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Jane picked up her phone, half-asleep. "Rizzoli."

"JANE ANGELA RIZZOLI!"

The detective almost fell out of bed at the sound of her mother. "Ma! What the hell?"

"How could you not tell me? Why are you keeping secrets from your own mother? Am I not an important enough part of your life that you couldn't tell me this?"

"Tell you what?"

"Don't play coy with me, missy. I spoke to Giovanni. How could you not tell me that you and Maura are in a relationship? Did you think I would have a problem with you being gay? I watch the Ellen Degeneres show, you know."

Jane blinked. "Ma…wait…"

"I'm inviting Giovanni to dinner on Friday as a thank you for fixing my car. I expect you and Maura to be there and I want an explanation as to why you kept this from me."

"Ma…I…" Jane groaned as the phone call ended. "Dammit!"

Maura eyed the fudge clusters that appeared on her desk, then looked up at Jane. "Is this similar to the occasion that you gave me chocolate with gold flecks in it?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know. Just hear me out?" Jane folded her arms. "It's important."

Maura sat back in her chair and watched Jane expectantly. "Okay."

"Ma thinks we're dating."

"Why does she think that? And why would that require you to give me fudge clusters, although I'm not complaining because they're really yummy."

"Giovanni told her." Jane frowned. "Remember him?"

"Oh."

"So unless you want to have Giovanni trying to get in your pants or lick your face or whatever, you need to come to dinner on Friday and pretend to be my girlfriend."

Maura's eyes widened. "You want me to lie to your mother? I can't do that!"

"No, not lie!" Jane said quickly. "Just pretend that we're dating. And then when Giovanni is gone, we can explain to her about him and you and I being LLBFFs."

"I'm fairly certain that's still lying, Jane."

"It's not. It's just protecting you from Giovanni. That's what LLBFFs do for each other, right? Protect each other from men who want to lick their face?"

Maura's nose screwed up at the thought. "And he said my vomit was probably attractive."

"Yeah, that's just weird," Jane said. "So, are you in? Otherwise I'll have to tell Ma we're not dating straight away, and she'll tell Giovanni and then…"

Maura put her hand up. "Alright. I agree. As long as we tell your mother the truth afterward."

"No problem." Jane smiled. "Let's make sure to keep Giovanni out of our hair."

Maura frowned. "He didn't want to be in my hair, Jane. He wanted to lick my face."

Jane sighed.

They stood outside the door to Maura's guest house, Maura completely calm in a new dress and Jane fidgeting in her pants and button-down. Maura reached out and put her hand on Jane's arm to stop it moving.

"You need to relax," Maura said. "Act natural."

Jane lifted an eyebrow. "Really? We're about to spend an evening with Giovanni and my mother, both of who think we're dating, and you're telling me to relax and act natural?"

"They're not asking us to have sex in front of them, Jane."

"Oh god, there's an image I never needed in my head."

Maura looked hurt. "Us having sex?"

"What?" Jane looked at her as though she had sprouted two heads. "No, my mother and Giovanni watching us have se…you know, why are we having this conversation?"

Before they could continue, Angela flung open the front door and glared at Jane. "You are not in my good books, missy." Her face completely changed, smiling broadly as she turned to Maura. "Come in, Maura. Are you hungry? I'm so glad to hear about you and Jane."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Ma, I can explain." She narrowly got into the house before Angela shut the door. "Is Giovanni here?"

"Yes, he is. And he's being extremely gracious about you leading him on."

"What, I led him on? Maura was the one who…" Jane shook her head. "Never mind."

"Honestly, Angela, we weren't being deceitful," Maura said, smiling softly at Jane. "The relationship was just so new that we wanted to keep it to ourselves for awhile. Isn't that right, Jane?"

Jane was surprised at how quickly Maura was slipping into the role playing game. Finally, she replied. "Maura's right, Ma. It was just new and we were enjoying each other." Wait, what did I just say?

Maura lifted an eyebrow, mouthing 'Enjoying each other?' back at Jane. The brunette shrugged.

Angela sighed. "I just don't like it when my children keep things from me."

"Hey! I thought I heard youse all out here." Giovanni grinned. "Maura, you look hot."

Jane immediately decided Giovanni needed new material. She grabbed Maura's hand quickly, tugging the honey-blonde back into her arms, deciding not to dwell on that same little tingle that had been there during their original deception of Giovanni. "She really does, doesn't she? She's just lucky I'm not the jealous, possessive type."

Maura wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she simply muttered, "Lucky."

Giovanni grinned. "Hey, Mrs Rizz, when are we going to eat? I'm starving."

"Of course," Angela said, her eyes still watching Jane and Maura. "Let's eat."

Under the table as they ate dinner, Maura's hand rested on Jane's knee. Jane wasn't sure about the purpose of this move, considering neither her mother or Giovanni could see under the table, but she liked the feeling too much to move it.

"So, how long have the two of you been, you know…" Giovanni winked, his mouth full of pasta.

Maura barely resisted the urge to chastise him for talking with his mouth full before finally replying, "not long. Having been best friends for so long, I think Jane and I were both too nervous to make the move to the next level. But as we've both learnt, it's impossible to ignore attraction."

