Maura woke up to a wet sensation on her hand. She blinked one eye open and saw the reason why: Joe Friday was sitting there licking it. She moved it, trying to shoo her away. It worked. She smiled and tried to get back to sleep. Her eyes snapped open when she realized where she was. She turned her head slowly and saw hair on her shoulder. It was not her color. She felt the girl behind her shift and that's when she noticed the arms around her waist and the soft body pressed against her back. Her legs were intertwined with another pair. She knew who it was and there was no way she was getting back to sleep, not with her heart beating at such a high rate and her stomach going crazy with swarms of some new mutant butterfly species that were too strong to be normal. She wanted to move, to do anything to lessen the turmoil going on inside.

After a few minutes, Jane finally woke up. She moved her hands, essentially caressing the other girl's stomach, when she shifted. A soft moan emanated from her throat as she pulled the other girl in closer, snuggling in as if Maura was a human teddy bear.

The M.E. was still. Her insides were going crazy. It took all she had not to turn around and crash her lips against Jane's after that moan. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something… anything that could help her to not go insane laying here with her heart's strongest desire.

"Maura?" She heard a soft sleepy voice behind her. She unwrapped her arms from the other girl and stretched. "Sleep okay?"

"Mmm-hmm." She squeaked, trying her best to not focus on the breasts that were currently pressed firmly against her back.

"That's good." She let out a sigh as some of the kinks were worked out. "You gonna lay here all day or can I get up?"

Maura felt foolish, as she didn't realize before that that was an option. She got up slowly, still trying to will her body away from Jane's.

Jane watched Maura stand up and bring her arms up in a stretch. The fabric of her shirt lifted, baring a sliver of skin. Jane was surprised but not shocked that all she wanted to do right now was run her fingers along Maura's exposed flesh. Maybe push her shirt up a little while she's at it and kiss her way up to… She shook her head, trying to snap out of it.

Maura looked at her curiously but she knew that, with her behavior as of late, she really had no right to inquire into Jane's. She asked a different question instead. "Do you have anything planned for us before eight?"

Jane tried her best to look up at Maura but couldn't without giving away what she was just thinking about. She shook her head 'no' before trying to think of what they could do. "Did you need to do anything?"

"Other than a having little time to get ready for tonight, no."

The detective stood up. "Alright! Then I need a shower." She pointed to her room. "Do you want to take one first?" Or should we take one together? Jane fought off a blush as the question lingered in her mind.

Maura waved her off. "I'll just go home. I don't have a change of clothes anyway."

Jane nodded before her face lit up, indicating that she got an idea. "Okay, yeah, why don't you go home and stay there. I'll be over soon. I have an idea."

Maura knew she was too far into this to be suspicious. She knew that, whatever Jane had in mind, she was going to go along with it. She's been doing that since the day they met.

With a goodbye and Jane's promise to 'be right there,' Maura left and Jane jumped in the shower.

While showering Jane thought about the morning. Her mind kept stopping at one point in particular. Waking up with the M.E. next to her was too good for words. She just couldn't describe how it made her feel, just that it was similar to the other times she woke up next to her but now she had an idea of what was contributing to that feeling. And, frankly, it scared her.

Was she in love with her best friend? It made sense. Every time she was around her she couldn't help her heart beating faster and a smile appearing on her face. She was a better person when the doctor was around, she couldn't help it.

She groaned in frustration and shut off the water. She ran her towel over her skin roughly, trying to wipe away the thoughts of this morning. It was hopeless anyway. Maura was too good for her. She didn't have a chance.

XXXXX

"What is all this?" Maura asked as Jane unloaded the contents of her car onto the front lawn.

"Decorations." She said simply, taking out the last bag and closing the trunk.

"Decorations? For what?" Maura had her hands on her hips and was surveying the scene.

Jane pointed to the house. It was the only one on the block not in the holiday spirit.

Maura sighed and then walked over to the other girl to help empty the bags. There were fake spider webs complete with plastic spiders, a few ghosts, a couple tombstones and plastic pumpkins, a few bags of candy and a decorative bowl. The last few items to be taken out were some chalk and fake blood. To these Maura gave Jane a questioning look.

