A/N: I have been bitten by the Rizzisles bug. I can't seem to get this couple out of my head. I'm randomly getting story ideas but I'm not sure how many of these ideas will become fics due to school. I'm sorry if it's out of character. I usually don't like writing fics until I am sure I have the character's down but the plot bunnies just wouldn't leave me alone! I hope you enjoy this one.
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Jane, Frankie and Frank are sitting on the couch watching the Yankees and the Red Sox play. Maura and Angela are in the kitchen.
"Thanks again for inviting me to Gnocchi night, Mrs. Rizzoli." Maura says pleasantly while lightly sipping at a beer. They didn't have wine and the beer just tastes different when she's not drinking it with Jane.
"Thank you for coming. And it's Angela." A comfortable pause occurred before Angela started to talk again. "So, you and Jane are best friends, right?"
Maura nods.
"Is there anyone she has her eye on?" Angela prods, her eyes full of hope.
"Not that I know of." She glances over at the female figure on the couch.
"Hmm…" She lets out a disappointed sigh, but then regrouped when she thought of her next question. "What about you? Anyone special in your life?"
"N-no." Maura said, then found it difficult to breathe. She started to hyperventilate.
"Honey, are you okay?" Angela started to freak out. "Jane! Something's wrong with Maura!"
Even though the bases were loaded with two outs and it was bad luck for any of them to leave the couch, there was no hesitation in Jane bolting up from the couch and into the kitchen.
"I don't know what's going on. Is she allergic to anything?"
Jane shook her head as she worriedly looked at Maura gasping for breath.
"Maura, why are you hyperven-" She paused as she recalled something. "Holy crap, Maura. Did you try to lie?" Jane now had an amused look on her face.
Maura shook her head violently before she began to hyperventilate more violently.
"Maura! C'mon tell the truth. You might pass – " Too late. Maura blacked out and headed for the floor. Jane reached out and scooped her up just in time. She carried her to a spare bedroom.
In a few minutes Maura began to stir. She awoke to Jane leaning over her, pressing a cold washcloth to her forehead.
"Jane? What happened?"
"You tell me. What would cause you to lie?"
Maura just shook her head. "But I didn't li-" Her breathing became difficult again. She managed to get it under control this time. "At least I don't think I lied."
"Well, what'd you say before all that happened?"
"I was just talking to your mother. She was asking me if there was anyone you were interested in." At that, Jane rolled her eyes. "I told her that there was no one to the extent of my knowledge. Then she asked me the same question and I said no."
"And then you started to hyperventilate?"
"Yeah."
Jane looked down at Maura. "And you are sure you are not interested in anyone?"
"Yeah, I'm su-" Short breaths again.
"So… you like someone… you just don't know it." Jane said, intrigued at who it might be. "Now, think hard. Who might it be?"
"I don't know." Maura said firmly.
"Are you su- wait… you didn't hyperventilate then so… you really don't know, do you?"
"No." Maura had a worried look on her face. "Oh, Jane, am I going crazy?"
"If you are, you're dragging me down with you." Jane sighed. "Okay, let's think. Anyone new in your life? Anyone you've been spending a lot of time with?"
"No one new. I haven't really had the chance to since I've been spending all my free time with you."
"Hmm… yeah. Then I guess maybe I would have noticed you acting all googley eyed over someone. What about at work? There's that new intern."
"Hector? No way. Poor hygiene habits."
"Right."
They mulled it over in silence for a few more minutes until Maura gasped. "Oh my god."
"What? Did you figure out who it is?" She asked with the same intensity as if this were a murder case.
"Yes." Maura slowly nodded her head, while trying to avoid eye contact with the brunette.
"Well, out with it." Jane said.
"I don't think it's such a good idea, Jane." Maura said.
"Why no-"
The door opened, revealing Angela in an apron. "Oh good, Maura, you're awake. Dinner's ready."
Jane stood up, and then pointed a finger at Maura. "You got lucky this time, but don't think I'll forget about this." She offered her hand to the blonde.
Maura didn't take it. Instead she got out of the other side of the bed and walked as far away from Jane as possible. She nearly sprinted out of the room, leaving Jane with her hand still out and a dumbfounded expression on her face.
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"Thanks again for dinner, Angela, it was delicious." Maura said as Angela was picking up the plates from the table.
"You're welcome. And we hope to have you here more often. Right, Jane?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. It's great having you around Maura." At this Maura's face took on a light blush. "I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick of you yet, with all the time we spend together." Jane laughed.
"Yeah." Maura chuckled nervously. "Um… Do you need any help with those dishes?" She spoke loudly so Angela, who had just gone into the kitchen, could hear her.
"Yes, actually. Jane! Stop being lazy and help your mother with these dishes." Angela said. Jane gave Maura a 'thanks a lot' look before she headed into the kitchen.
There was an uncomfortable silence between the three remaining at the table and, as always, Maura tried to fill it.
"Did you know that Gnocchi is said to be one of the oldest recorded recipes found, stemming back to the 1300's? It's even older than pasta."
"That's, uh… interesting." Frankie Rizzoli said, visibly shocked from the fact that came out of nowhere.
"Quite so. Also Gnocchi with tomato sauce is known as strangolapreti or strangoloprevete, meaning priest stranglers, because a local priest liked them so much he ate them so fast, that he choked on them."
