Sleeping on it didn't help Jane at all and she woke up the next day still feeling emotionally drained. Nicole's words were spinning in her head all morning, and Jane was slowly starting to agree with some of the observations her friend had made. On her way over to the rink, Jane knew she probably would be face to face with the doctor soon, but she was still not sure about what she wanted to say. Or even do.

She barely managed to stop to avoid crashing into the other person coming around the corner. Jane mumbled a 'sorry' before she looked up and stared right into hazel eyes. Her throat closed up and for a few seconds, she forgot to breathe. They both stopped and stood still at the corner, looking at each other. Maura had been back for more than 30 hours, and it was just now that Jane found herself alone with the doctor. The hallway was empty and she wasn't even sure if she liked it or not.

"Hi" Maura said after a long silence. Such a simple word and it still seemed loaded with tension.

Jane swallowed and let out a slow breath. "Hey…"

"How have you been?" Maura took a short step back to be able to look at Jane without craning her neck too much.

"Uhm… fine. I guess" Jane stuttered. She watched Maura move back and instantly started to analyze the situation. Despite plenty of time, she had never found an answer to what she wanted to say or do when this moment eventually came. She knew she would face Maura again, alone. The conversation with Nicole was still spinning around in her head, and Jane took in a deep breath before she exhaled. "Can we talk?"

Maura blinked a few times, seemingly surprised, before she nodded. "Yes, of course. Do you want to go to my office?"

Jane nodded shortly before she took charge and headed towards the office. She almost barged in through the door, trying to be confident, and sat down in one of the chairs. The click of Maura's heels was the only sound in the room as she walked over to her desk. She was about to sit down in her chair, but changed her mind and leaned against the wall behind her desk. Jane watched the doctor briefly fiddling with the sleeve of her shirt before folding her hands in front of her. "I…" Jane trailed off as she looked up and met Maura's eyes.

Maura was patient, like she was giving Jane time to gather her words.

"I didn't really know how to deal with you showing up in LA like that… It totally threw me off guard."

"I understand, Jane. Perhaps I should have considered your reaction before I came to the rink."

Jane looked down at her hands. "Then why did you just show up like that?"

"It seemed convenient at the time. I needed to talk to coach Landers, and he was there in the same city as me."

The question of why Maura was in LA to begin with was burning on the tip of Jane's tongue, but she fought to stay on track, and be rational. She had no reason to ask, and she was afraid she would blurt out all the things that had gone through her mind since the fight at the doorstep of Maura's house if she didn't take one step at a time. Another silence settled between them before Jane opened her mouth to speak. "Are you… did he really leave you?"

Maura quickly looked away when Jane made eye contact and sighed softly. It took a few moments for her answer to slip from her lips. "Yes, he did…"

Jane knew she should apologize, that her next words should be a sort of admission that she knew what she had done. But as she sat there staring at Maura, she wasn't ready at all to officially confirm that she was to blame for Ryan finding out.

Maura eyed the chair next to her but still didn't make a move to sit down. Instead she slowly breathed in. "Jane, are you mad at me?"

"What? No" Jane blurted out and looked up. She saw a look in Maura's eyes that could only be described as challenging, like she knew Jane wasn't being completely honest. "Okay, maybe I'm a bit mad…"

"Why?"

"Because you just left." Jane leaned back in the chair and rested her elbows on the armrests. "You yelled at me, blamed me for everything and just took off. Then you show up out of nowhere in LA! Yes, I was pissed to be honest! You had no right showing up like that, on the other side of the country. I thought I at least wouldn't have to worry about seeing you in freaking California…"

"I know." Maura surrendered and finally sat down in her chair. "I should have known it was wrong of me to surprise you like that. It wasn't easy to come back for me either. I had a feeling you were mad at me."

"So why did you leave?"

"I needed time away from everything. I needed the time and space to figure out if my relationship was worth fighting for."

Jane completely ignored the calmness in Maura's voice. She locked eyes with the doctor across the desk, and once again she was burning from the words on her tongue. "Was it?"

Maura stared back at Jane before she slowly shook her head. "No, it wasn't. I learned a few things and I couldn't see how it was supposed to last even before… you…" Her eyes found something interesting on the desk and focused intensely on it.

Jane could clearly feel the awkwardness surround them both and she wasn't sure how to tackle the confession. She only knew she had to do something and got up. With her fists closed she started to slowly walk around in the small room. Just a few simple words like that, and Jane knew she wasn't ready to start digging in what she had tried to convince herself was the past. Judging by the nervous fidgeting, Maura wasn't ready either. Jane hid a sigh while she ran a hand through her hair. She had no idea how to move on.

"Jane" Maura said softly and stood up before she smoothed her skirt. "Do you think we can go back to working together? Without it being too uncomfortable?"

Jane spun around to face the doctor, her mouth open. Just a few seconds ago, she had been fed a glimmer of hope and now it all crashed. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Yeah, sure…" she mumbled and looked away.

"It's just that I need to keep my personal life away from work right now."

Another punch in the gut. "I get it" Jane replied without too much interest. She looked back at Maura before she turned around towards the door. "I'll leave my personal life at the door. At home I mean. Not this…" She sighed and tore her eyes from the door that was currently her exit out of hell.

Maura smiled carefully and folded her hands in front of her.

