Spoilers: I highly recommend that you know of all the events that occurred during the first season of The L Word. So, if I mention something in the story that you didnt know about, dont say that I didnt warn you. If you decided to just ignore this message, then I think at the very least you should have some background on the show and should know what transpired during the season finale.

*~*~*~*~*~

Alice Pieszecki awoke from her dream with a start. Dammit! That had been the seventh dream she had had of Dana in just as many days. It seemed no matter what she did, she couldn’t get the ***** tennis player out of her head. This of course posed a major problem for her.

Alice still couldn’t believe that she had had the gall to go over to Dana’s house, in the middle of the night no less, and kiss her. Dana was her best friend, what the ***** had she been thinking? Actually, that was the problem, she hadn’t been thinking. She didn’t even know why she had done what she did until she had already done it. The only thing more surprising than the fact that Alice had kissed Dana, was that Dana had kissed her back.

Alice sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had absolutely no idea how she was gonna handle this situation, or if she could fix this. She wasn’t even sure if there was a problem yet, she just assumed there was because Dana had been ignoring her since that kiss five days ago.

She rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was still early, but she decided to get up and get ready for work anyway. Maybe she’d feel slightly better after she had showered and had her cup of coffee at The Planet. Thank God it was Friday.

*~*~*~*~*~

Tina Kennard yawned and turned over. She had sleeping on Alice’s couch for the past five nights. Well actually, she didn’t even know if she could classify it as sleeping. She spent a lot of time just thinking, and when she did sleep, she was plagued with nightmares. The latest one consisted of finding Bette with Candace in their bed. Others had Bette telling Tina that she never loved her.

The truth of the matter was that Tina didn’t really know what had happened between Bette and Candace; she didn’t stick around the house to find out. The only thing that Tina knew for certain was that Bette had betrayed her. It made her sick to think that Bette had thrown out a seven year relationship just like that.

She hadn’t left Alice’s place at all in the past five days, taking a week off of work saying that there was a family emergency. So, she sat around all day and asked herself the same questions over and over; questions that she didn’t have any answers to. Did Bette actually sleep with Candace? Was it more than once? How long had this been going on? Did Bette still love her? Did Bette love Candace? Could she forgive Bette?

Hearing the shower go on, Tina thought, ‘***** it.’ She wasn’t going to sit around again and sulk all day. It was time she started getting out and living life again, and she was gonna start by joining Alice at The Planet for coffee.

Tina threw the blanket off of herself and go up off the couch.

*~*~*~*~*~

Bette Porter stopped and rubbed her eyes. She had been pacing back and forth in her office for hours, getting no sleep what-so-ever. She hadn’t really gotten any sleep at all lately, even before Tina had left. The guilt over what she had done consumed her, and she found that the only time that she could escape it was when she was working. So, she had devoted her every waking second, and then some, to her job at the CAC.

Since the night Tina left, Bette had only gone home to shower and change. She couldn’t bear staying in that house without Tina, so she had spent every night in her office sleeping on the small couch she kept there. She knew that her friends had been trying to contact her, especially Alice, but she ignored all the calls that were made to her cell phone unless it was from work, and since most of the time she was already at the office, calls from work were rare.

Bette glanced over at the small digital clock she had on her desk. It was still too early to open the gallery, and she had done absolutely everything that she could possibly do in the office, so she was lost as at to what she could do with herself until she could open. She continued to stare at the clock, as if the numbers might suddenly become letters, sending her a message on what she should do now. Of course, that isn’t really what she was expecting, but she figured staring at the clock was probably better than staring at a wall.

She smiled briefly when she finally realized what she could do. It was still fairly early, and though The Planet was already open, Tina didn’t usually pop in there for at least another hour. Maybe Bette would go grab a cup of coffee and say hello to Marina.

*~*~*~*~*~

Dana Fairbanks sat on the front porch of her house, drinking a cup of coffee. She had made the coffee because she had absolutely no intentions of going to The Planet. However, Alice had been calling her non-stop all morning, practically begging her to come into The Planet this morning. Dana knew that she couldn’t avoid Alice forever, but she had tried to for as long as possible.

