Chapter Eighteen

"So you're meeting this person this afternoon?" Jane nodded at nobody but herself. "Wow." It was strange how Maura had suddenly opened up about the dating website but it surely comforted Jane in the decisions she had to make from now on. "May I ask you something?"

She hoped that Maura wouldn't see it as a lie nor as a trap when she would realize who BostonAvenger01 actually was.

Jane had simply needed some time to make sure that her friend had feelings for her too. She had remained polite, anyway; polite and sweet.

"Of... Course?"

Maura raised an eyebrow but the mischievousness she tried to show only fall flat. She was too nervous to pretend and try. She would finally meet her online friend, after all, and she knew how decisive it would be in her life. A part of her wanted to believe that everything would turn easy and that she would be able to choose between Jane and BostonAvenger01 without any problem the moment she would lock her hazel eyes with her online friend's. Reality imposed a very different version to her mind though and it kept on telling her that she may feel torn for a while.

"Is it a man or a woman?"

Of course, Jane knew the answer but she needed to hear it from Maura. She needed to hear her friend finally assume something that she had sort of hidden until now. It wouldn't change whatever was supposed to happen afterwards but it belonged to Jane's virtual bucket list, the one she had mentally written down the day she had embraced all these romantic feelings.

Maura froze, something flickered in her eyes; something dark. She pursed her lips and barely noticed the waitress' presence by her side. The restaurant employee delicately set the plates down on the table before wishing them to enjoy their meal. The words didn't reach Maura's ears for her heart was beating way too loudly.

"A woman." Her whisper turned out to be so low that she wondered for a couple of seconds whether Jane had been able to hear her reply. She looked down at her seafood plate before locking her eyes with Jane's anew. "I never slept with Grace."

Which was true though Maura quickly came to the conclusion that she had no reason in the first place to even say it. Her cheeks began to burn, she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Gosh... Whatever. I apologize." A vague gesture of the hand accompanied her last words as Jane remained desperately silent.

From BostonAvenger01 to Tsiga_Poloth

Dear friend,

I am so glad you have accepted my invitation. I will come with my dog and will be wearing a pair of jeans as well as a Red Sox jersey. I will have tied up my hair in a ponytail. I am sure that you will recognize me.

I am looking forward to finally meeting you. I know that it took us a lot of time, that I postponed it for more or less fair reasons but... But it doesn't change the fact I won't run away before taking you in my arms.

The spring had sprung and Beacon Hill had rarely looked so lovely. The trees were in full blossom and a bewitching scent emanated from them before disappearing up in a pure blue sky. Jane took a deep breath then plunged her hands in the pockets of her worn-out jeans. She and Maura had been very quiet on their walk back to Maura's house. Neither of them was embarrassed, they simply enjoyed the natural silence both could feel when together.

"I was... I was wonderin' about somethin'." Jane cleared her voice. Her tone was shaking and she didn't like it at all. She cast a very brief glance at Maura then stared at her feet. "If... If it doesn't..."

She stopped. She stopped talking and walking. They had made it back to Maura's house anyway and she knew that her friend wanted to get ready for her rendez-vous at the Esplanade. Jane also wanted to go back home to change. Jo Friday was waiting for her there.

Maura blinked then tilted her head. Her hazel eyes vanished behind the delicate curtain of her eyelashes as she squinted her eyes to observe her friend.

"Yes?"

Her voice was quiet and calm. She seemed in control of the situation which hadn't happened in a long while. As a matter of fact, she looked completely unaware of what Jane was about to ask her and it made things even more complicated for Jane.

Jane took another deep breath but the air seemed to refuse to fill her lungs. Her mouth was dry and her hands were moist. She wasn't feeling fine at all.

"I was wonderin'..." The sudden thickness of her accent betrayed the thousand feelings that made her feel dizzy. She didn't like it much but she knew that she had no hold over it. The reaction was natural, purely natural. She ran a hand through her hair then focused on a point down the street. "If there hadn't been any dating website... Would you have considered..." She swallowed hard. The words were there, on the edge of her lips; she could almost feel them. "Would you have considered putting an end to... To a romantic quest?" Her wording was a bit strange but she tried to not obsess over it. She was being honest and the rest didn't matter much in the end. A bitter smile played on her lips as she shrugged away the words she was about to say. "... 'Cause I'd gladly spend the rest of my life with you by my side."

