"You know. I do believe you made a joke yesterday." Maura and Jane were seated across from each other at an Italian restaurant – Maura's choice – sipping some fancy wine. Jane had to admit it tasted good though. Maura raised her eyebrows over her glass, silently asking Jane what she was talking about.

"The whole naked thing. You made a joke. I was quite proud." Maura's laugh reverberated around them. Jane's heart warmed at the sound. It was something she was never going to get tired off.

"You were proud I made a joke?" Jane nodded, a warm smile on her face.

"Oh yeah. I mean, you can't really catch on when I'm sarcastic or when I'm using idioms, but at least we're getting somewhere in the joke department." Maura rolled her eyes, her smile betraying her amusement.

"Way to make a woman feel special Jane." The Detective leaned forward, leaning her chin on her right palm.

"Oh I have very different methods of making you feel special Maur. You might see some of them tonight." Maura chuckled at the look in Jane's eyes.

"I can't wait."

Jane sat back in her chair, looking up when the waitress set their food down in front of them. Smiling politely, she waited until the girl left.

"Looks good." She could feel her mouth water, grabbing her utensils in excitement. Maura smiled at the sight before her.

"I'm glad you're so excited." There was a hint of teasing there, which Jane seemed to be oblivious at, her eyes fixed on the plate in front of her.

"I'm not really one to go out to a fancy restaurant. Not really my thing." She grabbed a forkful and was about to take a bite when the realization of what she had just said hit her.

Her eyes snapped up into hazel ones and she swallowed thickly. "When I'm alone." Seeing the unconvinced look in Maura's eyes, she lowered the fork back down to her plate. "I meant to say that uhh…" Great. Way to score points there Rizzoli. Telling her that this isn't your 'thing'. What does that even mean? God, she's going to be angry.

Jane waited for the inevitable, mentally bracing herself for the impact. But it never came.

"Just eat your food Jane." There wasn't anger or resentment in her tone. And her eyes didn't portray any of these feelings as well. Jane smiled vaguely, having an inkling feeling that this would come back to bite her in the ass later on.

Bringing the fork back to her mouth she took a bite, moaning in pleasure. She missed the way Maura's eyes darkened and how she licked her lips, her eyes fixed on Jane's face. The Detective had her eyes closed, enjoying the feast going on in her mouth. She was oblivious to what she was doing to Maura.

"Next time just tell me to not put my foot in my mouth. That can save us a lot of embarrassing moments." Jane laughed at her own joke, opening her eyes to look at the woman across from her.

Maura was frowning. Jane's words had snapped her out of her haze, but what she said was lost on the Doctor. "Put your foot in your mouth? You're very flexible Jane, but it seems highly improbable that you could put your foot in your mouth. You might just be able to lay them in your neck." Jane's face went from incredulous to amused very quickly and her laughter caused several couples to look at them. Some in amusement, others in anger.

Maura's eyes darted around, shooting quick apologetic smiles their way. "Jane! Stop it!" The Detective calmed down, waving Maura off.

"Oh Maura." She wiped at her eyes, taking a deep breath in the process. "You just topped yesterday's joke!" Maura frowned, crossing her arms.

"I wasn't joking Jane." The other woman blinked a few times, waiting for the other woman to tell her she was kidding. But she never did. She was serious.

"Wh-What?" Even though Jane knew that Maura wasn't joking, a part of her was still waiting for her to suddenly burst out in laughter. But it stayed awfully quiet.

"I don't appreciate you laughing at me Jane." There it was. The anger. But it came accompanied by sadness. The same exact thing Jane had sworn she was going to get rid of forever.

"I-I'm sorry Maur. I just… really thought you were joking. I mean… it's a figure of speech. Foot in mouth? You've never heard of that?" Maura glanced away for a moment, trying to hide the tears from Jane.

But the other woman wasn't a Detective because of her good looks. She noticed immediately.

"Hey, you're not… are you crying?" The sight broke Jane's heart.

"I-I just… have a foreign body on my cornea." Maura reached to wipe at her eye, sniffling.

"Hey, come on. Maura please." Jane dropped her head. Great. Why is this suddenly so hard?

"It's fine Jane. I'm used to it. Let's just finish dinner please." The Detective raised her head to watch Maura pick up her own fork and take a delicate bite.

Both had lost their appetites. Jane sighed softly, picking up her own fork. An awkward silence enveloped them as they quietly finished their meal. By the time their dessert arrived, Jane had had enough. She was stupid and Maura had to know that she was sorry.

Setting her spoon down, she cleared her throat, scratching at her cast. Maura looked at her, an even look in her eyes. Jane remembered that look all too well.

"Maura. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said. I just…" The Detective shuffled in her seat, trying to form a coherent sentence. "What I meant earlier was that I never come here, because I never had anyone to join me. And I'm not a person to come to a place like this alone. I already stand out enough as it is. And the whole foot in mouth thing is just an idiom. I know you're not good at understanding it, and I'm sorry for laughing at you. I really didn't mean to. Everything was just… I'm just really nervous and I don't want to screw this up. Although I already did and I understand if you're angry at me. Let me just try and make up… please?"

Jane held her breath waiting for Maura to reply. The honey blonde took her time, cocking her head to one side as she thought about Jane's apology. A few minutes later, she nodded, sighing softly.

"I'm not angry with you Jane. I'm… disappointed maybe. I never thought you would be like all the others. But maybe I was too naïve. Maybe I really wanted to believe you weren't like them, that I closed my eyes for it." Jane's eyes widened as she realized what Maura was saying.

