Jane walked into the locker room just after 10.30 Monday morning, and Nicole tried to greet her but got only a muffled 'hi' back. Heather saw and heard it too, and exchanged a few looks with Nicole across the room. The tension was clearly still there, but it was oblivious to the rest of the team. Nicole tried not to take it personally, instead she continued to put on her gear and skates and let Jane have her privacy. She occasionally looked up at Jane and took a closer look at her face. Jane looked tired, more tired than she had looked the day before when Nicole had managed to convince her to go for a run. She honestly thought it would be a good idea to get Jane out. They didn't have to talk and a run seemed like a good way to clear their heads. Nicole knew she needed it, but it hadn't turned out the way she thought.

Jane had been stressed, pushing herself all the way. Nicole had had trouble to keep up with Jane's tempo at times and the whole thing had absolutely not cleared her head at all. She was just more frustrated about everything and had been on the verge to knock Jane out if she had to, to get some answers to what was going on.

The room slowly cleared, and as Jane was tying her skates, Nicole sat on her spot and waited, fully dressed. She watched as Jane put on her jersey and fastened her helmet. From behind, Jane looked like the big, bad Rizzoli she used to be. Her name and number in white on the red practice jersey instead of the usual red, but the name still caused Nicole to smile. It was sharp and rough, all straight lines that made it look scary. "Did you get some sleep last night?" Nicole asked as Jane turned around with her gloves in hand.

"Not really" Jane replied.

Nicole got up and followed Jane out of the room. "I can tell… you look exhausted."

"Thanks" Jane scoffed and put on her gloves.

"I don't mean to pry or anything, but I can tell that something is going on. I'm not blind…"

Jane cut her off by stopping and turning around out in the hall. She gave a warning look to Nicole who stopped as well.

"I know… you don't want to talk about it. I get it. And I'm not gonna ask. I'm not stupid either… But you need to sleep, Jane. Maybe you could ask Dr. Isles if she have any id-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence! I'm gonna say this once!" Jane snarled. "Stop meddling in my life! You don't know me, you don't know anything! So back the hell off!" Her voice was anything but low and soft by the time she stopped talking.

Nicole took a step back, just to be safe because the lightning in Jane's eyes was not a pleasant sight. She held up her hands in surrender. "Okay… I'm sorry…"

Jane gritted her teeth, the muscles contracting around her jaw. She gave Nicole one final look before she turned around and hurried down the hall and past the doctor's office, towards the ice.

Heather was out on the ice when Jane jumped on and set up a frantic pace around the rink. Thirty seconds later, Nicole appeared, looking a bit shocked. Heather felt bad for Nicole and was on her way over to her when Jane put on the brakes and caused a snowstorm next to her.

"Is she back?" Jane spat. "Is she fucking back? Here, right now?"

Heather sighed and skated off to a more secluded corner, knowing Jane would follow close behind. "Yeah, she's back" she confirmed. "She's officially back as of today."

Jane let out a deep sigh before she shook her head and took off.

"Hey."

Nicole turned around as Heather patted her shoulder.

"You okay?"

She nodded. "I guess. I'm just confused… and frustrated. She basically yelled at me because I said she looked tired. But I can't help it. Whatever shit is going on, she obviously can't handle it."

"She yelled at you?" Heather asked.

"Yeah. I just suggested that she'd see doc if she needed it. You know, to get some help sleeping. Cause I know how sleep can mess you up big time."

Heather slowly nodded. "Yeah, I totally get you. Just… just give her some time. And I know she wouldn't yell at you if it wasn't for this… shit."

Coach Landers' sharp whistle interrupted them and they shared a look before they gathered at the center ice along with the rest. Nicole tried not to pay too much attention to Jane who was standing in the background and barely paying attention. They started the practice with some passing exercises before they continued with their power play. Nicole was given more time on the power play and by the time they stopped for a break, sweat was dripping from her forehead. But still she was smiling as she headed to the bench for her bottle. As she leaned against the board, emptying her bottle of water, Doctor Isles came out from the tunnel and spotted her.

"Hi!" Maura smiled and went over to her. "Nice to see you again, and congratulations!"

"Thanks. And welcome back!" Nicole had only met Maura once before, at the medical tests when she signed her new contract in late August. She was called up the day after Maura took out her leave.

"Thank you. I didn't have time to say hello when I saw you earlier. It wasn't my intention to ignore you." Maura sat down on the bench and crossed her legs.

"No worries. You looked kinda busy anyway."

