“How about Jodi?”

“You’re still with Jodi,” just saying her name is almost like biting her tongue so hard, she could choke the minute she utters another word.

“You’re saying we should let this pass,” Bette shaking her head.

“I didn’t say nothing.”

“And, that’s what you always do. It must be comforting for you,” Bette still holding Tina’s hand let out a deep sigh.

“You do nothing,” Tina this time searched for the angry woman’s hazel brown eyes.

“That’s because you leave before anything could have been resolved.”

A momentary silence between the two could slice through their hearts and rip them open, exposed to the wounds of the past and awful beating of today until Bette had to break down…

“…Helena, Josh, Henry, Kate, Brenda—how many times do you have to hurt me so bad?”

“You’re a fucking heartbreaker, too,” Tina finally allowed herself to crash and let her feelings show.

“How do I know, you won’t hurt me this time?”

“I hold no guarantees,” Tina declared with pride.

“In that case, I have no choice but to say goodbye.”

Tina willed herself to touch Bette’s face, as if trying for the last time to reconnect with her love. Her thumb wiped away Bette’s droplets of tears. Her lips tried hard enough to curl into a smile. She finally let out a sigh before saying,

“I love you. I never doubted it in a minute. And though I fall in and out of love with you, I know in my heart that you’ll always have a place. You’re the only one who can make me go through so much pain and still love you at the end of the day.

“I love you, too,” Bette was sobbing, her head slightly touching Tina’s as her shoulders continue to heave from her final bid.

“Please, don’t let her take my place,” Tina planted a soft kiss on the brunette’s forehead. “She could hold you through the night and enjoy most of your love. But don’t you forget about me, or at least what we had. To this day, I still think of it as a wonderful place I would like to revisit all over again.”

Bette cupped Tina’s face and moved her lips into Tina’s. She sucked the lower lip with gentleness Tina came to know when they first met at the gallery. She soon let her tongue move inside and meet Tina’s. They reconnected with every touch, trying to melt all the pain and years of separation. In between kisses, Tina mumbled, “No regrets” while tears came between their faces.

“Enough,” Bette winced from Tina though arms are still wrapped around her waist.

Tina just smiled. She was about to let it all out and waive her white flag for retreat when…

“You’re not going anywhere, T.”

Tina couldn’t believe what she just heard. Bette is about to burst out laughing at the stunned creature right before her eyes but tried to keep it serious this time.

“I’m not letting you go, not this time,” she almost whispered.

“Well, you’re giving me a heart attack. Fuck, Bette!” Tina almost cried and laughed at the same time… perhaps, too overwhelmed with everything that’s happened.

Bette took the comment seriously and said, “First, I have to tell Jodi.”