"I’ll protect her Bette, you have my word"

Bette forced a small smile, "Thank you my friend"

She turned to leave before stopping and looking over her shoulder, "You know . . one thing I’ve learned from all this is that life is short. Maybe you should think about finally giving into that Carmen girl"

Shane’s eyes widened as Bette walked off toward the horse stables. She didn’t ask how Bette knew, she just figured it was the same as her own situation. Some feelings are just impossible to fight . . or hide.

*****

Bette passed through the archway leading to the main courtyard and saw Tina with the corner of her eye. Tina, her beautiful Tina.

Bette knew that if she spoke to Tina, she would lose all resolve to do what she needed to do so she didn’t stop and kept for the stables. Tina however saw Bette passed and immediately knew something was wrong. Tina had a way of reading Bette through her eyes and body movement, something was definitely off.

She had been walking around with Carmen and Alice but immediately walked toward Bette while Alice was in mid-sentence. She didn’t care about being cautious or careful, she needed to be with Bette.

"Hey Tina, where are you going?"

Tina ignored them and crossed through the ivory archway, speeding up her movements as she walked up to Bette’s side. She tilted her head to try and get a good look at the brunette’s face.

"Hey . . is everything okay?"

Bette swallowed and kept walking, avoiding eye contact. No matter how strong she was, Bette knew that she would break down if she looked into those gorgeous hazel eyes.

"Yeah, everything is fine"

Tina tried to keep pace with Bette as she kept her tone as soft as possible, "I heard about your friend . . Bette, I’m so sorry"

Bette felt a sharp pang in her heart as she thought about Tim. She shook her head as she fought off a wave of tears.

"Its fine, don’t worry"

Tina was growing upset at how cold Bette was acting. She knew that the brunette was hurting but it was killing her how Bette wasn’t opening up.