"Seeing Jodi again . . it made me realize some things"

"W-what kind of things?" Her voice was heavily laced with fear and uncertainty. Bette immediately picked up on it and angled her head to look down at her girlfriend who was now avoiding her gaze.

She didn’t have to look Tina in the eye to know what the blonde was thinking and found herself regretting the way she had started their conversation.

"Not bad things baby" When Tina refused to look her way, Bette grasped the blonde’s chin and turned her head. "Its not what you think I swear"

Tina looked into Bette’s eyes and nodded, knowing by the look in those gorgeous brown eyes that she had nothing to worry about. Still, she was curious as to what had been going on in Bette’s mind all day.

"Then what is it?"

Bette pressed her lips together at what seemed like such a loaded question. She let out a deep sigh and tried to collect the scattered thoughts from her mind.

"I just realized how much better my life has been since I met you"

It wasn’t a response the blonde had expected but it wasn’t one she disliked either. Tina’s heart swelled with so much love and admiration for the woman holding her. She was proud, beyond happy that she had been the one to make Bette feel that way.

She smiled widely and Bette returned the smile before it fell away and that’s when Tina saw the brunette had more to say. It took her a few moments but Bette eventually found courage in the ocean waves and looked back out to them before continuing.

"When I was with Jodi, I was so young and naive. I thought I was in love with her and I don’t know, even though if it wasn’t fully returned . . maybe I was. The point is that she took advantage of my feelings for her. All she did was take from me. She just took and took to the point that when our relationship ended, I was so broken and empty"