The more Jane thought about her conversation with Jerry, the more his words made sense to her. Jane was eighteen-years-old, by definition she was an adult, and it was time for her to make an adult decision. She could either abide by her parents' restrictions or she could console her girl and let her know she'd be there for her for better or for worse. For better or for worse—those words replayed on a continuous loop in Jane's mind until the end of her shift.

Immediately after clocking out, Jane picked up the phone at the store and called home.

"Ma, it's Janie." Jane knew she had outgrown that nickname years ago, but she hoped using it would make her mom go easy on her.

"Do you need a ride home?" Angela asked. "Your father can go pick you up. I don't want you riding your skateboard home in the cold."

"I'm staying later," Jane told her. "Jerry needs help with inventory, so I'll be here until eleven. Mark is giving me a ride home."

As was customary for mothers of teenagers to say, Angela told Jane to be careful. After promising she would and silently warning Mark against laughing, Jane hung up the phone. She had lied to her mother and she felt horrible about it, but after what she had gone through over the past month Jane felt it was necessary to lie if it meant being able to see Maura.

Mark shook his head. "Man, you're fucked."

"Mark," Jane pleaded. "I need to see her. There's no need for her to be crying when her girlfriend loves her and is willing to do anything for her."

"Okay, we'll go," Mark finally gave in. "I'm off in an hour and we'll go straight to BCU from here."

"Thanks," Jane said as she gave him a hug. "I'll meet you back here. I have to go pick up something for Maura."

"Just go down on her," Mark suggested.

"Mark," Jane groaned.

"What?" Mark shrugged. "It's pleasurable and free."

Jane decided to ignore his last comment. "I'll be back in an hour."

There was a jewelry store a couple of blocks away from The Basement, so Jane grabbed her skateboard and left without telling Mark where she was going. The chilly December air was slightly stinging her face as she rode past pedestrians on her skateboard. The faster she rode, the stronger the air hit her, but Jane was determined to get to the jewelry store before they closed.

A month ago, she had designed a promise ring for Maura. It was nothing fancy, but it was the first piece of jewelry Jane had purchased for Maura and she took pride in the fact that she purchased it on her own with money she had saved specifically for this ring. There were no diamonds, but the ring had both of their birthstones and their names engraved next to their respective birthstones. The moment the sales associate had finished designing it with her, Jane knew the ring was one-of-a-kind just like Maura.

Her original plan was to give Maura the ring closer to her winter break, but Jane could no longer wait. The ring was ready for her to pick up and, the more she thought about Jerry's words of wisdom, the more she leaned toward using it as an engagement ring instead.

Jane walked into the jewelry store, her nose red from the cold weather and her hands shaking. She would have liked to blame her shaky hands on the cold weather as well, but she knew it was her nerves. Eighteen-year-old Jane Rizzoli was about to purchase an engagement ring for her girl. She had hoped this day would come eventually, but never could she imagine it'd be happening so soon. You're ready, Jane. You love Maura and Maura loves you. She's going to say yes. She's going to be thrilled you—

"Can I help you, miss?" a sales associate asked as she gave Jane a strange look. Jane was out of place in comparison to the rest of their clientele. Her ripped jeans and the skateboard tucked underneath her arm clashed with the suits and dresses everyone else was wearing.

"I'm here to pick up a ring," Jane said as politely as she could. "It's under the name Jane Rizzoli."

The lady smiled as she looked at the names engraved on the ring. "Are you giving your girlfriend a promise ring for Christmas?"

"I'm proposing," Jane bragged.

"But, sweetheart you're so young." Jane felt as if she was being patronized and she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. 'You're so young.' She knew she was going to be hearing those words for years to come, but she was already growing tired and frustrated with them. Yes, she was young and she was aware of that, but she knew her age didn't play a factor in how much she loved Maura.

After purchasing the ring, Jane hurried back to the music store where Mark was waiting inside his car. She clutched the ring box tightly in her hand and waited for Mark's comments to begin. He wasn't exactly against her getting married in the future, but Jane was his best friend and he was against her making a mistake.

"Jane," he said as they were in the parking lot near the BCU dorms.

"What?" Jane asked nervously, her hands still clutching the ring box.

"Do you remember the first time we heard 'Jeremy'?" he asked. "We were in the parking lot outside that abandoned building that we'd go to when we wanted to get away."

"Yeah, what about it?" Jane responded.

"We sat there, man," Mark pointed out. "I had just gotten my license and my car and we could have been anywhere in this city, but instead we were parked near that building, listening to this song in the backseat of my car. We just sat there, Jane, and we didn't say a word. And then we held each other's hands, not because there was any chemistry between us, but because it was the thing to do and we needed that reassurance that the other was there and we needed human contact. Then you said the most profound thing I ever heard about life and love and the shit people do to each other and all I could think was, 'this girl. This fucking girl.' And then we let go of each other's hands because we realized holding hands with each other was fucking gross. After that we talked about chicks and you said you were going to save yourself for the right girl and I made fun of you for it. When you said you were saving yourself for the right girl, I imagined you being a virgin 'til you were like thirty, man, because there's no such thing as finding the right girl before then. But shit changes. Shit fucking changes. And here you are with that ring in your hand and you're going to propose to Maura. I don't want to say it's a mistake, but what the hell are you doing?"