"You'll see," she said in a way that bordered on flirtation.

Maura smiled. Somehow she knew she was going to say that.

They started with the hanging decorations first, getting them up in a few minutes. They put the tombstones in the ground, having a bit of trouble at first getting them to stay upright, and then scattered the fake pumpkins. When they put the last one in its place Maura spoke up. "Why didn't we just bring my pumpkin here?"

Jane thought for a moment. "Well first," she started, counting off on her fingers, "I didn't think of that. And second if you leave a real one out unattended for too long the neighborhood kids'll want to smash it up," she finished, seemingly talking from experience.

They tore open the bags of webs and coated any object they could get it to stick on. When they got all they could reach, and after having a 'cobweb fight' started when Jane put a piece in Maura's hair, they still had some left. The roof, Jane surmised, seemed too clean. Despite Maura's protests, the detective scaled up and strung the faux webs along the roof. She even put a string of it hanging down near the front door with a spider attached to the end. When she did this, however, she nearly lost her balance, causing Maura to shout her name in fear and run forward, arms out. Jane chuckled, looking down at her wannabe savior and then carefully made her way back down.

Maura pushed Jane playfully, slightly upset at the fact that Jane could have gotten hurt, but mostly relieved that she didn't.

"So what's left?" Maura asked. "Nothing more on the roof, I hope."

"No…" She looked around at the remaining bags. She pulled out the chalk and fake blood and gestured Maura over to the driveway. "Lay down." She pointed to the ground.

She wanted her to lay down here? And ruin her designer clothes? Maura gave her an incredulous look.

Jane thought better of it, especially after the look she got, and handed Maura the chalk. She got into position on the ground. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Ready for what exactly?" Didn't Jane know by now that Maura had no idea what they were doing?

"Draw an outline. Y'know like there was a dead body here."

"But that's not entirely accurate. You know as well as I do that we don't do that anymore because the chalk might contaminate the crime scene."

Jane leaned up. "I know… but regular people, y'know, the one's who trick or treat? They don't know that."

"So we're just going to advertise a false truth?"

"I dunno, I thought I'd be cool."

Maura saw the disappointed look on her friend's face. "Sorry. You're right. I'm being too… me again." She was now squatting next to Jane.

The detective looked up at her and frowned. "That's never a bad thing," she said, reaching up and tucking a loose strand of hair behind the M.E.'s ear.

Maura smiled and blushed before she tried to change the subject. "So just make an outline of you then?"

Jane nodded and put her body back in its previous position.

Maura started from the bottom, making a straight line along the outside of her left leg and curving slightly at the hips. She tried to get past the breast area without lingering, lest she give herself away before tracing along her neck and around her head. She was leaned over the other girl now and their eyes locked. She felt an intense pull downward, one she could not fight. Jane was inching her way up. Maura put her free hand on the other side of Jane's head and started to lean further down. Their eyes closed simultaneously, both hearts pounding erratically. They were close enough to feel the breath of the other on their lips.

A truck down the street honked its horn.

They jumped back. Or, rather, Maura jumped up and Jane slammed her head back, hitting the ground hard. She groaned in pain.

"Jane! Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Quick, what day is it? Oh, this is all my fault…" She was leaned over, checking Jane's head for any sign of a laceration.

"I'm fine!" She said rather harshly, pushing the other girl away. She still had a hand pressed to her head.

Maura landed sitting down, her arms behind her to brace the impact. She was stunned, to say the least.

Jane knew immediately that she messed up. While Maura was in no way injured, the fact that Jane pushed her so forcefully crossed a line, especially since the M.E. was just trying to help. She pushed herself up so she was sitting right in front of her. "Maura, I'm so sorry." She reached out slowly, waiting to see if Maura was going to accept any more physical contact.

She did.

Jane gently cupped Maura's cheek, who pressed against it, essentially nuzzling the hand. Maura pulled back but kept Jane's hand there, holding it between her own before placing a gentle kiss on the blemish marring the middle of her palm. They smiled at each other and all was forgiven.

