The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

9.

Frankie's car smelt like sweat and Cheetos. Did he /ever/ clean his car out? The stench was making Maura slightly queasy in the backseat. She could be around dead bodies all day long and not be affected, but Frankie's car was another story! Rolling down the window a little, she sucked in a deep breath of much needed fresh air. Beside her, she heard a small giggle from the brunette. The honey blonde turned to face Jane again, a puzzled expression across her face as she tried to figure out what the other woman found so funny.
"I forgot that you're not used to Frankie's car." Jane rolled her window down a little too, after seeing the colour Maura's face had turned. Green. She looked green almost, but now as fresh air circulated around the car, Maura's colour was returning back to her normal porcelain. 
"Well, he really should clean it out. Do you ever clean your car out, Frankie?"
"Yeah! Of course I do!" Defensive and now blushing red, Frankie looked back at the pair of women through his car mirror. "I just forgot." 
"When was the last time you actually remembered?" Jane kicked the back of her brother's seat, wafting the smell out of her face with her hand. 
"Cut it out!"
"Oh, is it annoying?"
"You know it is!" Frankie reached his hand back to try and stop his sister from kicking. It was like a scene from a movie, where the kids are annoying each other and then the parents steps in and punishes them. 
"Hey, both of you, quit it. Frankie, you need to focus on the road." And the parent thing was totally fit for Maura in this situation. 
"Can you make her stop then? Because I can't focus if she's gonna kick my seat, Maur'!" 
"Alright, alright." Placing a hand on Jane's knee to stop the brunette from kicking, and sure as hell worked. . .

Maura felt her heart rate increase in her chest as her eyes locked with Jane's. She had to swallow a lump in the back of her throat. Neither of them broke eye contact for a few seconds, until a blush coloured Maura pink and Jane broke the tension. She was looking at the window now, but she didn't flinch at Maura's hand which was /still/ resting upon her knee.  Did she care? Was she bothered by this action? Did she want her to keep her hand there? Or was this all just a little strange? Maura's head was a mess right now and the more she thought about it, the more confused everything had gotten. 

"Uhhh, thanks Maur'." Frankie broke the silence, looking back through the mirror at the two girls who had fallen silent. Frankie's voice was enough for Maura to pull her hand back rather sharply. She couldn't look at either of them right now, so she rested her elbow on the window ledge and just looked out of the window - anything to avoid eye contact. God, why did she have to do that? Why did she have to leave her hand there? Did Frankie sense there was something wrong? Did he think it was as weird as Maura was thinking it was right now? 

But was it /really/ weird or was she just freaking out because new feelings were starting to come to the surface? Maura liked Jane and all these years, they had been 'just friends'. Jane had dated guys who broke her heart more times than Maura cared to count. Maura had dated guys who had broken her heart, too. But they had never dated women. Neither of them. So how did Maura know these feelings are real? How would she ever know if what she feels when she sees Jane in her pants suit or hears her raspy morning voice or watches her chase down criminals was real? Did Jane feel it too? Was it worth risking their friendship over? 

Questions spiralled around the honey blonde's head in circles, making her feel dizzy and nauseous. She had so much she needed to figure out right now and thinking about it wasn't doing any good for her right now. She needed to think about something else. Anything else. . . Like Paris! Yes, that's a good start, seeing as they were heading there anyway. What could they do whilst they were in Paris? Maura was going there to write, obviously, but now with Jane by her side, she knew she needed things to keep the brunette busy. She'd be like a persistent child, bugging her until they did something fun otherwise. 

They could visit the Eiffel Tower, then maybe stop at the Musée d'Orsay for some cultural experience. Jane would probably complain that museums are boring, but Maura wanted to go. She was sure she could convince her partner in crime by perhaps a bribe or two. . . Then they could go for dinner somewhere and in the evening, they could watch whatever Jane wanted to on the TV. Yes, that's a good day planned... Other places they could visit could be the Arc de Triomphe, Grand Palais, Louvre, Notre-Dame and maybe Sainte-Chapelle, too. There was /so/ much to see in Paris. 

With the thoughts of Paris calming the blonde's nerves, she let out a sigh of relief as the airport came to view. She hadn't realised the two Italians had been chatting away to each other this whole time, but she was just glad that the awkward tension had finally seemed to pass. 
"Oh, we're here!" Maura exclaimed and she was the first out of the car and to the trunk to grab their luggage. Jane followed behind and pulled both her own suitcase and Maura's out, passing Maura's over to her. 

"Thanks for the ride, Frankie." Jane lightly punched her brother on his shoulder. 
"Don't mention it." He said, returning the light punch to Jane's shoulder. 
"We've got to go." Maura looked down at the time ticking away on her watch. Being late for these things made her really anxious. 
"Yeah, alright. I'm coming." Jane said before quickly embracing her brother in a hug. "Don't let Bass eat you before I get back, okay? I don't wanna have to tell Ma that you died by a turtle."
"-- Tortoise!"
"Whatever, Maura!" Both Jane and Frankie chimed in, their lips curving into smirks, followed by an eye roll. 
"Yeah, yeah. Just go get your plane before Maura kills us both." 
"Good point. See you soon." Jane turned on her heel and caught up to Maura, dragging her suitcase in behind her as they both entered the airport, ready to fly off to Paris.