I just had a random thought about how much more tactile Maura is with Jane than she is with everyone else, and then just happened.

I have like 1000 one-shot ideas in my head, y'all should see the amount of google doc files I have right now.

Anyway, enjoy it.

"Hey, Maura, got anything for me?" Jane walked into the morgue and Maura immediately brightened at the presence of the brunette.

"No, but I am glad to see you," Maura replied, eyeing the two coffees in Jane's hands. "Are one of those for me?"

"Of course," Jane smiled and placed a paper cup next to Maura on the counter. Maura smiled up at her and placed a hand on Jane's forearm.

"Thank you, Jane," Maura smiled at her friend and had to remind herself that Jane was just that; a friend.

"You know… you only do that with me, have you noticed?" Jane asked and Maura looked up at her quizzically.

"Do… what?" The small blonde asked in confusion before Jane pointedly glanced down to the doctor's hand that was resting on the brunette's arm. Maura removed it and quickly and moved to place both hands around the heat of her beverage so as not to touch Jane again.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," Jane chuckled out and Maura relaxed, "I was just wondering if you… know why you do it?" Jane seemed nervous but the way her facial muscles pulled over her face indicated that the brunette was also hopeful. Maura decided that she should be completely honest and told her friend the absolute truth.

"You feel like a cadaver to me," Maura shrugged with one shoulder and then smiled brightly at Jane.

"...Oh," Jane's eyebrows drew together and she looked at the floor. She forced herself to breathe through the heaviness suddenly pressing on her chest. "I feel like a corpse to you?"

"Yes," Maura said with a smile. She was trying to convey that she meant she was just as comfortable with Jane as she was with the bodies on her table but based on the hurt Jane was trying to cover, she'd chosen the incorrect words. "...No."

"No? Dangit, Maura, what the hell are you talking about?" Jane got defensive as she always did when she felt vulnerable and hurt.

"Jane, I mean…" Maura paused to sigh, wondering why she could never say the right thing when it came to her feelings. "Do you remember when I told you why I loved my job?" Maura asked and Jane nodded. The detective uncrossed her arms and shoved her hands in her pockets and the blonde was glad to see that Jane was warming back up instead of running away.

"Yeah… you said you loved being able to bring justice to the people who could no longer speak for themselves." Jane recited and Maura smiled at the fact that Jane still remembered after all the long years of their friendship.

"And do you remember the reasons I gave you that explained why I loved working with the dead so much?" Maura continued to prompt and Jane's expression softened.

"Yeah, of course, Maur," Jane nodded, "you said that you could understand them… that even though they were dead you still got to know who they were as a person and you could speak for them. You said you understood the dead more than you could ever understand anyone living and that you didn't have to be afraid of people who couldn't talk back… couldn't tease you or… hurt you." Jane finished softly and wanted all over again to wrap her arms around the small blonde woman to show her that not every person in the world was cold. Jane wanted to show Maura that her touch was warm and constant and unbreakable in its loyalty.

"Yes, and at the time I was correct; I could only allow myself to trust the dead, to touch the dead, but I've decided that I was wrong," Maura said, still smiling.

"Oh? And uh, what changed your mind on that, Doctor Isles?" Jane asked nervously as she ran a hand through her hair.

"That's just what I was trying to say… you, Jane, you changed my mind." Maura stepped closer to Jane and smiled up at the brunette; at her favourite person on the planet, dead or alive.

"M-me? What I do?" Jane stuttered guiltily, assuming she'd done something wrong, causing Maura to chuckle.

"You taught me," Maura said, and she put her coffee back down on the counter to grab Jane's hand.

"I taught you something? Man, where's a calendar? I gotta write this date down…" Jane joked in an attempt to ease the nervous tension that was building within her. Maura could see all of this written plainly on the detective's face, which only served to prove her point even more; that she understood the complex detective perfectly.

"Jane," Maura said and she grabbed Jane's other hand so that the detective had no choice but to look at her and listen, "you teach me every day. You taught me that it's okay to let someone in… that not every person I meet will be a bully, despite your never-ending teasing, and that I can trust you. I can trust you, Jane, just as much as I can trust these corpses. I know it sounds odd, and that it's a strange frame of reference for comparative relationships, but I've never been able to accept tactility from the living and I suddenly realize that I accept it from you all the time. I engage in it with you constantly. I've never had the kind of relationship that I do with you. I don't need to be afraid that you'll judge me or hurt me… I know you never could. What I had meant to convey is that I trust you as much as I can trust the dead… if not, more so." Maura stopped at the look of complete awe that had that has taken over Jane's face.

"Why couldn't you have just started with that?" Jane sassed, and Maura saw the blush rising across Jane's cheeks.

"You know I'm not incredibly adept at voicing romantic feelings," Maura defended herself and Jane laughed.

"Yeah, I'll say, telling me I have the touch of the dead - wait - romantic feelings? F-for me?" Jane's eyes widened as she stared down at the blonde and Maura simply smiled and nodded. "You have romantic feelings for me? Jane Rizzoli? Your best friend of seven years? You? The smartest and most beautiful person in the world, have romantic feelings for me?" Jane reiterated and Maura chuckled. Based on the way Jane's facial muscles moved Maura could read that the brunette was still nervous but also excited and happy and… relieved.

"That is an adequate summation, yes, though I can't give any merit to me being the smartest or most beautiful person in the world," Maura confirmed and stepped closer to the brunette causing Jane's cheeks to flush even more. Maura smiled at the response Jane's body was having to her. "And based on the reactions your body is having to the admission I can surmise that you feel similarly… at least a little bit."

"A little bit?" Jane almost shouted. She pulled her hands free of Maura's and entwined her hands in the hair at the back of Maura's head, resting her thumbs on each side of the blonde's cheeks. Jane leaned in and passionately kissed the doctor. Although the touch was soft it did not lack passion. Jane was gentle in the way she moved her lips against Maura's, in the way she lightly caressed her tongue against the doctor's lips, causing Maura to sigh and open her mouth to accept the brunette. Jane tried to pour every one of her thoughts into that kiss. How she'd longed to kiss Maura for so long that it almost drove her crazy, how Maura was the most amazing person she'd ever met. That for as much as Jane had taught Maura how to trust and open up, Maura had taught Jane about it just as much. Maura returned the kiss in kind and when Jane pulled away a single tear of happiness rolled down the blonde's cheek. Jane kissed that away, too. "Does that say a little bit?" Jane whispered as she gazed into Maura's eyes.

"No," Maura whispered back, "that said everything else." Maura smiled up at the brunette and laced their fingers together before she brought Jane's hand up to kiss. For as much as she hated tactility with anyone else, she'd never get enough of touching Jane.

I've been getting quite a lot of inspiration from the world lately, but not quite enough for a full-blown, novel-sized story like How Could She Know. I want to write another long one like that and I have an idea that I like, but not the time to string the words together. I'm lucky to have too many ideas.