Disclaimer: Don't own, never will, I am sad...

A/N: My first time doing a one-shot for these two. I find that I have trouble summarizing things into one chapter because I get so many ideas. But, here's to trying!

The party decorations were finally all packed away, except for one particularly handsome looking horse that Maura had deemed to be the stallion Jane had jokingly requested as a birthday gift. Jane brushed passed Maura, who was stacking the cups that were strewn around the room, to place her giant stack of paper plates in the trash.

They were both completely exhausted. Hoyt had made his return, taking both of them hostage and almost ending both of their lives. Jane had already been scarred twice from the man, and on her birthday of all days, he chose to torture Maura as well. It had been an emotionally draining day for both of them, and as the last remnants of the party were put away, Jane realized JUST how exhausted she felt.

Maura made her way into the kitchen, handing Jane the cups she had acquired. Jane took them, depositing them into the trash bin. She turned to see Maura hide a yawn behind her fist, and stretch her body to rid of the day's stress. Jane smiled sadly. She loved Maura more than anything, and it was what gave her the will to fight earlier that day. Thinking of someone doing ANYTHING to hurt Maura made her crazy, and when she saw the tazer headed toward her unrequited love, it sent a rush through her that she didn't know she possessed.

She was broken out of her reverie by Maura's voice, not quite catching what she had said.

"What Maura? I'm sorry, I was kind of spaced out for a minute."

"I asked if I could stay here tonight. I don't particularly wish to be by myself..."

"Of course you can, sweetheart. I was kind of thinking the same thing."

Maura smiled at Jane. She had been so brave today. She had saved both of their lives. Maura knew Jane had already been through so much at the hands of Hoyt, but to actually be witness to the torturous ways of the killer had been too much. She didn't think she could remember a day where she had cried so much. She didn't know when it happened, but she had fallen in love with Jane, and it made her heart hurt to see the brunette go through something of that magnitude.

"Earth to Maura..."

Maura jumped at the interruption, but her heartbeat slowed quickly when Jane put a reassuring hand on her arm.

"You were somewhere else just now. Everything okay in that big head of of yours?"

Maura only shook her head softly, and the sad look in her eyes made Jane's heart break. Jane nodded in response, knowing how Maura felt.

"Come on. Let's go get ready for bed and get as comfortable as possible, okay? I know that I'm ready to just breathe regularly again."

Maura could only nod, as Jane reached out for her hand to lead her into the bedroom. Jane grabbed her own tank top and shorts before reaching into another for the pajamas Maura had accidentally left at her house the last time she had slept over. Jane then escaped into the bathroom to change, and left Maura in her room to do the same.

When she had finished changing, she reentered her bedroom to find Maura already curled up in her sheets. She smiled softly, turning off all of the lights and arming the security system in her apartment before crawling into the bed next to the blonde.

They just laid there on their backs in silence, neither knowing what to say. Maura made the first move, by reaching out her hand to grab Jane's, whose hands curled around Maura's willingly.

"Today is the most scared I've ever been in my entire life, Jane," Maura muttered softly, fighting back tears.

Jane turned on her side and reached out her arm to pull the other woman closer. She left a soft kiss on Maura's forehead, and snuggled into Maura's side as the blonde began to softly cry.

"I know Maura. I know," she whispered into Maura's hair. "I was scared, too ya know?"

Maura nodded softly, using her right hand, as it was the only one free, to wipe her eyes.

"He's a monster, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm glad he's dead."

Jane only held her closer. "You and me both, Maura. Today was one of the longest and most terrifying days of my entire life, and I've had quite a few of those recently." Feeling Maura tense at this statement, she gently started to rub the other woman's arm to comfort her. "This was the worst one, though, by far. And I know I'm not one to just be open and talk about all of this, but this time was different. He was determined to use you to get to me. And I wasn't scared because he had me Maura. This has happened twice before, and I was done being scared of him. I was scared because he had you. I thought for sure that I was too late..." Jane managed to get out before sucking in a deep breath to keep herself in check.

Maura was just quiet, waiting for Jane to compose herself. She knew Jane cared about her, but she wasn't sure to what degree. Today had scarred them both, literally and emotionally. But it had also made Maura brave. She was tired of not knowing, and today almost rid her of her chance to EVER know.

Maura turned on her side to face Jane, and gently used her right hand to push Jane's hair out of her face before cupping her cheek. This caused Jane to raise her eyes to meet her gaze. Seeing the look in Maura's eyes caused her to raise her eyebrows in question. Maura only stared at her in response, biting her lip in nervousness.

Jane realized in that moment what Maura was trying to make up her mind about, and inwardly thanked whatever powers in the universe that had influenced Maura's feelings.

"Maura... sometime you have to stop thinking and just do."

Maura looked up at Jane, amazed at how Jane knew what she was thinking. When she saw the slight smile that crossed Jane's lips, she leaned in to cover the smiling lips with her own. The kiss was soft, short and sweet, and when Maura pulled away to rest her head against Jane's, she couldn't help but feel good about her decision. She felt Jane's hand around her waist and began to gently use the hand that was entangled in Jane's hair to stroke the brunette's head.

"How long, Maura?" Jane asked, her thumb gently stroking the skin of Maura's waist where her hand rested.

Maura shrugged slightly, "I'm not sure, Jane. But a while. You?"

Jane sighed, not fully believing that she wasn't dreaming. "Not long after our first sleep over."

Maura nodded. "I was just... I've never had something like this and I've been afraid."

Jane only nodded in response, before kissing Maura again chastely. When Jane went to pull away, Maura tightened her grip in her hair and pulled her in for another, but this time more demanding lip lock. The need for air was the only reason the two pulled away from each other. They rested their foreheads against each other to catch their breath.