Dana had had days to do nothing but think about what had happened on Monday morning, and she was either clueless as to what the answers to her questions were, or she just couldn’t come up with any answers. She had been thrown for a loop when Alice had showed up on her doorstep, telling her that she couldn’t marry Tonya. Dana had been confused at first, and then she was angry. She had asked Alice several times why, but Alice didn’t have an answer. At least, she didn’t have a spoken answer. After Dana had asked Alice again why she couldn’t marry Tonya, Alice leaned in and kissed her. Alice had kissed Dana! When her best friend had pulled away, Dana didn’t do much thinking about, she only knew that she had to be kissing Alice again. So, that’s exactly what she did. The second kiss was different though. Alice’s kiss had seemed like a small plea, like she was asking Dana for something without saying anything. Dana’s kiss however was nothing but passion. Unforutnately, when they broke apart, Alice had run away without an explanation, which left Dana wondering what the ***** any of it meant.

The only answer that Dana could come up with as to why Alice kissed her, was some sort of perverted way to get her not to marry Tonya. Alice’s plan had worked, and Dana sighed at her weaknesses. The answer to why Dana had kissed Alice back though, was much, much bigger than that. Dana had tried to deny it, tried to think of other reasons, even excuses as to why she would kiss her best friend like that, and she could only come up with one answer. Dana was fairly certain that she was in love with Alice. She just had never had any reason to even consider the possibility before Monday morning, and so she hadn’t, but when Alice showed up… the thoughts just wouldn’t leave her mind now.

God, wasn’t irony just so ironic like that?

Dana finished her cup of coffee, and went inside to take her shower. Alice’s messages had told Dana to meet her at The Planet in fourty-five minutes.

*~*~*~*~*~

Shane McCutcheon fought the sheets that entangled her, trying to pull herself from her bed so that she could answer the phone. Who the ***** would be calling her this early? It was probably Alice, telling her to stop sulking and get her ***** up and over to The Planet. Okay, so Shane had pretty been doing pretty much but sulking since Cherie dumped her a week ago, but she didn’t see anything wrong with that. Other people took a lot longer to get over their exes than a week, wasn’t Shane entitled to her time too?Besides, she had hooked up with some girl last night, but she rushed out of there and back to her place as soon as they were done.

Alice had been leaving messages, saying that Shane would feel better if she got out and spent some time with her friends, instead of just sulking at work or at home. Shane smiled briefly, knowing that Alice almost always got her way, and it was only a matter of time before she persuaded Shane to get her ***** over to their daily coffee hangout.

“Hello?” Shane answered the phone after finally untangling herself. “Oh, hey Bette. I don’t know… well, I’m just really beat this morning… yeah, I do have to go into work in a few hours. Okay, Okay. I’ll meet you over at The Planet in about a half an hour, okay? Okay, see you then. Bye.”

Shane hung up the phone, and pushed herself out of bed. She had to take a shower before heading over to The Planet, and she knew that she was gonna just wanna stand there for a bit and let the hot water run over her body. She shrugged, figuring the time for getting out and starting her life again might as well be now.

*~*~*~*~*~

It was a seemingly perfect day – the sky was crystal clear and the temperature was already in the mid-seventies. Alice and Tina sat at their usual table in The Planet, drinking coffee and making idle chit-chat. Alice kept looking at the door every three seconds and Tina couldn’t help but wonder why. In fact, Alice had been acting weird for the past several days.

“Who are you looking for?” Tina asked casually.

“Huh?” Alice responded, obviously confused.

“Well, you keep looking at the door. I thought maybe you were expecting someone.”

“Oh. Yeah, actually I was looking for Dana.”

“What time did she say she was going to be here?”

“Uh, she didn’t. I didn’t actually talk to her. She didn’t answer either of her phones.”

“Did you leave a message?”

“Two. I left one on her home phone and one on her cell.”

“Then she’ll be here,” Tina said. She wondered why Alice was so anxious to see Dana. Sure, they were best friends, but the only times that Alice had ever been so anxious to see Dana was if she had something really important to tell her, and if that was the case, then why hadn’t she already told Tina about it like she usually does?

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Alice muttered under her breath.

“Al, are you okay? You’ve been…”

“Oh look, it’s Shane!” Alice exclaimed, effectively cutting Tina off and changing the subject at the same time.

As Shane made her way over to the table where Alice and Tina were seated, she took her sunglasses off and placed them on her head. She gave Tina a kiss on the cheek and then pulled out the chair next to her, turning it around so she could sit on it backwards. She was wearing a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

“Oh my God, you got laid, didn’t you?” Tina asked, chuckling.

“Yup, I am so totally over Cherie,” Shane replied.

Alice knew Shane was lying, whether she was aware of it or not, but she didn’t say anything about it. Shane had to deal with her recent break-up in her own way and in her own time. Alice decided to change the subject instead. “So Shane, how’d you know we were here?”