"I love her," Jane said defensively. "And I want to be with her."

"Loving her means losing Jane," Mark pointed out. "It's like you two were in some nuclear holocaust and you fused into a monster called the Janeandmaura or Jamaura for short or even Jaura or Janera. It's hard to tell where you end and she begins. This isn't right, Jane. Don't throw your life away at eighteen."

"I'm not throwing my life away," Jane insisted. "I love Maura and I know getting married isn't what you want right now, but I'm not you."

"And thank god for that," Mark told her. "Jane, you're smart. You've always been smart, but right now you're being so stupid. How are you and Maura going to support yourselves? You're going to have to give up everything for her. What if your parents disown you, man? What if hers disown her? You've never even met her parents or spoken to them. They don't even know she has a girlfriend, Jane. Nothing about this is a good idea. Think about it. I know it sounds romantic, but you can't live on love."

Jane held his hands between hers. "I've thought about it and there's nothing I want more than to marry her. It's not going to be easy for us, but I'd rather us struggle together than live comfortably without each other. Your girl isn't crying right now, but mine is, and I don't want her to go through that anymore. I'll do anything I can to take care of her. No one is on our side right now, so I was hoping at least my best friend would support me in this."

"You love her that much?" Mark asked.

"Yes!" Jane insisted.

"Fine," Mark groaned. "But don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and Jane, man, I just thought of something."

"What?" Jane asked.

"Maybe this marriage thing isn't a bad idea," he realized. "When you and Maura get married, you can have sex with her whenever you want and no one can say a damn thing."

"And…welcome back," Jane said jokingly. "I was waiting for that comment."

"Ready?" Mark asked.

"As I'll ever be," Jane responded nervously. She took the ring out of the ring box and tucked it securely in her pocket.

When they approached the eighth floor, Jane hesitated to walk down the hall to Maura's room. These were her final moments before proposing to Maura and so many thoughts were running through her head. She thought about what Maura's reaction would be and when she'd want to get married. Jane hoped it was soon because she could hardly go another day without Maura being her wife. She imagined the two of them in their first apartment and learning how to run their new household together. She pictured what it must be like to come home to Maura after a long day of school and work. Her girlfriend—no, her wife—would be waiting for her and they'd spend the rest of the night cuddling and making love to each other. Maybe they'd have children someday or maybe they wouldn't. Jane wasn't sure, but what she was sure of is that they'd grow old together and Maura would be the woman she'd spend the rest of her life with. With that in mind, Jane knew she was ready.

"Mark!" Markie said excitedly when she answered the door and saw him standing there. She pulled him in for a kiss, but once she saw Maura looking at her with sore, puffy eyes, she let go of him.

"Did you bring something from Jane?" Maura asked hopefully.

"I didn't bring anything from Jane," he said. "But I have a surprise for you." Surprise or not, the only words that Maura focused on was when he said it wasn't from Jane. "Yo!" he shouted down the hall.

"That's not the code word," Maura heard Jane say as she approached the door.

"Jane!" Maura called out. "Mark, you better not be playing a joke on me."

But she was there. After thirty-four days of not seeing her, Jane was standing in her doorway. As planned, Mark pulled out an adhesive red bow from the pocket of his sweatshirt and stuck it on Jane's head. "I didn't know what to get you," he told Maura. "So I decided to get you this anatomically correct, lifelike Jane Rizzoli sex doll. She's almost like the real thing. You have no idea how much I spent on her."

Markie let out a giggle, but Jane and Maura were no longer paying attention to him. Her girlfriend was finally with her and all Maura wanted was to be wrapped in her arms. Maura had been crying earlier, but the moment she saw Jane she began to cry again.

"It's okay, babe," Jane said as she stroked her back. "No more crying. Your Jane is here."

"I can't do this," Maura sobbed. "All I want is you, Jane. I can't be without you."

Jane pulled back to wipe her tears away. Seeing Maura cry was breaking her heart and she could only imagine what it must have been like for her every night they were apart. "You won't have to anymore," she promised.

Jane fidgeted with the ring in her pocket, just waiting for the perfect moment to propose to Maura. She had no elaborate proposal planned or even a speech, but her words were going to come straight from the heart. Her girl was holding on to her for dear life and all Jane wanted was to reassure her that they'd never be apart again. She loved Maura and, at eighteen, she already knew she had found the right girl. In a few moments, they would be taking the first step toward growing up and growing old together.

A/N: I know same-sex marriage wasn't legal in 1994, but in the land of fanfic anything is possible. Oh, and thank you to zerodarkwolf for the red ribbon suggestion. :)