Jane had stopped eating, her eyes staring at Maura. She wasn't sure what to think. Either Maura was about to go vaso-something, or she had just lied. Or…or she meant what she said.

"You know, I always suspected the two of you were more than friends," Angela said. "All the touching and the sleep-overs, and oh my god, the way you two look at each other, it's like smouldering glances straight out of a romance novel!"

Jane almost choked on her beer. "What?"

Maura's hand tensed on Jane's leg. "What Jane means is, we were trying so hard to keep our emotions to ourselves, but…" Her gaze fell on Jane, noticing the detective was staring back at her, "after I nearly lost her, I couldn't keep my feelings to myself any longer."

"Maura…" Jane murmured.

Maura turned her attention back to the meal. "This pasta is amazing, Angela. It's no wonder I'm hearing so many great things about your new employment."

Angela smiled and nodded. "It's a fantastic job. I love it and I get to keep an eye on Frankie and Jane at the same time."

"Yeah, it's a pity I ain't dating Maura, or I could come and eat there all the time," Giovanni grinned.

"You are NOT dating Maura," Jane growled.

Maura squeezed Jane's knee again. "He knows, Jane. We told him." She smiled at Giovanni. "She says she's not possessive, but really, there are times…"

Jane gritted her teeth and took another swallow of her beer before answering, "Yeah, I know. Sometimes I just can't help it."

Angela grinned and clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is so exciting. You're just like Ellen and Portia."

Jane relaxed a little at the conversation turn. "Yeah, I'm Ellen, she's Portia."

Maura blinked. "Why are you Ellen? Why couldn't I be Ellen?"

Jane glanced at her. "Really?"

"Well why do you just assume the dominant male role?"

"And again I say, really?"

"They bicker like my parents," Giovanni said.

Maura turned. "Oh, don't say that. Jane is sensitive to her age at the moment."

Jane looked at her. "Maura!"

"What? You got very upset when you were called Ma'am."

"That's because ma'am is for cat ladies!"

"I hate cats," Giovanni said. "I'm allergic."

Jane walked right into the opening. "You know, that's such a pity, because Maura was just saying how much she wanted us to get a cat."

"Oh my god! You're moving in together?" Angela's face lit up. "Janie, that's wonderful! You'll live here of course and I can see you every day!"

Maura turned to Jane, giving her a "now look what you've done" look, before turning back to the room. "Actually, Angela…"

"Hey, could you two kiss?"

Three female heads swivelled to stare at Giovanni. He shrugged.

"I figure since I missed out on dating Maura, and I did such a good job on the car after all..."

Jane didn't know what to reply, so simply said, "Really?"

Angela smiled. "Oh go on, Jane. I'm surprised you two have managed to last this long."

Jane opened her mouth and then closed it again, turning to face Maura. "I…uh…"

Maura smiled softly at Jane. "Remember what I said? Relax."

The honey-blonde leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Jane's lips. It was the barest of touches, but both women felt the electricity shake them right to their core. Jane's first instinct was to deepen the kiss – she wanted more contact – but before she could, Maura had pulled away and the two women simply stared at each other.

Naturally, Giovanni was compelled to break the moment. "That's hot."

Jane blinked and looked over at him. "You need new material."

"Jane, behave," Angela said sternly. "Now, who wants dessert?"

"Ma, let me and Maura get it," Jane interjected. She stood up and grabbed Maura's hand. "Come on."

Maura rolled her eyes. "Maura and I will get it, Jane. Maura and I."

Once they were in the kitchen, Maura turned to face Jane. "I think it's all going rather well, don't you?"

Instead of replying, Jane walked closer and shoved Maura against the counter, her lips crashing down on the honey-blonde's. Maura whimpered and pressed herself against Jane, wrapping her arms around her neck even as she felt Jane's long arms move around her waist.

The kiss deepened, their desire for each other skyrocketing. Maura was certain that if Jane had wanted to take her in that kitchen, on the counter, with Giovanni and Angela in the next room, she would have let her. She was stopped from having to make the decision when Jane pulled back.

"Fuck…" Jane licked her lips and stared at Maura. "I just…I wanted to see if I felt it again."

Maura tried to regulate her breathing. "And?"

"I want to kiss you again."

"Maura? Jane? Giovanni's hungry," came Angela's voice from the dining room.

Maura walked over to Jane, running her hands up the taller woman's arms. "I don't want dessert. Do you?"

Jane put her arms around Maura. "Fuck, no."

"I suggest we leave…now."

Jane nodded and was about to go out to the table, but she stopped and grabbed Maura's hand.

"Maura?"

"Mhm?"

"You said before that you only wanted to have sex with Giovanni." Jane looked unsure, and she wasn't certain how to phrase her next question.

Maura smiled and squeezed Jane's hand. "I promise you, Jane, that I want so much more than sex with you."

Jane pulled her back and they kissed once more. "Good. Now let's get out of here before we waste anymore time on Giovanni."

They went out into the dining, Jane's arm tightly around Maura's waist.

"Ma, we have to go," Jane said. "Sorry."

Angela looked shocked. "But you haven't had dessert yet!"

"She's coming to my house for dessert," Maura said. "And probably sex."

"Maura, really?" Jane closed her eyes, sure she could feel the blush running up her cheeks.

"That's really hot," Giovanni said.

FINIS