“You didn’t call her?” Tina asked Alice.

“No,” Shane said, answering for Alice. “Bette called me.”

Tina’s eyes grew wide with either terror or shock, but Alice thought it was probably a little bit of both. Shane just looked lost.

“So, where is Bette?” Shane asked.

“Um… you know, I really need to take off,” Tina said, looking panicked. “Alice you can fill everyone in on ‘our situation.’

“Tee…”

“No, Alice. It’s okay. I gotta go.” With that, Tina grabbed her purse and rushed out of The Planet.

“Okay Al, you wanna tell me what the ***** is going on?” Shane demanded.

“Bette cheated on Tina,” Alice replied deadpan. It almost sounded like she had been rehearsing that sentence, just for certain emergencies like this one.

“*****. Seriously?”

“You saw the way Tina ran outta here.”

Shane blinked, as if the action would help what Alice just told her to sink in. Alice sighed heavily and shook her head, showing that even though she was the one that just told Shane what was going on between Bette and Tina, she didn’t believe it herself. They both just sat there for a moment, thinking about the weirdness of the situation.

“Hey,” a voice said from behind Alice, as a hand reached out and touched Alice’s shoulder. Alice jumped a mile, having been in a whole other world, she wasn’t expecting the contact. “Sorry,” the voice said as Alice turned around to see who it was. When Alice saw it was Dana, she could feel her heart skip a beat.

Dana pulled out the chair next to Alice, but before she sat down in it, she motioned for an attractive blonde woman who had been standing next to her to take the seat next to Shane. Only then did she finally seat herself next to Alice.

“Hey Dane,” Shane said, paying absolutely no attention to Dana. She was too busy taking in the blonde woman sitting next to her.

“Well hello to you too Shane,” Dana replied sarcastically. “I’m so glad that I’m important enough for you to actually make eye contact with me when you say hi.”

“Huh?” Shane said, finally looking at the tennis player.

“Nevermind,” Dana said. “So, what’s going on? Bette and Tina gonna join us?”

“You wanna tell her, or should I?” Shane asked Alice.

“Tell me what?” Dana asked, not one hundred percent certain that she liked wherever this conversation was going.

“Bette cheated on Tina,” Alice said for the second time that morning. She found it unforunate that it didn’t get any better the more she said it. It was always like a knife to the chest.

“Oh my God!” Dana exclaimed. “Why would she do something that stupid? They were my rock, the people that showed me that true love really does exist. I mean, if they didn’t make it, will anybody?”

“Dana, just because Bette and Tina hit a rough patch in their relationship doesn’t mean that they’re over. I mean… Al, now would be a really good time to do some reassuring here,” Shane said.

“Uh, yeah. Shane’s right Dana. True love totally exists, and I firmly believe that Bette and Tina will make it through this.

“Dane, if you’re worried about the future of you and Tonya, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. She’s obviously crazy about you,” Shane said, trying her hardest to reassure her friend.

“Tonya moved Monday morning,” Dana said, a whisper.

“What!? You mean she dumped you already?” Shane asked, loud enough for most of The Planet to overhear.

“What do you mean, already!?” Dana snapped defensively.

“Woah man, sorry,” Shane apologized. “That totally came out wrong.”

“You mean, she left the morning that…”

“Yes,” Dana exclaimed, effectively cutting off Alice’s sentence. “Oh, and Shane, just so we’re clear, I dumped her.”

“Crystal. Okay, so I’m trying to let the whole ‘Bette and Tina situation’ go, but it just isn’t happening. I just can’t believe Bette would do something like that,” Shane sighed.

“I can’t either, and next to Tina, I know Bette the best,” Alice replied.

“Do you know who the chick was?” Shane asked.

“What chick?” Bette asked as she pulled a chair up to sit next to Shane.

“The chick you cheated on Tina with,” Alice answered bluntly.

“Alice!” Dana scolded. Bette winced and recoiled slightly, as if she had been physically slapped.

“God Alice, are you just going to run around telling all of LA that I slept with another woman?” Bette asked, upset. “I mean, you can write it about for you’re magazine. I mean, I’m sure it’ll make a really interesting article. I can see the heading now; ‘***** CAC Director Cheats on Wife with Carpenter.’”

“Oh my God,” Dana said, eyes wide. “You really cheated on Tina?”

“With the carpenter who was working on the gallery? What was her name, Candace?” Shane asked.

“Yes, and yes,” Bette said, sounding extremely depressed. “It’s not like I went out and decided to find another woman, I mean, I never intended to cheat. It just happened, and I am not happy about it.”

