Although when Dana had finally come out to Alice and the rest of her friends, Alice was all caught up in the cycle of abuse she chose to subject herself to from Gabby Deveaux. Dana had once come close to telling Alice of her true feelings, probably in between breakup two and three with Gabby. But just as Dana had gotten drunk enough and brave enough to tell Alice that she was utterly, helplessly and totally in love with her, Gabby waltzed right back into the picture and Alice was lost to her all over again.

So once they had admitted their true feelings for each other, Alice and Dana jumped head first into a committed relationship. They didn’t pause or even slow down to enjoy the initial stage of dating, for they saw no need to stop and get to know each other. They had been best friends for years, and it didn’t occur to either of them that knowing each other inside and out as friends was not exactly the same thing as knowing each other as lovers. They were both so ecstatic at finally being able to be together in the way that each had longed for for years, that neither realized they were skipping the crucial beginning steps that comprise any successful relationship.

So six months flew by, and while Alice wanted to get more serious, Dana had started to internally panic. She panicked about how dependent they had become on each other, and she panicked at the limited dating experience she had garnered. But what scared her the most was that she may never get to experience dating and playing the field and getting to know her true self if she kept up with the pace that Alice was determined to set. Dana knew it wasn’t exactly fair to Alice, but it wasn’t really fair to her either. Alice had done the whole dating thing, she bounced around from girl to girl, or guy to guy, picking up experience and understanding about what she wanted in a life partner along the way. Dana never allowed herself to do that, and she felt severely disadvantaged in that area. How was she supposed to know that Alice was her soul mate if she hadn’t had the opportunity to see if there was anyone else out there? It wasn’t like Dana would have broken up with Alice just to see if there was someone better suited for her, mostly because she was unsure if that was possible. She and Alice fit together so well, and Dana couldn’t foresee there being anyone else who understood and accepted her as unconditionally as Alice always had. But Dana also knew that she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering if she was missing anything that her friends had obtained by not being so scared to be themselves.