to?" Maura asked as she watched Jane play with the food on her plate.

"Hm? Oh." Jane had drifted slightly into her own little world. "Sorry, yeah, I just…" Sentences were not her strong point right at this moment.

Maura looked on patiently, willing to wait as long as Jane needed.

"It's just about what you were saying yesterday. Like, I don't know that I want to tell people either, but it felt like maybe it wasn't just that. And I know," she emphasised. "That you said you hadn't been thinking about it long and that it was just 'cause you were tired but that thought must have been up there a while for you to say something." By the end, Jane was more upset/frustrated than she had intended. She wanted to have a calm, realistic conversation about their relationship but her fear got the better of her.

"Jane," Maura said kindly as she rested a hand atop Jane's. "I won't lie, the thought has been there," she stated honestly.

Jane began to look sadder.

"But only as a consideration of fact and I have given it no more attention. There have been much louder thoughts. Ones that tell me how much I love you and love spending time with you. Ones that remind me how much you care and support me and how I'd always do the same for you." Maura paused, looking Jane in the eyes. "Those thoughts," she added. "Those are the ones that matter most."

Jane simply stared. Stuck in a state of awe and contemplation, it seemed her brain hadn't quite decided what to do. Until it did.
Jane lifted herself enough to lean across the table and press a firm and comfortable kiss upon Maura's lips. "I love you, Maur'."

Maura smiled back and happily replied, "I love you too, Jane."

After dinner, Maura mentioned, "You're welcome to stay here tonight, if you'd like."

Jane politely smiled tiredly and said, "Nah, that's okay. I think I'll just head off. Thanks though." After nearly 24 hours of anxiety regarding the matter and having to go to work today, she was ready for a good night's rest. She also didn't want to seem rude for coming over, eating Maura's food and then falling asleep on her; her mother raised her better than that.

•••

The night before, Jane fell asleep in mere moments and slept like a log.

When she woke, she rolled over and checked the time only to find out, by the light of an unforgiving phone screen, that it was 3:28AM. An involuntary groan grumbled out of her, deeper than usual.

After trying to get back to sleep for a while, Jane gave in and got out of bed about an hour later.

As she stumbled her way through her morning routine she finally called the quits after she tried to fill her filter paper with coffee only to spill half of it on the benchtop. "It's way too early for this." Her tone was impatient yet not dissimilar to that of a whining toddler.

She plonked herself down on the sofa and turned on her television. She flicked through a few channels and was quick to discover that the networks were still on 'play any and all infomercials you have because no-one is awake' mode. She sighed a little and eventually settled on watching M*A*S*H re-runs.

A little earlier than usual, about 5:30AM, she began getting ready so she could spend some time in the gym before work. As she stood in her bedroom undressing, she found herself looking in at her reflection in the mirror. The lights in her room were dimmed, and the sun hadn't yet begun to rise, so the figure in her mirror was not the clearest it could be. Still though, she found herself staring at the scars from so many years ago. She ran her fingers over them; even though faded and healed they still had the slightest little bumps. The recent events with the good teacher raised some memories of their previous relationship. It wasn't an easy one. She scoffed a little. Jane didn't consider herself as a teenager to be a picnic either, for her or others. She recalled this lingering feeling of unpredictability. There was always a chance that it would end. There was always so much unspoken. Maura tried not to pry and Jane tried not to say. It was a delicate balance of not giving too much away but also not pushing the other person away. Jane knew that Maura cared but, she was a teacher, there was only so much affection that she could show. Not to say that Maura ever felt romantically about Jane at that age. More of a sister or good friend.

Despite the endless thoughts running through her mind though, Jane simply sighed and got on with her morning by convincing herself that they were only memories.

Hello lovely readers,

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As I'm sure you found, the content of this addition was mostly to give a little insight. Stay tuned though because the story will progress.

Please feel free to leave a comment as I love to hear your thoughts.

Hope you're very happy and well.

Thank you for reading.

CC