Thank you for all the follows / favourites / reviews for this! Thought I'd put the second chapter up now, since it might be a few days before I can update again...hope you enjoy!
Jane stood in the men's section of the department store, gazing helplessly at the racks of accessories. Socks, hats, bags. Ties...she couldn't remember the last time she had seen Frankie wearing one of those. Ditto on the cufflinks. Wallets. Belts. And that was even before she had got to the fancy shaving gear.
She had no idea even where to begin.
Cursing herself for being stupid enough to be talked into this in the first place, she half-heartedly flicked through some garish patterned socks before sighing and looking around. Still no sign of Maura. She had disappeared about twenty minutes ago, and had not yet surfaced. Jane just hoped that when she did return, she would have found something and they could get the hell out of here. Shopping was frustrating enough at the best of times, but after the past twenty-four hours, shopping with Maura was like walking on egg shells that no one else could see.
In the couple of hours in between making this arrangement and actually meeting the doctor at the entrance to the precinct, Jane had decided that, whatever was going on in her mind with regards to her friend, she would have to swallow it. Nothing more than friendship would ever be reciprocated - Maura's amusement the day before had made that glaringly obvious - and besides, Jane wasn't entirely convinced that she had got her own feelings right on this one. She had never felt any attraction towards women before Maura, and she doubted whether she would again. Better to just do what Maura had done. Laugh it off and then forget it.
When she saw the other woman walking down the precinct steps towards her, she realised that it would not be so easy.
How was it that she had never properly noticed before what a great figure Maura had? Small, slim, curvy in all the right places...And why had she always teased Maura about looking like she was about to strut down a catwalk, when that green dress looked so fantastic on her? It made Jane suddenly conscious of her own lanky body, straight up and down like the tomboy that she was, and the comfortable blazer that hid it all so well. No wonder Maura had laughed. She was a stunning woman who could have anyone she wanted, and it was hardly surprising that she did not want Jane Rizzoli.
But even that thought did not help to cancel out the one that had come before it.
She had almost been glad when Maura had said something about having a quick look in the women's clothing section. It had given her a few minutes to give herself a mental rap over the knuckles and pull the pieces of her mind back together. But now she was getting bored and pissed off. She would have to be back at the precinct soon, and she was still no nearer to getting anything for her brother.
Maybe Wally hadn't been such a bad idea after all.
'What do you think? Isn't it perfect?'
Jane spun around at the familiar, excited voice.
'Finally! I was about to...' She broke off, and blinked as she saw what Maura was holding. 'Maur, Frankie doesn't cross-dress'. A splutter of laughter escaped her at the thought. 'And anyway, red's not really his colour'.
'No, silly, for you'. Maura thrust the dress at Jane. 'Go on, try it on. That colour will look fantastic and it's the last one they've got in your size'.
No way. She took the dress gingerly, and looked at the price tag.
Not a snowball's chance in hell.
'We're supposed to be shopping for Frankie, Maura. And anyway, I don't wear dresses. I don't need one, and I definitely cannot afford one'.
'You can never have too many dresses'.
'I don't even have one. At least...' Jane screwed up her face as she tried to picture the contents of her closet. 'Not one that still fits'.
Maura's mouth dropped open.
'You must do'.
Jane shook her head, and held the dress out for Maura to take while she gestured to the socks behind her.
'Back to Frankie. One of these to start with?'
Incredulity was replaced by horror.
'No'. Maura shook her head firmly. 'No, no, no'.
'Then what?'
'Well...' Maura paused, and a sly smile crossed her face. 'You try the dress on, and I am sure that I'll be able to find something for Frankie. Yes?'
Jane couldn't believe it.
'No!'
Maura raised her eyebrows, and Jane huffed as she tried to ignore the look her friend was giving her. Damn it. Maura knew that she could never say no to that look.
This was bribery, pure and simple.
'Why do you want me to try it on anyway? It'll look ridiculous, and I can't afford it'.
It was a last-ditch attempt to avoid the hell that was the women's changing rooms, but Maura just shook her head.
'It's half price and it'll look great. Trust me. I'm doing you a favour. And every girl needs at least one dress'.
'Yeah, except me'.
'Go'.
There was no arguing with that tone. Jane finally gave in and stalked off, muttering under her breath. Since when had Maura morphed into her mother? She couldn't even hide sneakily, since the changing area was right opposite, and she could feel Maura's eyes on her back the entire way.
But still. If it meant she didn't have to wander the store looking at overpriced aftershave, she would do it.
