Jane pulled into Maura's driveway and came to a silent stop. She threw the car into park. Taking a deep breath, she turned to look at the woman sitting next to her.

"I had a good time tonight," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"As did I." Maura stared at her hands. "I suppose I should go inside. It is late."

"Do you want me to walk you to your door?" Jane didn't try to keep the hopelessness out of her voice. Dinner had gone well, but things were still awkward between them. She wasn't sure what she could do to bridge the gap she'd helped to create, but she knew it wasn't going to happen overnight.

"No, I can manage." The blonde gave her a weak smile. "Thank you for offering. Will you stay until I'm inside?"

"I was planning on it." The detective reached out a tentative hand to touch the other woman on the knee. "When can I see you again?"

Maura tilted her head to the side in that way Jane had come to known as consideration. After a brief moment, the blonde leaned over, gently pressing her lips to the stunned brunette's. "You have a key," she whispered softly. Then, she slid out of the passenger's seat and walked the short distance to the front door of her house.

Jane sat silently and watched her go inside. She waited a few minutes more before putting the car into reverse and pulling out of the driveway.

"I have a key," she said out loud to herself. "But, to what?"

Maura closed her front door with a gentle click. She was tired, both physically and emotionally. She had hoped the dinner would help ease the two of them back into something close to where they had been before, but it was clear that Jane was feeling too scared to make any brash moves.

That was unusual for the dark haired detective.

Upon consideration, Maura realized that Jane was actually being a bit more logical than she. The thought surprised her. Ordinarily, things would be working in just the opposite fashion with Jane going blindly in and Maura trying to maintain some logical stance.

The doctor sighed as she bent over to give Bass his dinner.

"What do you think, Bass? Do you think I'm being foolish?" She gave his shell a gentle pat.

She walked toward her bedroom thinking on where she really wanted her relationship with Jane to go.

"Fuck." Jane dropped her keys in front of her door. She was having problems holding things well. Her hands hurt her on a constant basis, and the cold always made it worse. As she picked up the keys, she glanced to her side to see a pair of black shiny shoes standing next to her.

"If I were a serial killer, you'd be dead by now."

"Already tried." She stood up and threw her right hand up to show her palm. "Remember?" She opened her door. "What are you doing here, Frankie?"

"Rumor at the station was you had a date. I figured I'd come check on you. See how you were doing." He shrugged and plopped down at the counter.

"First of all, how did that rumor start, and, second of all, how did you know I'd be home just now?"

"Okay, so it wasn't a rumor. I saw you and Maura pull up at that diner. I figured you were out on a date." He took the beer his sister offered up. "I figured you weren't going to spend the night considering, so I came by after my shift was over. I was just going to wait until you got home."

"Am I that predicable?" She sat down on the other side of the counter.

"Only because you're my sister." He winked at her.

"I asked her when I could see her again."

"What did she say?"

"She said," Jane frowned for a moment as she looked down at her keys resting on the counter between them. "She said, 'You have a key'. Then she got out of the car and went inside."

"Sounds like an invitation to me."

"I think she means something else, though." A sigh escaped Jane's lips. "I fucked things up so badly, Frankie."

"You women," Frankie rolled his eyes and set his bottle down. "Why you always got to make things more complicated than they have to be, huh? I mean, here you have this gorgeous woman practically telling you to come inside her house whenever you want to see her, and you're thinking she has some kind of hidden agenda, and, you know," he stood up in a rush, "She probably does!"

"Frankie.."

"You're crazy, the whole lot of you. I tell you something, Janie. If you don't get your ass in gear and do more than mope around, you will lose her, and it won't matter if you got a key or not. So, why don't you use it while you still can? It's not like you don't know what she wants. Two years is a long time, Janie. You had to learn something." He walked to the door. "Use it." He walked out without another word.

Jane shook her head. "My family is crazy."

It was 2AM, and Jane hadn't been able to sleep. She kept thinking about what Frankie had said earlier, and she couldn't help but feel he was right about a few things. She rolled out of bed, grabbed an overnight bag, and got dressed.

Maybe she should do something else stupid?

Maura rolled over and reached out only to find the other side of the bed empty. Her eyes shot open. She realized she was looking for Jane. With a sigh, she glanced at the clock. It was 2:45 in the morning.

She groaned. "Why can't we just love each other?"

"I keep asking myself the same question." Jane dropped her bag just inside the bedroom door.

"Jane?" Maura squinted in the dark. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," the brunette walked around to the empty side of the bed and slide under the covers. "I have a key, remember?"

Maura gave a contented sigh as she wrapped herself around the other woman. "Yes, I gave it to you... twice."

Jane gave Maura a gentle squeeze. "I should never have left it behind." She placed a kiss on the doctor's temple. "I'm glad you gave it to me a second time. I promise never to leave it behind again."

"Good." Maura snuggled into Jane. She was always cold. The detective was always warm. "I'm glad you're here."

"Can I stay?"

"As long as you like."

"What if that's forever?"

"I'm agreeable to that." Maura yawned as her body settled against the familiar feeling of her lover's embrace. "But, only if you're agreeable to being my trophy girlfriend for formal functions."

"Fine, but you have to be my trophy girlfriend at all my formal functions."

"Drinks at the Dirty Robber doesn't count as a formal function, Jane."

"It's as formal as I get." They both gave a soft chuckle. "I'm taking the rest of the week off." Jane moved to indicate she wanted to roll over on her side. Maura automatically followed her lead, and they were soon spooned together with Jane pressing tightly against Maura's back. "Can I stay here with you?"

"Yes. Please... stay with me."

"Thank you," Jane whispered as they drifted off to sleep.

Almost over... you will see Jude and JR again...

Crack me, please