Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and messages (I'll reply to the PMs on Sunday).

Chapter Four

What Jane remembered the most from that night was the loneliness she and Maura had felt. Yet what could have been seen as terribly pessimistic had become the symbol of an odd yet comforting serenity. They had fed themselves of this loneliness to rise with a relentless strength. Together. From the shadows of their hearts had appeared what they now saw as an evidence: they were made for each other, on many different levels.

A bad day. Jane remembered that night of March as a bad day for her and Maura. She had had to accept the fact that she and Frost hadn't managed to solve a crime whereas Maura had had to face potential budget cuts. It hadn't rained nor had it been sunny. Random clouds had simply weighed over Boston until the night had swept them away to embrace the city of its complex darkness.

Jane had invited Maura over for dinner in order to forget her failure, and because the usual loneliness she managed to bear weighed too much on her soul suddenly. Maura had bought a bottle of wine. They had drunk.

It had happened rather suddenly. As they were sitting on the floor, by the couch. They hadn't flirted. They had emptied a few glasses of wine, they had looked into each other's eyes and their fatigue smiles had vanished in an unexpected kiss. It had happened five months earlier but Jane still felt butterflies in her stomach when she thought about it.

She had kissed other women in the past but the sensations of that night of March were different, a lot more intense. She had tried to explain the strong reaction of her body: the sudden closeness to her best friend, and the sentiment of doing something prohibited. These were fair reasons to her excitement except this excitement still had to cease.

Maura had let her do. She had let Jane sit on her lap, she had let her pass her hands underneath her shirt. She had let her friend undress her.

They had headed to bed at an incredibly slow pace that contrasted sharply with the frenzy of their sighs and caresses. Bumping into pieces of furniture, brushing the wall. Neither of them had talked. As a matter of fact, they hadn't looked into each other's eyes again until Maura's orgasm had hit her powerfully and Jane had stopped moving her fingers to let her friend enjoy even more the sensation of her inner muscles tightening around them.

Then everything had started.

Jane walked to one of the windows of her apartment. She was supposed to work on the Marguerite Duras case as she liked calling it but the only thing she could focus on was Maura's smell and how her back arched whenever the tip of Jane's tongue drew circles in the crook of her neck.

Maura wasn't available tonight. She had warned Jane. Besides, they had slept together three times already this week. They couldn't do it every day. It wasn't how it was supposed to work.

"Jo, do you want..."

Jane didn't finish her sentence as she spotted Jo Friday on the couch. The dog was sleeping peacefully, she didn't want to go out for a walk obviously.

The desire to see Maura yet knowing that it was impossible looked close to withdrawal symptoms. It happened quite often too. Most of the times, Jane simply tried to relieve her sexual frustration through masturbation but it never seemed to be enough nor even satisfying. She needed Maura like a junkie needed a fix.

...

"I'm sorry I didn't have time to cook anything. I've stopped by an excellent caterer though, I hope you won't mind."

Maura had swallowed back her frustration before embracing the role of the hostess with perfection. Years of experience in the Bostonian socialite sphere helped a lot under these circumstances. Thankfully her work schedule played in her favor as she wasn't on a night shift. Thus she could easily welcome Lucy at her place and both women would catch back on time.

"What? Oh, please! You don't have to apologize." Lucy walked to the kitchen counter to help Maura with dinner. "Actually, I should be the one apologizing because it's a last-minute request. A desperate one!"

It had been at least fifteen years but Maura still found Lucy's smile just as radiant as the day both women had met for the first time.

Lucy's visit was unexpected but the accidental timing was actually perfect. Maura was glad to have someone home, someone who didn't spend the night with her in bed just to leave in the first hours of the morning to make sure that nobody would know about anything. The situation may be frustrating after a while though because if Maura now had company, her freedom had been reduced to an absolute nothing.

She would need tricks to let Lucy home while she would go see Jane. Unless it was a sign and she had to understand that perhaps she and Jane had to slow down a bit.

The evolution of their relationship made her feel dizzy. When it all had started in March, they barely met once every two weeks. Now Maura needed to feel Jane's body against her every day or so. If they didn't have one of their sessions at least every day or so then she felt off, and empty.

"If I come back late at night during your stay here... Ahem... Don't be worried." Maura swallowed hard but the lump of defeat hurt in her throat. She didn't want to take Lucy's presence as a sign. She wasn't ready for it. "I mean..."

"Have you met someone?"

Lucy widened her big blue eyes and looked at Maura, very amused. The archeologist was full of life. A sunny aura made her traits shine all the time. There wasn't a single person who didn't succumb to her charms.

"Oh, no! That's not what I mean. I simply have a job with high responsibilities and I follow a rather unusual schedule."

The smile that played on Maura's lips didn't reach her eyes even if what she had just said wasn't a lie. She was busy, she didn't follow a 9-to-5 schedule. But deep inside, it was Jane whom she was thinking about.

"By the way... Since I'm here for a while, I hope I'll meet the infamous Jane this time."

Of course, Lucy knew about Jane. Maura's mother had probably told her about her. After all, Lucy was a friend of the Isles since she and Maura had bonded in college.

"Oh... This is a possibility, indeed."

Sometimes fate seemed to take Maura's life in the wrong direction, just like now. Lucy was the perfect excuse to distance herself with something she didn't completely understand but Jane had been mentioned within a couple of minutes. Sweet, tantalizing curse Maura didn't know how to handle.

"Your mother said she was your type. Is it true?"

Maura laughed. She had never heard a question that could be more rhetorical. Jane simply had to glance at her to make her feel aroused. Jane was the one who made her come roughly against a wall because she hadn't been able to hold it till they reached the nearest bed. Jane was the one who haunted her mind night and day.

Thinking about her was actually enough for Maura to start panting.

Maura swallowed hard and bowed her head. She didn't know what had really happened but that night of March had been a poisonous blessing of some sort.

"Jane is athletic. Tall, dark-haired... Olive skin. She's also incredibly stubborn but very sweet. She's..." Maura paused as she realized how enthusiastic her tone was. "We aren't friends but soul mates."

And lovers.

"You've changed."

The remark took Maura aback. She had expected something related to what she had just said. Lucy had chosen a more mysterious way in order to express whatever she felt.

"In a good way, I hope."

Both women burst out laughing. Their laughter rose in the kitchen. It passed by the open windows and reached the street where someone froze suddenly.

Jane hadn't been able to resist the urge that kept on growing within herself. She had driven all the way to Beacon Hill to kiss Maura's flesh until her friend would shiver uncontrollably. Jane had simply not imagined that Maura wouldn't be home alone. Worse, that she would invite a woman over for dinner.

Even for more, maybe.

Jane froze as she heard feminine laughter rose on the other side of the thin window. She swallowed hard then bowed her head as shame invaded her. She shouldn't have come to Beacon Hill. She shouldn't have abdicated to her selfish desire to have sex with someone when this person had told her that she wasn't available tonight.

She shouldn't have broken the rules, their rules.

Her eyes fixed upon the beige curtains of Maura's living-room. The soft breeze of the evening made them dance in the night. Jane quietly thanked them for hiding her from Maura's sight.

Long seconds passed by before Jane managed to react. She slowly turned around and began to walk back towards her car. The pace of her heartbeats had changed and her mouth was dry. Her hands were shaking. A multitude of words were bumping into each other in her head which made her feel dizzy.

Nobody was supposed to cry for a sex friend yet when Jane looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, she only saw the transparent curtain of tears in her eyes. And it was wrong, wrong and frustrating. She hated it.