Maura Isles always had a plan. She prided herself on the fact that she thought reasonably, set her emotions aside when calculating the possible outcomes of every situation. It wasn't as if she didn't consider her emotions, she considered them the most sacred and private thing in her world. That's why when it came to her emotions, she was guarded. And her plans were some vague effort at protecting herself. She could admit that, but not to just anyone. It was possible she had trouble trusting people, but there were people she trusted. Like Jane. So when it came to Jane and her emotions, however closely knit they might have become, Maura was incredibly careful, to say the least.

It was obvious to Maura that she and Jane were attracted to each other sexually and mentally. But their options for relationships were limited. They worked together. They knew all the same people, had the same friends. Maura was now inextricably involved with the Rizzoli family. There was the lesbian thing, the social status thing, the danger in their jobs thing, and the worst thing of all - Maura was starting to really grow feelings for Jane. When she first made her plan to never date Jane Rizzoli, because of the apparent complications, she wasn't expecting to want so badly to do all the activities that comprise dating.

The answer to this conundrum plagued Maura. After they slept together Maura was hesitant to accept any dates with men. But she couldn't keep on that way forever, and after considering that she and Jane had to proceed with their lives sometime, she decided to start dating again. It was not easy at first. She was often so critical of the guys that she drove them away on the first date. Any of them who persisted she immediately diagnosed with some terrible disease. One thing that Maura was grateful for was that Jane didn't seem jealous. Jane had displayed jealous traits before, Maura told herself, and she didn't want her to start acting possessive. That's what she told herself at first. But finally she was curious, why wasn't Jane jealous?

Jane Rizzoli never had a plan. She was a guttural person, a woman who ran on instinct. That worked out great for her most of the time. The only problem was that Jane was dense when it came to emotion. She still felt awkward telling her parents she loved them. With men she pretended interest in them to avoid talking about herself. When they finally wanted her to feel for them, she hastily broke it off. Jane didn't like the idea of having to care about anyone. Except Maura, but that was different. She trusted Maura. With Maura Jane didn't feel like she was obligated to listen about her day or act interested in her stories. Jane adored hearing about Maura's day, and remembered every detail of all the stories Maura had told her.

It would have never crossed Jane's mind, in the beginning, to date Maura. The idea of dating another woman was just too much to wrap her mind around. And anyway, they were already doing all the things they would do if they were dating. Except having sex. But they flirted, they snuggled, they slept in the same bed, and they comforted each other by embracing. Once or twice Maura had surprised Jane by innocently kissing her cheek. One night they accidentally kissed when Maura was walking Jane to her car. They hugged, then kissed, as if they were a married couple. They immediately laughed and blushed together, and Jane went home uncomfortably turned on. Jane was slightly bothered when she saw men hitting on Maura, but Maura was a grown woman. She knew being her best friend meant wanting Maura to be happy.

The first time Maura and Jane fought, it was over the Fairfield case. Jane was deeply wounded by Maura's apparent camaraderie with the Fairfields. Maura couldn't understand how the Fairfields were different than any of their other friends. She paid them the respect she felt they were due. In Jane's mind she was sickened by their money and status. It brought up a lot of ideas about Maura's own money and status that she was uncomfortable with. Jane coached herself not to be jealous, but she had to talk to Maura. When she tried to ask Maura what was happening, Maura snapped at her, and Jane walked out feeling like a filthy urchin who had appealed to a beautiful princess and been rejected.

Although Jane told herself there was nothing she could do to change her or Maura's social status, she felt her pride diminishing in the face of all the Fairfields had to offer her.

Maura knew she had to correct her mistake, and she not only invited Jane to the Fairfield event, but she also bought Jane a lovely outfit. During the evening, Maura found herself thinking about what Jane meant to her. It had been easy for her to suppress her feelings for Jane as long as Jane suppressed hers. Something about Jane needing her approval and wanting her favor, it made things complicated. Maura wanted to tell Jane the Fairfields meant nothing to her and Jane meant the world. However she couldn't get the speech going in her mind without it eventually culminating in admitting her feelings, and that was not an option. Telling Jane she loved her would only scare her away or set up a situation where they agreed on loving each other. Either way, Maura just couldn't face it. So, feeling unusually overcome by cowardice which stopped her from simply saying what was on her mind, Maura slipped out of her panties in the bathroom and stashed them in her purse.

When Maura returned from the bathroom she didn't see Jane anywhere. She wandered through what was left of the event guests toward the sound of a piano being played. Maura didn't see Jane anywhere, and when she stepped through the crowd her breath was taken away by the sight of Jane sitting on the bench. She was playing the Claire de Lune, beautifully. Slowly Maura approached her and stood at her side, absolutely enraptured.

