Author's Note: I don't own Rizzoli & Isles or any of the songs mentioned within (all of which can be found at the bottom of this chapter).

I'd like to know that your love is love that I can be sure of
So tell me now, and I won't ask again:
Will you still love me tomorrow?

They coexist.

It's the best way either of them can explain it.

It's been six months since that night and Jane and Maura have come to accept this new rhythm to their lives. Ma still lives in Maura's guesthouse and Sunday dinners are held in Maura's dining room. Most of those nights, Maura purposefully schedules a late night autopsy to avoid the dinners but when she can't, the two have found it's not nearly as awkward as they thought it would be.

At work, they are cordial, professional. Jane is once again Maura's normal point of access for the team. They've learned to tolerate each other's working rhythms - Maura is willing to entertain a few of Jane's theories, while Jane respects Maura's need for hard evidence.

Sometimes they even joke, and for a second, as both their eyes sparkle with amusement, they forget that their relationship was ever upended. Maura thinks it's those moments that are the hardest: right when reality clicks back in and the hurt shines in Jane's eyes before she tempers it. Maura always averts her eyes before Jane can see the same hurt reflected in the blonde's.

Because if Maura's learned anything in the past six months, it's that she's hopelessly in love with Jane and she's not sure why she didn't realize that sooner

Everyone in their lives tries to encourage the two to speak frankly. Ma points out to Jane that Maura hasn't dated anyone. Frost comes to autopsies just to talk about how much more pleasant Jane is when Maura's the lead ME on the case. Korsak tries to orchestrate alone time between the two: in the break room, at the Dirty Robber's, even at crime scenes. Frankie tells Maura frankly that Jane hasn't told him anything, but Maura's the only person he approves of for his big sister. They all tell them to say something before it's too late.

Maura thinks to herself that she'd love to say something, but she missed that chance six months ago. Jane thinks that she already did say something, she put her heart out there, and she's not going to do it again. Ever.

And so, even though they both love the other, the status quo holds.

It takes a shooting to break the stalemate.

They're called to an alley. Maura arrives first and examines the body, finding a wallet. When Frost and Jane arrive on scene, she points it out to them. Inside is a driver's license: James O'Connor, 34, from Beacon Hill.

Jane asks for a cause of death as she crunches next to the body. Noting the holes in his collared shirt, she smirks. "Like maybe multiple GSWs?" she notes dryly.

Maura looks at her. "He was shot at close range, and it appears those were cause of death, but I'll know for certain once I open him up."

Jane nods and calls out to uniforms. "We're looking for shell casings, at least -" she pauses to count the wounds, "four, but keep your eyes peeled. There could be more." She turns back to Maura. "Any indications to time of death?"

Maura begins to respond but they're both distracted when a uniform shouts, "Hey I found one over-" The uniform falls in a graceful arc as the noise of a gunshot rebounds around the small space.

Jane acts first, as always. "DOWN!" She pushes Maura to the ground before she tries to find cover. There's a dumpster to their right. "Maura, go." She points her in the right direction.

As Maura crawls, Jane gets on the radio, yelling. "Shots fired! Officer down! Backup and EMS needed! NOW!" She turns to her partner who has hunkered down behind some garbage cans. "Frost! Got eyes on him yet?" He points and she follows his line of sight to a second floor series of windows. It takes a moment before she sees the flash of a rifle, but it's enough for her. She takes aim and fires multiple shots – she hears more gunshots than her own, and she's not sure if it's the subject's or other officers' guns – but she fires four shots before she sees him fall.

All the officers wait for a moment, holding for orders, and once it's apparent that it was a lone gunman, Jane nods – all clear. The alley erupts in motion as more officers swarm in, securing the scene. Jane turns to Maura, and sees the doctor's mouth open in a wide gasp. She examines the doctor's body, trying to find the source, before she sees what Maura's gripping tightly – her thigh, where blood is rushing out.

"It must have –" she gasps sharply as Jane takes over putting pressure on the wound, "my femoral artery." Jane just looks down on the wound and the red seeping between her fingers. "I'm bleeding out."

"Like hell you are," Jane mutters, before making eye contact with Frost, who looks a little green. "Frost. Get medics, NOW." She turns back to Maura. "Come on, Maura. Keep talking to me. What can I do?"

"I need a tourniquet," she says.

"Okay. Okay." Jane motions to one of the uniforms, who brings over the emergency med kit they all carry in case of injury. "Okay, I can do this." She grabs the tourniquet, wraps it around Maura's legs, pulls it tight, and then makes eye contact. "This is going to hurt." Maura nods, and Jane twists the tourniquet once as Maura yells out. Jane's hands shake and she contemplates stopping there.

"It needs another twist." Maura says at Jane's inaction.

Jane looks down at the device. How can she cause her pain again? But the wound is still bleeding, and she has to control it. "Okay. One, two, three," and she twists again, secures the device, and applies pressure again. She looks up at Maura's pale face, her breathing shallow. "Come on, Maura. Stay with me, okay?" Her grip tightens around the wound and she concentrates hard on stopping all the bleeding, as if she could cauterize the severed arteries and veins with the force of her stare alone.

