The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

7.

It was a short taxi drive to Jane's house. Maura and Jane sat in the back of the cab, hands in their laps. Maura had to keep her hands to herself to resist the urge of grabbing the other female's hand. She knew that telling Jane or showing her what she was feeling recently was a very bad idea. She couldn't ruin their friendship without knowing if Jane felt the same first.

"This is a whole lot of shopping..." Jane rambled on. "I mean, I've never even packed a suitcase myself. My Ma normally does it for me but that's because she sort of takes over. Will I really need all of th-" stopping with her ramble, Jane looked over to Maura to see the honey blonde staring out the window, in a world of her own.
"Maur'? Earth to Maura!" Waving a hand in front of Maura's face, Jane laughs slightly. "You okay?"
"Oh!" Chuckling a little as her cheeks flush pink, Maura looked over to Jane. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about Paris."
"It's going to be great." Jane reached over and touched Maura's hand.

The touch alone was enough to send Maura's mind into overdrive. Did she like me that way? Was this just a friendly gesture? Was she crazy to even think Jane could like her? They were polar opposites, but there was no denying that there has always been a connection between the two of them. But it wasn't just the touch of Jane's hand on her own which sent her into a spiralling mess of thoughts. It was the look she held in those eyes...

That look. It meant something. There was something sparkling behind those hazel eyes which made Maura swallow hard and give the exact same look back. Love. That's what it was. More than friendship. That's the look the two exchanged and the air between them felt it too. Their dynamic changed in that moment and after only a moment of holding that look, both females look away. Had she felt it too? She must have felt it...

The cab pulled up outside Jane's house.
"We're here." Jane announces as she pays the cab driver and climbs out. She's quick up the steps to her apartment block and Maura has to run to catch up. She felt that look; she felt that undeniable love between the two of them. Maura tried not to think about it because if she did, she would mention it and that would sure as hell make things really awkward between the two of them. She just pushed it to the back of her mind and followed Jane into her apartment, then into her bedroom to pack.

Pulling out a black suitcase from inside her wardrobe, Jane laid it down on the floor, next to the mounds of shopping bags. "Where do we start?"
"Shoes." Maura was quick to answer as she emptied Jane's bags of shoes from their shopping trip this morning. "These need to go in the bottom." Maura laid the heels, flats and sneakers Jane had purchased at the bottom. "What others did you want to bring?"
"These!" Jane pulled a pair of chunky heeled boots from her wardrobe and Maura just had to laugh.
"They're the same as what you have on right now!"
"Nuh-uh! They're different. The heel is wider on this one and it has a zip on both sides."
"Okay, fine." Maura said between laughter. "You can bring those."

Once the shoes were packed, it was time to move onto clothes. Maura packed the few things Jane had brought, then raided her wardrobe for a few other things. Her hands stopped upon a black dress.
"Jane, you do have a LBD!"
"Oh... oh yeah, I do."
"Why did you say you haven't?" Maura pulled it from the wardrobe and held it, turning to face Jane with her head tilted just slightly, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Oh, my Ma brought it for me when I had that date with Joey Grant. You know, the one she set me up on?" Jane shook her head, fiddling with her hands.

Maura remembers that day very vividly. Jane came to Maura's lab wearing that dress after being ambushed by her mother. She had no idea about the date, but she wasn't feeling it. When she showed up to Maura's lab wearing that dress, she asked if she looked stupid. Maura told her she was gorgeous. She meant it. She really did...

"Well you have to take it!"
"Why Maur'? I already have a LDB or whatever it is!"
"LB-"
"LBD, I know." Jane smirked as she interrupted Maura.
"I know you do Jane, but you can never have too many. It's coming with us." Maura collected the dress and a few pants suits in case Jane needed them at any point from her wardrobe and packed those.
"What's next? Oh! Hair and make up things."
"Won't take long." Jane said and pulled her hair brush from the cabinet and then a small make up bag. "Done."

Jane's suitcase was really coming along now. It was starting to really fill out and after all the essentials were done, Maura closed the lid of the case and zipped it back up.
"Have you got someone to look after Jo Friday?"
"Umm, yeah. Frankie should be here any minute to get Jo Friday." Jo Friday was the dog Jane said she was allergic to. Jane wasn't a fan of animals and a dog was definitely not an animal Maura would chose to have. She had a tortoise called Bass, named after William M. Bass who was a forensic anthropologist.
"What about your turtle?"
"Tortoise! Bass is going to be fine. I also asked your brother to check on him." Both laughed at the thought of Frankie with a dog and tortoise.
"Wow, what a picture." Jane said. "Does Frankie even know what to do with a turtle?"
"Tortoise! I just told you Bass is a tortoise."
"Tomato, tomato." Jane said, pronouncing the word differently both times on purpose to make a point.
"Actually no. Turtles and tortoises are both different things all together."
"Okay Maura. I don't want a lecture." Jane lightly nudged into Maura's side as she smirked to her best friend.

Just as they went into the front room, a knock at Jane's door sent Jane to open it, with Jo Friday running circles around her feet.
"Hey Frankie. Come in." She let her brother in and then sat down on the couch. Jo Friday instantly jumped on her lap.
"Maura, I have no idea what to do with a turtle!" Frankie instantly approached Maura, a look of confusion plastered across his face. 
"Not you too! Bass is a tortoise."
"Whatever. I still don't know what to do with him."
"I have a list of things written down for you at my place. It's easy. Don't worry." Maura placed a hand on Frankie's shoulder briefly and then went over to Jane. "Come on, we have to get a move on."
"Alright." Jane moved Jo Friday off her lap after giving her a big kiss. "Bye Jo Friday. I'm going to miss you. Be good!" Jane grabbed her suitcase from her room and wheeled it out the door. Maura followed closely behind, them Frankie.
"I'll give you guys a lift back to Maura's and then to the airport."
"Thanks Frankie." Jane thanked her brother and then the three of them scrambled into Frankie's car, making the journey back to Maura's place.