Tina listened on the opposite end of the door with Angelica close. She heard every word that escaped Bette’s hoarse throat. She smiled with pride and dignity.

“Was she good?” Jodi asked, referring to whether or not they’d slept together.

“I’m not going to answer that,” Bette says, changing the subject.

“Answer me!” Jodi shouts, scaring the shit out of Tina. She jumps back and thinks twice about placing her ear against the door. She thought for a couple of seconds and decides to listen again.

“You have to leave,” Bette says, walking away.

“No,” Jodi replies, grabbing hold of her. “We need to talk.”

“I’m done talking Jodi, now do me a favor—“

Jodi cuts her off screaming repeatedly, “What? What? What?”

“Get the fuck off my porch!” Bette shouts back, causing a small crowd to stop and watch the two women go at it. Bette wasn’t about to argue so she said, “Jodi, if you keep this up, I swear to god, I’ll call the police.”

Jodi read her lips and began shaking her head non-stop. She slowly turns and makes her way down the steps. Bette watches her enter her car and the engine liven up with a loud roar. Within seconds, Jodi was taking off, full speed down the one way street.

Bette sighs and collapses against the door. She allows the tears she’s been holding to fall from her eyes. Before entering the house, she cleans her face and fixes her clothes. Fighting with Jodi caused them to become wrinkled and she wasn’t sure if she had time to change.

Entering the house, she’s greeted by Angelica. Bette closes the door and scans the room for Tina. She doesn’t see her. “Tina,” Bette calls out.

“I’m in the bedroom,” Tina replies, pulling Angie’s bag over her arm. She waits for Bette to enter the room and she locks eyes with her the moment she appears in front of her. She saw how bad she looked and felt sorry for her. She wished she didn’t have to deal with Jodi so early, but it was better sooner than later. “Are you ok?” She asked curiously.

“I’m fine,” Bette replies, pushing her hair from her face. She was lost for words for the blond and couldn’t help dishing out short phrases. She thought that maybe she should explain why Jodi was there and what was it that they were discussing. So, she opens her mouth to say, “Look—“And then she closes her mouth once Tina cuts her off.

“You don’t have to explain, Bette. I’m perfectly fine with what happened between you too and I respect the fact that you’d share what happened with me.”

“I understand, T. But you must know that I never intended for any of this to happen the way it did. I was feeling Jodi at one apparent time and you must know that I wasn’t going to break your heart by getting back with her.”

“I know,” Tina replies, cupping her face into her hand. “I appreciate your honesty, babe, but I know you; Bette, and I know that you’d never make the mistake of breaking my heart twice.”

A tear appears in Bette’s right eye. “You do?”

“Yeah, babe.” She leans in and plants a kiss against Bette’s lips. “I trust you, Bette.”

“I know,” Bette replies, wiping her eyes. “I’m a mess.”

“No you’re not. You look great,” Tina says with a wide grin. “I’m a mess.”

“You are not, T. You’re marvelous as always.”

“Well, I hope Kate feels the same way when she sees me.”

“Oh, shit, you’re late…”

“I know, but it’s ok. I’ll just tell her I had an emergency I had to take care of. She’ll understand. Trust me.”

A smile appears on Bette’s face. Angelica enters the bedroom and smiles when she sees them together. “Mommy…” She says, running into Bette’s leg.

“Hey, sweetie,” Bette replies, picking her up.

“I swear she favors you when you were younger,” Tina says, remembering an old photo of Bette.

Bette looks at Angie hard and replies, “I agree, she does look like me.”

“See…” Tina says, chuckling. “She has your features and my nose. What a coincidence.”

“I know. But, do you want to hear something crazy though?” Bette asked on her way out the house with Tina not too far behind.

“What?” Tina asked closing the front door.

“She has your heart.”

Tina’s smirks and says, “She does not…”

“Does too…”

“Does not…”

“Does too…”

“Fine, if she has my heart, then she has your brain.”

Bette smiles and looks over at Angie and says, “I can live with that.”

Tbc…