"But that's exactly what I'm trying to say! I'm not like the others." She reached out her right hand, taking Maura's left. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when the other woman didn't pull away. "All these things. Everything about you. From your quirkiness to the fact that you don't understand idioms to spouting of facts at random… all of it… it makes you who you are. It makes you the person that I wanted to get to know better. If you weren't like that, we wouldn't have been here. All the other people that you told me about think you're weird, that everything you do is crazy. But… I don't. Okay, maybe I do find it a little weird, but everyone is weird. You've met my mother, she is the definition of weird." Jane smiled, watching the corners up Maura's lips go up.

"You know I'm not good with words and I really hope that you're understanding what I'm trying to say. To put it bluntly. I like you the way you are. From the hair on your head to the red nail polish on your toes. And I wouldn't want to change a single thing about you." This time when Jane saw tears appear in Maura's eyes, she hoped that it wasn't because she just said everything completely wrong.

"Thank you. No one has ever said something so sweet to me before." Jane smirked at the honey blonde, giving her hand a squeeze.

"Well, get used to it. Because I'm just getting started." They shared a short laugh and Jane felt the tension float away, hopefully finding a different couple to pester.

"How about we finish dessert and we'll go back to my place?" Jane nodded at Maura's proposal, retreating her hand to finish her ice cream. She instantly missed the contact, pouting at the dish in front of her. The damn thing was cutting into her time of touching Maura.

Maura smiled, reaching over to lay her hand atop of Jane's left one. The Detective tried to hide her smile behind a bite of ice cream, but Maura knew better. She just hoped that their relationship would make Jane ask for her help now and then. She knew how stubborn the Detective could be.

They arrived home thirty minutes later, both not feeling the need to start a conversation on the ride home. It was completely different than when they were at the restaurant. Maura let them both in, immediately heading over to the fridge to grab some strawberries for Bass.

Jane watched with a smile on her face as Maura sat down and offered the treat to her pet, murmuring soft words to the creature. She kept her eyes fixed on the huge rock and watched as his head slowly poked out of his shell, carefully taking the offered strawberry from his owner. Maura smiled and petted him, before going back to the fridge to grab something for the both of them to drink.

Jane made her way over to the counter, sitting down as she kept her eyes on Bass. Watching the tortoise slowly eat his dinner. She only looked up when a beer was placed in front of her. Smiling up at Maura in thanks, she took a generous sip.

"Jane?" The Detective hummed, setting her beer down. Turning her attention to Maura next to her, she waited for her to continue.

"Can I ask you something?" Normally Jane would've joked about it, telling her she just did, but the seriousness in Maura's voice made her swallow her comment.

"Of course." Maura's eyes locked onto her own.

"How would you feel if I asked Angela to move into the guesthouse?" Jane stared at the other woman. She had no idea what to say to that. Other than 'hell no'.

"Uhm Maur. The moment that woman moves in here you've lost your privacy. Please don't do it." The honey blonde sighed.

"I can make proper rules about that Jane. She has everything she needs in the guesthouse so she doesn't have a reason to come in here." Jane snorted, taking another sip of her beer.

"You don't know my mother. She doesn't need a reason to come over. She just does and she doesn't knock either. Besides, what if we… y'know. Want some time alone? I don't want my mother walking in on us."

"Is that the reason? You don't want Angela to know about us?" Jane's head snapped over to Maura so quickly she almost got whiplash.

"I didn't say that."

"Not precisely no."

It got quiet for a moment, the awkwardness of earlier returning. Jane mentally cursed Maura for bringing this up. Why the hell would she want to ask a completely strange woman to come and live in her guesthouse? And then to say that it was because she didn't want to tell her mother about them. What was there to tell? They weren't together. Were they? Jane groaned out loud. Why did she have to make all of this so complicated?

"I'm sorry Jane. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, you shouldn't have."

"But-"

"Maura please!" Maura swallowed thickly, turning away from Jane. The Detective sighed, guilt washing over her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Can we just drop this? This whole night has been weird. I just want to spend the rest of this night on the couch with my girlfriend and a beer and watch a movie or something." They both froze as Jane finished her sentence.

"Girlfriend?" Setting her beer back down, Jane let her eyes fall on the woman beside her. Maura was smiling, her eyes sparkling. Jane suddenly got uncomfortable.

"Well, if you want. I…" She didn't even know what she wanted to say. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Maura said no. She'd been saying and doing all the wrong things tonight.

"I would love to Jane." The Detective swallowed thickly, a smile making its way to her lips.

And when Maura's lips met her own, she completely forgot what they had been arguing about moments before. Maura pulled back, biting her lip as she smiled down at Jane.

"How about that movie?" Jane let herself be guided to the couch, settling in as Maura picked a movie. Returning to the couch moments later, the honey blonde snuggled into Jane, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

Jane sighed internally. She couldn't concentrate on the movie, her mind kept going over their previous conversation. Was Maura right? Did she not want Angela to know about them? Or anyone for that matter? And was that really the reason why she didn't want her mother to move into Maura's guesthouse? No, it surely wasn't. She couldn't just ask that of her girlfriend. It would be weird wouldn't it?

Jane shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking of this right now. Maura had dropped it, per her request. And even though she knew that the honey blonde would bring it up the next time Jane started complaining about her mother, she decided to try and stop thinking about it. After all, their relationship had been taken to the next step.