"Hey, Frankie, I'm curious," Jane began, wandering over to her brother who was sitting at the bar.
"About?" He asked, taking a pull from his beer.
"How'd you know Frost's mom and her roommate were together?" She quickly moved to defend herself. "I mean, I know my reasons for knowing, but what were yours?"
Frankie snorted, "That's easy. They acted just like you and Maura: so married," he explained and shrugged. Jane froze.
"What? But we aren't – I mean, I love Maur, but – Frankie, I'm not dating Maura!" Jane sputtered.
He chuckles into his beer. "Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that."
Bristling, Jane forcefully turned Frankie's face toward her. "Explain. Now. Please."
The younger Rizzoli sighed. "Look, okay, you and Maura just have this thing and it's like you guys are dating, just without sex. Well, as far as we know, but feel free not to enlighten me about that, and a lot of the behaviours the two of you exhibit toward each other were mirrored with Frost's mom and her girlfriend, so it was pretty darn obvious."
Jane couldn't decide between slapping her brother or fleeing the bar. Frankie must have sensed the possibility of hostility because he was quick to elaborate. "It's nothing bad, Jane, it's just that you guys are barely out of the other's presence, you two touch a lot, and, come on, some of your guys' eye contact had me pretty embarrassed just 'cause I was witnessing it!"
Still shocked, Jane couldn't say a word, but by now Frankie was on a roll. "But the biggest indicator of you two, you know, is that you let her touch your hands. Like, all the time. I rarely get away with that; hell, Ma rarely gets away with that. But you let her touch your scars and that's the big, bright neon sign."
Jane sank onto the stool beside her brother, no longer able to stand on her weak knees. Frankie cast a glance in her direction before patting her on the shoulder. "S'okay, Sis, now you know."
Yeah. She knew alright. Goddamn, she was the detective for crying out loud, she should've seen the signs before freaking Frankie did! Still unable to speak, she ruffled Frankie's hair affectionately, ignoring his indignant, "Hey!" and made a beeline for the door and her car.
Her mind was numb as she raced through Boston streets and by the time she found herself on the doorstep of a nice house in Beacon Hill she'd been frequenting a lot lately, her heart was hammering in her chest, the pulse blasting in her ears. In a sudden burst of courage, she rapped on the door and waited both eagerly and warily for it to open.
When it did, words burst out of her, halting the doctor in her greeting, "Why aren't we dating?"
Maura's jaw dropped only slightly, the rigourous training of her childhood coming into play. "Pardon?"
Jane shuffled her feet and started wringing her hands. "Frankie, he pointed it out to me. We act like we're dating, we seem like we're dating, so why aren't we dating?"
Maura narrowed her eyes at the detective, scrutinising for signs of alcohol consumption. Finding none, she automatically reached for Jane's hands, stilling the nervous habit.
"See?!" Jane demanded, gesturing toward their hands. Maura just looked at her, utterly perplexed. Suddenly, Jane yanked her hands back from Maura. "Sorry, I'm being stupid, I don't know what's wrong with me; I gotta go." And she nearly sprinted to her car.
Maura was stunned, but she recovered enough to chase after the detective, almost knocking Jane into the car door as she put her hands on either side of the flighty woman, effectively giving her no chance of escape. "Jane, what's going on?"
Jane sighed, determined to look anywhere but at the doc. "Nothing, Maur, I'm just – I'm just thinking too much I think. I should probably just go to sleep." She tried in vain to move out of the cage of Maura's arms.
"Do you want to date me?" The question erupted from Maura's lips, almost unconsciously. The distraught look on Jane's face told her the answer. "Oh, Jane."
"No, Maura, please, just let me get in my car and go back to my apartment. We can forget this ever happened and everything will be fine and we'll be fine and, just, please!" Jane's voice took on a distinctly desperate undertone toward the end.
Maura moved her hands from the vehicle to Jane's sides. "I can't."
Jane twirled in the embrace, ready to plead her case once more. Her mouth was open, defensive argument on the tip of her tongue, but then soft lips were pressing against her own, hesitant yet powerful.
Time stopped, or it seemed to at least. All of Jane's anxiety disappeared at that first touch of perfection. After a long moment, they pulled away. Jane was scared about meeting Maura's insistent gaze; she could feel it on her face even now. Maura placed a finger on the detective's chin and tilted her head. She placed a feather-light kiss at the corner of Jane's mouth.
"To answer your question: we are. Dating, that is."