"So how have you been? You seem to have found your place on the team now."

Nicole grinned and nodded before she starting spitting out all the same adjectives like she did when she was asked about the whole experience. She was almost halfway when coach Landers called out that the break was over. She excused herself and went back to the girls.

Barely a minute later, Nicole could finally see what she believed was the source of Jane's misery. She was watching Jane and suddenly Jane froze. She stood there staring at something and didn't move. Nicole followed Jane's gaze back to Maura who was all alone by the benches. There was no one else nearby, and Nicole looked back at Jane just to catch her break the stick with her skate again. Coach Landers stopped talking, all the girls turned to look at Jane and Nicole sighed. She had never seen Maura and Jane in the same room before. It had to be something about Maura that made Jane angry.

"Rizzoli, you okay?" coach Landers asked.

"I'm fine" Jane mumbled and stood there with half a stick in her hand.

"Okay then… go find a new stick and we can continue."

Nicole saw the despair in Jane's eyes as the words were spoken. Getting a new stick meant having to make her way to the benches and to the equipment hall just behind. And judging by the look on Jane's face, she would rather be eaten alive. "I'll get it" Nicole blurted out and turned to skate towards the bench. She didn't look back. She rushed to the equipment room and looked frantically for a stick with Jane's name on it. After she found one, she shook her head and chuckled. She should've just looked for the longest ones and she'd spot it in a second!

Jane was staring down at the ice when Nicole returned with her stick and looked up as Nicole held out the stick. "Thanks" Jane mumbled, slightly embarrassed.

Nicole smiled. "I'm the rookie, right? I'm supposed to do all the boring, shitty stuff." She aimed for a humorous approach, but didn't get any response from Jane. She simple looked at her like she wanted to say something, but couldn't.

"Alright, then we can continue" coach Landers announced. He quickly counted the girls. "Let's do a three on three, split up in teams, red versus black as usual."

He didn't need to spend time dividing the girls into teams, they organized themselves right away, and split up into the usual teams. Nicole and Jane was the obvious choice for one of the lines, it had been since the beginning. They quickly found their positions on the ice before coach Landers dropped the puck. Nicole noticed right away the same thing as in LA, Jane went into zombie mode, completely out of sync with Nicole, couldn't focus, but this time Nicole wasn't worried. Instead she felt relieved that she seemed to understand more of the situation.

They didn't stay out on the ice too long before they switched place with the ones on the bench. Nicole sat down, breathing heavily, but Jane stood by the door, as close to the glass at the end as possible. It all was so obvious. Nicole looked to the other side where Maura was sitting between a couple of girls, her eyes focused on the play out on the ice. Jane didn't want to look at Maura, and Nicole knew she had to find out if Maura for some reason had been at the game in Los Angeles.

As they got on the ice again for their next shift, Jane seemed to get back into the rhythm again. She seemed to take out her emotions in her skating and was all over the ice. Playing three on three meant there was a lot of room to move, which suited Nicole perfectly. Whenever they had possession of the puck, they circled around in the zone and tried to stay there. Nicole tried to remember all the small things coach Landers had told her during her short time on the team and keep it in the back of her mind, like where to position herself in front of the goalie to block the view. Jane wasn't back to herself yet and lost track of the puck down in the corner. She went after it but was joined by one from the opposite team. The fought for it, using their sticks and skates but they were stuck there.

Nicole decided to help out, even though it meant the last player on their line was alone against two. She skated down to the corner and approached Jane's right side. She had to get close to be able to reach the puck, but as she stopped right behind Jane, an elbow came flying out of nowhere and hit her in the eye. She stumbled backwards while she shook off her glove and reached for her eye. "Fuck…" she mumbled through clenched teeth. She knew it wasn't on purpose, that Jane had just been fighting for the puck, maybe she didn't even know Nicole was behind her.

Coach Landers blew the whistle and stopped the play. The girls in the corner looked up, and Jane finally saw Nicole grabbing her eye.

Nicole retracted her hand and saw blood on her fingers from a cut underneath her eye. "Crap…" She looked up and started making her way to the bench.

"Taylor, what happened?" coach Landers asked and skated over to her.

"Just an elbow, I'm fine" she replied.

He squinted his eyes and saw right through her lie. "You don't look fine." He looked up as they reached the bench and found Maura's eyes. "Welcome back, doctor" he teased and smiled while he pointed to Nicole.

Nicole stepped off the ice and looked over her shoulder. Jane was still standing there in the corner with an unreadable expression.

