AN: So, I know this update is super short, but I wanted to get out there for y'all. Plus: 2 updates in one day. Whoa. I hope you're sticking with me on this one. The Rizzles friendship (and then romance) is on its way. I'm thinking another two chapters or so. And the story won't stop there. Let me know what y'all are thinking!
Frost had invited Jane to go to the Robber after work, but she'd turned him down. She wanted some time to herself to process the day. When Jane got home, she glanced at her couch longingly, but Jo Friday was waiting, so she scooped up the little dog, and grabbed the leash hanging by the door. "C'mon then. Let's go for a walk."
While she strolled along, tugging now and again on Jo's leash, Jane's thoughts drifted back to Maura and their conversation earlier. Maura's insistence that she was fine was starting to worry the detective. Jane preferred to be in the know, to be on top of every situation, and the fact that Maura wasn't opening up to her made Jane worry that perhaps the medical examiner wasn't opening up to anyone. She knew Maura had been reserved and private before she and the doctor became friends. Hell, Maura was still one of the most private and professional people that Jane knew. But, with Jane, Maura had been willing to let her guard down. Jane wanted Maura to feel that way again, like she could trust the detective.
She wanted to be there for Maura and help through whatever it was that was going on. It couldn't just be the strain their argument was placing on her. There must be some other reason for Maura's exhausted appearance. Their talk from earlier had convinced Jane that the doctor was hurting from some other outside cause, not because of the fact that they had finally managed to have a civil conversation for the first time in months, but because Maura had simply sounded tired, weak, passive. She had sounded as though all the fight had left her.
Well, Jane could fight for both of them. She would fight for both of them. She was more than willing to go into the ring for Maura, and she wasn't about to let Maura's anger stop her from doing her damnedest to protect her friend.
Jane unlocked the door to her apartment, still lost in her mind. She hadn't even realized she'd been walking Jo for over an hour. As she unhooked Jo from the leash, her cell phone began to shrill violently on the kitchen counter. There was only one person that screeching tone was reserved for: Angela. Normally, Jane would have rolled her eyes in annoyance, but tonight, she lunged for the phone before the ringer could cut off. Angela should have had time to talk to Maura by now.
"Talk to me, Ma."
"Jane Rizzoli!" Angela's voice was sharp. Jane grimaced. "Is that how you answer your phone when it's your mother calling?"
Knowing better than to argue, Jane bit back her sarcastic response. "Sorry, ma. I just wanted to know if you talked to Ma- Dr. Isles - yet?"
"Hmph," Jane could hear her mother pouting over the phone. Mothers were not supposed to pout, but Angela Rizzoli could take down a teenager any day in that department. For her, pouting was an art form.
"Ma," Jane rubbed her face in frustration, "please."
"Alright, fine," Jane flopped back gratefully onto the couch. "You're right about Maura. She looked exhausted when I got there, almost as though she had been napping."
"Napping?" How un-Maura could Maura get?
"She misses you, Jane. She seemed so sad when I mentioned that you were asking after her."
"You told her I was asking about here?!" Jane's gravelly voice rose an octave.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli!"
"Dammit, ma!"
"Language!" Angela practically shouted over the phone. "You need to talk to her, Janie," her mother's voice softened. "Actually TALK to her."
"I know. I know that."
"She was asleep when I went in to check on her. I made some of Grandma's famous chicken noodle soup, but I didn't want to wake her."
Jane glanced at the clock. It was barely eight o'clock, which meant Maura must have crashed around seven. Jesus. Not even Maura was that lame. Usually she stayed up watching a documentary on the human nervous system or something just as boring and scientific. She must have been exhausted to fall asleep knowing Angela Rizzoli was in her kitchen.
"Alright."
"Talk to her, Jane."
"I will!" Jane relaxed a little. She knew her mother was only trying to help and do as Jane had asked. "I will, ma.
"She misses you."
"I miss her, too," Jane admitted.
"I just want my girls back."
"I know. I'll talk to her. I promise."
"I love you," her mother's voice was hesitant.
"I love you, too." Jane normally hated saying that to her mother, but she really did love Angela. Her mother could be overprotective, but she always tried to do right by her children and she had the biggest heart around. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay. Goodnight, Janie."
"Night," Jane ended the call and set the phone down on the coffee table. She dragged herself into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. She contemplated hopping in for a warm shower, but decided the call of her bed was stronger. As she snuggled down into the covers and flipped off the light, Jane was already planning how to get Maura to open up to her again.
If she had to apologize again, so be it. Something was off, and Jane Rizzoli was going to fix it, no matter what. Maura needed her, and she would damn well be there. The doctor needed to know that she had people in her corner, and Jane was willing to reassure her friend of that fact. Starting tomorrow.
Jo Friday's toenails clacking across the hardwood flooring provided the only noise in the otherwise still apartment. She wandered into the bedroom and stared at her owner's sleeping form. Eventually, she hopped up onto the bed, curling her tiny body as close to Jane's as she could.