Author Note: We have finally reached the end. This is the last chapter (I'm kind of glad it went an extra one, I much prefer the number 10) and I'm really sad to see it go. My mind is already thinking up ideas for new stories and I can't wait to sink my teeth into something else. Right now, though, I just want to thank everyone who has shown any interest in this story. Whether you gave up after the first chapter or continued on through to the end. Thank you for reading, thank you for appreciating, and thank you for showing me your appreciation. I hope you enjoy the final part.

"No. Maura, n, no," Jane cried, she brushed fresh tears from her cheeks and wrapped her hands around Maura's shoulders. Maura could feel further tears falling down her own cheeks. "D, don't do this. D, do, don't. Ma, Maura. Please. I need to g, go home."

"Jane, your lips are turning blue," she said, unbuckling her jacket and slipping it around Jane's shoulders. The snow continued falling so fast that Maura doubted her flight would even run. The snowstorm had taken hold. If she continued her journey tonight, she'd probably get stuck at the airport. Why hadn't she noticed sooner that Jane wasn't dressed appropriately for the weather? "What were you thinking coming out without a jacket?"

"N, no, Maura, you, you'll g, get cold." Her teeth clattered together involuntarily. Maura wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She could feel the drop in her body temperature.

"You're already cold," she said, walking her back to her car. "I suspect all flights out will be cancelled until the snowstorm is over, will you be okay to drive?"

Jane nodded, slipping her arms into the jacket and fastening it around her middle. The style looked ridiculous on Jane. Maura stifled a laugh. "Can we meet you back at my house?"

"D, do you, you promise?" Jane asked, looking up at her from the driver's seat, her brow furrowed. "You won't drive off into the sunset with Lucy?"

"I wasn't leaving with Lucy," said Maura, pushing the door closed. "Now go, I'll see you soon."

It took a couple of minutes for Jane's car to start up before Maura turned the key in the ignition and started her own engine. She indicated, pushed her foot down on the gas and set off down the street behind Jane. The journey was slow but she'd rather that than worry about Jane speeding in the snow. The last half hour was a blur. The kiss. Coming out. The exclamation of love. Maura couldn't keep up with the thoughts running through her mind. Her whole world for the last few days had been Tanzania. Now it felt like a million miles away.

They pulled into her driveway within a few seconds of each other. Before climbing out, Jane picked up a couple of shopping bags and dragged them into the house behind them. The front yard was covered in several inches of thick snow. She made a mental note to build a snow woman for the children in the neighbourhood to enjoy. If she had time before her rescheduled flight.

"I'll make some tea," Maura said once she'd locked the door behind them. The house seemed dimmer than it had when she left. The night was drawing in. She filled the kettle with water and set it to boil whilst she placed tea leaves in her spoon shaped strainer.

Jane nodded and sat down on the couch. After it brewed, Maura handed her a mug of steaming hot tea and waited until she started sipping it before running upstairs to get a blanket. Jane's cheeks were a little pinker and her lips were no longer an unnatural shade of blue. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders.

"That should help," Maura said, placing her cup of tea on the table.

"My bags," Jane said, glancing at the pile she'd abandoned by the front door. "Can you get them?"

After placing the bags where Jane could reach them, Maura sat down beside her and watched as Jane pulled out a bottle of wine.

"I bought you some things, to say sorry. I know they won't make up for how I treated you."

"You got me wine?"

"Your favourite wine, cost me a hundred and seventy-five bucks," said Jane. "Not that it matters how much it cost."

"Thank you," Maura took the bottle from Jane and held it up in front of her. She couldn't help but smile. She looked forward to drinking it. "This is a great year."

Next she pulled out a key chain of a tortoise. "I had to go to the zoo for this one, I dropped in on Bass. They said he's got a girlfriend, they think she might be pregnant. I wanted you to have something to remind you of him every day, I thought it kind of looks like him."

The keychain looked like cheap plastic, something probably made in China, but the gesture brought tears to her eyes. She hadn't had time to go and visit Bass before she had to leave, the one thing she regretted most of all. Now he was going to be a father. She missed him more with each passing day. She held the keychain against her chest as Jane continued to unpack her bags. She handed Maura a box of ten chocolate hearts and a small cake.

