A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I'm so glad you all are enjoying this story.
In the morning Maura woke up and found Jane gone and when she got to work Jane wasn't there either.
"Have you seen Jane?" Maura asked Korsak who was sitting at his desk.
"I think she took a personal day." He told her as he sipped from his coffee mug.
"Did she say what it was about?" Maura asked him.
"No, just said she needed the day off." Korsak told her.
Maura went down to the morgue and into her office. She called Jane on her cellphone and left a message when Jane didn't pick up, "I hope your personal day didn't have anything to do with me stomping all over your feet last night. Call me when you get a chance."
She hung up and went to work on the new body that had arrived.
Maura got home late that evening and after two autopsies and a mountain of paperwork she was exhausted.
She went into the living room and took off her heels and was about to sit down when her doorbell rang. With a sigh she went and answered the door and was surprised to see Jane there.
Maura let Jane in and shut the door behind her. She followed Jane into the living room and sat down with her on the couch. "Is everything okay?" Maura asked, "You were gone pretty early this morning and then you weren't at work."
"Yeah I just needed some time to get things straight in my head and then I talked to Casey on Skype this afternoon for a while." Jane told her.
"You talked to Casey?" Maura asked really not wanting to hear about it.
"I said yes." Jane said to her.
Maura was confused, "You said yes?"
"I told Casey I'd marry him." Jane told her.
Maura was fighting the urge to cry at that very moment. Her heart felt like someone was squeezing it slowly, the dull ache in her chest made it hard to swallow.
"Why?" Maura asked then realized how it sounded, "I mean have you even discussed what marrying him would mean?" She asked her.
"Yeah it means no more dirty looks from Ma because of premarital sex." Jane joked.
Jane could tell by the look on Maura's face that she didn't find the humor in her little joke.
"Maura, we haven't talked about all the details yet." Jane said to her, "I'm waiting for him to come back to Boston."
"You're always doing that." Maura said to her.
"Always doing what?" Jane asked.
"Waiting for him to come back." Maura said to her. She sighed, "Aren't you sick of it?"
"What's your problem?" Jane asked her, "You've been making snide comments since the moment I told you that he asked me to marry him."
Jane stood up, "It's like you're not even happy for me."
Maura didn't say anything and Jane knew.
"I see." Jane said to her, "What a good best friend you turned out to be."
Maura was hurt by the words even though she knew she deserved them.
Jane scoffed then headed for the front door and opened it, "Why can't you be happy for me?"
She left and shut the door behind her before Maura could answer her.
Jane got to her car and took off out of the driveway. She drove only a couple miles before she had to pull over and stop the car. She started to cry and she wasn't entirely sure why. Was it because Maura wasn't being supportive or was it because she just said yes to Casey because she was scared of what she was feeling for Maura?
Jane wiped away her tears, started her car and drove home.
Two days went by and Maura and Jane were barely speaking and it was driving Maura crazy. She had tried apologizing to Jane a couple of times but it seemed that Jane was being stubborn. Finally Maura got an idea that she thought would help Jane see how sorry she was. She just hoped it would work.
She went upstairs and found Jane at her desk. "I need to speak with you." She said to her.
Jane looked up at her, "I have paperwork."
"Paperwork can wait, this can't." Maura said to her then headed back to the elevators. She went down to the morgue and into her office. She sat and waited for Jane who eventually came in and sat down in the chair across from her.
"What's so urgent?" Jane asked her.
"I have tickets to a baseball game." Maura told her.
"I'm happy for you." Jane said to her.
"They are for tomorrow afternoon." Maura said ignoring the tone, "Would you like to go with me?"
Jane didn't answer her.
"The seats are behind home plate. Well a little to the left but still behind." Maura told her, "I have no idea if they are good seats or not. But if you don't want to go then I guess the tickets will just go to waste."
Maura thought for a minute, "Or maybe I'll just take Frankie."
"I'll go." Jane said to her then got up and left.
Maura smiled as she watched Jane leave.
Jane went back to her desk and sat down to her paperwork. She knew what Maura was trying to do. She knew she was just trying to make up for their fight by inviting her to a game. She also knew how hard it was not talking to her best friend these last two days.
The next day Maura picked Jane up from her place and drove to the stadium. Jane had on her lucky Red Sox hat and long sleeved shirt. Maura was wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans.
"I don't think I've ever seen you in normal tennis shoes before." Jane said to her as they went to find their seats, "It's a little frightening."
They sat down and Jane looked around for the hot dog vendor. "You want a dog?" Jane asked her.
"I'm more of a tortoise kind of person Jane." Maura said as she watched some of the players stretching out on the field.
"A hot dog, Maura." Jane said to her, "Do you want a hot dog?"
"Oh well then, yes please." Maura said then pulled out some money from her purse.
"I got this." Jane said getting two hot dogs from the vendor and paying him.
Jane watched as Maura balanced the hot dog on her lap while she squeezed a packet of mustard on her hot dog.
Maura looked around the stadium, "Where's the beer guy at?"
