One evening after they had dinner, Bette brought an opened bottle of wine to the living room and stretched out on the sofa. Tina joined her as she poured herself a full glass and began idly flipping through the TV channels, when Bette spoke, “Candace gives me the creeps. She seems to be everywhere I go, watching me, taunting me…but she hadn’t said one word to me since I’ve been back. It’s freaky.”

Tina settled on an old classic ‘To Catch a Thief’ that was showing on the TCM and said pensively, “It is freaky and creepy. Usually she’s very chatty and flirty with you. I wonder if Helena told her to spy on you and she’s trying to intimidate you, to see if you do anything out of character.”

“Perhaps,” Bette nodded. “Perhaps not, but it’s not working. She would be more successful if she was acting like her normal self. Then I would be more inclined to let something slip but because she’s is so weird, it puts me on guard.”

“Good, keep doing what you doing. After a while I hope she will just leave you alone.” Tina shook her head. “I wish Alice would hurry up and come back with some specific news. I can’t wait for this to be over. I can’t bare if anything happens to you or if someone will take you away.”

Bette leaned closer and kissed Tina in the lips. “Nothing will happen to me. Nobody can come between us. I’m not ever leaving you again, no matter what.”

Tina put her wine glass down on the coffee table and ran her fingers through Bette’s dark tresses. “I love you. I love you very much. You are all I need.”

Bette cupped Tina’s cheek with her fingers and gazed into her hazel eyes for a moment. She caressed her bottom lip with her thumb and said softly, “One thing I learned while being away from you is to never take anything for granted. I love you with all my heart and I won’t do anything that will keep us apart.”

She leaned in for another kiss when they heard a rapid knocking on the door. Bette groaned, “Can we get a break here?”

Tina pushed her away gently with a sigh. “As you said before, we have all the time in the world, now that you are back. I love you.”