A/N: Just a short introduction before the action begins. Let me know what you think. :)

June 1996

Jane Rizzoli didn't believe in love at first sight, especially the first time she laid eyes on Maura. They were at a party that both of them had attended for different reasons: Jane because her best friend wanted to bed as many sorority girls as he possibly could and Maura attended in a vain attempt at experiencing college normalcy. Neither of them socialized with any of the beer pong playing, bumping and grinding party guests, so as the only two wallflowers, they decided to strike up a conversation with each other. Their attempts at making conversation with each other were all disastrous until the alcohol started flowing. Their drinks weren't very strong, but the fact that neither of them had built up a tolerance for alcohol meant they were able to become intoxicated faster than some of the other party guests. They were both annoyed by the other, but the more they drank the more tolerable and even interesting the other became. They weren't quite sure how it had happened, but Jane woke up the next morning in Maura's dorm room. They were fully clothed and in separate beds so Jane had assumed nothing sexual happened between them, but she still felt awkward about waking up in the same room as this girl. She debated sneaking out before Maura woke up, but the more she looked at Maura peacefully sleeping in her bed, the more she felt as if she would regret leaving. They went out for lunch that afternoon and within a month, they were officially a couple.

Being with Maura was never easy for Jane, but she could honestly say there was never a dull moment. They were different, but their differences posed a challenge for each other and allowed them to learn something new whether it was about each other or the world around them. Maura wasn't her dream girl or even a girl that she had pictured herself ever dating—she was even better and now that Maura was her girl, Jane couldn't imagine life without her.

Three years had passed since they became a couple and, in that three years, Jane had earned her Associate's degree and Maura had completed her first three years as an undergraduate. Jane and Maura were only twenty-one-years-old, but they felt as if they were already mature enough to take the next step in their relationship: they were going to move in together. They would be living in a house with four other people and their bedroom was the size of a closet, but although it might have been small it was theirs and that space would soon be filled with their belongings and, most importantly, their bed. As much as they wanted their own place, their bedroom would have to suffice until Jane was finished with the police academy.

Jane was due to start at the academy in less than a month and she knew the academy was going to be one of the most intense and rigorous experiences of her young life, so she decided to take her girlfriend on one final outing before their lives revolved around Jane being in the academy and Maura studying for the MCAT in addition to her upper-division classes. To celebrate the new milestone they were approaching, Jane had planned an idyllic weekend for the two of them. She saved up portions of her paychecks to book a cabin in a secluded location for the purposes of strengthening their bond as a couple and (hopefully) taking their relationship to a new level. Same-sex marriage wasn't legal, but that didn't lessen the desire Jane had to see an engagement ring on Maura's finger.

The ring Jane had picked out wasn't flashy and the diamond was far from impressive, but as a twenty-one-year-old with two low-paying part-time jobs and upcoming rent and utility bills to worry about, it was all she could afford. She knew Maura wouldn't care about the size of the diamond, but Jane was going to make sure to tell her she would get her a better ring once she was more financially stable.

As she was parked outside of Maura's dorm, she took the ring out of the glove compartment and examined it for what must have been the hundredth time. "You're nothing special," she told the ring. "But Maura is. She'll make you look beautiful."

Jane placed the ring in the box and quickly tossed it back in the glove compartment. She wasn't going to propose until they arrived at the cabin, but her nerves were already getting the best of her so she stepped out of the car and decided to head upstairs to help Maura with her bags. Jane had brought a backpack and an overnight bag, but she had a feeling her girlfriend had brought at least three or four suitcases that were filled to their capacity.

You're going to be okay, Jane, she thought as she opened the double doors. This is Maura you're proposing to. She loves you just as much as you love her.

When she was greeted with a kiss from her loving girlfriend, Jane knew she was ready. They had an entire weekend of lovemaking ahead of them and, before it was over, she was hoping Maura would become her future wife.