AN: It's about to get messy... and not in a good way... Final warning to abandon if you're not keen on Drama.
Getting Personal
Even through Christmas and New Year's, Jane Rizzoli still manages to make the headlines. But this time it's more of the personal sort. It was on facebook this weekend, 21-year old Brooke Welsh posted a rather intimate secret about the new star in town. Welsh claims to have been seduced by Rizzoli on New Year's Eve, and was taken back to Rizzoli's apartment where she spent the night. The news traveled quickly in social media, and despite several tries, Welsh refused to make a comment.
Instead, we asked Rizzoli about the recent news.
"Really? That's your question? Alright. Well, I don't really care. Yes, it's true, I met her at a bar and we hit it off. Nothing interesting about it."
-She wrote on her page that she wanted to confirm all the rumors about your sexuality by going public with this. Does it bother you at all?
"I didn't even know there were rumors, but no, it doesn't bother me. I'm fine with it, but if people think it's interesting to read about who I sleep with, then that's their choice."
-So are you playing for the other team, to use a pathetic metaphor?
[laughs] "The only team I play for is the Boston Daredevils. I just happen to score off the ice as well…"
And there you have it, a trademark Rizzoli comment, with the trademark smirk and the trademark wink.
No wonder the girls love her.
The girls were chatting like usual when Jane entered the locker room as the last one before the first practice of the year. She knew she was late but she didn't care. Some of the girls looked up at her as she passed by to her spot next to Heather. Jane sat down and stared at the hamper in the middle of the room for a few moments.
"You okay?" Heather asked and looked at Jane.
"I'm fine" Jane mumbled before she unzipped her jacket and took it off. She saw some of the glances from the girls around her.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." She started to change, still with furrowed brows. For the last few days she had only wanted to get back to business, play again and focus on what she did best. Even though that meant facing Maura again. The usual banter with Heather was absent that day, but Jane saw the way Heather glanced at her from time to time. She knew she would have to explain a few things before the day was over, there was no way Heather would let her off the hook. Jane was putting on her jersey when Heather finally caved.
"We all saw the article, Jane."
"So what?" Jane mumbled in reply.
"Is that why you're so pissed off today?"
Jane laughed sarcastically and turned to Heather. "Not at all. I don't give a shit about that article."
"Then what's wrong?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
"Of course not…"
Jane sensed the sarcasm in Heather's voice and struggled to let it pass.
"You never wanna talk, no matter what it is. I hope you weren't worried what the others would think."
"Think about what?"
"That you're gay."
The words made Jane freeze before she turned to Heather. "Why would I give a shit about what they think?" she replied loudly. "I don't care what anyone thinks. It's my life and my business." She saw how Heather looked around in the room, and her own eyes followed. Everyone was quiet and watching them and it just got Jane more worked up. "So now you know I'm gay, does it matter? Am I suddenly an awful player because of that? Am I hideous or contagious because of it? It doesn't define me as a hockey player, it shouldn't be a news story in this day and age, and I honestly don't care what you guys think or if you look at me differently, or whatever."
"Jane, calm down" Louisa smiled from across the room and managed to silence Jane. "I don't think anyone here cares about that."
Several of the girls shook their heads while smiling, and Jane breathed out.
"I think we were more worried about how you felt about that article. I know I would be pissed if someone did that to me" Louisa continued.
"Me too" Heather chimed in.
Jane scoffed and leaned back against the wall. "I'm not pissed about that… I don't care." She let out a short laugh. "I'm fucking thrilled she felt the need to brag about this. Publicity, right?"
"Also a way to look at it" Louisa smiled. "And you're probably gonna be fighting off girls wherever you go now" she winked.
Laughter filled the room and Jane couldn't resist the temptation of joining in. That didn't seem like a bad thing.
After the laughter died, Jessie cleared her throat and spoke. "But seriously. We're all here to play, you're part of the team and we all have your back. No matter what. And you're right, it shouldn't be a story these days."
"I agree" someone else interrupted. "And we shouldn't make a big deal out of it either. Let's just go out and play. It's what we're all here for."
Jane let her eyes slide over the faces in the room until she was looking at Heather who smiled at her.
"Good idea. So tie your fucking skates, Rizzoli. We're all waiting for you" Heather smirked and gave Jane a nudge.
