Bette was furious with Eric and was also glad Tina immediately had wanted a divorce – there were cases where the woman forgave her husband or dismissed the whole fact of having been raped, whether it be out of shame or out of disbelief he could have done that.

The relationship she had with Rachel had also changed severely. She knew that this was just who Rachel was, but she couldn’t exactly pretend nothing was going on. They had fought several times over the whole situation, Bette being angry at her best friend for hurting Tina like that, for having told Tina that she loved her when in reality, she couldn’t care less.

Rachel on the other hand didn’t understand why Bette cared so much. After all, hadn’t Tina been a stranger to her? And didn’t Bette know Rachel long enough to realise that she just didn’t do commitment?

It was not that the two hated each other, but Bette knew that they’d never be the friends they were anymore. She also realised that this feeling had started the moment Rachel told Bette about the affair, with a proud look on her face and a mischievous grin.

It was an early August morning when Bette was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the two of them. She had been planning to bring it to Tina on bed – at first, Bette had slept on the couch, but that made Tina feel awkward so she offered to sleep on the couch herself, but Bette wouldn’t have it and they ended up sharing the bed that was large enough anyway.

However, the breakfast on bed – plans were interrupted when she found Tina coming in and leaning against the refrigerator.

“Oh, Tina, hi,” Bette smiled. “How are you feeling?”

It was a question she asked every morning ever since Tina had moved in.

“I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”

“Great,” Bette smiled nervously. The moment she had woken up, she had known this was the day. The sun outside was shining gently, the colours of the flowers were beautiful and the sight of her wonderful garden had filled her with hope and courage. Today was the day she would tell Tina how she really felt. Today she would tell Tina how she loved her unconditionally and would do anything just to be able to make her happy, even if it meant leaving her life forever. What she wouldn’t say was that she probably wouldn’t survive if she had to.