In no time they got the outline finished and blood splattered across it. When they were done they stood there next to each other. There was a charge still lingering in the air from their almost kiss.

"We have a few hours until eight, " Jane pointed out. "Any ideas?"

Maura wanted so badly to talk about what just happened but she didn't want to be the one to bring it up. There was still a chance Jane didn't feel the same way. She shrugged. "I need a bit of time to get ready."

"Yeah, me too. I shoulda brought my costume over here. We could've gotten ready together."

Maura smiled before shaking her head. "Why don't we make it a surprise? We'll meet at the party and won't know each other's costume until we see them."

Jane suspected slightly that this was her way of saying she wanted to spend some time away from her for a little while, which made sense since they've spent all weekend together, but she knew deep down that it was not. She nodded her head in agreement. "One more thing before I go though."

Maura was ready. She was either going to get a speech about how she didn't have those feelings but still wanted to be friends or she was about to receive the most mind-blowing kiss of her life.

It was neither.

"Before you leave, you need to fill this bowl with this candy." She held up each as she mentioned them. "You should probably put up a sign telling people to only take one or two pieces each but that usually never works too well."

It took a second to switch gears before she nodded, slightly disappointed that this thing still hung between them.

Jane bid her adieu, going in for a hug but thought twice about it and patted her shoulder instead.

Maura went inside and collapsed on her couch. Bass looked up from a fallen book and slowly made his way over there. He was worried, he'd admit, and wanted Maura to be happy. Even if it meant her being with Jane.

Maura bent down and patted the hard shell. "It's okay Bass. I'll be okay. You don't have to worry about me."

He gave her a quick once over before conceding and heading back to his book.

She sat there for a while contemplating quietly. She knew one thing for sure. She and Jane needed to talk about this. It's not every day that best friends like them almost kiss each other.

She almost came up with a plan of action before she noticed the time. "Oh! I better start getting ready!" She went in her room, opened the costume store bag and pulled out the still packaged costume. She did a double take when she read the words printed there and dropped it.

XXXXX

Jane's phone rang. She had just started putting her shirt on and the ringing made her confuse an arm hole for the head hole, causing her to get stuck, one arm and her head still trapped within the shirt. She twisted, grunting in annoyance as she made her way to the still ringing phone. She used her free hand to bring it under the shirt and up towards her head.

"Rizzoli."

"Jane, I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it tonight."

"What? Why?" She flung the shirt off by now, figuring she'd try again later.

"It seems there's been a bit of a… mix-up… with my costume."

"What kind of mix-up?"

"I must have grabbed the wrong one, I don't know. I tried one on and grabbed the packaged one below it. I didn't look, I just figured…" Maura's voice was cracking, showing that she was close to crying, if she wasn't already.

"Well… I mean… if you have a costume that's all that matters. It can't be that bad."

"I don't know… it might be too… inappropriate."

Jane almost dropped the phone. "Inappropriate?" Thoughts filled her mind of what that might entail. A cold shower before she left might be a good idea.

"It's… never mind. Have fun tonight." Maura said and then hung up.

"No! Maura – " Jane growled at the phone as she redialed.

"Jane, I told you – "

"It's okay! Whatever you're wearing, it's okay, honestly. Halloween is all about dressing up like you normally wouldn't."

"Oh!" Maura felt a little better about it now. "Is that what you're doing?"

"No…" She looked down at her pants and over at her shirt. "Not really."

"But – "

"Not everyone does!" Jane pointed out. "But a lot of people do." Her voice became soft and compassionate now. "I get it if you don't want to come but I really want you to. It'll kinda suck without you there."

Maura beamed. "Thanks… okay, I'll be there. I might be a little late, though."

"Okay. See you then!" Jane smiled and then hung up before glaring at the shirt. She picked it up and tried again, this time putting it on in success.

XXXXX

"Where's Maura?" Angela asked, greeting Jane at the door. She was dressed in a simple black dress with a pointy hat: a witch. How original, Jane thought.

"She'll be late. Costume Issues."

"Oh." She said and stepped to the side, letting Jane in.

