A/N: Thank you all for your comments. I've decided to split the first date into two chapters so I hope you enjoy part one of their date. :)
That Saturday night, the Isles family ate an early dinner so Mrs. Isles could help Maura get ready for her date. Although she had selected her outfit via Skype with her two best friends, Maura felt as if she needed the opinion of someone who wasn't going to say, "Wear that if you want to get laid." When they suggested she wear 'do me' underwear, Maura decided it was time to sign out of Skype. Even if she wanted to wear 'do me' underwear, Maura knew a pair of cheeky cotton panties wasn't what her friends had in mind, so she opted for a navy blue cotton thong that wasn't as sexy as the lacy g-string her friends said she should buy, but it showed more skin than the cheeky panties and enabled her to wear her most slim-fitting jeans. I need new underwear now that I've started dating.
Maura put on the outfit her friends had chosen so she could model it for her mother. It was a pair of dark jeggings, white Keds and a white crocheted tank top with a blue and white floral bandeau underneath. She knew her dad was going to say she was showing too much skin, but the tank and bandeau combination was the same she had worn when they were on vacation that past summer; the only difference being this time she was going to wear it to entice a girl instead of wearing it to lounge near the beach.
"I have a cardigan to go with it," Maura added the moment her mother started looking at her outfit.
"It's not the amount of skin you're showing, it's the ensemble, itself," Mrs. Isles pointed out. "Girls these days dress so tacky."
"We dress tacky?" Maura asked in disbelief. She almost never talked back to her mother, but whenever her personal style was insulted, Maura took it to heart. "Mom, I've seen pictures of you from the '80s. What I'm wearing is couture compared to the acid-washed jeans and Fair Isle sweater you wore as a teenager. It had unicorns on it, Mom."
"It's your first date, so I'm going to assume you have an attitude because you're nervous," Mrs. Isles responded. She still didn't approve of Maura's outfit, but neither did her mother when she went on her first date in high school. Even if the styles of clothing girls wore changed over the decades, the nervousness and desire to look perfect on a first date remained the same. "Maura, you look beautiful no matter what you wear and I know Jane feels the same way."
"You think she does?"
Mrs. Isles motioned for her daughter to sit next to her on the bed. "You don't see the way she looks at you?"
"No," Maura shook her head. "But Jane says she gazes at me when I'm not looking."
"She gazes at you a lot," Mrs. Isles pointed out. "I peeked in on you two quite a bit last night while you were watching a movie and, before you get upset, let me just say that it was your father's suggestion. He wanted to make sure Jane wasn't trying anything and he thought it'd be less embarrassing for you if I checked instead of him."
"He misjudges her," Maura began. "I did the same at first, but the more I talk to Jane the more I realize how chivalrous and kind she is. I want her to be my first."
"Your first?"
"My first girlfriend," Maura smiled. "...and all the other firsts."
Mrs. Isles stalled for time by pretending to adjust a clasp on a bracelet she was wearing. "Maura, we need to have a talk."
"About sex?"
"Somewhat," Mrs. Isles paused. "Maura, I know you're going to start dating and there are some things you need to know and I'm not going to take a biological approach to talking about sex like I did last time. What you need to know is that nobody can tell you when you're ready and that includes me. Whether or not to have sex is a personal decision that only you can make for yourself, Maura, because nobody other than you knows when you're ready. You also have the right to say no and if she asks you again just moments after you've already said no, don't date that girl again because that means she doesn't respect you enough to care about whether or not you're ready. The same goes for changing your mind during sex. If you change your mind and she makes you feel guilty or tells you she can't stop or if she wants to do something during sex that makes you uncomfortable, she cares more about her own sexual pleasure than you. I'm not saying Jane is going to do this, but it's important that you keep this in mind regardless of who you date. You have the right to say no at any time, Maura, and you also have the right to enjoy sex and do whatever you find pleasurable as long as it's consensual."
Maura's eyes grew wide. "You're not going to tell me to abstain from sex until I'm married?"
"I've never believed in that," Mrs. Isles smirked. "The idea that young women should be chaste until their wedding night, but young men should be virile has always seemed like complete bullshit to me. Young women are made to feel ashamed if they enjoy sex and young men are made to feel ashamed if they don't enjoy it and, either way, I don't want you to be ashamed of how you feel. Just do what makes you comfortable and it's nobody's business but your own. With that being said, we need to finalize your hair and makeup before Jane gets here. I'm sure you don't want her waiting downstairs alone with your father."
Just the thought of Jane being alone with her father was enough to instill fear in Maura, so she hurriedly finished her hair and makeup in case Jane arrived early.
