Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Rizzoli & Isles.

The early morning sunlight barely peeked past the heavy drapes, only casting a faint glow around the window. She focused on that glow as her body and mind slowly woke up, climbing out of the darkness of sleep. One by one her senses joined her, starting with sight then smell, sound, taste and then...touch.

She felt a weight on her stomach and warmth at her back.

Jane.

They lay spooned together, Jane protecting her even in her sleep.

But it burned, started a fire deep in her belly. It burned brighter than the other fiery pain in her leg. It burned away the fog and suddenly everything was clear. Her heartbeat sped up and her breathing hitched in realisation and in admittance.

Jane.

These days of pain and anger, of separation had been more than being at odds with her best friend. She knew it then and knows it now. And she was right there beside her.

She felt the breathing change, a slight stirring, and arm pulling her closer and nuzzling her hair.

"Jane."

Jane started, tensed up but didn't move. This closeness was new and exciting and it showed how much had changed. "Morning. How are you feeling?"

"My leg hurts."

Jane flopped back on her own pillow, "Forgot to call my mother...about the pills."

"I'll figure it out, if you can go get them."

"Sure." She rolled out of bed, leaving Maura feeling chilled at the sudden loss of warmth beside her.

"What are you wearing?"

She looked down at the shorts and threw her hands in the air, stalking off to find the pills.

When she got back with the pain pills, the antibiotics and a glass of water, she helped Maura sit up and take them, automatically reaching out to brush away a drop of water that dripped on Maura's chin.

She didn't think twice about climbing back into the big bed, slipping between the covers. She propped herself up with the pillows and leaned her head back, hitting it on the headboard behind her.

"So...What do you want to do today? I get the day off and you're certainly not going anywhere."

"Spend time with you."

"That's a given."

"I want to get clean."

"Clean?"

"A bath, can you help me?"

"Course I can." It also made her long for a shower of her own.

She helped Maura hop to the bathroom and started the taps running, steam filling the bathroom and fogging the large mirror. Maura was settled on the toilet seat and Jane left to find a garbage bag to protect the leg.

When the tub was full and Jane turned off the taps, the bathroom was silent as they realised the implications of the situation. The silence was surprisingly comfortable making Maura feel bold. She took change of her fuzzy thoughts and acted no nonsense, stripping the t-shirt and underwear off and pushing herself into a standing position on the sink. Jane took the same attitude and helped her into the tub, helping keep the leg out of the water.

Maura was comfortable with her body and didn't care what anyone saw, what Jane saw. Through everything else, she even hoped she saw and was possibly tempted. She hoped that maybe she would see a mirror of her own feelings in Jane.

It tempted her. The image was burned in her mind as Jane headed down the hall to the guest bathroom to have her own quick shower, before Maura needed her help again.

She pushed all thoughts out of her mind as she had countless times in the past and concentrated on the scalding water beating down on her, cleansing her.

The shower took less time than she had planned for and the thoughts and feelings were rushing back. It was as if, over the course of the last day or so, a hole had formed in the dam holding everything back and now the pressure had built up to break down the dam. All the thoughts she'd ever considered and feelings she'd ever had came flooding through her mind. She was already stepping back into the purple shorts and a t-shirt she had filched. She felt uncomfortable; whether from the clothes or from the thought of going back to help Maura out of the tub, when all hell was breaking lose in her brain, her heart.

She headed back and did just that, helping her stand, passing her robe and lifting her out of the bathtub.

"Can you find me something to wear," Maura said over the gurgle of the water. "Something nicer than that," She gestured to the t-shirt on the floor. Looking nice would make her feel better.

Jane found a cozy sleep set and left Maura to get dressed on her own, while she went to throw their toxic clothes in the wash. She belatedly thought that Maura's probably should have been dry-cleaned.

No words were spoken as they headed to the living room where Maura sat on the couch and Jane started putting some form of breakfast together in the kitchen. The air was thick with their respective thoughts and it filled the space that the silence made now.

They sat close together on the couch with steaming plates of scrambled eggs and buttered toast on their laps, their shoulders brushed and hips bumped together. Still without talking they picked an old black and white murder mystery and settled in to watch.

Hands clasped at the finger biting, terrifying climax and they stayed that way throughout the rest of the movie. They didn't think about it, only acted on impulse.

They had drifted together over the day, closer than ever before. The looks, the touches, the silences - the silences in which they had been thinking.

Maura opened and shut her mouth. Once. Twice. Then she spoke, breaking the silence. "Jane."

"Yeah."

She didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry...The whole situation with my father..."

"Hey, it was an impossible situation but it's behind us now." She really did not want to talk about it and bring back the pain. "Really, I couldn't imagine my life without you. These days without you there... Last night made me realise how much I need you...want you..."

Maura finished, "Love you..."

"Really?" She asked incredulously, both afraid and hoping that it was true.

"Really. But if you don't feel...and I 'm pretty sure you don't with Casey still out there somewhere..."

"I do. You're here."

"What does that mean? When he comes back, then what?"

"Then I'll let him know we are together."

Maura smiled, her mind jumping, "You know Tommy implied that we were together."

"Tommy?"

"I'd take that as a blessing."

"I think I will. So..."

"So?"

Maura was so calm, didn't seem to feel the need to rationalize every word and every feeling. Jane on the other hand was bursting with questions. "What is this? What do we do? Just..."

"We're us, an us. If that's what you want."

"I guess...I do. Do you?

"Yes. At work we're always professional, that doesn't change...But outside..."

"We're us, an us."

"Yes," Maura breathed.

They leaned forward; forehead's resting against each other. They judged the closeness, welcomed it and moved in closer still.

Their lips met tentatively at first then more insistently, testing and tasting.

They drew back to look into each other's shining eyes, filled with a mix of love and lust.

They'd be drifting together now, as one.

A/N: This part brought so many possibilities to mind but I think I will stop it here, for now at least. Thanks all for reading and for the encouragement!