"Hey Sis!" Frankie greeted. "Nice costume!" He said sarcastically. It was simple. Some baseball pants and a jersey along with a baseball cap. The team? The Boston Red Sox, what else?

"You too," she said, looking at his. It was almost identical to hers, only he had the red jersey while she had the white.

Frank, dressed in his plumber's uniform as his 'costume', greeted his daughter with a hug and also commented on her costume with a mention of how much of a pity it was that they didn't make it to the World Series this year.

Jane looked around for a sign of what her mother was trying to hide yesterday. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just some decorations and food.

They chatted for a while about things like work and what they've been up to lately. Every so often a knock or a ring of the doorbell would force someone to stop chatting for the moment and give a kid or group of kids some candy. About fifteen minutes after eight there was another knock on the door. Frankie went to answer it.

"Wow! Maura! You totally shoulda joined the force if you look this good in uniform!" He exclaimed, letting her in.

Jane turned around and froze. Her heart stopped and blood rushed to her face, among other areas… Maura was there and she suddenly understood what she meant by inappropriate. She breathed in sharply when she took in the outfit. Maura was dressed as a cop. But not as if she just borrowed a spare uniform from the precinct. She was a sexy cop. Her boots were black, zippered up to midcalf. Her skirt was very short, barely qualifying as a skirt at all. Her shirt was high enough to reveal a midriff but, at the same time, low enough to reveal some cleavage. The outfit, made to emphasize certain parts of her body did a pretty good job at that as her breasts were squished together and up, drawing even more attention to them. Finishing off the outfit were a few accessories: a hat, some handcuffs hanging off a belt, and a badge pinned to the top left corner of the shirt.

Maura locked eyes with Jane and smiled at the obvious effect she had on her. She wasn't really fond of spur of the moment plans, and this was most definitely not the one she thought of earlier, but she felt she could use this costume mishap to her advantage. It seemed to be working already, she noticed, as she strutted in, as if she was on a catwalk, towards her intended target.

"Hey Jane," she greeted. Her voice was lower than usual, with a sort of husky quality.

Whatever its intended effects were, they worked, as Jane was speechless.

"Cute costume." She said regularly, toning it down a bit as she was slightly embarrassed that the other Rizzoli's were watching them.

"Thanks, you too." Jane managed to say. She was fighting hardto control herself right now. "Excuse me."

She bolted out of the room and into the bathroom. She looked in the mirror. Her face was flushed, there was no way of hiding it, Maura has definitely affected her. She splashed some cold water on her face and managed to fade the red into a light pink. "What am I gonna do?" She asked herself. There wasn't much she could do. Either she tries her best to push away the thoughts coming up every time she looks at Maura or she goes along with them. She didn't know what would be more painful. Not kissing Maura tonight or kissing her and being rejected. The detective sighed in defeat before she entered into the internal battlefield.

Frankie and Maura were talking. Jane couldn't hear about what but they seemed happy. Her parents were also chatting. Her mother kept looking over at her, though, and those suspicions returned.

"Janie!" Angela finally walked over. "Are you enjoying the party so far? I worked hard on it."

Jane just nodded weakly. She was trying not to look over at Maura and it took all of her concentration to do so.

"She looks great." Angela said, smiling in spite of herself at the scene playing out in front of her.

"Huh?" Jane was obviously distracted. "Yeah… she does."

"Is she enjoying Halloween?"

"Yeah… I think so. It's too bad she couldn't…" She trailed off. "Excuse me." She went into another room and came back, pillowcase in hand. She walked over to Maura and grabbed her hand, yanking her out of her conversation with Frankie. "Be back in a bit, Ma!" She said, dragging Maura behind her.

"Where are you going?" Angela had a bit of a disappointed tone in her voice. She hated it when the kids left so soon.

"I'm gonna take Maura Trick-or-Treating."

Looks of shock showed in the faces of everyone present. Maura tried to escape the detective's grasp.

"Not looking like this!" She protested. It was one thing to show up to a party in a costume like this but a whole other thing to go around outside.

"You look fine! Trust me, there are people out there dressed in much less right now." She wasn't sure if that was true considering just how little Maura had on right now.

