Author's Note: Thank you very much for your reviews as well as for your private messages. They mean a lot to me. Don't be worried: there will be flashbacks of their first night together as I know that this is something you like to read about.

Chapter Sixteen

Maura walked to the bathroom slowly. The floor felt soft under her bare feet. She closed the door behind her with a lot of care before focusing on her reflection in the mirror. She stood naked in the middle of the room and let reminiscences of the night came back to her mind by waves. The flashbacks passed underneath her skin. They rushed through her veins then spread a powerful heat all over her body.

She wasn't young anymore. She had got older, this year. More than the previous years. She could feel it deep inside, she could see it in her eyes. Her body was different. It wasn't a negative remark. She didn't necessarily feel less attractive but she saw her own persona with distinct eyes. She recognized herself easily but the passing of time had begun its work on her smiles.

It had to happen at some point.

Her fingertips brushed her shoulder. They went down her breasts – the ones Jane had caressed and kissed – before coming to a rest on her lower stomach.

Her lower stomach wasn't as flat as it had been once. Her skin carried the weight of the years and the memories of a past. She closed her eyes and felt her lips curl up into a smile as she thought about the night she had just had.

Jane had ceased to be a fantasy. She had become an entity – a real one – that Maura had been able to touch, to caress and to kiss. Their respective bodies had got intertwined and their sighs had echoed the silence of the night before whispering away the intensity of their feelings. They hadn't really talked though. Everything had been implicit.

They had kissed on the rooftop of the opera house before watching the sunset over Paris. Hand in hand. Then they had headed back to the hotel.

They had resumed the exploration of their new reality and had and made love until the first hours of the morning.

Maura stepped into the Italian shower. She closed her eyes as the first water drops hit her face. She needed to feel the warmth of the water on her body just to make sure that she wasn't dead, that she hadn't got lost in a dream.

What had just happened between her and Jane was delicate. She wasn't sure that the transition between friendship and a romantic relationship had actually occured. She had the feeling to have missed it because they had rushed into things. Of course she didn't regret the night they had had and even less the way Jane had opened her heart to her but she couldn't help being afraid of what lay ahead of her now.

She had thrown her life into a game of kisses two days earlier. The coldness of defeat had wrapped her up until Jane had changed the rules. Maura felt fine, and hopeful now. Yet she didn't dare to talk about any victory because the situation was immensely and dangerously challenging.

She didn't question Jane's honesty nor the depth of her feelings but she nonetheless knew that her friend may end up regretting the choice that she had made. What if Jane was simply driven by curiosity? What if it was nothing but a fling?

They were in Paris, after all. The context was very singular. They were far from their daily life – far from the references that defined their existence – so they easily could feel the impact of that brand new and yet ephemeral freedom weigh on their shoulders. Going away for a while often led to such kind of situations but to what extent?

Maura had a very clear vision of the feelings that she had for Jane. Unfortunately, she didn't know whether these feelings were really mutual. Their kiss on the Île Saint-Louis may have been a trigger for Jane and perhaps she had realized how she really felt for Maura. But perhaps reality was completely different as well: perhaps she wasn't just there yet, and perhaps she would never reach such stage.

Maura knew Jane. She knew her very well. She could feel her friend's confusion just as she could understand her near state of panic when she had kissed her without any warning. She had forced Jane to face a few things a bit too quickly. She had been clumsy.

Something important has happened to us. We've reached a degree of intimacy that we hadn't reached before. Now you know the curves of my body, and how they feel under your hands. You know the taste of my lips and how I react to your kisses. You've touched me. You've looked at me. You've heard me. I hope that this novelty will soon melt into something that you want to see as a habit. I won't pressure you, Jane. I promise you that I won't. I will show patience and wisdom.

I will be hopeful.

...

"Good morning." Maura barely waited for Jane to open her eyes. She leaned over and kissed her with a lot of gentleness. With a bit of uncertainty as well. "Good morning..."