Jane smiled and rolled her eyes, thankful for the change of topic. "You got it, captain" she smirked back.
The doctor was not to be seen during practice, and Jane couldn't be more thankful. She didn't want to face Maura with other people around, she didn't trust herself. But right before she was about to leave the rink, curiosity won. She looked down the hall and saw light spilling into the hallway from Maura's office. She walked down the hall and passed the open door.
When she saw the office was empty, she turned around and walked back. The room was just as clean and tidy as always and Jane stepped inside. She wasn't sure why she was there at all, but she made her way over to the desk. A piece of paper caught her eyes and she went around the desk and picked up the paper.
Request for unpaid leave
Her eyes quickly skimmed the brief letter. It wasn't signed yet and the dates were blank.
"It's rude to go through other people's belongings."
Her head whipped up and saw Maura had entered the office. "What's this?" Jane asked.
Maura took the paper from Jane's hand and carefully folded it before she put it in her purse. "It's none of your business."
"You're leaving?"
"That is usually what a request for leave means."
"Why? When?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I haven't decided yet." Maura picked up her purse and jacket before she looked at Jane. "Anything I can help you with, Rizzoli?"
Jane silenced. The formality was too much.
"If you'll excuse me, I'm going home."
Maura was halfway towards the door before Jane reacted. She rushed over and closed the door before she leaned against it. "Why are you leaving?"
"It's really none of your business."
"I beg to differ. After what has happened between us, I think I'm entitled to know why you're leaving."
Maura flinched at the words and put down her purse. She looked firmly at Jane, slightly tilting her head. "He left me. I was planning my wedding when you came crashing into my life. And now I'm left with nothing."
"That's not true…"
"Isn't it? What do I have left here, Jane? Please enlighten me."
Jane made a mental note to one time tell Maura how sarcasm actually looked good on her, in the middle of a fight. "I'm still here."
Maura scoffed and threw her jacket on the chair beside her. "You ruined my relationship, Jane! You showed up at my house and tore it all down! How can you possible think I would come running to you?"
"No, you don't get to blame this on me! I didn't ruin this! You never told me about him, you lied to me, you lied to him. You cheated on him, what did you really expect him to do?"
Maura took a step forward and was almost up in Jane's face. She was furious, eyes were filled with anger. "You showed up at my house, uninvited, late at night. You were drunk and completely out of line. You disrespected me when I asked you to leave. I am perfectly aware of what I have done, but you had no right doing what you did that night!"
Every hope of having a civilized conversation about it all, flew out the window. Jane was affected by the harsh tone in Maura's voice, and she couldn't help the words that slipped out. "If you had been honest with me, that night would never have happened." She hated to admit it, but her pride was hurt. She felt attacked, and to completely mess with her head, she swore she could feel heat radiating between them.
"And if you had been honest with me from the beginning, none of this would have happened."
"Bullshit!" Jane laughed. "You think things would've been different if I told you how much I wanted you from the very first day?" She moved closer to Maura who in turn backed away, until her legs bumped into the bench. Jane leaned as close as she dared, close enough to feel Maura's breath on her skin, but not close enough for skin to skin contact. "If I had pushed you up against the wall and told you just exactly what I wanted to do to make you scream my name, you really think you would be able to control yourself?"
Maura swallowed, but managed to keep eye contact. And even though she was unbalanced on the outside, she still kept her voice calm. "You are so full of yourself…"
"And you're fooling yourself… you can't tell me you don't feel this god damn heat… even though you're pissed right now, you still want to kiss me. I can tell. But instead you're running."
"How can I run when you keep cornering me? Why can't you see my side of the story and just let me go?"
"Because I can't let you go without a fight."
"This isn't a fight anymore, Jane. You've turned this into a war. And I'm not going to be a part of that." Maura stepped around Jane, ignoring her own body screaming at her. Everything in her wanted to surrender to the heat that was impossible to ignore, everything except her brain.
"I'm not giving up" Jane said firmly and spun around.
Maura was already picking up her purse and jacket and headed for the door. As her hand reached the doorknob, she looked over her shoulder, almost surprised to see Jane hadn't moved. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing except a sigh. Not allowing herself to show any weakness, she opened the door and walked out.