If it made Maura happy, she would do it.
Maura wasn't entirely sure what had come over her.
After Jane had left her office earlier, she had spent the rest of the morning distracting herself in a flurry of activity, all of it designed to keep her mind from wandering to places where she was convinced it should not be going. By the time lunch came around, she had just about succeeded in pushing down ideas of what it might be like to have Jane as a lover, and was settled once again on Jane as a friend. Her best friend.
All of that went to hell when she saw Jane already waiting for her on the precinct steps.
She did her best to act normally, and she thought that she hadn't done so badly. Only once did Jane ask if she was alright - You feeling ok? You look a bit strange - and Maura had nodded quickly, telling herself that if Jane was asking after her physical wellbeing then it wasn't really a lie. She was just omitting some of the truth. Jane didn't need to know that her brain had turned to mush.
And Jane definitely didn't need to know the kinds of thoughts that the mush seemed to be capable of producing, or the effect those thoughts were having on Maura.
When she had left Jane by the men's accessories, it had been with the intention of just having a very quick look at the women's clothes while she gave herself a sharp talking-to. But browsing shirts and tops did not help matters, since all she could think of was the body that she knew was under the baggy jackets and dark trousers, and how great it would look in one of those sleeveless silk blouses, that pair of skin tight grey jeans instead. And when she saw the red dress, any good, sensible intentions that she had left went straight out of the window along with most of her common sense.
She had never seen Jane in a dress. And, despite knowing what it would do to her, she really, really wanted to.
Bribery was the only option.
Watching Jane stomp towards the changing rooms, Maura couldn't help but smile. She guessed that Jane would go in, wait for five minutes and then come out again without even taking the dress from its hanger. And she knew that Jane genuinely believed that it would look wrong on her. That she would look wrong in it. For someone who had such a raw, athletic sexiness, Jane Rizzoli had zero body confidence, and that had always amazed Maura. It maybe wasn't the best timing, but she suddenly wanted to show Jane how she, Maura, saw her. How gorgeous she actually was.
And after a couple of minutes of useless debate - this is only going to make you feel worse alternating with this is what best friends do - she headed across the shop floor after Jane. She would sort Frankie out later.
It was not hard to figure out which of the two occupied changing cubicles Jane was in. One had a heap of clothes thrown over the top of the door, and huffing and puffing sounds coming from behind it as the occupant struggled into yet another outfit. Usually, Maura hated to make assumptions - but she thought that, this time, it was pretty safe to assume that was not Jane. And besides, she could see that the other door had not been locked. She was fairly sure that, when she pushed it open, she would find Jane leaning against the wall with the dress hanging untouched, looking at her watch until she thought that she could reasonably leave and get away with it.
'Hey! Occupied - Jesus, Maura, you scared the crap out of me'.
Maura smirked as she took in Jane's guilty look, and the way that she started fiddling with the sleeves of her blazer as if she had just put it back on.
'No good'. She didn't meet Maura's eye. 'You found anything for Frankie yet? 'Cause I've got to be back soon'.
Maura looked pointedly at the dress.
'Told you, no...oh, God, you're giving me that look again'. Jane sighed. 'Maura, it's not my thing'.
This time, Maura knew exactly what came over her. Insanity. Madness. Hopefully temporary, but certainly forceful enough that she went along with it. Telling herself that she would deal with the consequences of such ill-advised spontaneity later, she shut the cubicle door behind her and folded her arms.
'Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?'
Jane's eyes widened.
'Maura, you're not really going to...'
Make you change into that dress in front of me? Yes, I think I am.
Jane didn't move, and Maura sighed.
'The hard way, then'.
'Look, could you turn around, please?'
Maura was still standing in the corner of the changing room, arms crossed in front of her and with a stern look on her face, and Jane didn't dare argue. But trying to get her shirt and pants off in the small space - made even smaller by the presence of another person - was hard enough. Trying to do it without giving Maura an eyeful was verging on the impossible. And Jane suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious.
She remembered all the times in the past when she had breezily undressed in front of Maura and hadn't even given it a second thought. All the evenings after work when she had changed in Maura's office, or at her home before they went out, the mornings when Maura had seen her crawl out of bed in just a tank top and panties, or wander around her apartment in a towel after taking a shower. But this time wasn't like any of those others. And right now, the last thing that Jane wanted was those hazel eyes on her while she stripped.
Maura raised her eyebrows.
'It's never bothered you before'.
'Yeah, well. It does now'.
Maura looked as if she was going to argue, and then shrugged, turning to face the wall.
