Watching Tina was like touching water. No matter the technique, she felt that neither could be reached. Water always fell from her fingers – leaving her wanting more – but at least she could drink it, Bette figured. There was no fix for her obsession with Tina.

Bette realized in that moment just how strongly she felt for Tina, and it hit her with some shock. She had loved Tina all along, more with each conversation and gentle touch. So she watched Tina outside in the back, trying to chop wood for the old-style fireplace. She had insisted she could do it, even though Bette had tried to teach her before and it hadn’t been a success. Bette had to smile at Tina’s effort. It was the very image of Tina’s effort and subsequent failure that had her realize what had been in front of her all along. She loved Tina.

Although incredibly weak at her task and innocent in most senses of the word, Bette saw something else. Instead of the naivety and misunderstanding she’d seen of Tina, all of that peeled away, and she was so incredibly perfect in Bette’s eyes. It hurt her, too, because she felt she didn’t deserve her.

With a saddened sigh, Bette pulled her eyes away, touched that Tina never got so frustrated she would leave – she always kept trying. Bette dragged her feet over to the living room, dropping herself onto the couch.

“So I guess I should just set her free, huh?”

“From this dungeon?” Shane teased, always joking with Bette because of the mansion’s intriguing décor and homey welcome. But when she saw that Bette was bordering on tears, she put down her book and sat up on the sofa. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“What am I doing with her?” Bette asked, staring blankly down at the coffee table, her hands clumsily pushed together. “What am I doing?”

“What’s going on?” Shane asked with confusion, moving to sit with Bette to drape an arm over her shoulders. “You were fine just yesterday. Should I chalk this up to teenage hormones?” But she didn’t get the smile she was expecting. Instead, Bette got up to her feet.

“She’s so …” Bette couldn’t say perfect, but that was what she felt. “She’s stuck here with me. It’s so fucking twisted. She’s … innocent. She is. And look who she’s befriended – the beast of all bullies. Me!”