"You're gonna drink beer?" Jane asked surprised.
"Do they have a wine guy?" Maura asked as she waved to get the attention of the beer vendor.
Jane snorted, "No, they don't."
"Okay beer it is then." Maura said with a smile.
She handed Jane her beer and then took a long sip of hers and made a face, "It's a little bitter." She said smacking her lips.
She took a big bite of her hot dog, "Hot dog is good though."
"You have a little mustard on your face." Jane said to her and Maura wiped at her face.
"Did I get it?" She asked.
"No, it's near your chin and…. ." Jane said pointing as Maura wiped again then looked at Jane.
Jane shook her head then reached over and using her thumb, slowly swiped the mustard from Maura's chin and bottom lip.
They looked into each other's eyes and a small smile appeared on Jane's face.
"Thanks." Maura said touching Jane's hand.
Jane put her hand down, sat back in her chair and took a bite of her hot dog, "No problem." She mumbled with her mouth full.
For 3 and a half innings Maura watched as Jane yelled and cursed at the umpires and outfielders. She smiled as Jane kept getting up out of her seat to cheer on her team.
Jane sat back down after watching a pop up ball fly over the fence and hit the top of the dugout. "Man, this game is killing me." Jane said looking at Maura.
"Are you having fun?" Maura asked her.
"Of course." Jane said to her.
"Good I'm glad." Maura said to her.
Jane hopped back up to her feet and starting cursing at the umpire again then sat back down.
"Jane, I wanted to say I'm sorry." Maura said to her.
"For what?" Jane asked still paying attention to the game.
"For not being a very good best friend to you." Maura said to her.
Jane looked at her, forgetting about the game. "I didn't mean that Maura." She said to her, "I was just frustrated."
"With me?" Maura asked her.
"With everyone." Jane told her.
Jane sighed and pushed her hat back on her head a little, "Everyone expects me to marry Casey, to be his wife and follow him where ever he goes. They expect me to stay at home, have babies and be a good Army wife."
"I don't expect that from you." Maura told her.
"Well Ma does and so does Casey." Jane told her.
They sat quietly for a few minutes, "Are you in love with him?" Maura asked her.
Jane looked over at her. She was surprised Maura asked, surprised anyone had asked her.
"I don't know." Jane said to her and it was true. Jane didn't know if she truly loved him or not. She didn't know if being with him was for herself or because it's what other people wanted from her.
"Do you think a person can be in love with two people at the same time?" Jane asked her.
"Well there's certain chemicals that send signals to a small region of the brain called the hypothalamus and that starts to affect the way your body reacts to …." Maura started to say but Jane covered her mouth with her hand, "I'm sorry I asked." She said then removed her hand.
"Jane, are you saying you're in love with someone besides Casey?" Maura asked hopeful.
"I'm just asking a question." Jane told her then went back to watching the game.
Maura was thinking about too many things at once that it was distracting her from the game. She looked over at Jane who was smiling as she watched the last inning. But the one thing that really stuck in her mind was who the other person was that Jane was in love with.
After the baseball game Maura drove Jane home. "Did you want to come up for a drink?" Jane asked before getting out of the car.
"Sure." Maura said.
In Jane apartment Maura went and sat on the couch and Jane went into the kitchen. She poured Maura a glass of wine then grabbed herself a beer. She handed Maura her glass before sitting down next to her.
"Thanks for today." Jane said as she took off her hat and put it on the coffee table.
"I'm glad you had a good time." Maura told her.
"It was nice hanging out with you." Jane said to her, "We haven't really gotten to do that a lot lately."
"Yeah I know." Maura said quietly as she put her wine glass, "I suppose I should get used to it."
"What are you talking about?" Jane asked then took a sip of her beer.
"Jane, when you marry Casey, you'll be with him." Maura said to her, "You'll be gone. You won't be in Boston anymore because you'll be wherever he's going to be stationed."
She looked at Jane, "We won't be together, won't see each other anymore."
"Ah come on you don't know that." Jane said to her trying to blow it off.
"Yes I do." Maura said to her.
"I thought you didn't speculate on things." Jane said to her.
"Normally I don't but it's not speculation if the outcome is the truth." Maura said to her.
"Is this why you've been so quiet lately when I talk about Casey and I?" Jane asked.
Maura wanted to tell her, 'No it's because I love you and you're breaking my heart because you're going to marry a man who takes you for granted.'
But before Maura could answer her Jane's phone rang.
"Just let the machine get it." Jane said, "So what's going on Maura?"
The answering machine picked up and Casey's voice came over the speaker, "Jane, pick up please. I need to talk to you."
Maura smiled as if to say 'it figures.'
"It seems your fiancé needs you." She said getting up from the couch.
"No, just wait Maura I can call him back." Jane said to her as Maura headed for the door.
"Jane it's important. If you're home please pick up the phone."
"It's important Jane." Maura said then slipped out the front door closing it behind her.
"So are you." Jane said to the closed door.
She sighed and went to answer the phone but Casey had already hung up.