“I’m sorry Bette.” Alice apologized. “I didn’t mean that, I’m just so frustrated with you right now. Do you have any idea how much you hurt Tina?”

“I do now. If Tina is feeling even half as bad as I am…”

“So, does everyone know now?”

“Nope, I’m pretty sure that Jenny and Marina don’t know yet…”

“I know now,” Marina yelled over from the counter.

“Well, then it’s only a matter of hours before Jenny knows too.”

“Did you tell Kit yet?” Shane asked.

“Yeah. I mean, I had to. She’s my sister. God, I am so stupid.”

“Yeah, you are,” Dana said, before realizing that in some way, she wasn’t any better than Bette. Everytime she thought of Tonya she was reminded of that.

“Thanks Dana, that makes me feel so much better.”

“I’m not trying to make you feel better.”

Alice started to giggle, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands, hoping nobody would notice. “Uh, tickle in my throat,” she said, trying to hide her laughter. God, Dana could be so dense, it was cute. No, scratch that; she was absolutely adorable.

“So, Dana,” Shane interupted Alice’s laughing cough, “who’s your ***** friend.”

“Oh my God, I totally forgot to introduce you guys,” Dana said, feeling like an idiot. “This is Riley Marsden. Riley, these are my friends Alice, Bette, and Shane. Eventually I’ll introduce to you Jenny, Marina, Tina, and Kit.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Riley said, smiling. Riley was an extremely attractive woman. She had shoulder length, rich auburn hair and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing althetic clothing; a pair of black adidas shorts and a tank top that cut off at her midriff, showing off her muscles and flat stomach.

“So Riley, how long have you been in LA?” Shane asked.

“Since late October,” Riley replied. “I was kind of in a slump for a while though, and I didn’t really leave my place except to go to work. I didn’t give myself a chance to go out and make any friends.”

“Really?” Shane asked, interested. “You seeing anybody?”

“God Shane!” Dana exclaimed, bringing her hand down on the table. “Can’t you meet somebody and not hit on them?”

“Sure,” Shane replied cooly. “I meet men all the time, and I don’t hit on them.”

“Sorry Shane,” Riley laughed, “but I’m not exactly on the market.”

“Oh,” Shane replied, sounding slightly disappointed. “So, you are seeing somebody then? It’s probably Dana, huh? You know, she has a thing for red-heads.”

“Shane!” Dana exclaimed angrily.

“Dana, it’s okay,” Riley laughed. “There’s nothing to be ashamed about, lots of people have preferences. To answer your question Shane, no I am not seeing Dana, although I’m fairly certain that she’s single if you’re looking.”

“I’m gonna pass,” Shane said.

“Oh my God, I think I’m gonna have nightmares for years,” Dana complained.

“I can’t believe I only met Dana last week. I wish it had been sooner, I could really use the company of friends, and Dana insisted that I meet hers,” Riley commented.

“Yeah, that little group of ours,” Alice replied sarcastically.

“Could you ladies excuse me for a moment, I have to use the restroom,” Riley said, grabbing her purse from the floor beside her chair.

“No problem, we’re not gonna get up and leave you here or anything.”

“Uh, I think I’m gonna use the restroom too,” Bette said. “I’ll show you where it is, Riley.”

“What the ***** was that all about?!” Dana asked as she hit Alice in the arm.

“Ow,” Alice said, rubbing the spot where Dana hit her. “It wasn’t about anything.”

“Give me a ***** break, Alice! You know damn well it was about something. Give the woman a ***** chance!”

“So she can become you’re new Tonya,” Alice commented under her breath. Unfortunately, it wasn’t low enough because Dana still heard her. Dana grabbed her cell phone and keys off the table, and stormed out of The Planet without another word.

“Uh, you wanna tell me what the ***** is going on here Al?” Shane asked, slightly confused.

“I’ll tell you later, okay? I’ve got to go after Dana. Stay here and wait for Riley and Bette to come back out of the restroom, and tell them we’ll be right back. Okay?” With that, Alice got up from the table and rushed after Dana.

In Alice’s rush to get to Dana before Dana could get in her SUV and drive off, she didn’t notice the woman entering The Planet at the exact same time. Alice was obviously not concerned about where she was going, or what was in her way, so it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t see the woman. The woman also seemed to be preoccupied and she didn’t notice Alice either. They collided with each other, hard. Alice fell backwards, landing on her *****, and the woman fell back against the door she just came through.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry,” the woman said as she righted herself again. Back on her feet, she approached Alice and held out her hand. “Here, let me help you up.”