Jane's car pulled into the driveway at exactly seven o'clock just as Maura had hoped. Punctuality was important to her father and she knew their night would be off to a good start when Jane arrived on time. Just minutes prior to Jane's arrival, Mrs. Isles had calmed her nerves and told her to have fun while Mr. Isles, on the other hand, gave her a less encouraging talk and told her, "If anyone sticks their tongue in your mouth, I want you to bite it off."
Unlike the night before, Jane wasn't dressed in nice jeans and a button-up shirt to impress Mr. and Mrs. Isles. Instead, she looked like the Jane Rizzoli Maura saw at school five days a week. Her perfect ponytail was replaced by untamed curls and her ripped jeans were sagged low enough to show the waistband of her boxer briefs. Her slim-fitting t-shirt was orange with a screenprint of a football and the words "I Go Deep." Maura saw the humor in the t-shirt Jane was wearing, but she worried her dad would refuse to let Jane take her out after reading her shirt.
"You go deep?" Mr. Isles asked. "What's that in reference to?"
"Uhh...football, sir," Jane nervously responded, but she noticed Mr. Isles wasn't buying it despite the football on her shirt.
"Have my daughter home by ten."
"Ten?" Jane and Maura asked in unison.
"Dad, last night you said Jane and I could stay out until eleven," Maura reminded him.
Mr. Isles glared at Jane. "Ten or no going out at all."
"If it's about the shirt, I can go home and change," Jane pointed out. "It's no big."
"Or we could go to my room and she could change into something of mine," Maura suggested. "I don't mind taking her shirt off."
Jane's mouth hung open and she looked at Maura who was completely unphased by what she had just said. She didn't try to correct herself nor did she apologize. She stood her ground until Mr. Isles finally told them they could stay out until eleven. It wasn't how Jane imagined their first date would begin, but the opportunity to finally go on a date with Maura was worth an awkward beginning.
After a quick goodbye and reassurance that she'd be home by eleven, Maura grabbed ahold of Jane's hand and hurriedly led her outside before Mr. Isles had a chance to even consider changing his mind about the eleven o'clock curfew. "I think they look cute together," Maura heard her mother say, but she didn't want to stick around to hear her father's response.
It was only the second time Maura had been in Jane's car, but she quickly noticed the scent of the cherry air freshener and a lack of books and sports equipment in the backseat. "You cleaned and freshened your car for our date?"
"Kinda," Jane responded before putting the car in reverse to back out of the driveway.
"Are we utilizing your backseat tonight?" Maura asked nervously.
"I don't know. If you want," Jane shrugged. "Sorry, I'm just thrown off by your dad. He's something else and I don't understand what he has against me."
"It's not you, personally," Maura pointed out. "You're the first person I've ever dated."
"So I'm the lucky one who gets to face his wrath?"
"Unfortunately."
Jane turned to face Maura when they were stopped at a red light. "He's not scaring me away. The cute girl in the passenger seat is worth his wrath, but it was also the cute girl in the passenger seat who said she wanted to take my shirt off. I just—when you said that—let's just say it was one of those moments where I was so grateful I'm not a guy."
"Jane!" Maura blushed.
Had the light not turned green, Jane would have leaned in to give Maura a quick kiss on the cheek, but for the first time since they became acquainted with each other, Jane was afraid of overstepping her boundaries with physical affection. "You're beautiful, Maura. I know every girl has something about her that makes her beautiful and I've been with a lot of girls and I should probably shut up now, but you have this weird effect on me and, when I'm with you I stumble over my words and I don't do that with other girls. Ask them. No, don't ask them. Or you could if you want. I don't even know anymore."
They rode in silence until Jane parked along the curb of a local shopping center filled with small businesses and independently-owned cafes. Everywhere she looked, there were people on dates or couples enjoying their evening together and, for the first time, Maura could share in their happiness because, standing next to her was Jane who was now proudly holding her hand.
The coffee shop was filled with people on dates, friends hanging out, and people taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi on their phones or laptops. Maura scanned the room for an available table, but before the three girls who were occupying the table could push in the chairs after gathering their belongings to leave, some college student with his laptop swooped in to stake his claim on the table. While waiting in line to order, Maura noticed a couple of girls from their school checking Jane out and she made sure to stand a little closer to her to let them know Jane wasn't alone, but regardless of how close she was to Jane, she was still invisible to them just as she was invisible to them at school.
"Jane!" one of them said excitedly while the other rushed over to her. They were varsity cheerleaders—Maura knew that much—but she had never bothered to learn their names just as they had never bothered to learn the names of her and her less-than-popular friends.
"Cassidy!" Jane smiled at her. "What's up?"