The Rizzoli men just stared at her. After recovering from yet another round of Wikipedia mouth, Frankie spoke.
"So, what's it like? Having a brain like that. Must get tiring."
"It doesn't really."
"But isn't your brain on like all the time?"
"It has to be or else I would die. That's what death is: the cessation of electrical impulses in the brain."
"No, I meant just thinking all the time."
"Oh… I meditate." Maura stated, assuming they would know why that answers his question.
Judging by the looks on their faces, that assumption was incorrect. Frankie just forgot about trying to converse with her. "Right." He said, pretending he knew what she was talking about. He hoped she was done with that. And she was… for a few minutes.
"Italian composer of the Baroque era, Pietro Gnocchi wrote a large amount of music. However, only – "
Frankie stood up. "Sorry to, uh, interrupt but I think I'm gonna help Ma and Sis in the kitchen." He left his father alone with the talking encyclopedia.
"Jane. You gotta do something about Maura. My head hurts listening to all those facts." He pressed his hand to his temple to further demonstrate this. "How can you put up with all that?"
"I love her." She stated without even realizing it. Her mother and brother looked at her in surprise. She stuttered out: "as a friend… y- you know what I mean."
"Right." Frankie said, unconvinced. "But anyway, maybe you can get her to talk about something else?"
"I gotta help with the di-" She was cut off by her mother pushing her out of the room.
"Frankie can help me with this. Go talk with your friend." As soon as Jane was out of the room, Angela turned to Frankie and whispered. "Did you hear that? My Janie's in love!"
"Yeah but, C'mon, like Maura'll ever fall for Jane."
"Don't be so sure about that." Angela said with a knowing grin, recalling the events from earlier.
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"Hey!" Maura greeted Jane from the couch when she walked out of the kitchen. The two had moved to the couch and were watching a sports program.
"Maura… could I talk to you?" She gestured in the direction of the room they were in earlier.
Maura's face took on a worried look, but she stood and followed the brunette into the room. Jane closed the door.
"Okay, look, you gotta stop with the Google mouth, okay? Not everyone's as smart as you. You're making Frankie's head hurt."
"Oh… I'm sorry. Sometimes I just forget. He could have said something though."
"Probably not. I mean, even I have a hard time interrupting you when you get like that. I mean, it is adorable."
"Aww, Jane. You think I'm adorable."
Jane didn't realize she said that out loud. "Uh… what I meant was… Never mind. Just try to tone it down a bit, Kay?"
Maura nodded solemnly. "I'll try."
"That's all I ask."
They went back out to see that Frankie and Angela had joined Frank on the couch.
When Maura saw that the only seats left were on a loveseat she decided it was probably time for her to leave. "I should get going." She pointed at her watch. "It's getting late. Thanks again." She headed towards the door.
"I should probably get home too." She walked over to the couch and bent over, giving her mom a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Ma." She then said good bye to her dad and brother with a pat on the shoulder.
She caught up with Maura in the hallway. "Okay, with the way you got out of there, I'd say something is wrong."
"You have no reasonable evidence to back up your claim." Maura stated before picking up her pace.
"No evidence? Maura, I know you. I may not understand you, but I know you. I can tell when something is wrong. Did my brother say something to you? Cuz I'll kick his – "
"No. I just couldn't stay in there any longer." Maura tried to widen the distance between her and Jane by walking even faster. Jane nearly had to start running to keep up.
"Jesus, Maura. Walk any faster and we'd be sprinting." They finally got to the end of the hallway, in front of the elevators and stopped.
Maura pushed the button. Several times. Impatience got the best of her. She took the stairs instead.
Jane looked over at the fleeting figure and cocked an eyebrow. This was so unlike Maura.
Maura flew down the stairs. Jane followed. By the time they made it outside the building they were both out of breath. Neither one gave up.
Maura was a few feet ahead of Jane, almost to her car. Jane picked up the pace and caught her before she could take her keys out. She grabbed Maura's shoulder and whirled her around to face her. "What is the matter with you?"
"I told you. I couldn't stay in there."
"Yeah, okay. But we're not in there anymore. We're out here. Why are you still running?"
"I wanted to get home. I have some thinking I have to do."
"Is it about this mystery man? God, it's not my brother is it?"
"No! Of course not."
"That's a relief." She put her other hand on Maura's other shoulder and looked into the scientist's eyes. "Please. Tell me. I want to help."
Maura's eyes started to water as she stared into the chocolaty orbs filled with compassion. She couldn't take it anymore.
"It's you."
"What?" Jane was visibly taken aback. "What's me? What did I do?"
"Jane, you made me fall in love with you." Maura searched Jane's eyes for any sign that the feeling might be reciprocated.
Jane went through a myriad of emotions, all good, before coming back to reality. "I did?" She had a smile on her face.
Maura's face mirrored Jane's. "Yeah. You did." Maura whispered before she leaned forward hesitantly. Jane met her more than halfway when she captured the blonde's lips in her own. Their lips moved slowly and passionately in tandem before they had to break apart for air.
"So, uh," Jane was still trying to recover from the explosion of emotion that just happened. "You wanna go out sometime?" She tried to act suave.
"Sure. But tonight, how about if we stay in." Maura's voice took on a husky quality as she gazed hungrily at the detective. Jane got the hint and all but leaped into the car. Maura got in and kissed Jane once more before she laced her finger's with Jane's and drove off towards her house.