As soon as Jane entered the locker room for their practice the next day, Heather jumped up and pushed her back out in the hall and to a corner. "What's going on between you and Doctor Isles at the moment?" Heather asked and stared at Jane.
"What? Nothing. Why?" Jane didn't like lying to Heather, but she hadn't told anyone about the fights yet.
"I just heard that she asked for a few weeks off today. Said it was something personal she needed to sort out. She left about an hour ago."
Jane stared at the wall behind Heather and didn't know what to say. When she had found Maura's request for leave in her office, she didn't really think it was something the doctor would go through with, that it was just a heat of the moment thing. Jane turned her head and blinked. "And you think it has something to do with me?"
"Can you blame me? The last time I saw you two together, you were all over each other. And now she's taken an emergency leave and you are pretty much angry all the time. What the hell happened?"
Jane sighed when she heard how everything looked from the outside. "I'll tell you later, okay?"
"Fine" Heather nodded. "I'm not trying to be a pain in the ass, but I'm just worried. I don't want to see this whole thing blow up."
"Yeah, me neither…" Jane mumbled and stepped around Heather and headed for the locker room again.
Jane couldn't focus at all during practice and it made her furious. Just the thought of telling Heather about the fights with Maura made her sick. She didn't want to rip up in those feelings she had when she saw Ryan by Maura's side, or when she found the request for leave. And when Jane remembered she hadn't told Danielle about any of it either, she needed a moment to get back on track. She had barely met Danielle after everything went to hell, but she had managed to lie and say everything was fine. She knew she couldn't keep that up much longer, and if she had to tell Heather about everything, she'd might as well have Danielle there to hear it as well.
After practice she ran the idea by Heather who was slightly shocked that Jane hadn't told Danielle anything. So Jane called Danielle and agreed to meet them both at the Robber later.
Once settled in Jane's favorite booth at the Robber, Danielle and Heather both looked at Jane from across the table. "So, what's up?" Danielle asked.
Jane looked down at the cup in front of her and sighed. "I… I met Maura's fiancé."
"What!?" both Heather and Danielle blurted out.
"She's engaged?" Heather asked.
Jane laughed nervously. "Not really… not anymore…" She looked up to see two different faces. Danielle seemed shocked while Heather had that slightly condescending look on her face. Maybe because she knew about Maura's absence.
"Hold up!" Danielle rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. "She was engaged? But now she's not? After you met her guy?"
Jane breathed out and nodded. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."
"What the hell happened?"
Heather leaned back and sighed while she let Danielle do the questions. Jane wasn't surprised, Heather had always seemed like the grown up.
"I might have been a bit drunk when I met him, and he pretty much figured it out. She told me a few days ago that he had left that same night."
"Please don't tell me this was at the New Year's party…" Heather said.
Jane didn't utter a word, and both Danielle and Heather sighed loudly.
"So that's why she suddenly left…" Heather mumbled.
Danielle turned to Heather before she looked at Jane. "What?"
"Maura took out an emergency leave today…" Heather explained. "She said she'll be gone a few weeks. To sort out some personal issues."
"Oh my god, Jane, what the hell have you gotten yourself into…" Danielle shook her head.
Jane felt small. Just the thought of the confrontation at Maura's house made her cringe. It wasn't really her proudest moment, and not something she wanted to go into detail about with her friends.
"So you've met her after that night?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah… I met her after practice yesterday. She wasn't really happy… and I can't blame her."
"She's mad at you?"
Jane nodded. "I think it's safe to say that it's all over." She slowly took a sip of her coffee and let the words play on repeat in her head. Maybe it was for the best that it ended before it got too complicated.
"This sucks" Danielle sighed. "I was so rooting for you and Doctor Dimple."
Jane only nodded slowly. After a few silent moments, Heather burst out laughing, making Jane and Danielle look up.
"I'm sorry! But… Doctor Dimple? What the hell?"
Danielle looked at Jane who smiled softly in return. "You mean you don't know how Jane and Maura met?" Danielle asked and turned to Heather.
"They met before Jane joined the team?"
"Oh yes" Danielle smirked. "Let me tell you about it, because Jane doesn't even remember it."
Heather looked at Jane with wide eyes, and Jane could only let out a small laugh before Danielle started telling the story about Doctor Dimple.