A/N Two new chapters for you all. Sorry for the delay but I'm at the end of a long week so I should be able to crank out much more this weekend. As always, reviews are welcomed.

Chapter 16

Maura started to stir on the couch. She slowly started to open her eyes and had the feeling it was later in the morning than her normal rising time. The room seemed too bright to be early morning. She went to straighten out her legs to stretch and quickly felt her foot push up against something. A little disoriented she had to really open her eyes to figure out what she was about to kick. As the room came into focus, she saw that she was about to kick Jane who seemed compressed into the end of the couch.

"Good morning sleepy head."

"What time is it?" Maura asked as she twisted herself back up into a half upright position.

Jane glanced at her cell phone, "10:30."

Maura was surprised she had slept so late. She thought about the last few days and realized that she must have finally slept to recover from exhaustion. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in nearly 2 weeks. She shifted again into a now fully upright sitter position.

"Do you want me to get you something, coffee or water or something?"

"Coffee would be great."

Jane removed herself from the couch and went into the kitchen to pour Maura a cup of coffee. She returned with the coffee and handed the cup to Maura. She then returned to end of the couch and waited for her friend to fully wake up.

Maura took the coffee and sipped slowly. She let the events of the previous day flash back to her, slowly replaying some of the highlights. She looked over at Jane who seemed content to stay silent while she gathered a clear mind. An odd look flashed across Maura's face that Jane couldn't quite explain.

"What?"

"You're here."

"Yes."

"It wasn't a dream. You really did come to find me. You really are here."

"Yes Maura, I'm really here," Jane was trying to figure out if Maura was happy or bothered by this fact. "Did you not want me here?"

Maura took in the look on Jane's face as she asked that. She was a little startled to see fear mixed into her concern. Quickly wanting to put her friend's concerns to rest Maura answered, "No, it's not that. I just meant that...well I thought that maybe I had dreamt you showed up yesterday. I'm really glad it wasn't a dream."

Jane relaxed a bit after hearing this. At least Maura wasn't upset or regretting that Jane had tracked her down. "I'll always be here for you, Maura."

Maura couldn't think of a response and oddly felt that one wasn't really required. She wondered whether all best friend relationships worked like this. She hadn't had close friends in the past until Jane so she didn't have anything to compare the relationship to. She could try to dissect the relationship and maybe compare it those she watched in movies or read in books but felt that somehow was not an adequate comparison. She suddenly realized that she didn't care about other best friend relationships. She was just grateful for the one that was sitting in front of her.

"So," Maura started, "I know I took off a week from work, but what did you do about work?"

"I'm off until I don't need to be off anymore."

"What does that mean?"

"Simply that I took an indefinite leave."

Maura balked a little at this. Had Jane really taken an unlimited amount of time off for her? "Jane?"

"What? When I asked for time off to go looking for you I had no real idea of one where you were and two what was wrong. So I couldn't give Cavanaugh any sort of time frame for a request off. So it was labeled indefinite."

Maura shook her head in disbelief. "Jane..."

"Maura you scared the hell out of me when you walked out. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I was afraid I was never going to see you again. Truth be known, I don't think I could handle not having you in my life. So don't give me that look like I did some selfless act because I think I went looking for you for purely selfish reasons. I needed to bring you back home. I didn't care what that would entail or how long that would take."

Tears started to well up in Maura's eyes. "Oh, damn it!" she sighed with some defeat.

"What?!"

"I told you I'm just really sick of crying and that's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I'm going to cry again."

Jane could help but smile at the pouting face Maura was making. She approached her friend and embraced her. "It shouldn't be about if you cry it should be about why you are crying. Some reasons are better than others."