Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and messages, I'm really touched by them.

Chapter Eight

"Do you remember Mateo Gonzelli?"

Jane looked up from her sandwich. She gave her mother a nod that lacked enthusiasm. She only had thirty minutes for lunch and she didn't want to waste these precious minutes talking about an ex-classmate she hadn't seen since her high school graduation. Yet it was typical from Angela. She had probably called one of her so-called friends who then had made sure that she would know every single gossip of their old neighborhood. Mateo had probably either got married or had got some promotion at work. Though Jane didn't know what kind of job her ex-classmate had. She hadn't seen him during her last high-school reunion.

"Yeah. Everyone called him Fatty Gonzelli. Why?"

Jane had also suffered from nasty nicknames but thankfully not until her high-school graduation. Mateo was a shy and sweet kid. The perfect prey for bullies. She had never mocked him but they hadn't become friends either. As a matter of fact, she wasn't sure that they had ever talked to each other at all even if they lived on the same street.

Two of Maura's employees walked in the Division One Cafe. Jane observed them in silence while her mother resumed her talking. Jane hadn't stopped by the morgue, this morning. She and Maura had barely talked at all. Nothing had happened, they had simply been busy. Yet it made Jane feel ridiculously proud, and even a bit relieved. She knew that things were taking a complicated turn with Maura. They were losing control of the situation. Thus the silence of the morning proved her that she could spend a few hours without her friend. They weren't addicted to each other. The situation wasn't as bad as what Jane thought.

Being friends with benefits was fun but not easy. You had implicit rules to respect or else you simply went for a romantic relationship. Jane and Maura had always been on the same page. They didn't want to live a romance. It was just sex, and nothing else.

Any kind of relationship that didn't match the scheme of what society saw as a traditional one needed rules to work out: open relationships, sex friends. Without these rules, everything collapsed.

"Jane!"

Jane looked at her mother anew. Of course, she hadn't listened to what her mother had just said. She had been focused on Maura's colleagues instead which had led her to think about Maura herself and about the peculiarity of their friendship. Not really eager to make her mother lose her nerves, Jane gave her a smile.

"Yeah..."

It was neither a question nor an affirmation. Jane was somewhere in between, too scared to let her mother know that she didn't know what was going on because she had been thinking about something else all along.

"Really?" Angela's eyes widened as a bright smile appeared on her lips suddenly. She leaned over to plant a loud kiss on her daughter's cheek. "I'm so glad you've accepted it. You won't regret it. Mateo will come to pick you up at 6pm. Put on this black dress I bought you a few years ago. It suits you so well."

Jane swallowed hard but her mother didn't give her time to complain. Angela stood up then literally ran away from her daughter.

...

"She is on a date."

Maura had made an incredible effort to sound casual and to articulate the words without her latent jealousy to show. The brief smile that played on Lucy's lips sadly led her to understand that her efforts had been vain.

"I didn't know that Jane was dating someone. She didn't talk about it, the other day."

"She wasn't. It is actually a first date." Maura grabbed the bottle of wine. "Would you like a refill?" She was dying for a second glass herself. "This wine's really good."

She had learned about Jane's date via Susie Chang who had learned about it from an officer. Classic. Or almost. Jane hadn't sent Maura a text message. She hadn't let her know about it. Disappointment and pain had risen in Maura's lower stomach and were now fighting against whatever was left of the wisdom she once had owned. There was a time when Jane would have told her about her date, because they were friends. But the last weeks had proved that their friendship had mostly been controlled by sex.

Perhaps she had to see this date as an omen, as the sign she needed to understand that they were going too far. Their friendship with benefits didn't work as well as they wanted to believe. Maura was simply not ready to accept it.

Perhaps she and Jane had to distance themselves with each other. Their friendship didn't have to suffer from it but the frequency of their sexual encounters had to slow down or else Maura was afraid that it would take a nasty turn. They were having fun but the bitterness they both felt afterwards grew in strength every single time.

"Her mother set them up. She... Ahem... She often does that."

Angela was one of the reasons why being friends with benefits was what Jane and Maura would ever have. As a matter of fact, the idea of them having a romantic relationship hadn't even crossed their mind because they were convinced it was simply impossible. Too complicated. Besides, it wasn't what they wanted. All they were looking for was fun, and lightness. Neither of them wanted to really settle down.

"What does he look like? Unless it's a 'she'...?"

Lucy's question made Maura laugh lightly. Maura shook her head. She took a long sip of wine before smiling at her friend. The carefree attitude Lucy had was relieving. It was exactly what Maura needed.

"Jane doesn't date women. She only dates men."

"Oh. So... What does it make of you? The exception that confirms the rule?"

There was no animosity in Lucy's rhetorical question. Her sarcasm was sweet. She was simply making a joke. Thus Maura didn't take it badly. The remark didn't surprise her either. Of course, Lucy had guessed for her and Jane. Maura had always known that it would happen. Her friend was smart, and a good observer. She had the right distance it took to see what the others who saw Jane and Maura on a daily basis couldn't notice.

"Jane and I aren't dating."

This wasn't a lie. As a matter of fact, Maura had never been on a date with Jane. They had often had dinner outside but only as friends. Their relationship was deprived of any sign of romance.

"You still sleep together." Lucy tilted her head. She gave Maura a friendly smile that matched her tone of voice. She wasn't mad, she wasn't trying to make Maura spill the beans. They were simply talking. "How do you call it? Friends with benefits?"

Maura cast a glance at the kitchen windows. The night hadn't fallen yet. It was summer, after all. The days were longer. But her current state of mind didn't match the sun and the high temperatures. She felt a lot closer to a rainy day of fall by the fireplace.

"I suppose so."

I suppose so. Maura would have never imagined that these were the words she would use to speak about the relationship she had with Jane for the first time. Her lack of courage showed through them. She hadn't said 'yes'. She hadn't even looked at Lucy in the eye. She had bowed her head instead as a wave of shame had invaded her heart.

"It'd be all fine to me if I didn't see you suffer from it."

"I don't!" The eagerness in Maura's voice took her by surprise. She finally looked up and stared at Lucy defiantly. "I'm not suffering from it. I go on dates too. So why would Jane not be allowed to?"

It hadn't worked out with Daniel but that didn't mean Maura had given up completely. Perhaps she would meet someone else. And perhaps Jane's date with Mateo wouldn't work out. Angela's little plots had always failed anyway so Maura wasn't too worried about the upcoming days.

"Okay. So let's go out for a drink."

Lucy's reaction was not the one Maura had imagined. She frowned, confused, before bursting out laughing.

"Are you suggesting me to go on a date with you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. She took a sip of wine then brought the bottle back to the kitchen. She looked very at ease, and in control.

"Of course not! I'm just saying let's go out to hit the bars together. Maybe your next date is waiting for you out there."

Maura looked down at her lap. She didn't feel like going out but her ego was such that she didn't want Lucy to think that Jane's date bothered her in any way. She stood up then gave her friend a nod.

"Excellent idea. Give me twenty minutes to change of outfit and get ready."

Maura walked to her bedroom. By the time she reached her walk-in closet, she found Lucy's offer to be fair. After all, Jane didn't have to be the only one to have fun tonight. And since Maura was convinced that they both needed to slow down on their secret sessions then hitting the bars was just a perfect way to make it work.

She refused to lose control of the situation. If she didn't want it to backfire then she had to be careful. It was now or never.