'Okay'.
As she hurriedly pulled her pants off and stepped into the dress, Jane wondered if she had imagined the hint of something that she had seen in Maura's eyes, just before the other woman had turned away. There had been amusement. Frustration. And a tiny spark of...disappointment?
No way.
She hadn't had enough sleep, that was all. She must be seeing things.
'Ok, you can turn around...' She broke off as she reached behind her, struggling to pull the zipper the whole way up. Concentrating on not damaging the dress as she tugged, she didn't notice the breath catch in Maura's throat, or the slight darkening of her eyes. In fact, the first hint she got was when Maura reached out and slowly, smoothly, pulled the zipper the rest of the way up before resting her hands on Jane's shoulders and turning her around to face the full-length mirror. Jane froze at the touch, and she had to swallow hard to keep her composure as Maura gently squeezed the top of her arm and spoke softly in her ear.
'See? Told you'.
She had been right. As always. Even Jane had to admit that it looked pretty darn good. But when she looked in the mirror, she wasn't really seeing the detail of the dress - the way the silky material hugged her slender frame, the perfect fit of the wrap waist, and the slight flare of the hemline just above the knee. Instead, she was focusing on Maura, standing just behind her shoulder with a look on her face that Jane had never seen before.
And all she could think about was how easy it would be to turn around and kiss her.
She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry when, two seconds apart, their cell phones started ringing, effectively shattering the atmosphere that had begun to feel so charged it was almost unbearable. She was even less sure what to think about Maura's hand, still resting on her shoulder as they both reached to answer the calls. The only thing that she could say with any certainty was that, when Maura hung up and finally moved her hand, she immediately missed the contact.
This was not good.
'Here, let me take that'.
Maura gestured to the dress, and Jane realised that she was waiting for her to get changed back into her own clothes. The news of a possible homicide in Mission Hill meant that there was no time for shyness now, and she hurriedly pulled it off and stepped out of the puddle of material that pooled on the floor. Ignoring Maura's tuts of disapproval, she yanked on her pants and shirt, and grabbed her blazer just as Maura opened the door to the cubicle.
'Any good?'
The changing room attendant, ever-smiling and helpful, took the dress from Maura's hands and began to fix it back on the hanger, waiting for the verdict.
'Yes'.
'No'.
Jane and Maura spoke simultaneously, and the attendant looked slightly confused.
'I'll take it. Thank you'.
'Maura!' Jane hissed as she followed her over to the tills. 'We don't have time for this! And why do you have your credit card in your hand?''
'Of course we have time. Two minutes. And think of it as a late birthday present'.
'My birthday was six months ago'.
Maura shrugged as she handed over the card to the sales assistant.
'An early one for next year,then'.
But Jane was no longer concentrating on the transaction taking place in front of her. The mention of birthdays had brought her right back to the reason that they were there in the first place, and she groaned out loud.
'Shit! Frankie!'
'Well, we haven't really got time for that now'. Maura handed Jane the bag. 'We'll find something though, there's still tomorrow'.
'Yeah, with a murder investigation on'. Jane turned to follow Maura out of the store. 'Crap! My mother is going to kill me'.
'It's Frankie's birthday but it's your mother that's going to kill you?'
'Don't laugh, you know what she's like'.
'Yes'. Maura paused, her expression innocent. 'How is that insect bite, by the way?'
Jane almost stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. Did Maura really have to bring that up? Now?
'Fine'. She paused. 'Itchy'.
'It will be. Remind me later, I've got some cream that will help'.
Only if you're going to be rubbing it in...stop that, Rizzoli. Not helping.
They walked the rest of the way quickly and in silence. Jane's mind was whirring, her thoughts alternately flitting between what might be awaiting them at Mission Hill and what had just happened - almost happened - back at the store.
She wondered what she would have done if the phone call hadn't come when it did. Would she have turned around? Caught Maura's lips with hers? And if she had, how would Maura have reacted?
She was no longer sure of the answer to either of those questions.
'Hey, Maura?'
Maura turned as they reached the precinct steps, and Jane held up the bag.
'Thank you. For this. You really shouldn't have, but...'
Maura's face broke into a smile, and Jane couldn't help but return it even as she saw that look in her friend's eyes again.
The look that, in the changing rooms, had said kiss me.
'You're welcome. And besides...' Maura paused, and Jane knew that this time she was not imagining it. 'It was as much for me as for you.' Another pause, before the next quiet words left Jane rooted to the spot.
'You looked beautiful'.