Jane tried not to smile when she felt Maura watching her. The idea of showing off for Maura made her gruff. She couldn't admit that Maura's approval meant anything to her, but she felt her body grow hot when Maura sat down beside her on the bench. She continued to play perfectly although her heart was suddenly racing. Maura was sitting very close.

Maura looked on entranced. She couldn't stop herself from staring at Jane's hands. Dually she thought of Jane's scars, which represented all of who Jane was -her anger her love her valor, and she thought of Jane's adept fingers and how they had pleased her, had been inside her. Somehow she was aware of her hand on the small of Jane's back. Slowly her other hand moved to Jane's thigh.

When Jane finished the song she turned to Maura who turned to look at her in return. It was strange, the stillness between them. Self consciously Jane glanced around to see if they had an audience. Most of the crowd had dissipated or were now congregating elsewhere. The people in the room were mostly absorbed in their conversations.

"I had no idea," Maura started to say, but her voice sounded so sexual she stopped.

Jane grinned. She hadn't imagined before that Maura could undo the damage to her pride, but now she felt pretty proud with Maura nearly drooling over her. Maura's hand was still resting on Jane's thigh. Her eyes were full of blatant attraction. Maura's gaze fell when Jane grinned at her, she just couldn't meet her eyes.

Finally Jane spoke. "After Hoyt ... hurt me ... I didn't know if I would be able to play anymore. I was scared, and honestly tonight is the first time I've tried. I guess I'm okay." She was still grinning.

Maura still couldn't raise her eyes. "You're more than okay, Jane. You're perfect. A monster like Hoyt could never change that."

Jane looked at Maura. At first she thought Maura was being shy, then it crossed her mind Maura was looking at her skirt.

Jane glanced around them. She wanted to feel incredibly sinful, but the idea of putting her hand up Maura's skirt in the Fairfield mansion did something huge for her hubris. She felt downright cocky when she slid her hand over Maura's thigh and gripped it.

Maura dug her fingers into Jane's dress on her back and looked up into her eyes. She could not speak.

Slowly Jane moved her touch upward, casting glances over Maura's shoulder to make sure no one was watching. When she felt Maura's bare skin she had to close her eyes. She stopped there to catch her breath.

Maura made a sound in her throat like a plea. That surprised her, and her face turned slightly pink.

"Jane, do it." She said with her eyes downcast. She was almost ashamed of how badly she wanted her right then. She wasn't ashamed to be disrespecting the Fairfields or to be caught socially doing what they were doing, she was ashamed of how completely attracted to Jane she was. She felt totally powerless, and that wasn't a common feeling for her.

"Hug me," Jane said, feigning innocence, still smiling because she was in control and that was enthralling.

Maura gratefully leaned forward and put her arms around Jane's shoulders. To anyone who looked on, they were only hugging.

Maura's hips shifted enough for Jane to slip her fingertips between her lips. Gently she rubbed her up and down, overwhelmed by how wet Maura was. Maura's breath came out so hot against her ear, until finally she slipped one finger inside Maura. She hadn't intended to go this far, but now she was intoxicated by how intensely her body was reacting to Maura.

"Maura?"

They froze. Fairfield was calling her from across the room. She held up her hand to signal she was coming.

"Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, but we have to stop." Maura chanced a quick kiss against Jane's cheek.

"Can I drive you home?" Jane asked, her voice full of intention.

Maura was so grateful she didn't try to hide her happiness. "Yes, please."

And they went to say goodbye to the Fairfields.

They didn't talk in the car or on the way up to Maura's house. Maura led the way into her home without hesitating, and although Jane felt somewhat nervous, she followed Maura's retreating form with growing desire. Maura walked straight through the bedroom and said simply over her shoulder, "wait on the bed." Jane was surprised, but she finally did sit on the bed. She didn't undress.

In the bathroom Maura was struggling to collect herself. She was asking herself what she was doing. She was not able to come up with any answers as she slipped out of her dress and nervously fussed with her hair and makeup. She slipped back into her panties because she felt too aware of her nudity. She was suddenly plagued with anxieties of how Jane was feeling and what Jane was thinking. Finally she sighed and leaned her head back to meditate. After a few moments she emerged to find Jane still dressed and sitting on the bed nervously.

Jane licked her lips unconsciously when she saw Maura in her lingerie.

Although the gesture was slightly encouraging for Maura, she was still so unsure.

