Alice, if this is about me not wanting to move in with you The brunette protested.

Shhh Alice gently whispered, placing her fingers over Danas lips. Its not that. The whole moving in fiasco was me being crazy and insecure and needy, eww, gross. I want to give you the freedom not to choose me, and if you do end up choosing to be with me, I hope then that I can be with you and let you breathe. Dana, I dont want to smother you. I love you too much to watch myself do that to you This time it was Danas turn to hush Alice. She kissed Alices finger that was resting on her lips before moving it away so she could press their lips together. A torrent of memories washed over Alice. This soft and emotional kiss was much like the one Dana placed on her lips at the carnival. Alice smiled at the memory causing her to smile into the kiss, which only served to tickle Danas lips, inviting her to go deeper, sending their relatively chaste kiss into something more passionate.

Alice abruptly ended the kiss, eliciting a moan of protest from the brunette. As their foreheads pressed together, Dana whispered, I have chosen you Alice, but if you want me to re-choose you after our break, I will. I will always choose you, you should know that by now.

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Recalling the memory, Alice tossed herself around in bed, scoffing slightly, she muttered aloud, famous last words causing the arms that encircled her to pull Alice in closer. The morning light was in full bloom now, shining through the window. Alice continued lying there with her eyes open studying the specks of dust dancing in the summer sunrisen light.

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Alice returned three weeks later from a hellish vacation in Palm Springs with her mother. The detox trip only served to make her long even more for Dana rather than less. The Proverbial absence made her heart grow fonder for the tennis player. The first indication that things had changed hit Alice pretty quickly upon her return to L.A. During the long hours of her drive up, Alice fantasized an eager Dana greeting her at her apartment with flowers, candles, and a romantic evening to match. The journalist was disappointed to find her apartment empty, even chilly with the emerging autumn, and with three weeks worth of dust collecting on her desk and coffee table.