"Really?"

"Maybe…" She handed Maura the pillowcase and led her out the door.

When they exited the house and made their way to the first door they got more than a few curious looks.

"Knock on the door."

"Jane, really. I don't need to do this." Maura pleaded, trying to get out of this.

"C'mon Maura, it'll be fine." She said soothingly. And all these kids around lessens the chances of me ripping your clothes off, she finished in her head. "Knock and say 'Trick-or-Treat' when they answer."

Maura did as she was told.

The door opened to reveal an older lady who looked like she was about to have a heart attack when she saw who was at her door.

"Trick-or-Treat!" Maura chimed cheerfully, holding out her pillowcase. She was still unsure about this whole thing but… she trusted Jane, even when it didn't seem like a good idea.

"Aren't you a little too old to be trick-or-treating, dear?" She asked, putting a few candy bars in the sack anyway.

"Uh…"

"This is actually her first time." Jane interjected. "I'm trying to take her through everything that Halloween entails."

"Well hello, Jane! I didn't see you there." She greeted the detective and slipped another candy bar in the M.E.'s bag. "How's your mother?"

"She's fine, thanks." She said pleasantly to her old neighbor.

"Well, good luck tonight girls. I hope you have a good first Halloween, dear." She said, looking at Maura.

"Thank you!"

The two walked away. Maura was looking in the pillow case.

"So that's all you do? You knock on a door, say a line and get candy?"

"Yep!"

"Wow… that seems too easy."

"Don't over think it, Maura." She bumped shoulders with her. "Just go with it."

They went to several more doors. Most of the people were nice about the whole thing, especially when Jane explained why they were there. Only a few people refused to give Maura candy. One in particular stood out, calling Maura a tramp and some other not-so-nice names before slamming the door in their faces. They made it about halfway around the block before Jane decided to call it quits, noticing that Maura was shivering.

"That was… exhilarating!" Maura decided gleefully. "You never know what you're going to get at each door! It was amazing! I'm glad you dragged me out there." They entered the Rizzoli household again and Jane put Maura's candy on a table, leaving it until later.

"I'm glad you had fun." Jane smiled at her best friend. She would never grow tired of moments like these. Even if these moments threatened to push her to insanity. She was still finding it hard to keep her hands off the girl in front of her.

They joined the others. Angela waved Maura over. Frankie walked over to Jane.

"I'm telling you, Sis," Frankie said sipping on his drink. "If you don't make a move, I will."

Jane glanced at Maura, who was chatting happily with Angela, before turning to her brother. "What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about." He pointed to Maura. "You have the hots for her. I get it. But a little advice? She won't stay single for long."

Jane's gaze lingered on Maura as she took in the words of wisdom from her brother. She knew that what he was saying was true. In fact, she was rather surprised that Maura was still single.

"I know." She conceded. "I'll admit it. I'm in love with her." She looked at Frankie, eyes full of fear.

"Jane? What's wrong?" He asked. He's never seen her look this way before.

"I've never told anyone that before. Hell, I just came to terms with it myself earlier today." She was a bundle of nerves.

Frankie's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Really? Wow that's… that's a surprise."

Jane's eyebrow cocked up.

"I just meant that it always seemed like you were completely in love but…" He almost said that she was oblivious to Maura's feelings but he wanted her to find out from Maura, not him. "Never mind… I need to talk to Ma for a sec." He walked away and pulled his mother into the kitchen.

"What is it Frankie?"

"I talked to Jane."

"Yeah? And?"

"She's in love with Maura."

"We already know that!"

"No! She actually told me she's in love with Maura. Turns out she just realized this today."

Angela was surprised at this news. "Well… let's just stick to the plan."

"What would that be again?" He asked, looking around to make sure that they were still out of earshot. They've been trying to plot a way to get the two of them to confess their feelings for a few weeks now and figured that tonight was the night to do it.

"Just follow my lead, okay?" Angela said. They went back in the living room and she made a hand gesture to Frank, who then nodded and left the room.

Frankie and Angela chatted nonchalantly until the lights in the room went out.

"What just happened?" Jane asked, looking around for signs of danger.

