As Bette and Tina reached the car park of the CAC, Bette held Tina’s hand and turned to her.

“So where do we go now?” she asked.

“Maybe we could go back to the house and just spend the rest of the day together?” Tina suggested.

“I’d like that” Bette took out her car keys “shall I meet you there?”

“Babe, you’re still shaking. Leave your car here for now and I’ll drive”

Reluctantly Bette agreed, and Tina drove them both back to the house that they used to share. It was the first time that they’d walked into it together since that night. And Tina had only been back there that one time. Bette knew she must be nervous, and gripped her hand tightly as they walked up the front steps.

“You sure you wanna be here?” Bette asked tenderly.

“I wanna be here with you” Tina said decisively.

Hand in hand they walked into the house. Bette put her stuff down and headed towards the kitchen.

“You want a cup of coffee?” she offered.

“You sit down and relax. You’re shaken up”

Bette shrugged and sat down on the sofa.

“How about a glass of wine? You know, to calm our nerves” Tina suggested.

Bette laughed and accepted the offer. Tina poured two glasses of red wine and carried them over to the sofa, where she joined Bette. They smiled at each other and both took a sip. Bette put her glass down and lay down with her head in Tina’s lap. Tina casually started to stroke her hair.

“I can’t believe how great you were today” Bette ran her finger over Tina’s knee.

“I kinda surprised myself. I guess seeing someone hurting you just sets off another side of me” Tina admitted.

“I can’t believe you still want to protect me after everything I’ve done”

“Bette, I’ve put that behind me. Now I want you to” Tina played with a strand of Bette’s hair.

Bette rolled over so that she was looking up at Tina.

“You have to believe me about today. I never did anything to encourage her. I kept telling her to leave but she just wouldn’t” Bette started to cry.

“Hey” Tina wiped away Bette’s tears “I believe you”

“But when you walked away…”

“I heard one comment. It was out of context. I saw what she did to you. If you’d been interested then she wouldn’t have had to have tried to force you” Tina reasoned.

“Thank you” Bette reached up to stroke Tina’s cheek.

“We’ve got a second chance now, baby”

“Was that another slip?” Bette asked quietly.

“No” Tina smiled “it feels right again”

Bette lifted up her torso and Tina leant down to meet her. Their lips met and the kiss lingered for long afterwards. They stared into each others eyes, but the moment was broken by the beeping of Bette’s cell phone.

“Sorry” Bette apologised.

“It’s okay, read it”

Bette picked up her phone and her face sank as she read the text message.

“It’s her” she sadi quietly.

“Let me see” Tina took the phone from Bette.

‘You really think that just coz your little wife came along that this is over? We have unfinished business’

“She’s unbelievable” Tina let out a deep breath.

“What do I do?”

“Can I reply?”

“Sure” Bette lay back down.

Tina took the phone and wrote a message, making sure that Bette couldn’t see. When she was finished, she leant over Bette and put the phone down on the table.

“What did you say?” Bette asked.

“Oh I just made sure that she gets the message” Tina replied elusively.

Bette seemed contented, and relaxed in Tina’s lap.

“Will you take me back to get my car?” Bette asked.

“How about I just take you to work in the morning?” Tina suggested.

“But…”

“I’d like to stay here, if that’s okay with you. No funny business, just me and you spending the night together”

“Of course” Bette smiled “you can have the spare bed and I’ll sleep on the sofa”

“No” Tina said firmly “I want us to face our bedroom. Together”

Bette sat up “Are you sure?”

“Yes”

They spent the rest of the afternoon on the sofa watching the television. Both of them were clearly nervous about facing the bed, but they tried to put it out of their minds.

However, the time came to go to bed, and they walked nervously hand in hand to the bedroom door. They looked at each other and pushed open the door. Tina watched as Bette cleared away clothes that were strewn across the floor.

“You okay?” she turned to Tina.

“I’m fine. You?”

“Yeah”

Tina walked up to Bette and kissed her gently.

“We can do this” she said softly.

Bette walked to the wardrobe and handed Tina some pyjamas.

“You can change in the bathroom” Bette offered.

“Yeah, I guess I should”

While Tina went to change Bette put on her own pyjamas and stood next to the bed. Tina reentered the room and slipped her arms round Bette from behind.

“Let’s do this” she breathed.

Bette pulled back the covers and they both climbed in. They looked at each other hesitantly for a moment, before moving their bodies close together. They wrapped themselves together and both let out a contented sigh. It was as though they’d never been apart. They fell asleep close enough to not feel lonely, but far enough apart to have space. The fear of the room had fallen away as soon as they’d faced it together.

In fact, Tina hadn’t totally fallen asleep. She lay still so as not to disturb Bette, staring at the room. It hadn’t changed since she’d left. So much had happened in this room, and she’d missed it so much. After a while she got up carefully. Bette stirred slightly.

“Where are you going?” Bette mumbled.

“I have…unfinished business. I’ll be back in an hour or so” she whispered.

“Ok”

“Go back to sleep baby” Tina kissed Bette lightly.

Tina snuck out of the room and into the bathroom where she got dressed again. She then made her way quietly out of the house.