Author's note: Thank you very much for the reviews, messages and suggestions.

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Five – Explanatory

"My sister married her partner two months ago in The Hamptons. It was a beautiful wedding."

Maura repressed a laugh and brightly smiled instead. A hand clutched to her glass of champagne, she politely nodded at her interlocutor and cast a glance at Jane the moment her friend somehow excused herself and left.

"Are the two of you planning on getting married any time soon as well?"

A running gag. Maura couldn't see it as any other thing now. At first she had taken the more or less subtle remarks for an odd coincidence but after an hour of insinuations regarding a supposedly romantic relationship she would have with Jane, she had simply come to the conclusion that it was a running gag.

There was not a single person in this room who didn't think that they weren't together; that they weren't a couple.

Did their respective outfits match too much? Had they showed any kind of sign that could let people assume that they were more than friends, close friends? They hadn't adopted any specific kind of behavior though. They were just being themselves. Why people suddenly assumed that they were an item went beyond their understanding.

But if Maura did find the situation relatively funny, Jane on the contrary had hidden herself behind a heavy curtain of silence and the polite smile that had played on her lips at the beginning of the evening seemed now to belong to a past that oddly sounded nothing but exotic and utopian.

Yes, it bothered her and so what? She was in her right to feel this way, wasn't she? After all, she and Maura were just friends. Why did people always assumed that there was something more? Why?

"Who knows what the future has in store for us? Although I can assure you that – for the moment – there is not any wedding in sight." Maura proudly smiled at herself. She had spent the evening playing with words just to make sure that she wouldn't have to lie and thus get hives. Of course she could have simply said that she and Jane weren't an item but the truth was that she found a certain pleasure in the idea of letting people live their fantasy to the fullest. "Although... Congratulations to you sister and her wife."

Maura had attended more charity events than she could remember in her life but none had been as entertaining as this one. She had almost forgotten the actual purpose of the evening. Jane on the other hand seemed to be on the verge of either passing out or strangling someone.

And the ride back home – to Maura's home – didn't change Jane's state of mind. She had thought that once they would leave, everything would go back to normal but the heavy discomfort she had felt during the evening still weighed a lot on her heart; too much.

She didn't say the slightest word until they reached Beacon Hill. Focused on the streets of Boston that were speeding past in front of her eyes out of the window, she avoided Maura's eyes.

"It was a nice evening. A bit unusual maybe but nonetheless nice..." Maura stepped outside her car and started walking towards her house. "Would you like a drink?"

"No. I'm going back home. Goodnight."

Jane's tone wasn't particularly snappy but it nonetheless took Maura aback. For long seconds she remained still on the sidewalk – uncertain of what was going on – but finally reacted just on time. She had tried to convince herself that Jane had had a nice time at the charity but she hadn't managed to fool herself and she was now ready to accept it.

"Jane! Wait... What is going on with you? You have been... Very silent, tonight. You didn't enjoy yourself much, did you? I am sorry. I invited you thinking that you would like it. Obviously I was wrong."

Something ached in Jane's heart as Maura's disappointment rose loud and clear in the peaceful night. She turned around and shook her head at her friend before crossing her arms against her chest in a protective attempt.

"I just wish they'd focused on the real purpose of the evening instead of... You know... Losing their mind to their little scenario about you and I."

Maura blinked. She was confused. What was Jane talking about? What had people said about them that it put her in such a state of frustration? And then it hit her. Suddenly. Unexpectedly.

"Oh!" A delicate smiled started playing on her lips. "I have to say that I found it rather entertaining. Why did you take it so badly? It is harmless..."

"Well, because it's not true!" Alright. Perhaps she should lower her voice if only a little bit if she didn't want Maura's neighbors to call the police. "I'm fed up with people making constant innuendos and it's not just tonight. It's... Every day! Everywhere! I don't like that!" Jane frowned and pursed her lips. "I don't like that at all."

Maura hadn't expected any outburst from Jane. She perfectly knew what her friend was talking about but it didn't bother her and she had wrongly assumed that Jane felt the same.

"Don't take it too much at heart, Jane. You know where the truth lies. Nothing else matters, in the end. Besides, there is nothing shameful about it."

"Well, you know what? Actually it does. It does matter because... Because..." Jane's nervous attitude sharply contrasted with Maura's deep quietness. Something had got released inside of her, something powerful and intense that made her feel dizzy. The words were coming out without her to be able to control them properly. "It matters because... Because it's not true and yet it's... It's exactly how I'd like it to be." Jane swallowed hard as reality hit her. "... Maybe...?"

What had she just said? What had she just implied? Where did it come from?

Her heart was beating so fast that she could barely hear the traffic in the distance. Shocked, Jane remained still and stared blankly at Maura who seemed just as surprised.

"This is what you want? With me?" The perplexity in Maura's voice echoed her shaking tone. She made a step towards Jane and shrugged. Her self-confidence had vanished behind a curtain of timidity. "Really?"

Jane had lost the plot. Something had happened – something big that had pushed away a weight she had learned to live with for the past few years – but it had taken her aback and she didn't know what to say anymore.

"Yeah...?"

In spite of the blatant uncertainty in Jane's voice caused by the importance of the moment, Maura closed the distance with her friend and planted a delicate kiss on her lips. A promising one, a bit timid. She then broke apart and locked her eyes with Jane's dark ones.

She smiled.

"Then we want the exact same thing."