Maura didn't notice it but she subconsciously held her breath. She remained still and quiet for long seconds before burning tears started making her vision blurry. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to show Jane how difficult it was, but holding it all inside was hard. Too hard.

"If there hadn't been anyone... Like... You know..." Jane looked down at her feet. "Maybe I could have been the one."

From Tsiga_Poloth to BostonAvenger01

Dear friend,

I will be wearing a gray linen dress; ankle-length. If the temperatures are a bit fresh, then I will probably have put on a cardigan as well. I won't tie up my hair.

You have no idea how eager I am to meet you.

...

Maura looked at her reflection in the mirror of the lobby a very last time before leaving her house. She took a deep breath then closed her eyes.

She wasn't sure that she had overcome yet what had happened two hours earlier on this same sidewalk with Jane.

What her friend had told was exactly what Maura had dreaded for she was unable to choose between Jane and BostonAvenger01. Of course, she hadn't remained desperately quiet but her very low 'I think so' had got lost in the uncertain wanders of her heart.

One thing at a time.

She started walking towards the Esplanade. It was a beautiful day and the sun caressed her bare arms comfortingly yet she was at the mercy of the biggest panic of her life. Excitement had melted into a strange confusion she didn't know what to do of.

And then there were these hopes, these silly hopes over BostonAvenger01's identity.

She made it to the green spot by the Charles River in no time. Her nervousness was such that it had made her speed up her pace subconsciously. She checked her watch as she reached the rose garden and realized that nobody in a Red Sox jersey was waiting around.

It was 3.55pm.

What were five minutes in a whole life? Absolutely nothing, nothing at all. Yet all of a sudden it seemed to turn into the longest countdown Maura would ever have to face now.

The place wasn't crowded but it wasn't completely empty either. Passers-by were strolling by the river, enjoying the warm temperatures of a near summer. Maura started twisting her hands out of nervousness. She wasn't paranoid but she was nonetheless certain that people were looking at her with perplexity. What kind of person stopped in front of the rose garden without even checking the aforesaid flowers?

She tried to focus on the roses for a couple of seconds but immediately failed. She couldn't concentrate on anything; not right now. She was way too busy checking on her right and on her left in the hope to see a Red Sox jersey appear out of nowhere.

The barking caught her attention first. She looked in the direction the sound came from and frowned. A dog was approaching but she couldn't see it.

"Jo Friday, come back here!"

A fluffy white tail suddenly appeared among the roses, soon follow by her owner. Maura widened her eyes in surprise as Jane showed up. An amused smile played on Maura's lips and she tilted her head, ready to tease her friend about her presence here.

And then it hit her.

She had never told Jane where she and BostonAvenger01 were supposed to meet. She had never told Jane that her online friend was supposed to wear a pair of jeans and a Red Sox jersey. Yet it was exactly the attire Jane was wearing.

Something made sense in her mind, something so strong and unbelievable that – by the time Jane reached her – Maura could barely hold back the sweetest tears that would roll up her eyes.

Jane took a tissue out of the pocket of her jeans and delicately pressed it against Maura's cheek.

"Don't cry, Tsiga_Poloth... Don't cry..."

As if the previous elements hadn't been enough, Maura's doubts definitely got swept away as Jane told her online name; the one Maura had never told her in the first place.

"I wanted it to be you... I wanted it to be you so badly."

Maura's voice vanished in a curtain of sobs that only the touch of Jane's hand on her forearm slightly soothed down. She locked her hazel eyes with her friend's dark ones then hesitantly captured her lips in a kiss that warmed up her heart and sealed the fate of their lives.

The End

Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and all the PMs you've sent me along this story. The next story will be about pre-established Rizzles thus it can easily be a sequel to You've Got Mail if you're eager to get more glimpses about Jane and Maura's life as a couple (I've only followed the movie scenario here so that's why it stops on their first kiss) or it can be a sequel to River, the previous fic I've posted. Please let me know, in your review or in a PM, which one you'd like the best. Though you need to know the story will be angsty and that it will not come back on their first months as a couple (or if it does then it will be indirect).