Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles

Chapter 7

Maura was starting to get worried about herself.

She was spending nearly every minute of what spare time she had with Jane, yet it still wasn't enough. Every time Jane was busy with a case and she had to eat a meal alone, she found herself feeling lonely and depressed. And when they did have time to go out to dinner—staying at the restaurant until the wait staff had to shoo them out the door—it still seemed like torture to have to go home alone.

Jane was the first thing she thought about when she woke up in the morning, and the last thing she thought about at night. Even Maura, with her limited experience of close friendships, recognized that something was not quite right.

If only they hadn't had that first sleepover.

It had been Jane's idea, really. Instead of ordering pizza and having their regular Saturday movie night at Maura's, Jane had insisted they spend the evening at her apartment. She wanted to cook, and show off some of the Italian dishes that her mother had taught her over the years. Maura had brought the wine, and then drunk a little too much of it. They watched two movies, and by midnight Maura was in no condition to drive home.

"Maura, you're staying here, no argument."

"Don't be silly, Jane, I'll just call a cab."

"Now you're being silly, Maura," said Jane, imitating her friend's voice, "there's no reason that you can't stay here."

Maura narrowed her eyes, trying not to smile but not quite succeeding. Jane seemed exceptionally funny tonight, and she wasn't sure if it was the wine or the fatigue.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?"

"In my bed—I'll sleep on the couch."

"That's not fair, why should you give up your bed for me?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"What if I said I should sleep on the couch?"

"I would say, you're the guest, and I'm happy to take the couch . . . but, there's no reason we can't both sleep in my bed. Didn't you ever have a sleepover when you were a kid?"

"No, I don't think I did." Maura looked pensive for a minute. "Unless you count boarding school—but I had my own room there."

Jane grinned. "Well, then I think it's time you experienced a sleepover. C'mon." Jane took Maura by the wrist.

Maura continued to protest as she was dragged down the hall into the bedroom. "But I don't have any pajamas, or any of my cosmetics, or—"

"Ah, now we're getting to the bottom of things!" exclaimed Jane. "Maura Isles is afraid of looking less than perfect. Well, that just convinces me even more that you should stay." She sat Maura down on the bed and began rifling through her dresser drawers. She took a clean tank top and a pair of shorts and put them in Maura's hands.

"Here you go—it's a warm night, so these should be fine. Now, give me five minutes in the bathroom, and then it's all yours."

By the time Jane came out, Maura had already changed into her improvised pajamas and carefully folded her clothes, leaving them on a chair. She walked into the bathroom without saying a word. After a minute, Jane heard Maura call out, "Don't you have anything that can be used as makeup remover in here?"

Jane yelled back, "Won't soap and water work?"

Maura didn't answer. Jane had no trouble interpreting the silence.

When Maura finally emerged from the bathroom, Jane had already taken the left side of the bed and she was stretched out staring at the ceiling. Maura walked around the bed and got in on the other side after switching off the overhead light. She immediately rolled onto her right side, facing away from Jane, and muttered a quick good night.

After about ten seconds, Jane poked her. "Hey."

"Hey, what." Maura didn't move.

"This really isn't much of a sleepover."

"What do you mean?"

"We're supposed to talk and giggle and stuff, and you won't even look at me."

"You can talk and giggle if you want, but I'm going to sleep."

Jane poked her again. Maura giggled.

"There, I giggled. Now can I go to sleep?"

"That wasn't much of a giggle—I want to hear some real laughing—"

Maura squealed as Jane started tickling her. She tried to push Jane away, but it was pointless. Finally, she turned over to face her friend, and only then did Jane stop.

They both just laid there, staring at each other and grinning in the dark. When Maura's breathing slowed and her eyes started looking heavy, Jane reached out and smoothed Maura's curls behind her ear.

"Maura." Jane's fingertips now brushed gently against Maura's forehead, and then her eyebrows, her cheekbones, her chin.

