The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

10.

With Jane finally by her side, they both drop their suitcases off at the drop point and then head over to get Maura's carry on scanned and checked. There was a small queue, which Jane instantly huffed an annoyed sigh at. 
"Why'd you have to bring so much stuff, Maur'? We're only going for a few weeks..."
"No, /you're/ only going for a few weeks. I'm staying there a little longer to continue my book." 
"What's your book even about, anyway?"
"Hmm, wouldn't you like to know." A blush coloured her cheeks pink as the honey blonde tried to hide her embarrassment. She was writing a romance novel. She didn't want to confess that to anyone because she knew she would become the laughing stock of the precinct. The less they knew, the better. 

The line moved up and it wasn't long before Maura's carry on was scanned and checked. Nothing illegal was found because Maura knew what she could and couldn't packed. She had travelled enough times to have this whole travelling thing down. After that, they moved from TSA, to their destination gate. In the distance, Jane spotted a Starbucks and started to stray off towards it. Maura grabbed her arm and with raised brows, looked at the detective like she had just made a big mistake.
"What are you doing?"
"I need a coffee, Maura!"
"No. No way. We can't risk being late!"
"Oh come on! It's just a quick stop. There's not even a queue." The homicide detective let out a groan. Could Maura really deal with a caffeine deprived Rizzoli for the whole flight? 
"Fine. But we have to be quick." Maura gave in, following Jane to the Starbucks that was ahead of them. 

Jane was right. There was no queue so they were served fairly quickly. Maura didn't order anything, but Jane ordered a coffee and pastry. Maura refused to let the pair sit down and enjoy Jane's snack break. Instead, she pulled the brunette over to their destination gate and they sat there, waiting to be called for their flight. Maura sat on the right of Jane and they settled into a silence as Jane began to munch away on her pastry and sip her coffee.
"You better finish that before our flight is called." 
"Yeah, yeah. I will." Jane laughed, looking over at Maura as she broke a tiny piece off and moved it very slowly towards her mouth. 
"Jane! That's not funny." Maura batted her hand, causing the sugary pastry to hit her right on the nose. Jane gasped, a giggle sounding as she wiped the powder off her nose with the back of her hand. 
"Oh you're so paying for that!" Breaking off another part of the pastry, Jane placed her coffee down on the floor, along with the rest of the pastry that was in a paper bag and then lunged over Maura, causing her to back up and almost lay down on the conjoined seats.

"Jane! Jane, stop it!" Maura couldn't help but to talk through her laughter as she tried to fight the other off. She couldn't and it wasn't long before Maura ended up with the sugary powder on the end of her nose, all in her hair and the piece shoved right into her mouth. A couple sitting opposite them cleared their throats, signalling to them that their behaviour was inappropriate. Killjoys, Jane thought as she sat herself back up and grabbed her items from the floor. Maura pulled herself to a sitting position and straightened her clothes. She couldn't look in front of her anymore as the embarrassment was painted across her once delicate features. She was super uptight about her appearance and how others saw her, so this was just... humiliating. 

But hearing the laughter and happiness in Jane's voice in that moment was worth the humiliation. Maura munched the piece of pastry until it was all gone and then finally looked over at Jane.
"I don't think they're too happy." Her voice was nothing but a whisper as she tried to hold back yet more laughter.
"That's because they don't know how to have a little bit of harmless fun." 
"You think?"
"I'm a detective. I'm trained to read people." Jane looks over at the couple discreetly and nudges Maura to do the same. "Okay, so the woman wears the trousers in that relationship. You can tell by the way she's clinging to him and the way he looks away, as if he's ashamed of something. Look at his shifty eyes. Look at the falcon grip of her hand on his arm." Jane's hand then gripped Maura's arm to try and show Maura the control that lady had on her fella. Only it didn't send those signals to Maura. 

Maura felt herself heating up, her skin burning red under the grip of Jane's hand. It wasn't because her grip was too tight or too rough. No, it was because those same feelings she had when they were in the back of Frankie's car came flooding back to her. Jane's hand on her arm reminded her that something else could be going on here... What did it mean? Maura was a smart woman, but she couldn't explain these feelings she was getting and that was something which made her very uncomfortable. She had to have logic and facts behind everything or she simply didn't believe it, but she couldn't explain this. She had nothing but her own experiences to base this off of. 

The only other times she had felt these feelings was with previous boyfriends she had. She would be happy to see them, unable to wipe the smile from her face as they walked past her, or sent her that 'good morning' text. She would have a feeling in her stomach which many people described as 'butterflies' but of course, that was accurate or possible. She had only felt this way in previous relationships, so /why/ did she feel this way with Jane right now and back in the car?

"Maura, you even listening?" Jane nudged the honey blonde, removing her hand from her arm. She got to her feet and pulled Maura to ours. "That was our flight. It just got called."
"Oh... Yeah. Sorry." Maura got to her feet, waiting for Jane to throw away her coffee cup and paper bag before walking through their gate and boarding their plane. This trip to Paris was meant to focus Maura to write her novel, but something didn't feel right. She knew she would be distracted by Jane the second the detective had told that she was coming with her, but this was a whole new level of distraction that Maura had never quite experienced before and it was sending her head into a spin. Now she had to sit on a very long flight with Jane and all these new emotions and feelings... What was going on?