"Come, let's get that fixed" Maura said as she walked over to Nicole and put a hand on her back. Nicole being just as tall as Jane, looked like a giant next to the small woman. Even without her skates on she had noticed the difference the first time they met. She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped and Maura looked up at her.

"What?"

"Sorry" Nicole shook her head. "I just feel like a freaking giant next to you right now."

Maura looked down at the skates on Nicole's feet and back up to her bleeding face while she smiled. "I completely understand. I feel rather small to be honest."

Nicole looked over her shoulder again before Maura gently nudged her to get moving.

"How did this really happened?" Maura asked as she wiped the blood off Nicole cheekbone. "I couldn't see it."

Nicole smiled slightly. "Just an unfortunate elbow. I don't think she even knew I was behind her."

"Who?"

"Jane. She was trying to get the puck out and I guess she moved her arm back just when I got there." Nicole winced as Maura came too close to her eye.

"Oh. I suppose things like this can happen in the blink of an eye sometimes." Maura managed to stop the bleeding and took a closer look. "I think some butterfly strips will be enough here" she said, mostly to herself.

Nicole watched as the doctor found the strips in her cabinet and started to wonder just what the story was between her and Jane to bring out the emotions in Jane. And could the emergency leave have something to do with it?

"So" Maura said as she turned back around. "How are you liking your new team so far?"

"It's awesome!" Nicole blurted out and made Maura chuckle. "I mean, it's what I've been dreaming about since they drafted me. And I'm doing pretty good as well if I may say so. At least now when I have players around me that I feel comfortable and have chemistry with. The two first games were freaking horrible."

Maura carefully placed the strips over the cut, mumbling a sorry when Nicole winced from the pain. "Yes, I saw part of the second game. I don't actually understand much when it comes to hockey, but it did look awful." She placed the last strip, gently pressing at the end, before she lowered her hands and straightened. "But you seem to play well with Jane?"

Nicole nodded. "Yeah. We just seemed to understand each other right away, so thank god for that! Playing with her is much easier than playing with… anyone else." She didn't really want to complain about Wallace in front of the doctor and barely saved herself. She had no idea what the others beside Jane felt about Wallace, and opening her big mouth wasn't really a smart move in the beginning.

"That is good to hear." Maura stopped to take a look at Nicole's eye. "That is most likely going to swell. I will find you an ice pack." She went back to her cabinets and kneeled in front of the lower ones. "So… are you and Jane friends off the ice too?"

The tone in Maura's voice caught Nicole's attention. She sounded almost nervous. "Yeah" Nicole answered before she swallowed and decided to test a theory. "Although she's not very happy with me at the moment…" The response was immediate.

"Oh?" Maura turned to look at Nicole. "Is she mad at you?" She found the ice pack and squeezed it to activate the reaction that lowered its temperature.

Nicole shrugged before she took the ice pack Maura was holding out to her. She put it against her eye and sighed. "Seems like it. Weird thing is that I have no freaking clue what I've done. I think she's going through some stuff though, and just lashed out at me for no apparent reason."

The doctor stood still in front of Nicole and looked at her for a moment. "Did something happen to her?" she asked carefully.

"I don't know. But something changed during the game in LA. She just… snapped. And she wouldn't talk to any of us. I know she hasn't been sleeping enough so I told her before practice today. Suggested that she'd ask you for help. I thought maybe you'd have some ideas."

Maura looked down at the floor, studying her shoes before she cleared her throat and moved to her desk. "I have learned a thing or two about Rizzoli while she's been here, and I know she doesn't like to ask for help. She seems to want to deal with things on her own. But I am sorry to hear about this." She stopped behind her desk and looked back at Nicole. "I do hope you will work things out."

"Yeah, me too" Nicole mumbled, slightly disappointed that the doctor didn't reveal anything. The use of Jane's last name was the only thing she noticed, but that could mean anything. "How long should I ice it?" she asked and pointed to her eye.

"For now, about ten minutes. You should however ice it a few more times during the day."

Nicole nodded. "Sure thing, doc."

Jane kept watching the bench area while Nicole was gone, anxious to see her return. Practice continued, but Jane couldn't focus at all. She had felt her elbow hitting something, and when she had turned around and seen the cut on Nicole's face, Jane had felt her heart sink to her stomach. In the back of her mind she knew it was simply an accident, and surely Nicole knew that, but it was still hard to face the fact that she had just physically hurt her friend. So when Nicole finally came back to the ice, Jane was quick to skate over to her. She saw the strips holding the cut together, and Nicole's eye had already started to swell. "Shit" Jane mumbled with a sad voice. "Did I do that?"

