Another tumblr mini-fic prompt thing.

"I was falling in love with him," Maura said to the darkness. "I was falling in love and then Allie's mom got an incredible new job and now he's in New Mexico."

"When he approached me the first time in the classroom, I was flattered. I thought to myself, 'He's handsome, educated, and clearly he has an interest in me,' so I accepted the invitation for coffee. I thought why not have some fun? There's no harm in that."

Maura closed her eyes and took a deep, quiet breath. "I was wrong. There was harm." A few moments of silence. "You've never liked anyone I've dated, Ian included. I thought maybe this time you'd finally wake up and see it. I thought you'd be jealous. I wanted you to be jealous. But you weren't."

Shaking her head to herself, she couldn't believe how naive she'd been. "You were the exact opposite. You encouraged it. You pushed me to him. I didn't understand at first," she said. "Then I realized I'd read it all wrong. Whatever this pull between us is."

"So I tried to let you go. I tried to lose myself in him, and I was starting to." She took another deep breath. "But then he left and now I'm back where I started, worse for the wear. Now I don't have either of you."

She bit her lip. "All I can think is at least he wanted me."

More words weighed heavily on her mind, but she no longer had the energy to speak them. "God. At least he wanted me," she repeated as a whisper.

Maura poured hot water from her kettle into a ceramic mug. English Breakfast tea was the chosen one that morning. She stared at the steam rising from the cup. When she heard feet shuffle across the hardwood floor, she looked up toward the hall doorway. "Good morning," she said quietly, followed by a wistful smile.

"Mornin'," Jane replied, yawning, the back of her hand covering her mouth.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked as she poured milk and sugar into her tea before stirring it gently.

A shrug was all Jane gave. The brunette grabbed a small glass from the cabinet and got some water from the faucet before downing it all at once.

"Coffee?" Maura asked, turning toward Jane, her mug of tea cradled between her hands.

"After my shower," Jane said, shaking her head. "Just needed some water."

The blonde nodded in acknowledgement and sipped her tea as their eyes met. Slowly Jane approached her and her brow furrowed at the expression on the other woman's face.

With little space left between them, Jane leaned forward and placed a light kiss at the corner of Maura's mouth, lips barely brushing the skin, though her left hand settled lightly on the woman's hip. "You didn't read it wrong, Maura," she rasped as she pulled back to an expression of disbelief on her best friend's face. "I just figured Jack could give you a stable, more predictable life than I could."

Maura's composure crumpled. "I don't always need my life to be predictable, Jane," she said quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I learned that when I met you."