Newspaper Clippings: Between Cases
A Rizzoli & Isles drabble by Gigi
A/N: I'm really sorry if this sucks. Long, frustrating day.
Maura sat at her desk and stared into space. In her hand was the only pen she ever used on charts because it was just the perfect width for her fingers and the ink flowed smoothly. She was wasting the ink of the only pen she ever used on charts because she couldn't stop clicking it open and closed, randomly drawing squiggles on a post-it note, and twirling it in her fingers. She hated being between cases.
Because she had nothing to do.
Nothing to do except think about last night's parking lot...thing. She didn't want to call it a debacle because it could have gone way worse. Jane could have flipped, wiped at her mouth and looked down on her in disgust. Instead, she stood there quietly for a few seconds, said she needed to process it, but not because it made her uncomfortable, just because it was a very large idea to wrap her head around. Maura respected and accepted that.
Now if only Jane could wrap her head around it just a little sooner so she could stop going crazy...
A knock came from the door, and Maura focused her eyes on the curly-haired detective herself, leaning against the doorframe with a small smile. "Can I come in?"
Maura nodded. "Of course."
Jane walked in, choosing to sit in the ridiculously uncomfortable chair Maura was so fond of. Her hands were on her knees, and as she looked at her friend, they started pivoting up and down at the wrist so that she was alternately tapping each knee. Maura watched her take a deep breath and wondered how she could do that when the doctor was finding it hard to breathe at all. "So...um...last night," Jane started.
"If it freaks you out, we can-" Maura tried to take it back at the last second; maybe she was just better off not hearing that Jane didn't feel anything for her.
A hand held in the air froze the words in her throat. "Last night...was big," she continued. "I still don't really know exactly what I'm feeling, but I wanted to make sure you knew that you didn't ruin anything or push me away by telling me how you feel." Maura let out a sigh of relief. At least there was still that. "You're going to have to be patient with me regarding that particular aspect of our relationship. I seriously have no idea how I feel about it, and it's going to take me some time to figure it all out. But as far as our friendship goes, I'm still here for you 100%."
Ironically, Maura thought as she nodded and smiled at her (thankfully, still) best friend, it was when Jane did things like this that made her feelings grow just a little bit deeper.
A/N: I know, the gradual thing sucks for readers, but I can't picture it happening fast no matter how hard I try. Besides, I still have 14 more drabbles to write after this, and any possibility for a sequel of you know, real chapters relies on me not messing this up. I hope you still liked it, and please review!