Nicole smiled. "Technically, yeah. I know it wasn't on purpose. And I'm fine. It happens." She tapped Jane's arm with the back of her glove.

"But still… I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

"It's okay. Really."

Jane sighed. As Nicole was about to move past her, she reached out and grabbed Nicole's arm. "Hey. Can we talk later?" she asked, voice low and hopeful.

Nicole took a moment to look at her before she nodded. "Sure… we can talk."

Jane entered the locker room when everyone was almost changed and ready to go home. Coach Landers had asked her to stay behind after practice, and Jane had known right away what it was all about. She had tried to brush off her bad performance in Los Angeles as a bad day, but wasn't sure she had been successful. Coach had said it was okay and then moved on to some details in her play that he wanted to discuss. So when Jane finally sat down on the bench in the locker room, Nicole was getting dressed.

"Want me to wait?" she asked as she sat down and looked across the room at Jane.

"Yeah, sure."

The room emptied as Jane changed and eventually, she and Nicole were the only ones left. Jane had a head full of questions about almost everything, but especially about Nicole's visit to the doctor. At the same time, she felt bad for the accidental hit and the yelling earlier in the morning. The blood on Nicole's face had been a wakeup call. If Jane was so angry and frustrated that she managed to physically hurt her friends, she needed to take a step back. Or forward. And that first step was clear.

"I know you're wondering what is wrong with me… and… I'm sorry for yelling at you before. I'm not really good at keeping my cool." Jane forced herself to keep eye contact with Nicole while she spoke, trying to show she really meant it.

Nicole got up and crossed the room. "It's okay, Jane. I know you're a firework of emotions sometimes" she smiled and sat down.

"Yeah" Jane scoffed but smiled. "And I really didn't mean to elbow you either." The look on Nicole's face told Jane that she didn't need to worry, Nicole knew that.

"Like I said, I'm fine. It's not like it's my first cut or black eye."

Jane simply nodded and looked at the few strips on the right cheekbone. "Looks like it was an easy fix for doc" she said carefully. The curiosity was too demanding, and Jane tried to steer their conversation to Maura. She needed to know what was said in that office.

Nicole smirked. "Yeah, didn't really require any advanced skills. Not that doctor Isles isn't talented!"

"She's a great doctor…"

"I haven't exactly been running down her door so I wouldn't know, but I take your word for it."

"Have you even met her before today?" Jane knew she didn't sound as casual as she hoped for, but let it slide.

"Barely." Nicole leaned against the wall while looking at Jane. "I met her at the medical test when I signed. But not after that."

Jane nodded and desperately tried to think for the next thing to say to keep the direction. It wasn't like she could just ask what they had talked about. "Yeah… I think she left the day before you got called up so…" She reached for her water bottle and slowly twisted off the cap.

"Why did she really leave?" Nicole asked, and caused Jane to smile relieved for a brief moment. It was almost invisible.

"I'm not sure… One day she just wasn't here." Her heart was starting to beat louder, at least that's what it sounded like to Jane. "I guess she didn't say anything either?"

"Nah… not really."

Jane glanced at Nicole out of the corner of her eye, about to tell her to keep talking, but Nicole seemed to have read Jane's thoughts.

"She just said she had some personal stuff to take care of that happened during the break. I didn't wanna ask."

"No, of course not…" Jane paused. Took a long and slow sip of her water before she put the cap back on. "Did you guys talk much? I mean… I spent the first few times in her office without us really talking at all. It was like a complete crash… And I couldn't understand why that fashionable chick in high heels wanted to work with a group of hockey players" Jane rambled on. "Like who wears high heels at a hockey rink?"

Nicole laughed and nodded. "I've thought the same, but I think she's actually easy to talk to. We talked a lot about me and how I've experienced the call up."

"Cool" Jane smiled but wanted to hit herself. She was so awful at this and why was Nicole answering her weird questions without as much as raising an eyebrow at her? Jane's head started racing again from the new information. If they had talked about Nicole's call up, maybe Maura had even asked about the chemistry with Jane? It was usually all over the papers after a game, so why not?

Silence settled between the two of them and Jane was staring down at the floor with the bottle still in her hands. She never saw the looks from Nicole.

"Okay, question…." Nicole interrupted the silence after a minute.

Jane kept staring at the floor, but turned to Nicole when no word was said.

"Is she single?"

Jane froze, her eyes focused on Nicole's and she didn't blink for a long time. "What?"