"Jane?"

"Mmmmhmmm?" Jane was distracted looking at Maura's large breasts straining against the lace of her bra.

"We should talk. I mean, should we talk?" Maura's hands began to nervously move to her hips.

Jane only looked at her and nodded. She wanted to feel safe with Maura, but those words had always burned her in the past.

Maura, sensing that Jane was worried, moved to straddle Jane's lap. Jane accepted her with her arms around Maura's waist. She played with the ends of Maura's long hair that hung down her back.

"I think we need rules, Jane. If we're going to do this again, we should establish some order. I think what we're doing is dangerous, we're endangering our friendship and our lives by doing this. So, we should contain this, just to protect each other. I can't stand the thought of things going badly between us, or getting complicated or awkward. I need you to always be my best friend."

Jane, who had been listening intently with her head down, felt so happy to hear Maura's words that she raised her face immediately to kiss her. It was sweet, gentle, gracious.

"Okay," Maura tried to catch her breath. "So, let's talk rules."

Jane leaned back on her arms and Maura started unbuckling the belt over Jane's dress. Jane kicked off her heels and Maura reached beneath her dress to unlatch her bra and slide it out of her way. She pulled down the shoulders of Jane's dress so that she was bare above the waist.

"First rule," Maura said, realizing she was going to have to make the first rule, "This doesn't interfere with our friendship or our lives. If it does, we have to stop. We can't risk those things."

"Agreed." Jane said. She started to stroke Maura's thighs and rock her hips slightly against Maura who still sat straddling her lap. Although Jane hadn't yet added much of her own opinion, she was thinking and trying to communicate herself.

"Second rule, " Jane spoke carefully, "What happens in our bedrooms, stays in our bedrooms. If we ever define this, or even really talk about it, we're going to have to live with it. Then the first rule will be broken."

Maura was surprised by Jane's logic. She knew her Jane was smart but now she felt newly attracted to her mental ability.

"Good one." Maura said before leaning forward to begin kissing Jane's breasts. She tenderly sucked Jane's nipples into her mouth and nibbled them.

Jane leaned back on her elbows and let Maura worship her body.

"So," Maura was gaining a lot of her confidence back through Jane's encouragement. She no longer felt overcome with anxiety about her feelings, she now felt like they were in control their actions. "We agree. This doesn't interfere with us. What happens in bed stays in bed."

"One more thing," Jane added. She was now feeling the pulsing of her heart and she wanted to hurry and make love to Maura. "No one should ever know but us. No matter how much they love us, they'll ask questions we can't answer. This is just between us."

Afterward they would both see these rules as being driven by denial, at the time they felt happy and close and safe together with their rules. They made love slowly, taking more time than before to enjoy one another's bodies. Although they had fought for the first time the day before, they did not make love with the intention of working out their feelings. They were calm and felt like they could take their time to enjoy themselves. Afterwards Maura brought wine for them. Maura sat between Jane's legs and leaned into her body. Jane reciprocated with her face against Maura's head and her free hand absently petting Maura's sex as she sipped her wine.

"Why do you think we do this?" Jane finally asked.

Maura thought. There were so many answers to that question. "Because we want to."

"No, I asked why you think we do this."

"I think ... " Maura thought. I think I love you. I think I really, really love you. "I don't know. I really don't."

"When you're taking your panties off so that I can put my hand up your skirt, you don't know why you're doing it?" Jane wasn't trying to accuse her, she just wanted to know.

"Well, sometimes I want to talk to you but I can't find the words. Like tonight. I wanted to tell you that it's so crazy to think the Fairfields could ever mean more to me than you. You are everything to me. Money and influence are nothing to me because they are nothing to you. If you were a queen I would love how you rule your kingdom but I would not love your gold. It's Jane I'm into, not the badge or your family or anything else. Just Jane. A million Fairfields could never amount to that. That's why I didn't realize automatically how I had upset you. I thought you knew ... what I couldn't say."

She felt slightly victorious in that she didn't say the words. But she did say 'love' twice and Jane could be getting ready to bolt.

Jane smirked. She had been on an emotional roller coaster since she found out Maura used to date one of the Fairfield brothers. Now she was calm and felt safe, and it was only then she could see what her motivation had been. She could see then how jealous she had been, and how desperately she had needed Maura's encouragement and support. In the back of her mind, something was urging her to press the issue, but overall she felt that she had pushed her luck far enough. Overall she felt so glad to have Maura in any way that she could.

"Thank you, Maura. Thank you." She kissed her shoulder. "That means so much."