Jane teaches Maura how to masturbate. Might have taken a few (okay, a little more than a few) liberties. But it needed to be done to get the story across! (I know nothing of baseball – not popular in my country. So sorry if my terminology or something is off.) In this story Jane is still in the academy and Maura is still studying at BCU. Thus they met before they began working together. Anyway. First time writing slash. My "Soulmates" fans are probably falling on the floor dead right now. Sorry guys, but I couldn't get this out of my head.

It was a quiet day in Boston. Jane was lounging on the couch in Maura's living room, watching baseball with the sound of the TV turned off. It was a replay of the one she's seen last night, so she didn't really mind the silence. Besides, Maura was sitting next to her, nose deep in a book. Apparently she was writing some paper or another the next day for some type of certificate she needed in psychological profiling.

Hearing a sigh, Jane looked over to her best friend with a questioning look. Not lifting her face, Maura seemed to be so engrossed in the book she was reading that she didn't notice Jane watching her. Thinking it was just something she read that made Maura sigh, she turned her head back to the TV just in time to see the home run which caused the Red Sox to win the game.

A few seconds later, however, the brunette turned her head again when a second sigh fell from the lips of the beautiful honey blonde sitting next to her. Jane had always thought Maura was beautiful, though being raised in a Catholic family she never thought of it as anything more than that.

When a third sigh was blown into the air, Jane had to ask.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Maura sighed again before she answered. "I can't concentrate."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is the TV bothering you?"

"No, no, no! I don't even notice it."

"Do you want me to go?"

"What? Go? No, you're not bothering me at all. Your presence is quite calming, actually," she laughed.

"Well, thank you," Jane answered with a hint of sarcasm. "What is wrong then?"

"Oh, I don't know," Maura said, sitting her book down on her lap, one finger between the pages to keep her place. "I'm just tense. I can't relax. And that means I can't concentrate." Another sigh.

"Have you tried meditating? I know it usually works for you."

"Tried that. Nothing."

"Tea?"

"Neither."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I just have to relax. But thank you," she smiled and went back to reading.

Turning back to the TV, Jane suddenly had a thought that flew out of her mouth without permission. "You could always masturbate." As soon as the words travelled through the air, Jane saw Maura stiffen. Both their eyes widened as they processed what Jane just said. "I'm sorry... I... I just-" Jane stammered, not knowing how to explain what just happened.

A silence fell over them. Awkward as can be. They kept avoiding the other's gaze, Maura pretending to read her book and Jane fixating on the TV, pretending to watch the game. The silence wore on, both trying to imagine the past few seconds never happened. Until Maura couldn't keep quiet.

"I don't know how," came a whisper from behind the pages.

"What?" Jane was so surprised, she couldn't figure out whether she heard right or if she even heard anything at all. Her head whipped around, meeting Maura's shy eyes over the rim of the book.

"I don't know how," Maura repeated, this time a fraction louder.

"You... You mean you've never...?"

"No."

A silence fell again, Jane holding Maura's gaze in her shock. "But... But how?" Jane finally asked.

"I was homeschooled," came Maura's answer, breaking the stare and looking down at her lap, book lying long forgotten on the floor where it fell just a second ago. "So I never had any friends, let alone a boyfriend. And my parents never talked to me about these things. What I know about it I secretly learned one night when I took my father's laptop while they were out for dinner. Mine had parental controls on it so I couldn't access anything other than educational sites for my schoolwork. That night I found out about sex. I didn't know anything about it until then. And I was seventeen at the time." She finally looked up at Jane again, seeing her disbelieving face. "I feel so stupid now," she added, looking down again.

It took Jane a second or two to answer. "No. No, Maura, you don't need to feel stupid. I just never thought of it that way. My parents were the exact same, but I went to public school. I never occurred to me that you were brought up differently."

Maura didn't answer, just nodded her head, still looking down. Jane waited for her to say something, but when nothing came, she knew she was the one who had to speak again.

"But you're in college now. With your own computer. Have you never...?" she trailed off.

"No. I don't know why, but I haven't. And I feel so stupid when everyone at campus talks about it and I'm sitting there as the only clueless twenty three year old virgin in America."

"You might be clueless, but you're not the only one," Jane admitted.

Maura looked up at her admission. "You mean?"

"Hi, I'm Jane and I'm a twenty three year old virgin."

Laughing at the typical AA-type admission, Maura had to answer "Hello, Jane."

They smiled at each other, the awkwardness of earlier lifted.

Feeling better about herself, Maura decided to be a more active participant in the conversation. "So you've never had sex either," she stated.

"No," came Jane's confirmation.

They both knew what the next question was, though Jane waited for Maura to ask it on her own. "But you masturbate?"

Taking a deep breath, Jane had to answer. "Yes, I do."

"And it helps you relax?" Maura asked, thinking back on how they ended up on this topic.

"It does, yes," she verified.

Now very curious, Maura had to continue her questioning. "And do you like it?"

Jane gasped a little, surprised that Maura could be so forward, but finding she doesn't dislike it. "I... I... Yes."

"I'm sorry I'm throwing this all on you now, but I've never had anyone to talk to about it."

"No, no! It's okay. That's what friends are for. Talk away."

"Thank you," Maura said, relieved. "So... Um... What's it like?"

"It's..." Jane paused, trying to find the best way to describe it. "It's great," she went for, though feeling that wasn't an adequate description. It's not really something you can describe to someone if they have no idea what it feels like. Showing would be more productive. Wait, what? Did she just seriously think about showing Maura how to masturbate? Yes, yes, she did. Though thinking about it, she found she was not as opposed to the idea as she maybe should have been. Her thoughts were interrupted by Maura.

"Can, um... Okay this is probably going to sound crazy, and wrong and... But... Could you maybe... Um... Teach me?" Maura stammered, frightened Jane will be repulsed with the idea.

Jane was in fact terrified. Not by Maura asking, but by the fact that she was not repulsed by the idea. She was brought up being told it was wrong, but now...

"Maura, there's um... There's the internet... And... And books-"

"I know," Maura cut her off. "But I trust you."

Jane was silent for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not she should do this. Looking into Maura's eyes and seeing the desperation there made up her mind.

"Okay."