The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

6.

Shoes was the one thing that was guaranteed to cheer Maura up. She loved shoes and had a whole closet full of them at her house. They were all displayed beautifully, perfectly in line with one another and straight in line too. The ones she kept for special events were in boxes, all with original boxes and wrapping. She was a little crazy when it came to shoes and that is something which did drive most people insane. Jane once threatened to put all her shoes in the wrong boxes and it scared Maura to the point where she had to check them that night. She didn't tell Jane how stupid she had been that night. Cannot believe she fell for that old joke...

But shoe shopping was needed to get Maura out of that frame of mind she was in currently. She didn't want to be thinking about her love for her best friend anymore. No, she wanted to shop and try on more shoes than Jane could ever handle. She wanted to admire the stunning patterns, colours, structures, detailing of every shoe. She wanted to handle each one with care and have her Cinderella moment, to see if the shoe fits. But of course, she had to remember that she was shopping for Jane more than for herself.

"Right, come on resident shoe expert." Jane said as she was being dragged into the nearest shoe store. "Where do I start? Boots?!" She said with a tone of excitement.
"No Jane. You're not getting more chunky boots. You're going to get some heels-" before Maura could even finish, Jane let out this big groan which had heads turning. Maura laughed, shushing Jane before she continued. "-and some flats. I think you need a pair of sneakers too." 
"Woah, back up!" Jane stopped in her tracks. "Did you say sneakers? The great Maura Isles wears sneakers?!" 
"No, I said /you/ need some. I won't be able to force you into heels all day, everyday." Laughing, she dragged the brunette over towards the heels section and a grin plastered across her face.

The whole wall was covered in beautifully crafted heels. Some stiletto heels, block heels, kitten heels - you name it, it was on this wall! Boxes of various sizes where shelved on the walls, with a shoe on top to represent which shoe it is inside. Colours painted the room. There was so many choices! Maura pulled down a small heel at first, black, no detailing or patterns. "Try that one on? It's simple and not too offensive for you."
"Oh, back with the sniping, Maura!" Jane smirked playfully and took the heel from Maura. "Come on, Maur', my feet are much bigger than that." Jane pulled the correct size box from the shelf and found a seat. By the time she had sat down, Maura had pilled another five or six boxes by her seat. "Woah, okay. So the shopping has really began." Jane mumbled under her breath as she pulled her old chunky boots off her feet.

Maura finally rejoined Jane at the seat, with four different pairs for herself. She slipped her feet out of her elegant shoes and slipped straight into a higher heel than Jane. She looked comfortable and confident when she rose to her feet, but Jane stumbled like a calf and Maura held her up. 
"Jane." Maura mumbled now, knowing people were watching the detective trying to balance in her tiny kitten heels. "People are watching, stop it." With her words, Jane straightened her posture and tried to balance evenly in her heels. It worked and she stopped stumbling. Heads finally turned away and Maura let go of Jane. She managed to stay upright, although Maura wasn't sure how. 
"I can do this." Jane mumbled under her breath and she took some baby steps. So far, so good, but she didn't push it. She sat back down and breathed a sigh of relief once her feet were out of them. 

Jane and Maura both tried on several different pairs of heels, and both of them came away with three pairs they liked. Jane was trying on her last pair, which were the highest heels she had tried yet.
"I'll catch you if you fall." Maura said, holding her arms out so that Jane could fall into them if she needed to. 
"Okay." The determined detective stood up and like a baby calf, she stumbled around again. She regained her balance, took one step, twisted her ankle and fell to the floor in a heap, dragging the honey blonde down with her. Both of them ended up in fits of giggles, their eyes watering from laughing too hard. The shop assistants gave them sassy looks as Jane scrambled to her feet. 
"Sorry, my bad... Sorry." Jane held her hands up in defence and muffled another laugh. She looked directly at Maura as she finally managed to control her laughter. "I think this pair is a no."
"I think so too." Maura just about managed to stop laughing as Jane offered her hand out to her. With a slight hesitation, Maura took Jane's hand and was pulled to her feet. 
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." 

Even the touch of Jane's hand against her own was distracting to her right now. Maura's mind was a ball of confusion and it was something she really wasn't used to. She hated not knowing her own mind and being in control of everything around her. This was one thing she really could not do anything about and it was killing her to have all these emotions and feelings building up and being unable to say anything. She had never been with a girl before and neither had Jane, so this would break their friendship if she ever admitted she was starting to develop strong feelings for the other. Instead, she would push them back until they would explode in a rambling mess. But until then, she had to focus her mind on shopping. It was all she had left to distract herself now and that was a must, otherwise, the rambling mess explosion may just come sooner than expected...

With the heels section done, and both females had picked 3 different colours, styles and size of heel, they moved onto flats. Maura did a quick time check and noticed they didn't have long now before they had to be home and have their bags packed. 
"Do we really need to try these on?" Maura asked, holding her heels in her hands and walking around barefoot. She was much shorter than Jane and when she was barefoot, it really showed. Jane had her chunky boots in her hands too, but she was still taller. 
"Aren't you meant to try everything on before buying it?" 
"Yeah, but we're running out of time." 
"Oh, then no! Let's go!" Jane went to turn around and leave, but Maura pulled her back with a smug grin on her face. 
"Not so fast, Jane. Just pick a few pairs you like and then we can look at sneakers for you. Then we can leave."
"Fine." Jane said in complete defeat. 

The best friends looked at the flats, trying to decide which ones they liked the most. Maura picked a pair of leopard print loafers, alongside a pair of nude coloured ones. Then she picked a black pair of slip on shoes for indoors and waited for Jane. The detective was far more picky. She tried on a few pairs, but hated them. So in the end, Maura stepped in. She chose a pair of sliders, a pair of black loafers, slip on shoes for indoors and then two snake printed pairs with pointed toes. Jane settled and they moved onto the sneakers which was easy enough for the detective. She picked a white pair and a black pair and took everything to the counter, with the help of a few shop assistants and Maura.

Whilst their items were being scanned through, Maura slipped her shoes back onto her feet, then paid for her own items. Jane did the same and they they collected their bags and dropped them all outside the shop.
"Cab?" 
"Yep!" Jane was already dialling a cab by the time Maura had spoken. There was no way they were going to get all this back to Maura's without a cab, so they waited on a nearby bench and when the cab finally arrived, they climbed inside and was driven back to Jane's place so they could pack her bag.