Maura felt her breath catch in her throat, and she didn't say anything. Couldn't say anything.

Jane's voice was serious and husky when she spoke again, resting her hand on the bare skin of Maura's shoulder. "Maura, will you believe me if I tell you that I have never seen you look as beautiful as you do right now?"

Maura looked at Jane. She had a sweet smile on her face—a smile that Maura had never seen before. Maura knew that no one smiling like that could possibly be lying. She felt her heart pounding so hard she could barely speak.

So she just whispered. "Thank you, Jane. I do believe you."

"Good." Jane reached down and pulled the sheet over both of them.

"G'night, Maura."

"Good night, Jane."

When Maura opened her eyes very early the next morning, still half asleep, she found herself staring at a head of dark brown curls. Her right arm was lightly draped over Jane's stomach. She smiled to herself for a split second, but then suddenly she jerked awake as she realized she probably shouldn't have her hand on her friend's stomach. Jane seemed to be sleeping, and she began to slowly withdraw her arm, but instead Jane grabbed it and pulled her closer.

"Don't go," Jane muttered sleepily. "You're warm."

The temperature had in fact dropped significantly during the night, and Maura felt the chill too.

"I'm just going to pull up the blanket." After covering them up, Maura let herself sink into Jane, reveling in the feeling of their bare legs and arms touching. She breathed in the smell of Jane, and within minutes she had fallen asleep again.

Now that she knew what it was like to fall asleep and then wake up next to Jane, sleeping alone made Maura miserable.

Maura felt tense all week. Half the time she was thinking about ways that she could get out of Saturday movie night so there would be no possibility of a sleepover. That little voice in her mind warned her, saying that she was becoming too dependent on Jane, and that the feelings she was having were only going to lead to trouble and heartbreak.

The other half of the time she was thinking of ways to make sure that Saturday movie night was once again held at Jane's so that there would be a sleepover. After all, Jane didn't seem to think that having a sleepover with a female friend was strange. The events of the weekend hadn't seemed to affect her at all—all week she was her usual self.

The internal battle she was having with herself was making it hard for Maura to concentrate. It was hard to sleep, even hard to eat.

When Jane called on Saturday afternoon and asked if she could once again host movie night at her place, Maura didn't hesitate. She just said yes, and she brought an overnight bag. There was no discussion of anyone sleeping on the couch—in fact, there was hardly a minute of the evening when the two women weren't touching each other in some way, so it seemed perfectly natural that they should once again share a bed.

It felt so good to be wrapped up in Jane's arms, feeling her warm breath on her neck and soft breasts pressed against her back that Maura hardly slept at all. She didn't want to miss a minute of it.

After several more days of highs and lows—the elation of being with Jane followed by the fear, worry, and loneliness when they were apart—Maura decided she needed to force herself to spend the weekend away and try to figure things out.

On Friday afternoon Jane sent Maura a text message asking if they could do movie night on Friday instead of Saturday. She didn't think she could wait the extra 24 hours before she was finally going to let herself kiss Maura.

Her plan to discover Maura's true feelings was going very well, she thought. Maura seemed fine with the way that their relationship was progressing physically—in fact, it seemed as though the blonde could hardly keep her hands off of her. The sexual tension between them had been building steadily, ever since their first sleepover. Jane was almost certain that Maura would reciprocate once she made the first move.

And she planned to make that move as soon as possible.

But when Maura didn't answer her text immediately, she started to fidget, and then worry, and then panic.

Finally, after two hours, her phone pinged. Maura's text read: Sorry, I decided to take off for the weekend. See you Monday, okay?

Jane immediately wrote back: What? Where are you?

Jane's heart sank when Maura's answer appeared: A beach resort in New Hampshire. Working on my tan :)

That meant she was at least two hours away.

Jane banged her head on her desk, wondering how she could have been so stupid. Of course Maura would run, how had she not missed the signs?

