“Chinese is perfect,” Tina’s eyes twinkled.

Bette swallowed hard. Tina squeezed. Bette exhaled.

“Okay.”

They stared at each other for three heartbeats before Tina broke eye contact and released Bette’s arm. Bette watched Tina grab the back of her neck as a faint pink glow crawled up her cheeks. They were playing at a dangerous game. A game they both knew wasn’t a game at all. Tina needed to distract them both before she charged.

“So…”

Bette raised her left eyebrow.

“This is date four then.”

Bette laughed her signature laugh.

“How is this date four? I am the one who picked up dinner.”

“Wellllll…there’s food,” Tina pointed to the spread of Chinese containers on the coffee table. 

“And I’m sure there’s wine somewhere.”

Bette nodded towards the counter. Tina glanced at the opened bottle. Tina’s eyes twinkled.

“Some form of entertainment?”

Bette picked up the Vivian Maier documentary. Tina bit her bottom lip and looked into Bette’s eyes. They were openly flirting with each other. Tina relished in it. Bette stopped trying to stop herself. If they had any chance of getting back together, Bette had to start opening her heart. Easier said than done. 

Bette cleared her throat and looked down. She was overwhelmed by Tina’s presence. 

“See. Date #4.”

“Did you just poach my plans for your benefit?”

“Nope. Not for my benefit. I poached your plans for our benefit.”

Bette cleared her throat…again. She smiled slightly. Tina’s heart melted…slightly.

“But if it makes you feel any better, we can call this Date #1 for you.”

Bette feigned being appalled.

“Youuu are supposed to be wooing meeee.”

“Right. Sooo…like I said Date #4.”

Tina giggled. Bette smiled her best Porter smile. 

It was a nice moment. Until…

“Can I be honest with you?”

“If we’re not going to be honest with each other, what’s the point of all of this,” Bette snarked.

Tina didn’t look away. Bette saw the sting in her eyes.

“Fuuhhk,” Bette whispered. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m an asshole. I didn’t…”

Bette stopped talking and waited. Tina knew it was going to take time to knock down Bette’s walls. She knew she was going to have to be patient and not allow Bette’s hurt to stop her from her ultimate goal of getting her woman back.