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Alice scanned the travel pamphlet once more before dropping it into the small pile of brochures that had accumulated on the coffee table in The Planet. She had thought that a vacation would probably be the best way to escape Dana and Lara, for even the thought of the two together unnerved her, and she hated to think of how much it would hurt to actually see the two together. ‘A long needed vacation to clear the mind,’ she thought as she picked up yet another, about Switzerland, and started to read it, seemingly unaware that Tina and Bette had entered the coffee shop and were now standing in front of her.

“Hey Alice,” Tina said, gently resting her hand on Alice‘s shoulder. They had both heard from Shane about what had happened the week before, and the appearance of Alice at The Planet came as a shock to them both, especially considering that Lara worked there.

Alice looked up from the brochure, and seeing the two of them there, flicked it away onto the table and motioned them to sit down.

“Hey guys. What’s up?” She asked, her tone sincere if not a little shaky.

“Nothing much Al. Look Hun, I’ll go order. Al do you want anything?” Bette queried, and when Alice replied in the negative, she soon disappeared into the crowd.

“Al I heard about Dana. Are you alright?” Tina had occupied the seat next to Alice and had thought it best just to get to the point. The whole gang was worried about Alice, Tina especially. Even though Dana didn’t necessarily cheat on Alice, Ti couldn’t help likening the whole situation to what happened between herself and Bette not long ago, and she knew that Alice wasn’t holding up as well as she was pretending to.

“Not really, no.” Why should she bother lying when she knew Tina understood what she was going through. As Tina drew her into a tight, comforting hug, Alice continued, unable to stop the feelings she had been hiding for the last week.

“I knew it would happen T. I made it happen. I suffocated her in every possible way to the point where she can’t even look at me now.” Alice was now looking into Tina’s eyes, whispering the words with pain. “She couldn’t even tell me herself. That’s how much I disgust her.” Al didn’t cry when she talked. She had done enough of that to convince herself that she had been drained of all emotional responses. But it still hurt more than anything she had felt before, and everybody could see the pain Alice was going through.