Bette didn’t sleep a wink at all. She did some training and went for an early morning walk after. When she got back she checked her phone and saw two missed calls from the house number. She ignored it and went for a shower. She left the apartment before any of the girls noticed she was there. She was avoiding Tina. Her reaction was not what Bette was expecting. She figured that if she weren’t there Tina wouldn’t be able to tell her that it’s over.

Tina took Christian to the Planet to meet the other girls for breakfast. Alice was already there reading a magazine and drinking a latté. “Hey there ma…” Alice stopped teasing when she saw Tina’s bruises. “What the hell happened?” She asked walking towards Tina.

“Aunt Alice you said the H word.” Christian scolded.

“I’m sorry sweetie.” She said touching Christian’s face and then put her attention back to Tina, “What happened?”

Tina blinked back the tears that were forming. “Um Christian honey, why don’t you have a seat here, Aunt Kit will get you something to eat ok? I have to talk with Aunt Alice for a sec.”

“Ok mom.”

Alice and Tina walked to another table just far enough so Christian couldn’t hear the conversation. “I went to pick up Chris and Eric was at the house.” Tina started. “He uh,” Her voice cracked a little, “He had Christian tied to a chair when I got there.”

“What?” Alice said a little louder than she expected. She looked around, “Sorry.”

“He pushed me to the floor and I hit my head.”

“Oh Tina.” Alice held her friend tight. “I am so sorry.” She cried. “I should have gone with you.”

“He would have hurt you too.” She pulled away.

“How did you get away?”

“My guardian angel.” She said smiling through tears.

“Your what?”

“Nothing. I took him down in an unguarded moment.”

“You were lucky.”

“Yeah.” Tina sighed.

Alice nudged Tina on the chin. “Bad ass.” She joked. They both looked at Christian eating. “So how is he doing?”

“He seems ok. I think its still sinking in.”

“And Bette?”

Tina sighed heavily. “I’m not sure.”  Alice waited for her to continue. “She wasn’t there when I woke up this morning.”

“Come here.”

“Get a room.” Shane joked. Alice and Tina didn’t see the other girls come in. They separated and smiled at Shane. “You ok?” She asked watching Tina.

“Yeah.”

“Sure?” Shane wasn’t convinced.

“Alice, can I talk to Shane alone please?”

“Sure. Sure no problem.”

Shane waited till Alice walked away. “What’s up?”

“Have you heard from Bette?”

“No why.”

“She told me last night. About you guys”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Well what happened?”

“We had a fight, sort of. And she didn’t sleep home last night.”

“Well her car wasn’t at the apartment this morning.”

“I was hoping that she was just ignoring my calls.”

Shane watched her closely. “How do you feel about it?” She asked Tina having an idea what the fight was about.

“Terrified.” She simply said. “I can’t loose her Shane.” She cried.