Even using the considerable resources of the Boston PD, it still took Jane two hours on the phone, calling beach resorts, before she finally found the one that Maura was staying at. So by the time she knocked on the door of Maura's room it was nearly midnight.

As soon as Maura opened the door, Jane wanted to take her into her arms and kiss her senseless, but she restrained herself.

"Maura, I'm so sorry—"

"Jane! What in the world are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"I made a lot of phone calls. Maura, please, I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

Maura was speechless, but she opened the door and gestured for Jane to take a seat on the sofa.

Maura sat down in a chair across from her. Jane took a deep breath, rubbing her palms on her knees.

"Maura, there's something you don't know about me."

Maura raised her eyebrows. "I'm sure there are many things I don't know about you, Jane; in fact I consider you to be quite a puzzle."

"What? You're much more puzzling than I am—but that's beside the point. This is something . . . really kind of big."

Jane paused. She realized she had never said this out loud before. She'd rehearsed it in her head during the two-hour drive but it was still hard to say.

Maura noticed Jane's discomfort and said, softly, "Jane, it's okay. I think I know."

"You do?" Jane looked down at her shoes. "You know that I'm gay?"

When Maura didn't say anything, Jane looked up, and found the blonde staring at her.

"Maura?"

"Well, I . . . I guess I didn't know that."

Jane blushed so hotly she thought even her scalp was pink, but she forged ahead.

"Well, I am. Nobody knows. Except I think Korsak suspects, and maybe Frankie. But in any case, I've known this about myself for a long time, but I've never done anything about it." Jane's words were coming fast now, and she stood up and began pacing.

"Until I met you. I—I fell in love with you, Maura. I didn't have a clue what to do about it though, and I just kept ignoring it, until then I couldn't anymore."

Jane took a deep breath. She still hadn't looked Maura in the eyes.

"So for the past couple of weeks I thought maybe that you . . . that you could maybe have feelings for me . . . since you didn't seem to mind me touching you so much . . . but since you clearly had to run away from me because I was so damned aggressive—"

Jane sat back down again, and leaned forward in her chair, but she didn't touch her friend. "I'm sorry, Maura, we can just go back to being friends, I promise I can control myself—just don't run away from me."

Maura looked at Jane's pleading eyes and her heart melted. The fear and worry that had been weighing her down disappeared as she saw that Jane was being completely honest with her. And it was time for her to be completely honest with Jane.

"So, when you told your mother that you were never going to settle down with a man, it wasn't the settling down part that you objected to, it was the man part?"

Jane was unable to stop herself from smirking at the way Maura had decided to describe her sexuality. She didn't think Maura had even noticed the bad pun.

"Um, yeah."

"And—you're attracted to me?"

"God, yes," breathed Jane. "But—"

Maura put a hand up to stop her.

"How long have you been—you know, feeling this way?"

"Since I caught you slamming your dinner into the trashcan and cursing at it."

Now it was Maura who couldn't stop herself from smirking.

"And, for the last few weeks you've been, what—trying to seduce me?"

Jane looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess I have been—I'm really sorry, Maura."

"It's okay, Jane, it worked," said Maura, simply.

"Wha—" Jane looked Maura in the eyes.

"It worked. I didn't run away because I was afraid of you—I was afraid of myself. I thought that you thought that we were just friends, since I hardly know what friendship is about, but—" Now Maura looked embarrassed, but she continued.

"I wanted to be with you, all the time. I wanted to touch you, and hold you, and—" Maura paused, looking down at the floor, and back at Jane again. "I'm in love with you too."

Jane felt relief wash over her, as she looked into Maura's eyes.

"Jane, if this is going to work, we both have to start talking to each other, instead of guessing all the time, instead of trying to solve the puzzle by ourselves."

Jane's heart was pounding, and she said in a husky voice, "I totally agree."

They both looked at each other. Then Maura got up and settled herself on the sofa next to Jane. She put her arm around the brunette's neck and her other hand on her knee.

When Jane spoke again, her voice was even huskier, and it was so close to Maura's ear that she felt it vibrate and a thrill went through her.