Jane realized that Hoyt almost took this all away from her. That monster almost stole her chance to finally know what Maura's lips felt like, what she tasted like, what it finally felt like to let it all out and into the open. What if this was all a dream? What if Hoyt had actually killed her and this was what being dead was like? Not that she minded this, but if it wasn't real..

Maura felt Jane tense, and after kissing her forehead and running her hand down Jane's arm.

"What is it Jane? What's the matter?"

The fear and concern in Jane's eyes made her melt. She grabbed Jane's hands and interlaced their fingers, wanting to provide Jane with as much support as she could.

"How do I know that this is really happening? How do I know that instead of us winning, Hoyt didn't get the better hand? I keep thinking that I'm really dead and that this is just imaginary, a hallucination. I've wanted this for so long, to just kiss you and touch you, and yet I feel so dead inside... I need to feel alive again, Maura. I need to know this isn't all a dream."

Maura took a deep breath in. She understood Jane's need for validation. Her personal monster was finally dead, but he had haunted her for so long, that she couldn't believe that she had finally got the better of him. She knew that her and Jane's relationship was changed, and didn't want to push the envelope. She loved Jane, though. She knew what Jane needed in that moment, and decided to do as Jane said and to stop thinking and just act.

"I love you Jane. I have for a long time. I just want you to know that."

Jane looked at Maura with wide eyes, before relaxing at the words she had been wanting to hear from the blonde for over a year.

"I love you too, Maura. So much... but why..."

Before she could finish her statement, Maura's lips were on her is a flash. The kiss was heated and filled with all of the pent up emotion both of them had been hiding for so long. Jane took a minute to adjust to the intensity, but soon her tongue sought out Maura's and began a dance it seemed like they had both been a part of forever.

When they pulled apart, Jane realized that Maura had somehow found her way on top of her.

"Maura... I don't..."

She was once again silenced by another frenzied kiss.

"Let me take care of you, Jane. Let me make you feel alive."

Jane looked into hazel eyes and couldn't say no to the plea in them. She nodded, not being able to find the words to say to Maura. She watched as Maura made quick work of her own clothes before working on Jane's. Jane stared at her in awe. She was perfection. She eyed her up and down wondering what had gone right in her life that brought her to this wonderful creature.

She soon felt Maura's lips all over her torso. She left gentle licks, nips and kisses all over Jane's body, paying special attention to her breasts. When her lips made contact with a particularly sensitive nipple, Jane's back arched into her. Jane's hands moved to rest on Maura's hips as they began to idly move to aid her in her efforts.

After more deep kisses and teasing, Maura finally kissed her way down Jane's body to kiss at her upper thighs. Jane groaned at the movements so close to where she needed them.

"Maur..." she said, trying to tell the other woman to stop teasing. Maura got the message and began licking Jane's slit. Jane's hips bucked at the contact, and her hands tangled in Maura's hair to pull her closer.

When Maura's tongue entered her, she swore she saw stars. Maura smiled against her and slowly began licking hard at Jane's clit.

"UGH! MAURA!" Jane rasped loudly. She moved her hands to Maura's shoulders to pull her back up for a kiss. As their tongues continued their intense duel, Maura let her hands roam down Jane's body until they entered her very apparent arousal. Jane moaned into the action, moving Maura's body so that it was positioned over her thighs for some friction, and placed her own fingers into Maura. Maura gasped, but immediately set up an intense rhythm.

As Maura moved her hand and hips against Jane, the two's lips never ceased their contact. Jane was the first to break away, feeling the beginning of orgasm wash over her body. Maura could feel Jane slight grip around her fingers and knew it wouldn't be long until both of them crashed over the edge.

"God Maura... so close, don't stop... oh god. Are you close?"

Maura nodded weakly, feeling her own arousal get dangerously close to eruption. She buried her head into Jane's neck as her hips began to rock of their own accord, but was pulled up by Jane's free hand.

"No. I want to see you," she squeezed out just before her hand gripped Maura's hip tightly as she reeled into ecstasy. Jane's orgasm led to Maura's, who rocked against Jane uninhibitedly.

Maura removed her hands from inside Jane, and lifted herself off of Jane's hand before letting her entire body collapse onto Jane's.

The two laid completely spent in each others' arms for a while, catching their breath. When Jane finally came back to reality, she tightened her arms around the woman laying atop her, almost afraid to let her go now that she had her.

Maura felt Jane's grip tightened and smiled, snuggling into Jane's shoulder. She felt Jane kiss the side of her head, and gently kissed the skin of Jane's neck.

"Better?" Maura whispered softly, kissing Jane's ear as she asked her question.

Jane chuckled softly and nodded in response. "I really do love you, Maura, like... a whole lot. But, I'm almost afraid of what this means for us."

Maura wrapped her arms around Jane's neck and kissed her way up to Jane's jaw, lifting her head to look Jane in the eyes.

"I love you too, Jane. Don't worry. I don't know what it means, either. But I have a pretty good hypothesis."

Seeing Jane's eyebrow shoot up in question, she smiled. "I would think that since we know we love each other, and with what just happened, that we would be a couple."

Jane nodded and pulled Maura down to kiss her softly. "I would agree, doctor. And I suppose that we have all the time in the world to figure this out, huh?"

Maura nodded, kiss Jane, and rolled off of her and onto her side to rest her head against the brunette's shoulder. Jane wrapped her arms around Maura, pulling the blonde closer against her.

"How about we get some rest, okay? It's been a long day, and tomorrow morning we'll wake up just like this and talk, and kiss, and do all sorts of other mundane couple like things. How does that sound?"

Maura smiled at Jane's request. "That sounds lovely, Jane. Love you," Maura said as she closed her eyes and slowly slipped into slumber.

"I love you too, honey. Goodnight."