Jane's eyes followed Maura's hand for a few seconds. She watched how Maura began to caress her neck, how her fingers slide along her skin and how they came to rest against her shoulder blade after a few seconds of hesitation.

"You've said that twice already."

Maura was wearing a bathrobe. Water drops embraced her nape and she smelled of soap. Her legs felt cool against Jane's as soon as she settled back in bed against Jane's body. Her gestures were sweet, and careful. Too careful.

They made Jane smile.

"I'm not gonna break, you know. I'm not made of glass. You can touch me."

The remark caused Maura to blush. Jane was being direct and casual as if nothing had happened.

Unlike what Maura had feared, Jane hadn't changed much and she didn't feel awkward after the night that they had spent together. It wasn't just another morning though. The moment was important. There had been a lot of first times for Jane these past hours and Maura knew – for having lived it herself once – how complicated it was to deal with those.

"Our train leaves in two hours."

It wasn't a question, even less a remark. It was nothing but a mere statement, one that Maura had made with such randomness that Jane wondered if she hadn't forgotten something during her sleep. Something important.

They weren't supposed to leave Paris now. They still had three weeks left, three weeks of an unforgettable stay in the City of Lights. Besides, they couldn't go back to Boston by train. Still half-asleep, Jane leaned up on her elbow in order to look into Maura's eyes with a sudden and deep seriousness.

"Where are we going to?"

"West. We're going West."

"West?! To meet the Wicked Witch?" Confusion darkened Maura's eyes. Jane immediately raised a hand to apologize for the pop culture reference that she had just made. "Never mind. Which West?"

Maura's light laugh in the morning was probably the warmest sound Jane had ever heard. Even more now as it echoed against her lips when Maura rolled on her stomach and passed on top of Jane to kiss her anew.

"There is only one West, Jane."

A whirl of kisses and caresses dragged Jane out of bed. She let Maura guide her towards the shower and before she even had the time to blink, they were in a taxi that took them towards one of Paris' train stations. To go West.

Life was happening and it was going fast. It made Jane feel dizzy but she enjoyed the bright colors her world suddenly had. And it felt warm. So warm. Maura had rested her fingers in the palm of her hand and the buildings were speeding past.

We could have stayed at the hotel. We could have stayed in our suite and let the passing of time take away our kisses. But life is short, Jane. There are too many things that I want to share with you and we can't see them from a hotel room.

Maybe it's also my way of avoiding a possible awkwardness because you've ceased to be just a friend. We need time to adapt to the situation but we're running out of it. I know that you haven't changed your mind - not yet? - and you're still going to Quantico. So if what we're living now is just a parenthesis in your life then I want to make sure that it turns out to be unforgettable.

I would like to show you the world. My world. I would like to whisper into your ear a thousand dreams I've had and all these desires that make my heart beat so fast. We can't afford to lose time in a hotel room. Not now.

The countdown has begun even if you refuse to admit it for the moment.

Going away from Paris for a couple of days would help them embrace the new pace of their relationship. They weren't running away from what had happened. On the contrary. Maura saw their getaway as a chance to soften their new ideal. And it was much needed.

"Don't look at the destinations."

A coffee in her hand, Jane held back a loud laugh. She didn't know France very well. None of the destinations on the board actually rang a bell. Maura's plan would remain mysterious until they reached their destination and even once there Jane would need an explanation anyway.

They stepped on a high-speed train. First class. The quietness of the coach took Jane aback. She followed Maura to their seats and cast a glance at her surrounding. The gray and red seats matched the carpeted floor. It looked very classy for a train. And cosy.

"Is it how it felt yesterday? When I took you to the roof of the opera house?"

The question must have amused Maura because her hazel eyes began to sparkle like diamonds. She squinted her eyes as she focused on the platform by the window.

She grabbed Jane's hand to hold it tightly on her lap and let her murmur hit the air before wrapping her up with a delicate self-confidence.

"Doesn't it feel good to let it go when you trust the person who's standing by your side?"