"I was just going to call you," Cassidy said as she hooked her index fingers into the two front belt loops of Jane's jeans. "Me and Sophie are having a sleepover. Wanna join us? The three of us can do what we did last time, especially that thing you liked."
Maura had an idea what had happened at that sleepover, but she needed a way—any way—to intervene. "And just what happened last time?"
Cassidy looked at her in disgust. "Who are you?"
"Her name is Maura," Jane said, proudly. "She goes to school with us and she's my date, so why don't you get your hands off of me and go back to your table."
"Her?" Cassidy asked in disbelief. "Did you run out of girls to sleep with so now you're lowering your standards?"
Jane forcefully removed Cassidy's fingers from around her belt loops. "Spending the night with you again would be lowering my standards," Jane glared at her. "Maura is a gigantic step up from you and Sophie and I'm grateful that she's letting me have the privilege of taking her out."
Maura noticed that a couple of less-than-popular girls who had been teased by Cassidy and Sophie throughout the past four years had stood up from their seats and started clapping. They were soon joined by some nearby college girls who had never met Cassidy and Sophie but saw them as a symbol of the mean girls they had dealt with while they were in high school. It was a more raucous response than either of the girls had anticipated, so they gathered their coffee and personal belongings and left the premises without speaking another word to Jane and Maura.
"I guess this means a table opened up," Jane smirked. "Grab a seat and I'll order the caramel apple cider for us."
"No," Maura protested. "You sit down and I'll order for us. When we were at the cupcake shop, I said I was going to take you out."
"I know," Jane responded. "But after what just happened, I think I'm the one who owes you. Get us a seat and try not to miss me."
Maura would have rolled her eyes, but after a single wink from Jane, she found herself more than willing to secure their spot at the table. I am officially one of those girls who fawns over a wink from Jane Rizzoli. How did this happen to me?
She looked at her phone while Jane was standing by the counter, talking to the barista, a girl that Maura had recognized as a senior from their school whom had graduated a year earlier. They were reminiscing about the times they played basketball together and Jane was ecstatic when she started talking about the current season. She's so cute when she talks about basketball. I wonder if she's even cuter when she plays. Maura caught Jane's eye and awkwardly looked down at her phone to pretend she was texting. Since the start of their date, she had received group texts from Allie and Sarah, asking her for the details, but Maura was in no mood to give the details of their date during their date, so she exited her messages and opened her Instagram app. There were pics of Allie and Sarah with their boyfriends and some of acquaintances from school at different social functions, but Maura stopped when she saw a picture of Jane and her brothers with the caption, "Hanging out with these dorks until I can see a cute girl." There were comments along the lines of, "I'll be your cute girl, Jane" and "YOU LOOK SO HOTT" and Maura became annoyed until she saw Jane's comment, "Sorry, ladies. You're beautiful but I'm a Maursexual now." She knew Jane was occasionally glancing over at her, but she couldn't help blushing until she saw the comment below. "A Maursexual? wtf are you like still gay though?"
"Can you believe that comment? We have some dumbasses at our school and you'll get to see so much more now that you've finally started following me on Instagram," Jane said after she sat down at the table with their drinks. "I didn't mean to startle you. I just noticed you looking at my Instagram post. My name is Jane and I'm a Maursexual. I am a girl who only wants to have sex with a particularly cute girl named Maura. There, I came out."
"Does that make me a Janesexual?"
"That depends," Jane said as she handed Maura her drink. "Do you want to have sex with a girl named Jane?"
"Eventually," Maura averted her eyes.
"Okay, cool. No other girls named Jane though. Just me."
"Just you," Maura promised.
"You are a one-Jane woman."
"And you are a one-Maura woman."
"Yes!" Jane agreed. "You make me feel completely amaurous." She was going to continue with her puns, but then she heard Maura groan. "What? You don't like sex puns?"
"Sex puns?" Maura asked in disbelief. "Have you moved on from vagina euphemisms?"
"Can't I broaden my horizons?" Jane asked. "While we're talking about expanding our horizons, do you want to get out of here?"
"But our drinks," Maura pointed out. "And our date."
"Our date is far from over," Jane smiled. "I just want to show you something I've never shown another girl before. We can take our drinks with us."
"Wh-What are you going to show me?" Maura stammered. "It's so warm in here. We should stay."
"For another two and a half hours?" Jane asked. "The drink will warm you up. If that doesn't help, I know an even better way to warm you up. I just really, really want you to be the first girl I show this to and I think this is the perfect night. If you want to stay, we can stay, but I think you're really going to love what I show you."
While sipping her caramel apple cider in Jane's car, Maura thought back to the conversation they had outside the cupcake shop when Jane confessed that no girl had seen her completely naked before. Jane is going to show me her peach cupcake?
