I love Jodi. I do.

“I love Jodi,” Bette whispered, “but I could never love her as much as I love you.”

At the moment she uttered the words she had struggled with for so long was the moment Tina walked out of the bathroom.

She looked at Bette who looked at the floor.

“Bette, look at me,” said Tina in a voice no louder than a whisper.

As Bette looked up she could feel the blood rushing to her ears and her heart pounding in her chest. She knew Tina had heard her, but she was not ashamed.

As she looked up and their eyes met, Bette was shocked at the intensity of Tina’s gaze and the way it made her feel.  She had forgotten how good this felt. To be looked at by Tina. To see the love, passion, and lust she knew she reflected in her own eyes.

She was so close. So close. So close to throwing all of this away. She tried to think, but couldn’t. All she could thing of was Tina.

Tina hesitantly moved toward Bette who instinctively wrapped her arms around Tina, closing the space between their bodies. Bette couldn’t deny this moment or prevent the sigh that escaped her lips as Tina held her close.

“Am I dreaming,” Tina said as she looked up at Bette with tears in her eyes.

Bette didn’t answer, but instead buried her nose in Tina’s hair and lightly ran her lips up Tina’s neck and to her ear.

Tina pulled Bette closer. Wrapped her hands in Bette’s hair and kissed her forehead.

Bette responded by running her hands down her back and pulling her closer than she thought was possible. Tina settled into the embrace, her legs wrapped around Bette as Bette did the same; each searching for a connection.

 They couldn’t fight it. Couldn’t pretend. The passion was real. It was so strong it threatened to consume them where they stood.

 “Ask me again.”

Tina looked at Bette trying to figure out where she was going with this.

“What you asked me last night, ask me again,” Bette repeated.

“Are you in love with Jodi?” Tina asked, afraid of the answer. Afraid that even as Bette held her, that she would again break her heart. They were so close, but maybe this was good-bye.

Tina again felt Bette’s lips softly graze her ear and the felt the heat that came from them as she spoke.

“No, I’m not,” Bette answered as she did the night before. Changing only one word. But that one word changed everything.

“I should never have let you go,” Bette continued, repeating the words she had never said to Jodi, “I would do anything for another chance. I’m not afraid to make a fool out of myself.”

Tina took Bette’s face in her hands as she kissed her tentatively at first, but as Bette’s tongue hungrily entered Tina’s mouth she was lost.

They were lost in each other. Lost in the feeling of a love that only comes once in a lifetime; a love they had each tried to deny, but couldn’t.

As the need for air forced them to break the kiss they heard it. A gentle sob coming from the door of their room.

It was then that they saw Jodi standing there. Each knowing that she had silently witnessed everything.