Disclaimer: I do not own Jane The Virgin. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
This story takes place after Episode 15 of Series 3 of Jane The Virgin, a.k.a. after the time jump.
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Petra Solano was not in love with Jane Gloriana Villanueva! She wasn't! Because that would be weird, and awkward, and totally in character for her. Petra had never really been good with people. She'd had a few working and/or romantic relationships with men which were alright for a while, but inevitably something went wrong and it was normally her fault.
She sabotaged herself and the people around her, which was why even if she did have a teeny, tiny crush on Jane, which she absolutely didn't, it could never go anywhere. Things were awkward enough between them without adding a break up into the equation. And whatever Petra had done to deserve it.
Also, did she mention she wasn't good with people? Or more accurately, she was bad with men, and terrible with women. Sure, she knew how to network with them, but she never really had a friendship with one before. Until Jane, which was another reason she couldn't screw this up. But Jane didn't exactly make it easy, being so sweet, nice, and perfect.
And effortlessly sexy. Seriously, Petra put so much time and energy into her appearance, and half the time Jane looked like she just rolled out of bed looking gorgeous. Sometimes it got so bad that Petra literally had to remind herself over and over again she wasn't in love with Jane Villanueva, and more importantly couldn't be, whenever Jane was in a room with her.
Which was a real problem whenever Jane was talking to her, "Petra?"
"What?" Petra mumbled, quickly forcing herself back to consciousness.
"Are you okay?" Jane asked, being perfect as always.
"Yes." Petra snapped a little too quickly, "I'm fine."
Jane raised an eyebrow, "Really, because you don't seem-"
"Do we have to do this every time? You know I get distracted with work a lot." Petra grumbled, which was true, but never when Jane was around, "When I say I'm fine, I'm fine. Now, what were you saying?"
"Just that..." Jane began cautiously, obviously debating whether she should push the issue, before revealing, "I, I think I'm finally ready to start dating."
If Petra Solano had been in love with Jane Villanueva her heart would have probably skipped a beat. But she wasn't, so it didn't. For a few long seconds a very familiar delusion crossed Petra's mind. One where she was on a date with Jane, and Jane was laughing, and smiling at her, and looking at her the same way that she used to look at Michael.
It would have been funny if it wasn't so sad. Or it would have been if Petra Solano had been in love with Jane Villanueva, but luckily she wasn't, so Petra just glued on the fake smile that she had perfected throughout the years and told her sometimes friend, and sometimes rival, what she obviously wanted to hear.
"That's great Jane. I'm happy for you. Truly." Petra effortlessly lied, "What changed?"
"I don't know." Jane smiled softly, before admitting, "I just... I finally got through the whole story about what happened with Michael without crying."
"Wow. Jane that's, wow." Petra murmured, totally getting what a big deal this was, and then truthfully telling her, "That's great. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks." Jane smiled softly, and then after a pause admitted with a smile, "So of course my Ma immediately set me up on a date once I told her."
If Petra Solano had been in love with Jane Villanueva her heart would have probably broken into a million pieces. But she wasn't, so it didn't.
*
For the rest of the week Petra had to fight the urge to asked Jane about her blind date, because doing so would give the wrong idea. Besides, she'd have to go out of her way. Also she had a lot of practice with self-control, which wasn't easy as all her dreams, and nearly all her day dreams, for that week involved Jane hitting it off with a faceless stranger, and gushing to Petra about it.
And then those dreams got more ridiculous, skipping to the part where Jane would marry her blind date and Petra would be forced to sit in the aisle and glue on another fake smile as the woman she WASN'T in love with slowly walked down the aisle and shared her vows again with a man. Not that Petra would care.
The fact that Jane didn't start any gushing when they next saw each other, during their weekly talking session/their kids play date, was probably a good sign things didn't go well. Or a bad sign. Whatever. If that was the case obviously Petra would be sad for Jane, but... Xiomara always meant well, but Petra couldn't imagine knowing anyone nearly good enough for Jane.
Not that anyone was good enough for Jane, but surely there must be another Michael in the world, who as far as Petra could tell was the closest anyone came to deserving her. But whatever, the point was Petra didn't want to pry if Jane didn't want to talk about it. Then again, would a good friend force it her out of it anyway? Or at least ask about it? God, Petra's head hurt.
Thankfully after 20 minutes of idle chat Jane bought it up, "So, my blind date was a disaster."
Good, Petra thought, just about avoiding the urge to say that out loud, instead going with, "Oh no, that's too bad."
Jane smiled softly, "You don't sound that surprised."
"Well..." Petra began, searching for the right words, "You, you just, you know... I... blind dates are total gambles. You never know what you're going to get. And your picky."
"I am not..." Jane began defensively but then Petra gave her a look and she was forced to admit, "Okay, maybe a little. Or a lot. But this is a big deal, you know? I don't want to just jump the first guy I see."
"Huh." Petra murmured, trying to force her next words down, but ultimately deciding to let them out for Jane's sake, "Maybe you should. You know, just get it over with. Oh don't give me that look. It's called a rebound Jane, it helps. Trust me, I know."
"Do I really look like a rebound girl to you?" Jane asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No." Petra said softly, "But you could probably do with one."
"Well I don't want one. I don't want to be set up on a blind date, or meet someone in a bar. That's not me." Jane confessed, before moving closer, "What I want is to just meet someone and then for feelings to develop. None of this forced meeting nonsense, just an intense spark and then natural development. It doesn't have to even be romantic in the beginning, you know? Maybe I don't even like them in the beginning, and they don't like me. But then, over time, things change. Maybe I noticed them looking at me, which makes me question how I feel about that. How I feel about them. And then I start asking questions, and suddenly I find out that everyone else around me knows that they're crazy about me, and I've just been slow to catch on. But now I know, and it feels right... and maybe... just maybe... I want to do something about it."
From the beginning of her speech Petra was taken aback by the way Jane was looking at her, and her words blew her away. She desperately tried to tell herself that she was delusional. That there was no possible way Jane was talking about her. It just wasn't possible. And yet, Petra had never wanted anything so badly in her entire life.
And towards the end of her speech Jane started leaning in to the point where their lips were inches apart, Petra closing her eyes and praying that Jane would close the distance. But of course it was too good to be true, and suddenly they were forced apart as Jane's son came rushing in, his father right behind him.
"Mommy, Mommy, look what I did!" Mateo squealed with delight, holding up a picture to his mother.
"Wow Mr Sweet-Face, this is awesome!" Jane replied enthusiastically, reaching down to pick him up and kissing the side of his head enthusiastically.
"He just got away from me. I'm sorry." Rafael apologised to both women, although he was specifically glancing at Petra.
"It's fine." Jane said dismissively.