"Don't worry, doc, I'll be out of your hair." Jane knew it was a flat out lie; there was no way she would be able to just sweep everything under the carpet and pretend like nothing ever happened. But she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Thank you, Jane" Maura said with a small sigh as Jane headed for the door.

"Don't mention it…" Jane stopped and turned to look at Maura before she faked a smile. "I better get going. I'll see you around I guess."

As Maura smiled, Jane opened the door and took a few quick steps to get out of the office before she exhaled deeply.

Jane was in the middle of making dinner later that day when her phone rang. Danielle's photo covered the screen, and Jane swiped to accept the call. "Hey, what's up?"

"Are you home?" The question was basically crumbled into one word.

"Yeah… why? You sound stressed."

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

The call ended before Jane had the chance to say a word, and she chuckled while she put down her phone. Danielle had never been good at stress, and it was usually very funny to watch.

It took almost twenty minutes before Danielle barged in. Jane was finished eating and was sitting on the couch with her feet on the table. "Please, come in" she teased.

"Shut up, Rizzoli" Danielle said with a smile playing on her lips. "You have no idea who I ran into at the seminar today." She shook off her jacket and kicked off her shoes before she stopped in the middle of the room and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Okay… I believe you. I don't know."

"Take a guess, a wild, wild guess. Just to play along."

Jane raised an eyebrow at the bait. A warning bell rang in the back of her head, and the doctor's face danced before her eyes. Jane hadn't told Danielle about Maura's return yet, and even if Danielle was busy with school at the moment, Jane knew she would be yelled at when the truth finally came out. "I don't know… Just tell me." She tried to act cool.

"Nah, that's no fun" Danielle smirked and sank down on the couch next to Jane. "Oh, by the way, how is Maura these days?"

Jane sighed and leaned her head back against the couch.

"Yeah" Danielle said slowly and nodded. "When were you gonna tell me that she is back?!" She carefully punched Jane on the arm. "Can you imagine my surprise when she fucking shows up at the seminar? Of course, this totally explains why I haven't heard from you the last two days. So come on, spill! Before I beat it out of you!"

"Okay." Jane took her feet down from the table and straightened. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner-"

"Yeah, cut the crap. Just tell me what's happened."

Jane let out a short laugh and shook her head. "Okay fine. She was officially back at work yesterday."

"And you didn't know she was coming back?"

"No. Or… well, kinda." A pair of big eyes stared at her. "She showed up out of nowhere at the game in LA on Saturday. I had no idea!"

Danielle put her feet up on the cushions and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Okay, from the top, please. And don't leave out any details!"

Jane followed orders and told Danielle everything that had happened since the frozen moment in LA, including Nicole's pep talk. She knew Danielle would have a lot to say about certain things, so when she finished the story, she leaned back and waited for her friend to talk.

"Okay… that was a lot. But Jane, you lied to her. There's no fucking way you'll be able to leave your heart and emotions at home."

"I know" Jane muttered.

"But I won't be surprised if she already knows this. I think she's gotten to know you well enough by now. And hey, at least she wasn't angry. It could've been worse, right?"

"I guess."

"So you gotta play it cool for a while, you can do that." Danielle suddenly got up and headed for the kitchen while she spoke. "Did you talk about this former fiancé of hers?"

Jane shook her head, but realized after a short silence that Danielle didn't see her. "No, we didn't." She turned around to watch Danielle snooping around in her cabinets. "What the hell are you looking for?"

Danielle stopped her search and looked back at Jane. "Anything that is considered snacks for us mortal people. Why didn't you talk about him? Aren't you curious about what happened between them?"

"Yeah, but… I guess I wasn't ready to talk about all the shit that went down. And then she shot me down again." Jane turned back around and sighed.

"Why was she even in LA that day?" Danielle returned with a bag of chips she opened like it was her own, and sat back down.

"I don't know."

"You didn't ask her?"

"No" Jane shook her head. "And I don't know why I didn't ask."

Danielle smiled from how Jane answered the question Danielle hadn't asked yet. "So are you just going to act like normal again, whatever that means, and just forget anything ever happened?"

Jane shrugged and sighed. "That's what she wants so…"

Danielle laughed and shook her head. "I give you two weeks. Tops! Unless you get your shit together and actually talk to her, like seriously talk, about everything."

"Yeah, thanks for having my back" Jane spat out with as much sarcasm she could find. Danielle continued to laugh, and Jane knew they could sit there for hours talking about that specific subject. And most likely would.

Three Straight

It seems like the Devils have found their game on home ice now after beating Washington 4-2, making it three straight wins here in Boston. Once again did the fearless duo (Rizzoli/Taylor) provide good offence and a couple of goals. It's just their fifth game playing together, but with the chemistry they have, it could only be an injury that can separate them now. Rizzoli, with 10 points in her last 6 games, is leading the team in goals (16) after 29 of 52 games. Taylor is not doing so bad either, with 5 points in her 7 games and being a huge part of Rizzoli's goals in almost every game.

After just over half of the season is done, Boston is currently in a comfortable 9th position in the standings, something coach Landers likes.

"We are still rebuilding this team so being number 9 right now is something we're happy about. Our wins have been solid lately and that is something we have to keep going, not losing games with just one goal. And with just one major injury so far [Perry] we've been lucky."

The Devils are going out on a road trip now against three strong teams, including last year's cup winner, Texas.