"Is she single?" Nicole repeated, with a smile this time.

"Are you serious?" Jane asked slightly shocked.

"Yeah. She's fucking hot!"

Jane shook her head and leaned back while she stared at the ceiling. "And you're too fucking young for her, so drop it."

Nicole smirked. "Come on, she can't be that old!"

"She's eleven years older than you!" Jane blurted out and turned back to Nicole. "She's not gonna be interested in a teenager. Trust me! You're too young."

"Fine…" Nicole pretended to give up and patiently waited until the look on Jane's face returned from what could only be described as painful. "So… What the hell went down between you two?"

The question made Jane quickly turn her head to Nicole again. "What? Who says anything went down?!"

Nicole laughed shortly. "Seriously? Come on! I'm not blind. I know Maura was at the game in LA, where you seemed to lose your shit. Then she's at the practice and again you lose your shit. And now you basically interrogate me about what she and I talked about while she fixed me up? I don't need anyone to tell me that there is a story between you two."

Jane returned her stare to the floor and bit her bottom lip. "I didn't interrogate you…" she mumbled. She knew it was a dead giveaway, but was too exhausted to care.

"Sure felt like it… So what's the story?" Nicole pushed on.

It took a few silent moments and some uncomfortable shifting before Jane sighed. "There is no story."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then what was the story? What happened between you two?"

"You know what? You really fit in on this team, cause you're a freaking daredevil!" She didn't mean to sound angry, but it still came out pretty harsh. She looked at Nicole to see if she had scared her, but no. Nicole sat there, looking at her and waiting for the story. Jane sighed. She couldn't handle anymore emotions, she didn't want to either. The mental stress was driving her crazy and just the thought of trying to deny everything seemed overwhelming. "We… we kinda got close a few times. And it got to the point where it was more than just… physical for me. Then I found out she was engaged, we fought, she left and now she's back. End of story."

"Oh…" Nicole said slowly. "Now things completely make sense! That's why you looked so sad when I first met you. But you said she was engaged, is she still engaged?"

The laughter bubbling from Jane's mouth surprised them both. Jane shook her head in frustration. "You're pushing my limits right now!" she halfheartedly warned. "But no, I don't think she is. Last thing I heard was that they split when he found out about me…"

"Dude!" Nicole reached over and slapped Jane's knee. "He found out?! How?"

"Not important" Jane rushed out, not ready to let Nicole know about the embarrassing night.

"But if you like her…" Nicole carefully tested the word. "Why aren't you over there making up with her?"

Nicole's youth and naivety was usually a breath of fresh air, despite Jane still being young in some terms, but when it came to Maura, Jane felt Nicole wouldn't understand things. "I really don't wanna discuss this right now, it's… complicated."

"Hey… I'm 18. Complicated is my everyday life! I totally understand complicated" Nicole smiled. "And don't make it sound like you're so fucking grown up."

Jane laughed again and took a deep breath. "It's just… we had a big argument right before she left, and I guess I'm still angry about some stuff we both said. And I was not mentally prepared for her to show up out of nowhere in LA."

"No kidding…" Nicole mumbled before she cleared her throat, like an attempt to hide the comment. "Hey, can I ask some questions…? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I'm curious, and I've only found random pieces of this puzzle so far."

"Sure, go ahead" Jane replied.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Jane shook her head. "It didn't get that far." She placed the bottle between her feet on the floor and looked at it.

"So you just fooled around?"

A simple nod.

Nicole pulled her knee up on the bench and turned to face Jane. "So she obviously likes you. And you know she's single, she's back and she's not giving you angry looks. Why aren't you over there talking with her? Make up for whatever went down."

Jane stood up and started pacing around in the middle of the room. "You don't know her at all, you don't even know the details of what happened. Hell, you've barely seen me and her in the same room, what makes you think she even wants to be alone in the same room as me?"

"Well, I obviously can't read people's minds, but why would she not want to make up with you?"

"He found out because of me." Jane stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. "I was going completely crazy on New Year's eve. The team had a party and she was there in the beginning. We started making out, got caught and afterwards she disappeared. I went home to her. He was there and figured it out from my reaction when he popped up out of freaking nowhere to stand by her side and just rub it in my face!" The words rolled off her tongue like pearls on a string. She had no way of stopping them. "She blamed me for him leaving. And I totally get it! She doesn't want me. End of story."

"Has she told you that she doesn't want you? Cause from what I've seen, you guys haven't spoken a word to each other yet. So why are you so sure she doesn't want you?"