"I wanted to get candles but they were all pink and girlie," said Jane. "So I got chocolate hearts. One for each year we've known each other. I know the first few years we weren't really friends but we should celebrate them anyway."

Maura wiped a couple of tears from her cheek and placed the chocolates and cake on the table. The thought that went into Jane's gifts were heartwarming. Every bad thing she thought in their time apart was unfounded. She knew that now. What Jane had said, what she did, it wasn't about Maura. Not when Jane loved her the way that she did.

"An empty McDonalds wrapper," said Jane dropping it on the table. Her cheeks were flushed. "Shopping made me hungry."

A laugh escaped Maura's lips. She picked up the wrapper and dropped it into the waste basket beside the couch. Jane passed her an envelope.

"A voucher for two to a day spa to be used at any time in the next six months." Maura's shoulders hunched. It was all too much. She wasn't sure she deserved it all. Not when she was still planning on leaving. She continued listening to Jane's explanation, regardless. "Because you deserve to do something you enjoy doing, and I'll go with you because I know it'll make you happy."

She placed the card on top of the cake. It would make her happy. She tried frequently to get Jane to attend spa days with her, despite knowing she disliked it. Her offering to come along was a massive gesture that she appreciated a lot.

"This is the last one," said Jane, holding out a large envelope. "It took me over an hour to fill this out."

Maura held the envelope in her hands and opened it, pulling out a large card with a picture of a tortoise on it. She smiled as she began to read the message aloud.

"My favourite things about you. Number one: I love that you own an asparagus peeler even though it's a pointless thing to own. Number two: I love that you keep your face cream in the fridge so that it stays fresh. Three: you are clever enough to install a special light above your bed especially for reading. Four: I love that you nearly always smile, especially on Trivia Tuesdays when you goad me with questions I can't answer, and especially the Tuesday when I surprised you and knew an answer and you believed me when I told you I didn't cheat. Five: the fact I learned an exponential amount of words that I don't need, or use, but I can't help but remember them, because of you. Six: I love the fact you stayed with me whilst I fell asleep in your spare bed the first time because I found the picture on the wall terrifying, and you continued to stay with me even after we burned it in your garden. Seven: that you removed the picture, even though you said it was a work of art. Eight: That you let me burn it in your garden. Nine: that you let me bake s'mores on the picture fire. Ten: that you'd never had proper s'mores before despite going to summer camp every year. Eleven: that you sent Bass to the zoo even though it broke your heart because you knew it was the right thing to do. Twelve: I love that you took my mother in even though she's not your mother and you didn't really know her. Thirteen: I love that you love me for who I am even though I'm horrible and rude and mock you all the time. Fourteen: I love that you love dead bodies because no one else does, except those weird people who have sex with them. Dead bodies need love, too. Just not the creepy kind of love. Fifteen: I love YOU, Maura. Everything about you. There's not enough space to list everything. If it involves you then I love it."

When Maura stopped reading she glanced up at Jane, her eyes glistened with tears and little creases at the edges that matched the smile on her face. She felt warm inside. Her heart swelled, metaphorically, and in that moment she doubted her decision. Why did she want to leave when she had something so wonderful at home?

"When you said you love me," Maura whispered, pulling the edge of the blanket away from Jane and around her. "You didn't just mean as a friend, did you?"

"No, Maura," Jane said, though she didn't really need confirmation. She just wanted to hear it again. "I'm crazy about you."

"Good," she said, reaching out for Jane's hand under the blanket. She found her fingers and held them in her hand. "Because I'm crazy about you too. Did Angela help with the shopping?"

"No, I went on my own."

"I don't believe you."

"People can change," said Jane, raising her eyebrows.

"Not you." Maura smiled. "Not about this."

"Hey, I said I shopped. I didn't say I enjoyed it." Jane rested her head on the back of the couch, inches from Maura's shoulder. "Why do you think I spent an hour in McDonald's and another one writing all that soppy stuff?"

"Because you love me?"

"Yeah, because I love you."

Maura turned her head, resting a couple of fingers under Jane's chin so that when she reached forwards she could press her lips against Jane's. Everything she brushed aside for years was coming to the forefront and she couldn't have been happier.