Maura needs her to stop being so worried. But more than that, Maura needs her to know. Just in case… "Jane." She waits until the brunette looks up. "I'm saying something."

"Maura, shut up." The sky's getting darker, clouds forming overhead, and Jane feels the darkness burrowing its way into her.

"No, Jane. I want to tell you-" Maura's voice catches on a shaky exhale. Her voice takes on a trace of sorts. "Here is what I say to the girl who was shining so brightly like the light from Orion above: I choose you." Jane's confused – Maura's never so poetic – but she sees the spark in Maura's eyes, and even though she wants to speak, she listens instead. "My whole heart will be yours forever. I love you."

Jane shakes her head, whispering, "Don't do this now. Don't do this like this, Maura."

"Shut up, Jane." There's an edge of steel to her voice. "I want you to know this. I choose you. I will prove my love to you."

"Maura – if you're serious, tell me later." When you're safe, if you're safe… the words are unspoken but they linger in the air between the two women. "Tell me then. If not, then I'll forget it, okay? Shock and all." The sirens sound, and Jane turns, and sees the lights and the paramedics rushing towards them. "Just be okay." Jane releases her hold on Maura's leg as the paramedics kneel down next to her, and she backs away, slowly.

Maura nods once to Jane, even though she's already across the alley, and then her vision blurs. Through the fuzz she's aware of the action around her, paramedics asking questions and checking the wound, of Jane frozen across the alley, of Frost and Korsak and other officers taking notes, and then her eyes start to shut and she can't fight it anymore, the pain and blood loss finally getting the better of her.

The paramedics load Maura onto the stretcher and rush away, and Jane's still frozen against the alley wall, looking down at the place where she had been. She whispers out to the dark. "Will you still love me tomorrow?"

The words she heard – they're everything and nothing.

Maura and Jane don't see each other for weeks. Jane's staying away, unable to bear seeing Maura hurt, unable to see her face in case Maura takes back what she said.

Maura doesn't call her. Her fingers hover over the speed dial, but then she throws away the phone before she can press the button. She says to herself it's because she wants to get back her coloring, then that she wants to be able to stand, then walk without a limp, that she wants to put on heels… an endless checklist to accomplish before she can say all that she wants to say.

It takes seven weeks, but Maura is ready. She's going back to work next week, but there is something more important to accomplish first; and she smiles to herself, because finally something – anything – is more important than her job.

Because Jane is…

Jane is everything.

Maura stands at the door to Jane's apartment, steeling herself. It's time, she thinks. She lifts a hand and knocks politely, lightly, before nerves command that she do more. Her knuckles hit the wood at a furious pace, before she hears Jane coming. "Okay, okay, I'm coming, hold your horses, Ma."

The door opens, and Jane freezes, trying to make sense of Maura's presence on her doorstep, seven weeks after that day in the alley. Maura looks at her for a moment, relishing the ability to stare deep into Jane's eyes, before she glances at the brunette's lips. She lifts her eyes to Jane's again, and it sparks action.

Rushing forward, she grabs Jane's face, kissing her deeply.

Pulling back just slightly, enough to break the kiss, Maura speaks. "As long as it takes," she whispers against Jane's lips, "I will prove my love to you."

Jane smiles lightly, "I never thought I'd find you here." Her hand lightly traces Maura's jaw, before she pulls back further, putting a foot of space between them. Her face contorts, "I will stumble and fall, Maura. I'm still learning to love."

Maura's thumbs trace the worry lines on Jane's forehead and smiles. "You're the one that I love." She leans her forehead against Jane. "A promise a girl says forever, a girl says whatever may come we'll come through… Jane, this is the promise I make to you."

Jane smiles lightly, brushing her lips against Maura's again. "I love you."

Her eyes light up with a childish joy when Maura repeats the sentiments. "I love you too." Maura smiles. "I get poetry now: Oh words, like rain, how sweet the sound." She giggles. "Your words are like a song."

The door closes behind the women as they move into the apartment, into their new lives.

You kiss me
With your kiss my life begins
You're spring to me, all things to me
Don't you know: you're life itself.

The songs used in this chapter are: "Say Something", "I Choose You", "Recessional", "Why Stay?/A Promise", "Wild is the Wind", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" From the time Maura starts to confess onward, every single line spoken (almost) is a quote from one of these songs. I wanted to see if I could get the characters to be in character while borrowing other people's words, since that was how the piece was originally convinced (with "Say Something"). I'm not sure I totally succeeded, but the writing challenge was a lot of fun.

Reviews, both negative and positive, are always appreciated. However, I will ask that if you want to say something negative, you at least try and explain why you don't like it or how you think I could do it better - there's nothing more frustrating than getting a review that says "Ur writing suks" without any explanation for how I could improve my
"suk"-y writing. I WANT to get better! I like that not everyone likes this piece. I just need to better understand what you don't like.

I could be convinced to write a very fluffy epilogue (I have a song or two in mind for it) but for now, I'm going to mark the story as complete.

THANK YOU for reading and coming on this little journey with me. :)