Author's note: thank you everyone for the reviews, I promise Jane won't die of a heart attack nor Maura of a sudden panic attack.

Chapter Ten: How To Keep It Up

Jane made her way through the crowd of dancers and reached the table where Maura was sitting. She put down their respective drinks and settled next to the honey blonde before scanning the room; looking for Amy – Apolline – and Cailin. She spotted them on the dance floor, a drink in hand.

"Did you eat all the popcorn?" Jane made a face as she realized that the small bowl was now empty. She had only left for five minutes, though. Was Maura starving that much?

"Well... We didn't have dinner yet." The medical examiner shrugged apologetically and stood up as she shook her head. "I am going to order some more."

Jane grabbed her hand and motioned her to sit back down. She could do without popcorn as long as they stopped by somewhere for a late-night pizza at some point.

As much as they had expressly said that they didn't want any hen party, Hope's daughter had nonetheless dragged them to a night club. Her very own way to sweep away the bad news of the past couple of days.

It was not that it wasn't a nice intention but the stress of the wedding – the uncertainty to find some available caterer on time – was weighing too much on Jane and Maura's shoulders for them to take part in the festivities. All they wanted to do was to go back home and disappear under the blanket.

"I don't need the popcorn, don't be worried. Let's stay an hour here and then we just leave. Anyway, I'm not sure they will notice anything." Jane smirked, motioned with a gesture of the head at Cailin and Amy who were now dancing with two guys while Apolline had headed to the bar for a refill.

"Don't repeat this to anyone but I guess that I am feeling extremely old and out of place, tonight."

Maura's confession made Jane smile. She slid an arm on her partner's waist to bring her closer and planted a kiss on top of her head. She still didn't understand how the honey blonde could remain so calm in this context. Needless to say that she had witnessed Maura lose her nerves for less than that on many occasions.

Once the Scottish had made it to their house, they had left for a day in Boston; leaving to Angela the delicate task to find a new caterer or come up with a menu that she would be able to prepare within twenty-four hours.

"You're not alone..." Jane grabbed her glass and took a sip of her cocktail. The alcohol warmed her up almost instantly. She took a deep breath and waved at Cailin as the student winked at them. "I'm not trying to be like a party pooper but we shouldn't be here enjoying drinks, Maur'. We get married in two days and everything is falling apart; one piece after another. We should be home looking for solutions. Not at a freaking nightclub."

The scientist turned around and locked her hazel eyes with her lover's dark ones. She brushed with delicacy Jane's cheek and let her fingertips trace an invisible path to her jaw.

"Stop thinking about this. Seize the day."

The comment made Jane snort. She had made it to a twilight zone, it was the only way to explain it. Maura – the control freak – had turned into a peace and love activist who didn't care much about her very own wedding.

As the thought crossed Jane's mind, she frowned; suddenly concerned.

"Do you still want to get married?"

The question took Maura aback. She remained quiet for long seconds – the music echoing the bright colors of the spotlights getting reflected on their faces – and blinked. A bitter laugh passed her lips.

"You don't seriously want to cancel the ceremony just because we don't have a caterer anymore, do you? Jane..."

The Italian rolled her eyes. Perfect place – perfect moment – for an argument. Everyone around was partying hard but them when they should have. It was their week, their parenthesis in life. But truth to be told, only stress came out of it. She swallowed hard before such pessimistic perspective.

"Why do you answer my question by another question?"

Maura frowned, shook her head slowly. This time, Jane had completely lost her. She didn't see at all where the brunette was going with her insinuations. She grabbed her cocktail and took a sip of it. In such context, she needed vodka more than what she would recognize.

"What is going on? Why are you asking me that?"

Jane scoffed, visibly offended. In a sudden outburst, she stood up and rolled her eyes again. She was pissed off and the lump in her throat – that invisible one preventing her from breathing properly – as she kept on swallowing back tears of rage hurt insidiously.

"I'm asking because I don't recognize you anymore, Maura. Who are you? Our whole wedding – the one we worked on for the past month – is turning into a big farce and you don't seem to give a shit. So maybe that means deep inside, it's not as important for you as it is for me."

Baffled, Maura remained speechless; unable to find the slightest word to face Jane's own ones. She hadn't assumed the slightest bit that the Italian could interpret her behavior this way. Because it was obviously not what she was thinking. On the contrary.

"I'm out of here. Going to study catering options if you ever care about this."

And without adding anything, Jane turned around – crossed the dance floor – and walked towards a large door on the left to the bar to exit the club.

...

Constance leaned back against the couch of her hotel suite – made the ice cubes of her cognac twirl around – and sighed loudly; not in the mood to hide it. On the contrary. She wrinkled her nose but – in spite of everything – let a warm smile embrace her features.

"Is finding you in tears just a few hours previous to a wedding a brand new tradition of yours?"

Tearing down her tenth tissue, Maura shook her head and held back a sob. She hadn't stayed at the club once reality had hit her back and she had realized that – carried by anger – Jane had left after having harsh words. Not harsh for their meaning but for the pain she must have felt, a pain betrayed through them. And Maura felt guilty. Awfully guilty.

"This isn't funny."

Constance raised an apologetic hand in the air and lit a cigarette. Needless to say that she had been rather surprised to see her daughter on the door frame of the hotel at almost 10.30pm. In tears. She had just arrived from Paris and was only supposed to head to Beacon Hill on the very next day.

"Nobody has called off anything either. It is just a little argument brought up by stress. Anyone who is about to get married go through this."

Maura cast a glance at her mother, rather unconvinced. Apolline and James had been happy from the beginning to the end. At no moment had they had to face all this. Except for the tie accident if she now took into account her cousin's confession but nothing else.

Certainly not the kind of doubts Jane had highlighted.

"I should have replied to her instead of turning mute like that." The blonde rolled her eyes, buried her face in her hands. "I love her. Of course, this wedding is important to me. As a matter of fact, it is the reason why I am not stressing out." She looked back up, searching for her mother's eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"It is not the ceremony that has importance to my eyes but the fact I am making Jane mine. As long as... As long as she becomes mine – and wears this symbolic ring – then I don't mind about the rest. It is insignificant. I don't care about flowers, about caterers and menus. Not even about dresses! All I am thinking about is our union, and what such decision means. Because it means a lot if not just... If not just absolutely everything. We could do it in the middle of a sidewalk that it would be just as beautiful to me. Because it is the idea of what a wedding means that I care about. Not the rest, not... Not all these appearances."

Maura frowned at her own explanation and held back a breath. If she had dreamed about a princess wedding at some point in her life, she had quickly understood how – with Jane – she could not care less about it. She saw all these things as details; nice ones but not indispensable. It could have been raining cats and dogs on Friday – they could have been eating hot dogs – that it would still remain the most beautiful day of her life.

Because it was Jane and the rest didn't matter.

"Then why not going straight to the courthouse? That would have spared us the necessity of a specific outfit for the pre-wedding diner and another one for the ceremony!"

Maura stared at her mother incredulously. She blinked – swallowed hard – as she wasn't sure how to welcome such remark. Was Constance serious?

"What...?"

Before her daughter's confusion, the artist burst out laughing and shook her head. She took Maura in her arms; patted her back.

"It was a joke! You know that – even with the courthouse option – I would have worn two different outfits; one for the ceremony and one for the dinner afterwards. Now go tell Jane what you just told me. Life is too short for the two of you to remain like that on ridiculous misunderstandings. I guess – seeing how things have developped – that she needs you more than anything. Bring her the comfort she needs."