Carmen: You’ve done really well with her.

Shane: Who? Alex? I didn’t do anything, if anything, she’s done well with me.

Carmen: No, you did something because she’s so much like you now. Minus the athletic ability.

Shane: Hey I’m not bad at basketball.

Carmen: You’ve got a shot, that’s about it.

Shane smiled.

Carmen: So where do we go from here?

Shane: I don’t know.

Carmen: Jenny broke up with me this morning.

Shane: Really? That sucks

Carmen: Yeah, right before you guys showed up. By the way, when did you let Alex get that tattoo?

Shane: A couple days ago, right before the cruise.

Carmen: Why?

Shane: She wanted one. If I would have said no, she’d just have done it behind my back.

Carmen: I missed you.

Shane: I missed you too. We all did.

Carmen: Are you happy?

Shane: I’ve learnt to be. I really hate saying this because something tells me I should be upset right now but, I’m never completely happy without you.

Carmen: I’ve been miserable the last few months.

Shane: I’ve been dying. If it wasn’t for Alex, I still would be.

Carmen: Did she know about the drugs?

Shane lowered her head and bit her lip, then slowly nodded before rolling her head back up.

Shane: She um, she actually caught me doing them.

Carmen: Shane!

Shane: I was pretty high when she found me. But after that, I stopped.

Carmen: What about Alex?

Shane: Oh, she got thrown out of school a few times, for fighting and stuff. Alice actually saved her from a mob of homophobes after basketball practice. Besides that, gotten drunk a few times, getting laid. Then her and Alice got together, and it wasn’t until last night she went back to that.

Carmen: What happened last night?

Shane: Oh nothing, she was just dealing with seeing you again.

Carmen: Alright, I understand.

Alice was talking with Jenny in the kitchen when she saw Alex walk through the front door. She saw the tear-stained face and got up and walked over, pulling her into her arms. Alex accepted the embrace by wrapping her arms around her girlfriend tightly and sobbing into her shoulder. Alice held her tightly, rubbing her back. Alex gently pulled out of the embrace to wipe her eyes. Alice kept her arms around the younger woman and looked into her eyes.