The Next Chapter (A Rizzoli & Isles fanfiction)

11.

Maura walked just behind Jane as they moved up the aisle on the plane, trying to locate their seats. Of course, Maura had brought ones that were slightly better than the standard seats. She didn't want to be sandwiched between some old, sweaty, overweight guy and some teenager on the phone to her on/off boyfriend. She just wanted something a little more private, and that was exactly what they had. First class, just like every flight Maura took. Could she really afford it? No. She was a Medical Examiner and although it wasn't a minimum wage type of job and it did provide her with a more than comfortable lifestyle, she did have to cut and save in places to afford such a luxury as a first class flight. So it didn't take them very long to find their seats for this very long flight. 

"Oh, this is... fancy." Jane said as they reached the first class section, at the very front of the plane. 
"We should be here, on the right." Maura gestured to two seats to the side of her and Jane slipped in first, taking the window seat. Maura slipped in next to her and let out a soft sigh. Finally. They were on the plane and they would soon begin their journey to the most romantic city in the world. No! No... That was /not/ the thought that Maura could allow right now. Yes, Paris was beautiful and like a scene from all those cheesy romantic comedy movies, but she was there purely for her novel. That was it. But her novel /was/ about romance after all... 

Once the pair was seated, the usual voice over came on with the safety talk and the flight attendant in front of them acted out what to do, as the voice over gave perfect instructions. Maura had heard this lecture all too much, but she still listened. She wanted to make sure nothing had changed and that she was still up to date on her knowledge of this. It was important after all. 

The talk came to an end and the plane was officially up in the air. They were on their way to Paris and Maura was so excited. She had always wanted to go there and spend some time just exploring all the beauty that Paris has to offer. Not only that, but there was so much to learn about there! There's so much history and although Maura was going to spend a lot of her time writing, she was also going to spend some time exploring. She did have Jane with her now after all, and keeping the fiery detective beside her entertained and occupied was going to be tough. Still, Maura was glad that she was here.

"I can't believe we're going to Paris." 
"I know, it's crazy. Thanks for letting me come." Jane turned to look over at Maura, a smile creeping onto her features. Maura looked over at Jane and without hesitation, she took her hand in her own and smiled, holding their eye contact. 
"You can come on any of my vacations." For a moment or two, there was this comfortable silence, their hands still locked together, their eye contact not breaking and their smiles still firmly in place. Then Jane looked down at their hands, her cheeks flushing pink. God, Maura had made a mistake, hadn't she? She should have never grabbed Jane's hand because now she was embarrassed. Maybe it was awkward. Maura thought of pulling away, because she knew it was only a matter of time before Jane pulled her own hand away, but that didn't happen. Instead, Jane squeezed Maura's hand softly and she still didn't pull away. 

Letting out a small breath she didn't realise she was holding, the honey blonde looked away. Her hand was still trapped in Jane's and something about it just felt so... right. It was like this was meant to happen. Whatever this was between them, it felt right. Maura could feel her heart beating heavily in her chest, that same feeling like butterflies fluttering their wings coming to her stomach again and that smile that couldn't be wiped from her face. It was all there. All the signs of love. True love.

"Hey, so what /is/ your novel about?" Jane said, breaking the silence between them. She shook Maura's hand slightly, still not letting it go. 
"Oh... Umm..." Stumbling over her words, she was finding it hard to speak.
"Come on. We're stuck on a ten hour flight and you can't tell me what it's about?" Jane raised an excellent point here. Maura was kind of hoping that perhaps Jane would fall asleep on the flight and she could write a little, but she was like a kid who asked 'are we there yet' until they eventually fell asleep from boredom of asking. Maura couldn't escape her questioning forever, so she took a deep breath, straightened her posture and removed Jane's hand from hers. 

She saw the way that Jane's face went from happy and non-stop smiling to a little disappointed as their hands separated. Guilt flooded Maura's heart now but there wasn't much else she could do. The damage had been done. She had already pulled away from the brunette, so she couldn't exactly reach across and grab her hand again. That would be weird. The only thing she could do right now was tell Jane about her book. Maybe that would provide enough distraction from this now awkward tension that had come between the unstoppable duo.

"My book is about this woman who fancied a change in her career. She's never really lived for herself. She's lived by all these rules and settled into what made her comfortable; a routine and a boring day-to-day life, with a job that provided her stability. But she got bored... She felt inspired to travel, so she quit her job and did just that." Maura pauses, swallowing down a hard lump in her throat. This book was based on her own life and what she was about to say next might completely blow her cover. But Jane was intrigued now. She was looking at her with those beautiful hazel eyes and all of her attention was on Maura. She had to say it. 
"Where does she go?" Jane asks, too excited to wait for Maura to compose herself.
"Paris." 
"Oooh la la!" Maura chuckled upon hearing Jane's little sing-song tone in her voice. 
"She goes there to find something new, tries out a few things that she really wasn't very good at but she starts living outside of her comfort zone. She meets someone whilst she's in Paris, but it's... different to what she's used to." 

"Would you like anything to eat or drink, ma'am?" The flight attendant walked over to them, just as Jane had leaned in with such intensity that it had caused Maura to flush red. 
"No, no. Not right now. Thanks." Jane said and waved a dismissive hand to the flight attendant. 
"And how about you, ma'am?" She was now looking to Maura, who couldn't find her words yet again. Instead, she shook her hand and the flight attendant moved on.
"She meets someone. Who?"
"I-I haven't decided."
"A handsome French man?" 
"N-no... Not quite."
"Then who?" Jane tilted her head slightly, leaning on the arm rest with her chin in her hands. She was focused on nothing but Maura's story. There was no getting out of this now.
"She meets a woman." Her words came out as nothing but a whisper but the brunette beside her heard and let out a gasp, totally captivated by Maura's story. 
"A woman? Oh, so it's /that/ type of story." Wiggling her brows, Jane nudged Maura.
"No, I mean... Well, they become good friends but the main character feels... different after meeting her. She gets all these feelings that she's only ever felt before... with... with men." 
"Oh." Both of them fell into a silence now, the rate of their breathing increasing along with the thudding noise of Maura's heart. There wasn't much room between them now, their noses almost touching. Maura searched Jane's eyes for something to hold onto. Hope, maybe. No, that wasn't it... Love. She was searching for love and for a second or two, she found it. 

Jane pulled back, slouching back into her seat and looking directly out the window.
"That... uhhh... That sounds intense." She was fiddling with her hands now, fingers running over the scars that Hoyt had left her with. She only did this when she was nervous or thinking too much. Maura knew her too well. 
"Yeah... Yeah, I guess it is." Maura swallowed a lump down her throat again, before pulling her laptop from her bag and placing it on her lap. "I should probably make a start..." 
"Yeah, good idea." Jane said, unable to look at Maura.

As she booted up her laptop, Maura felt her heart break in two. Had she just destroyed everything that might have been or had she been kidding herself to even think that something could happen between the two of them? Or, was there a third option? Did she just expose both of their true feelings? God, she was so stupid to tell Jane about her story... But it was out in the open now and there was simply nothing Maura could do about it. She needed to take her mind off of this awkward situation, so she loaded her word document and started to write. Maybe her story would be enough to take her mind off things.