Author's note: thank you for the reviews!

Chapter four: You Can Kiss The Bride

"That's why I now ask my assistant to double-check the negatoscope before us to start any autopsy."

Maura's giggles turned into laughter as soon as she looked at Jane and caught the glimpse of a very contagious smile on her lips. It was an old story and she hadn't told it to anyone for a long time but apparently, none of them had forgotten about it. How could they, anyway? Dr. Pike had been knocked out by the machine in question.

Margot laughed heartedly as well. They were having a nice pizza evening out in Boston after having gone to the movies. The French girl had only arrived six days earlier but her integration had gone smoothly and the three of them could now fully enjoy their time together. Jane and Maura didn't feel like parenting Margot. The relation they were building with her was different - hard to describe - but very pleasant.

"How's your pizza? Good? I like it here. Cool people, great food." Jane grabbed a slice of her very own pepperoni pizza and bit into it. "This cheese is so heaven, Maura. You don't know what you're missing. How do you even dare to get one with artichoke as a topping? It's a crime."

"Vegetables are good for our health."

Jane widened her eyes and stared at Margot as if she had lost her mind. What on earth was that? She could not live with Maura and a mini-Maura for the next two months.

"No, no, no. You can't say that. Not when you're sixteen years old. Junk food is your life."

"Jane!" But the lightness of Maura's voice only showed her complete absence of annoyance. Just like the smile on her face. "Margot is a very reasonable person. You should actually follow her example..."

"Oh please. It'd be boring if I did. Admit it, honey." She smirked, knowing beforehand how such a name would go on her friend's nerves. "You love it when I break the rules."

"And there I was... Thinking that you only did that in the hope to get a good spanking."

Jane choked on her slice of pizza and – as if Maura had suddenly decided to get her revenge after days of teasing – the scientist squeezed her thigh with her hand. A tender gesture in appearance but a move that actually made Jane freeze.

You're a cool cat, Rizzoli. Prove it.

"Two words, Maura: mandala power."

Or just fight back. Yeah. Whatever.

Maura blushed. Jane had had a blast on Monday with her tattoo. Allusions had been going on for hours before she had finally admitted that Margot had accidentally let her know about it. The teasing hadn't stopped, though. Even after the scientist had explained her that she had got it during a trip to India.

The kiss came out of the blue and resounded loud – almost too much – in the restaurant. As Jane's lips made contact with her cheek, Maura froze. The touch had been extremely brief yet long enough to stir up something strange in her body; an odd chemical reaction. Warm feelings. Very uncertain of the way she had to handle these, Maura locked her eyes with Margot and deliberately ignored her friend. Why had she done that? They didn't have to kiss. They didn't have to go that far.

"A kiss!" Margot clapped her hands in delight. "You don't like kissing... Kisses? You never kiss."

An uncomfortable silence seemed to float over their table. A baby started crying in the room, chairs got moved. Life was going on.

If Jane and Maura had the sensation that the world had stopped turning, it was just an illusion. People were still coming and going – all around them – laughing and conversing; not even aware of what had happened. They couldn't care less. It was a detail, something pointless.

"You know... I'm fine with... With the idea of two women being together. You don't have to repress it because I'm here. You don't have to hide." Margot took another bite of her pizza.

Jane pursed her lips. She wasn't in the mood to tease Maura anymore. The tattoo and the pet names were long gone, now.

She was fine with the idea of pretending to be married to her friend – as weird as the plan was – but gestures of affection were not part of what she had had in mind. The mere thought made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She had nothing against same-sex couples but she didn't want to give reason to rumors about her and Maura; especially as it was all a lie. She couldn't do that.

"We met five years ago, you know. We work together, we spend a lot of time together. Every single day of our lives... So... We don't need... We don't feel the urge to... I mean... Jane knows how much she means to me. I don't need to repeat it to her all the time." Maura looked at her friend and grabbed her hand to hold it tight. "Am I right, dear?"

Boldness. Unless she was simply loosening it a bit. Whatever caused Maura's next gesture – a kiss on Jane's hand while she had locked her eyes with her friend's – it changed the pace of the evening.

Not in a bad way. But still... The lightness of their conversations seemed to echo the singularity of troubling reactions that none of them would ever dare to admit.

...

"Am I supposed to call you Dr. Rizzoli-Isles? Unless it should be Isles-Rizzoli?"

The stomach slipped through her fingers. Leaned over the corpse, Maura grabbed back the organ and simply shook her head at Susie. Margot would come to pick her up later in the afternoon and the medical examiner had assumed that it was safer to let a few of members of her team know about her fake marriage.

She just hadn't assumed that it would raise so many questions.

"Where... Where are the bowel scissors?"

The senior criminalist grabbed the metallic item Maura had previously dropped on the table by the dead's head and waved it.

"There...?"

A mere remark. It wasn't the end of the world. Margot had made a remark – a fair one, besides – but it had been enough to obstruct the smoothness of her so-called marriage to Jane.

They hadn't talked much once back home, had barely exchanged a few words about random things before heading to bed in an utter silence. Their gestures and remarks had troubled them and now it weighed a lot on Maura's mind.

It was her project, her crazy idea. Jane had been nice enough to accept it but she didn't have to go as far as kissing her and – most of all – she, Maura, should not have reacted the way she had. Why had she kissed her friend's hand? It was the most uncongruous move she had ever made.

As a scientist, she couldn't lack logic. Yet she completely had on this.

The doors of the autopsy room flew opened and Jane stormed in, a couple of papers in hand. She slowed down her pace as soon as she saw her friend and looked aside; embarrassed.

"Sorry to interrupt you but the association has just sent me this email and they had to reschedule the family evening thing. It's not on Saturday anymore. It takes place tonight."

The stomach landed on the floor rather loudly.

"Are you alright, Dr. Isles-Riz-... Dr. Riz-... Dr. Isles?" Susie immediately grabbed it back and went to clean it. Her boss' gesture had taken her aback. Maura was known for being meticulous and very careful with the dead bodies.

"Yes, I am... I am fine...?" Maura's unconvinced tone of voice betrayed her real feelings. She took her latex gloves off and grabbed the papers that Jane was holding out to her.

If she had never liked last-minute changes, this one was particularly bad. She had hoped for a little break – a needed one – after the oddness of the day before at the pizzeria but the association didn't see it the same way at all.

She and Jane would have to play the perfect couple, in front of everyone. Complete strangers. It was what the evening was about: introducing each other as a family to get to know all the couples better. She sighed, not hiding her obvious annoyance.

"Will you be able to make it for 8pm?"

Jane nodded – crossed her arms against her chest – and motioned at the doors with her head. She turned on her heels, ready to leave.

"Text me if you want me to buy something on my way; a cake, whatever." She was about to push the doors of the room again when a detail caught her attention. "You're still wearing your wedding band, even when Margot's not around?"

The diamonds had caught the neon light as Maura had moved slightly on her right. Jane knew for a fact that her friend usually took all her jewels off before an autopsy. Why had she kept this one on? It didn't mean the slightest thing at all and Margot wouldn't burst into the room any time soon.

"Oh." Shrug. "I don't know. I guess... I guess that I am getting used to it." Maura's laugh filled the room, carried by an invisible force. Against all expectations, she abandoned herself to it. She needed to. "What can I say? I don't have any Red Sox box where to put it while at work."

Jane hesitated for a few seconds before finally smiling at the remark.

Perhaps she had been a bit too tough with Maura these past few days; too much teasing. Yet she was glad to see that her friend was finally giving into it as well, really glad because something told her that they would need it in order to face the stress of the situation better.