Jane shook her head while laughing sarcastically. "Oh, I'm sure. She took out emergency leave because of me. She left, and obviously even left the state to get away. She flew to the other side of the country! That tells me something…"

Nicole grinned while she stood up and walked over to Jane. "You're a moron, you know that?" The look on Jane's face made her laugh. "Jane… she's the doctor, she knows our schedule. She had to know we would be in LA that day. If she absolutely doesn't want anything to do with you, then why did she show up at the game? Why did she watch our practice today if she can't stand your face? You're not seeing things clearly right now."

"She's professional" Jane tried to argue, but knew it was a weak point. Maura did know their schedule, and the longer Jane thought about what Nicole had said, the more sense it made in her mind. Maura hadn't showed up at the game to chat with coach Landers. No coach, no matter what sport, would schedule a meeting at a game. The two of them in the hall between two periods had to be coincidental.

"You're not convincing me, Rizzoli. You're just scared. Which doesn't sound like you at all!"

Jane avoided eye contact and shifted in her spot. She hated being called scared.

"Okay, answer me this then" Nicole continued when Jane made no sign to speak. "You say she blamed you for her relationship crashing, and you understand her. Why? Why are you to blame for something you both did?"

"Because I was drunk, crazy, confused, frustrated, you name it, when I decided to show up at her door! I had no right going to her home and pour my heart out…"

"But… okay…" Nicole knitted her eyebrows and seemed to be thinking. "How long did you two fool around? Until you found out about this dude."

Jane tried to think back, find something that could give her an idea of the time period. "I'm not sure…. Three weeks maybe…"

"Three weeks…. Why didn't she tell you about him for three weeks while you were fooling around?" Nicole sounded almost frustrated.

Why was an 18-year-old girl asking questions that Jane should've asked herself, and Maura, already? Why didn't Maura tell Jane about whatever his name was? She had without hesitation said she wasn't married, but casually mention that she was engaged was too difficult? Jane ran her hands over her face and sighed. "I don't know, okay? You gotta ask her that."

Nicole slapped Jane's upper arm, not too hard but still firm enough to receive a glare. "No, stupid!" she chuckled. "YOU need to ask her that. You need to grow a pair and face her and talk. Ask her what the hell happens now. And if you could start over again. Now that this stupid guy is out of the picture."

Jane stared at Nicole for a moment before she turned around and walked over to the bench to sit down. "Why are you pushing me? You've known me for three weeks!" Jane laughed shortly and shook her head. "And why the hell am I telling you shit that I haven't even told my best friend for almost ten years? This is not making sense…"

"I'll take that as a compliment" Nicole smiled. "But come on, if you are this upset over her leaving, or coming back or whatever, there has to be some sort of feelings. And if you were starting to fall for h-"

"No! Don't say that… please" Jane interrupted her. "I hate those words."

Nicole started to grin. "Badass Jane Rizzoli can't face the fact that she's falling for someone, huh?"

Jane looked up and tilted her head, trying to give her best sarcastic look. "You're approaching thin ice, missy" she warned.

"Yeah! I know." Nicole sat down next to Jane and looked at her. "But I'm trying to find that fearless, sarcastic and tough badass I know is inside of you. So what if you have a soft side? Who wouldn't go soft for a woman like her? I just want you to see that you two should talk. Find out if she's over this thing you guys had, or if she wants to give it another shot. You don't know until you ask. And I honestly don't want you to go around moping because she is here. Besides, ending anything with a fight isn't really the best choice."

Jane's head fell back against the wall while she closed her eyes. She already knew Heather and Danielle would tell her to clear things up with Maura, but now Nicole too? Her head was starting to hurt and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I seriously need some time to think about all this. I'm too exhausted right now…"

"It's okay. I know you're tired" Nicole said and patted Jane's knee. "Go home and get some rest. There's a new day tomorrow" she winked.

Jane slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. She knew what that last remark meant, and she started laughing. "Screw you…."

Nicole laughed as well before a silence slowly settled between them. She looked at Jane before she leaned on her knees. "Hey… when I asked if she was single… I didn't mean that I was gonna hit on her, I hope you know that" she explained.

Jane nodded. "I was hoping you were just messing with me, yeah."

"Good…" Nicole slowly nodded before she stood up. "I'm glad." She put her hands in her pockets and bit her bottom lip, like she was trying to fight off a smirk. "Although she is actually pretty damn hot…" She had to react fast to avoid the foot that was aiming for her shin, and she started laughing again.