“Thanks,” Alice said, taking the offered hand. “I’m really, really sorry, but I’ve got to go after someone right now. So can we do introductions afterwards?” Alice was gone before the woman could answer.

Shane looked on, watching the collision and the disappearance of Alice. She also noticed how very attractive the woman Alice slammed into was. The woman was tall, with short brown hair, and deep brown eyes. She wore a pair of blue jeans that hugged at her hips perfectly, looking like they were designed strictly for her own wearing. Shane noticed a badge and a gun attached to her jeans at the hip. She grinned, thinking it would definitely be interesting to take one of the LAPD’s detectives to bed.

Shane got up from the table and followed the woman over to the main counter.

*~*~*~*~*~

Bette exited the restroom stall and placed her purse on the counter by the sinks. Riley was already out of her stall, standing by the sinks and looking at herself in the bathroom mirror and fixing her contact lenses. Bette imagined that glasses probably would look extremely becoming on Riley, and she wondered if she wore the contacts all the time.

“I am so sorry about Alice’s behavior,” Bette said to Riley as she placed her purse aside to wash her hands.

“That’s okay,” Riley replied, turning on one of the faucets. “Given the circumstances, I totally understand.”

“Oh?”

“I’d probably be acting the same way as Alice if I were in her place and she was in mine. I mean, she didn’t just go over to Dana’s place on Monday and kiss Dana for no good reason.”

“Alice kissed Dana!?” Bette exclaimed.

“Oh my God, you didn’t know?” Riley asked, embarrassed. “I can’t believe I just let that slip. Dana’s gonna freak out on me.”

“No she isn’t,” Bette replied, “because I’m not gonna tell her. When this comes out, I’ll act just as surprised as everybody else feels.”

“Thanks Bette, I mean, I’d really hate myself for ***** up my chances with Dana already,” Riley sighed as she dried her hands.

“So, you are interested in Dana?” Bette asked as turned off her faucet.

“No, my story at the table was the honest to goodness truth. I’m not ready to be in a relationship with another woman. The only woman I could possible be with right now isn’t available for me.”

“She’s not interested?”

“I’m afraid it’s a whole lot more complicated than that,” Riley said, holding open the restroom door for Bette.

‘Maybe a new life with these women as my friends isn’t such a terrible thing after all,” Riley thought.

*~*~*~*~*~

Shane walked up to the counter, feeling just a bit nervous. She shook it off and internally chastised herself. She never had a problem picking up women before Cherie, before she fell in love. Shane hated that this was so hard for her now. She knew she wasn’t over Cherie, and she was fairly certain that her friends could tell too, even though she told them otherwise. She hoped that by jumping back into the fold, exactly where she left off, would help her get over Cherie quickly and without too much emotional pain.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” Shane said to the attractive brunette who was standing at the counter.

The woman turned around to face Shane, and she smiled. “Well, that’s probably because I’ve never been here before.”

“Oh,” Shane asked. “You’re not from around here then?”

“You could say that,” the woman said nodding. “I’m actually here looking for somebody.”

“Hmm, well maybe I can help you out. Do you have the name of this mystery person?”

“Riley Marsden.”

“Well, is this Riley in trouble with the law, because you certainly don’t try to hide the fact that you’re with law enforcement.”

“No, she’s not in trouble with the law. I’m actually looking for her to discuss some… personal matters.”

“Let’s see your badge,” Shane said, deciding she would just have just a bit more fun with the detective before she told her where Riley was.

“Okay, here,” the woman sighed, unclipping her badge and handing it to Shane.

“NYPD? I thought you were with the LAPD.”

“No.”

“You’re a long way from home aren’t you?”

“Look, this is really, really important,” the woman said, “do you have any idea where Riley is?”

“Yeah,” Shane said, giving in. “She’s Dana’s new friend. She just stepped into the restroom for a moment.” Shane pointed to the restroom just as the door opened and Riley and Bette stepped out.

Riley was adjusting her sunglasses on her head when she walked out, so she didn’t see Shane and the woman right away. The woman did see Riley however, and she could feel herself grinning. When Riley did look up, she froze, not knowing what was going on.

“Olivia,” Riley said, finally before she took off. Like Dana and Alice before her, Riley ran out the door to The Planet without looking back.

“Alex, wait!” Olivia called, running after her.

“What the ***** is going on? Who the ***** is Alex?” Shane said, standing at the counter and watching the door.