"Maura, is there anything else you want to say before I kiss you?"

Maura licked her bottom lip and nodded, never taking her eyes away from Jane's.

"What is it then?"

"I love you, baby." Her hand moved up to stroke Jane's face.

"I love you too," said Jane, and then her lips finally reached Maura's before the sound of the words had died away.

Maura's mouth was warm and soft and she responded hungrily to Jane's touch, pressing their bodies as close together as possible. But as exquisite as Maura's lips were, Jane couldn't wait to taste other things—other parts of Maura that she had been imagining for so, so long. She broke the kiss and immediately began trailing kisses down Maura's jaw and neck, pushing her back into the sofa. She paused involuntarily for just a moment as she felt Maura's hands slip under her shirt and stroke the bare skin of her back and stomach. She went back to Maura's mouth again, and groaned deeply when Maura thrust her tongue inside and gripped Jane's hips tighter.

When Jane broke the kiss this time, they were both breathing heavily, and Maura was completely pinned beneath her.

"What do you want, Maura? Tell me what you want," croaked Jane.

Maura didn't hesitate. "I want to see you naked," she breathed out in a whisper, right into Jane's ear. "I want to feel you—every inch of you."

Jane didn't trust herself to speak, so she just rolled off the sofa and stood up, pulling Maura after her. Maura turned away briefly, just long enough to close the curtains and turn down the bed. Jane pulled off her shirt, and then Maura was standing in front of her, cupping her breasts in her hands. She reached around and unhooked her bra, letting it fall on the floor, and then cupped them again. When Jane felt Maura take a nipple into her mouth, she arched her back and worried that she might fall over. She gripped Maura's hips tightly, to keep herself steady. Maura's hands were everywhere, caressing and kneading her bare skin as she sucked and licked and nipped at Jane's skin. Soon, Jane had stepped out of her pants, and she realized that Maura was standing back and admiring her body.

This was a new feeling for Jane—she had been so consumed with Maura's body and Maura's beauty that she hadn't realized how much she would enjoy the hungry look in Maura's eyes as she herself was examined, touched, and caressed. Jane felt the wetness between her legs increasing, as the ache grew stronger and more urgent.

Suddenly Maura pressed herself into Jane's body, throwing her arms around her lover's neck and kissing her deeply. "You're so beautiful, Jane, it makes me ache."

"I know the feeling, sweetie. I've been trying to tell you that for weeks now."

Now Maura was kissing her neck, and she whispered as she trailed her lips down to her collarbone, "I love it when you call me sweetie."

Jane really was worried that she couldn't stay on her feet much longer, so she forced herself to concentrate. "My turn," she growled, and she pushed Maura's hands away. Within seconds, Maura's clothes were puddled on the floor and Jane guided her onto the bed. The feeling of sliding her naked body over Maura's was so intense it made her head spin.

Now it was Jane's turn to explore Maura's breasts. She straddled the blond, and their hips ground together as Jane stroked Maura's nipples with her tongue. Maura's breathing grew labored, so Jane slid along Maura's side, and moved her trembling fingers closer and closer to the warmth at her core. Maura opened her legs. Jane plunged two fingers inside, relishing the gasp that Maura breathed out. Jane reached up and splayed her left hand on Maura's stomach, feeling taught muscles straining as she bucked her hips and ground into Jane's hand.

Jane didn't think there could be any better feeling in the world, than Maura clenching around her fingers as she came, hard and fast.

But then, not long after, Maura's fingers were inside of her when she came, hard and fast, and that was the greatest feeling in the world.

When Maura awakened the next morning and stumbled into the bathroom, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She saw disheveled hair and smudges of makeup around her sleepy eyes. But she also saw the marks that Jane had made on her neck and chest, and she felt beautiful.

She was Jane's, and Jane was hers, and she planned to never wake up alone again.

The End

A/N: My first "M" rating—please be kind. I hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!