“She…urm.. died of breast cancer,” Her eyes immediately filled up with unshed tears again.

“Shh… Come here… shh,” Bette moved back on her bed to give Alice some space. She pulled the saddened blonde into her arms and soothed her with gentle coaxing.

“Shh… It’s ok. It’s ok…” After a while, Alice released herself from Bette’s embrace. Her face was temporarily imprinted with a red mark after being pressed so tightly onto Bette’s shoulders. The brunette leaned over to kiss the red mark and chuckled softly.

“Feeling better?”

“Hmm… Not sure about that but I’m really feeling Bette though,” The blonde commented cheekily referring to her head being pressed onto the brunette’s chest. That earned them another odd moment of lightness filled with laughter.

–

“So, uh… What was Tina doing there?” Shane tried unsuccessfully to pass off the question as a casual one. Kit stared at her a moment before deciding to answer.

“She wants Bette to meet Angie…” The younger brunette kept her eyes on the road but found her mind wandering off elsewhere. The lights ahead were turning red and seeing that Shane wasn’t slowing down, Kit called out for her.

“Shane! Stop!” She woke from her reverie and slowed her car just in time, catching her breath as she did so.

“Sorry…” The younger brunette muttered in embarrassment.

“Shane, Angie needs Bette,” Kit tried to explain it to her although she herself wasn’t so sure about the whole idea Tina proposed upon.

Again she thought to herself how Bette is different. She looks a lot happier than before, even after the incident. She genuinely looked like she was peaceful and contented, as absurd as it may be to some, even before Tina’s breakup with Bette. Perhaps Bette was sad for a very long time. This new person was unlike her old self. She was happy, really truly happy, for herself and her family.

 They are aware that putting all this past onto her shoulders may weigh her down and instead of helping her, they might be drowning her further in the existing pool of sorrow. It wasn’t too long ago that Bette seemed on the road to a slow death. She drank too much, slept too little, cried too often, eat too little, smoked so frequently, and fucked around enough to contract a disease. All they want for her now is that peace of mind and joy.