Title: New Years Eve

Rating: K

Author: tika12001 (aka Katie)

Disclaimer: not mine, make no money, etc, etc. But if I wish really hard, can someone please just send me Maura at least? :-P

Summary: It's New Years Eve, and Jane wants to know the reasoning behind the traditional midnight kiss...

Author's note: Eh. Written in 20 minutes. Hopefully you like. :-P

"Why do people kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve? I mean, what's the big deal?"

Maura turned her attention to Jane, her brow furrowed. "I'm sorry?"

Jane was staring broodingly into her cup of beer, but huffed when she heard the question. "New Year's Eve kiss! Why do people kiss at midnight anyway?"

"Oh! Well, according to English and German folklore, the first person you encounter in the new year – and the nature of this encounter – is what sets the tone for the coming year. A kiss at midnight is meant to bring about a year full of successful romantic life, while no kiss..."

"...signifies a life of loneliness. Great."

"Well, to be fair," Maura replied, tilting her head on the side, "it would only be a year, not the rest of your life. According to the folklore, that is." Her gaze shifted to Jane and she found herself studying her friend closely, taking in Jane's slumped posture and defeated expression. "You miss Casey, don't you," she said flatly, neglecting to add the lilt at the end to turn her statement into a question. Jane blinked and turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Casey," Maura sighed heavily. "You miss him, correct?"

Jane frowned. "I... I don't..."

"It's okay to admit it, Jane."

Jane stared into her cup of beer as though hoping words would appear on the surface of the liquid. "But... I don't."

Maura blinked. "I... okay."

"Don't look at me like that," Jane said, wincing, and Maura immediately tried to school her expression into something that was... else. It was not an easy task, after all, considering she did not know exactly what expression was on her face in the first place. "Maura. I know, okay?"

"You... know?" Maura felt her heart speed up, and tried discreetly blotting her hands on a napkin. She would have used her dress, but potential heartbreak or not, this dress was dry clean only, plus it was from a discontinued line. She had had it for 5 years, but simply never found an opportunity to wear it, but she rather thought that this night... this NYE, might be the perfect time. Jane had been showing such promise lately, after all... there were those lingering looks she gave Maura, the way she stared at Maura's lips, her breasts, her posterior... (Maura had never been so grateful that she had had the foresight to place mirrors in convenient locations in her house). But now... Maur shook her head. She was getting ahead of herself. "Know what?"

Jane rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I know that you don't like him!"

Maura blinked again. Now that was a surprise. She thought she was discreet! "I... I do not wish him ill..."

"Of course you don't, you're the sweetest person in the world," Jane said, her voice still sounding frustrated. Maura blinked. It was when Jane said things like that, that Maura didn't know how to take her. She had said the nicest thing, but in the most irritated of ways... so was that a good thing, or a bad thing? Not for the first time... nor the 30th, Maura found herself wishing that she knew how to understand Jane Rizzoli. "You would never wish ill to anyone," Jane continued, apparently ignorant of Maura's internal battle, "but disliking a person? You can definitely do that."

"I..."

Jane pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, but seemed content to simply sit still and quiet. Maura bit her lip, her tongue, and the inside of her cheek in turn as she tried to decide how to handle this.

"I... I do not consider him a friend..."

"Maura! You hate his guts, just say it!"

"His intestines have not offended me." At the glare on Jane's face, Maura hastily continued. "But yes, I do not... like him... overly much."

Jane looked satisfied. "Why?"

Maura looked between Jane and her hands a few times before settling on keeping her gaze on her hands. "He doesn't treat you well."

"Ha!" Jane flung herself backwards on the couch. Maura's eyes widened as she watched the beer slosh precariously within its plastic constraints, but the liquid did not spill. "See, I should have known. If your best friend doesn't like a guy, then he's not the one for you." She snorted, lifting her cup to her lips. "Good thing I broke up with him." She took a sip unconcernedly while Maura gaped.

"I... you... I... when?"

"Wow," Jane said, looking at Maura in what appeared to be genuine awe. "Dr Google is speechless. Will wonders never cease?" She snorted as Maura's face crumpled into a glare. "Today. Don't worry, you weren't out of the loop for long."

"How long?" Maura asked grumpily.

"Umm..." Jane glanced at her watch. "Maybe two hours?"

"Hmph," Maura snorted then looked at her watch. 11:58. "It's getting close, we should join the others."

Jane waved a hand carelessly towards the other assorted officers/family/friends that were all occupying Maura's house. "They can wait."

"But..." Maura said blankly, "it's almost midnight, and..."

Jane pulled Maura's hand closer to her, and Maura stopped speaking, confused. Finally, she realized Jane was looking at her watch, and craned her head to get a peek as well. 11:59.

"Okay, so we're meant to do at midnight, the thing we want to do all year then, right?"

Maura frowned. "Well... in layman's terms, yes. I mean, the folklore says that..."

"I don't have time for your Google rant, Maura," Jane cut her off, and Maura stared up at her, hurt. "I promise I'll listen later! Look, it's... 11:59 and 20 seconds, so I need to get this out quickly..." Jane paused, and Maura stared up at her helplessly, wondering why she was pausing at what was seemingly such a crucial moment. The seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly... Maura swore that she could hear the metal inner workings of her watch grinding together, even though she knew it was physically impossible. But still... "Look, okay, the thing is," Jane began, speaking so quickly it was as though the words were physically battling each other to make it out of her mouth first, "I've been thinking and I think the thing that I want to do next year is, you know, maybe extend on our friendship a bit and I'm aware that maybe this is not what you want, but it seems so likely because sometimes you look at me just a little bit too long, but maybe I'm imagin..." Jane was cut off by a finger pressing to her lips. Maura checked her watch. 11:59 and 56 seconds.

She put her hands on Jane's shoulders to brace herself, and stood on tiptoes, pressing a sweet, exactly five second long kiss to Jane's lips.

"Happy New Year, Jane."

Jane smiled dazedly. "Happy... happy..."

"New year?" Maura finished, amused.

"Yeah. Whatever," Jane replied, and swooped down to claim Maura's lips again.

Kissing Jane every day this year? I could definitely handle that.

END.

Review please! Review whore here. Not ashamed of that fact. :-P Love to all, -Katie xoxo