When Lara turned around to ask Dana a question she realized the tennis player was standing completely still a few feet back. Lara followed Dana’s gaze and was not surprised to see just who had turned her girlfriend into a statue.

Dana couldn’t stop herself from staring. It had been two months since she had had a glimpse of Alice, and at that moment she was positive her heart was seconds away from bursting. After the shock subsided her eyes roamed from Alice to the woman sitting across from her. She watched as the two comfortably chatted back and forth, and then she saw the black haired woman reach across the table and touch Alice’s hand for a brief second. That single gesture had Dana heading for the exit.

By the time Dana reached the car Lara was right behind her. The red head grabbed Dana by the shoulder and softly turned her around. She could see the tennis player’s sharp, blue eyes were veiled in a mist of sadness.

“Dana you don’t have to run away from her.” Lara thought her girlfriend’s guilt was the cause of her hasty escape. “I know you feel bad for hurting her, but from the looks of it she’s moving on.”

Dana tried not to wince after hearing the last part of Lara’s sentence, “I know she’s moving on, but that doesn’t make this any easier. She was my…best friend, and now I’m nothing to her, and it’s my fault. I’m the one who ruined everything.”

Lara reached up to brush a strand of hair behind Dana’s ear, but the tennis player pushed her hand away. The chef studied Dana’s face before speaking, “I’m going to ask you a simple question and I need you to be a hundred percent honest with me.” Lara took a deep breath before continuing, “Are you upset because you miss your best friend, or are you upset because you realized Alice is moving on with her love life?”

This was the moment where Dana could let it all out. She could confess her confusion to Lara, and tell her how sorry she was. She could explain how she had originally thought leaving Alice was due to the feelings she still carried for Lara, but as time passed she was slowly realizing it had more to do with her fear of not being enough.

She could reveal all of those things, and then walk back into the restaurant and tell Alice she was sorry, but what would come next. How did she know she wouldn’t find herself breaking Alice’s heart again?

Dana looked Lara in the eyes and made her decision “She was the person I went to for over seven years. I know people may not realize how loyal she is, but she never turned her back on me, and to know that I betrayed her is devastating.” Dana forced back the tears that were threatening to fall, “I want Alice to move on. I want her to be happy, but knowing that she will never share that happiness with me again is hard to deal with. I lost my best friend and there is nothing I can do about it.”

Lara pulled Dana into a hug, and softly whispered into her ear, “I’m here for you and I know one day Alice will want you back as her friend. Just give her time.”

Dana clung to Lara and tried to ignore the persistent aching of her heart. She desperately attempted to convince herself that the only thing she needed was Lara’s love and support, but she found she was failing miserably.