"Jane." She nodded, her smile never faltering. "What about Tanzania?"

"What about it? You're staying."

"No," said Maura, surprising even herself. "I'm not."

"But..."

"I needed a break, I still need a break."

Realising she still wanted to go caused her heart to fracture a little. She was going to Tanzania for more than a break from the distress their relationship breakdown had caused. She wanted to go. She needed to go.

"From me?" Jane asked, her voice crackling under the strain. Maura's heart hurt even more.

"No," she said, squeezing Jane's hand in hers. "Not from you, not anymore."

A silence followed. She didn't want to say anything, she couldn't. Jane needed time, and if a little silence helped, then Maura wasn't going to stop it.

Eventually, Jane broke the silence. "Were you leaving forever?"

"I don't know. My trip is two months but I didn't know what would happen after."

Jane's eyebrows lowered and her whole face looked like it was about to crack under the pressure. "So you might not come back?"

"I don't know." She didn't know where it came from, but her honesty broke her heart as much as it appeared to break Jane's. She wanted to come back. She wanted Boston to be her home for the rest of her life, but she wasn't sure that would happen now.

"What about me?" Jane asked, dropping Maura's hand and letting the blanket fall onto her lap. "What about this...whatever this is?"

"I don't know, Jane." Maura could feel her own voice break, the tears that built up in her eyes made it harder to speak. "I don't have all the answers. I just know that I want to be with you."

"But you're going to Tanzania, for two months." The reality of her decision hit her suddenly. She tried to process it but Jane continued talking. "I always thought sex was something I had to make better myself. I don't know what it'll be like with you but I expect it'll be mind blowing, don't take it away from me."

Maura laughed. Her tears quickly dried up and she couldn't believe how slow she'd been. "You could come with me. My flight tonight was to Berlin to see my mother. I don't fly out to Tanzania for another two weeks. That's probably long enough to sort out a visa."

"Me in Tanzania?" Jane shook her head, laughing loudly. "I'm not sure that'll ever happen."

"Why not?" Maura's gleeful expression suddenly dropped. It had seemed the perfect solution just a moment ago. "Do you know how sexy it is having sex under a mosquito net?"

"Err, not very?"

"Yeah. You're right. But it'd be with you."

"Aww, come on, Maur. You're making this real difficult for me."

Maura's lips curved, playfully. "Mr Adverb isn't too happy with you right not."

"Really difficult," Jane said, without complaint.

"Thank you," she said in return.

"I've never even been out of the country. Unless you count a week in Canada when I was seven."

"More reason to explore the world." The idea of travelling with Jane made her even happier.

"Will I have to do anything when I'm there?"

"I'm going to be spending a lot of time in an orphanage my father teaches at when he's out there. You can hold babies, or teach them football, I'm sure they'd love you."

"Not the cute orphan babies, jeez Maura. How could anyway say no to them?" Jane's face lit up. "Wait, can we bring them softball equipment?"

"Sure. They usually play soccer but I'm sure they'd like to try something new."

"I guess we're going to Tanzania." Jane paused. "Yay."

Maura rolled her eyes. "You don't have to sound so sarcastic."

"I'm just kidding. Now that things have changed I don't want to be without you."

"Good, because I don't think I can go without you," said Maura, cupping Jane's cheek with her hand. She leant forwards and rested her forehead against Jane's. She could feel her breath on her face, their mouths hovered next to each other. In the briefest of moments, Maura pressed her lips to Jane's.

"You make me feel like I'm going to explode," said Jane, deepening the kiss. She leant forwards, forcing Maura to lie back against the couch, their lips moving together as Jane pushed her thigh between Maura's. Her hips lifted off the couch, her whole body reacting to Jane's touch.

"Don't stop," she said, when Jane pulled away. Her hair was still a tangled mess of curls. She closed her eyes and hoped that the images dancing across her mind were about to come true.

"I want to go to bed," said Jane, sitting back on her feet.

Maura's shoulders sunk. "You're tired?"

"No, Maura," said Jane, holding a hand out and smirking. "I want to rip your clothes off with my teeth.

"Oh. Right," said Maura, her eyes widening as she climbed off the couch and ran after Jane up the stairs.

THE END