"I don't know." Angela answered. "But Janie could you be a dear and get the flashlights? They're in the hall closet. Maura, why don't you go help?"

"Uh… sure." Jane answered, surmising that it was probably just a power outage since she heard no suspicious noises. She took a hold of Maura's wrist so they wouldn't lose each other in the darkness and tried to ignore the feelings that came up.

Frankie felt a tap on the back of his neck, signaling his turn to shine. With the stealthness of a jungle cat he followed the two closely.

They opened the closet and looked inside, trying to feel for the flashlights. Why were they even in here?

Frankie pushed them in and slammed the door shut. He had to hold it closed with his whole body weight behind it, as Jane was pushing rather hard against it. When her pushes died down he placed a chair under the door knob, essentially locking it.

Inside, the two girls were just standing there, mostly in confusion.

In a few minutes the lights came on, including the one inside the closet.

"I still can't believe we went with plan C." Frankie said. "I told you that it won't work."

"Maybe on a regular day," Angela argued, "but not when Maura's dressed like that."

Frankie thought that over and then nodded, figuring she was probably right. Now all they had to do was wait.

XXXXX

Jane sat down, her back against a side of the closet. Maura mirrored her.

"Well… while we're stuck in here I might as well say something I've been meaning to say all day." Jane breathed in deeply, steeling herself for this conversation. "About that… thing… that happened earlier."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I took advantage of you just laying there…"

"No, that was not the problem…" Jane said, glad the other girl did that and vowing to hunt that truck down someday. "It's just… I think maybe we should…" Her sentence trailed off when she looked at Maura. She completely forgot what she was talking about.

"Should what?" Maura inquired. Why was Jane looking at her like that?

Jane shook her head and looked down at the hands in her lap, focusing in on the scar. "Um…" She tried to remember what she just said. "We should talk about it."

"Jane…"

The voice was begging her to look up. She fought it but, eventually, the voice won out.

"Earlier… that was what I was talking about when I said I needed my space from you. I didn't want something like that to happen. I was afraid you'd-"

Jane couldn't stand it anymore. She leaned forward, essentially launching herself at the doctor. She put her hands on either side of the M.E.'s head and leaned in, crashing their lips together.

Maura was caught off guard but her hands went straight down to Jane's waist, pulling her in closer by her belt loops.

Jane pulled back and tore off both of their hats before going at it again, this time cupping Maura's cheeks before leaning down and attacking her lips again.

They kissed passionately. All the unresolved sexual tension that built up over the last few days, or really, since they met, was finally getting released.

Jane's hands traveled down to caress her shoulders before making their way around to her back to pull her in, trying to press their bodies as close together as possible. Her knee lifted up from its spot on the ground and accidentally pressed into Maura, causing the other girl to moan into Jane's mouth.

Maura had to pull back. She was breathing heavily and her whole body was on fire. She looked into dark, chocolaty eyes and smiled, trying to control the urge to just kiss her again. "Jane…" She started.

Jane frowned and pulled away. Maura's hold on her, however, kept her there.

"No… I just need to say this." She said, still gazing into Jane's eyes. "I love you, Jane Rizzoli."

Jane smiled down at Maura and started to lean in again. "I love you too." She whispered onto the M.E.'s lips before taking them in hers again.

XXXXX

"How long were we gonna let them stay in there again?" Frankie asked, looking at the door.

Angela started to speak but then paused. "Um… I didn't really think that far yet."

There was an awkward silence as they all stared at the door, not knowing what to do next.

"Well," Frank decided after a moment of thinking, "we can't let them stay in there too long." He walked over, removed the chair and opened the door.

Jane and Maura broke away quickly. Maura was almost the one with a concussion this time with the force she used to pull back.

Jane knew what just happened. They were tricked to get in here and, while she didn't know the underlying motives, she was glad it happened. Not so glad at being interrupted, however, as she grabbed Maura's hand and pulled them out, glaring at the three standing there.

"We're leaving," was all she said before they got into her car, deciding to leave Maura's there for the night, and sped off. It was time to make Maura's first Halloween truly unforgettable.