Dana’s words were met with erupted laughter, so much so that Alice had turned and was laughing into Dana’s shoulder, tears running onto Dana’s shirt.

“It’s no laughing matter!” Dana said while laughing herself. “It absolutely crumbled my hopes and dreams of becoming an artist!”

Alice eventually moved upward from Dana’s shoulder to look the smiling brunette in the eyes. “I think I’ve ruined your shirt after that story Dana,” Alice said smiling.

Dana simply shrugged, “It was an old shirt. But I’m glad you were more concerned about that than my crumbling ego.”

Dana had always had trouble talking to strangers. She was never one to be the centre of attention, or the one with all the jokes. Usually she would think of something clever to say just as the moment passed, a trait which always annoyed her. But sitting here with Alice, the words just seemed to form perfectly, and she felt as at ease with her as she did with any of her close friends.

“I’m sure it was a fantastic drawing Dana,” Alice said sincerely. “And if not you can always just market it as conceptual art.”

The two of them began to laugh hysterically once more, gaining amused looks from the other people at Bette’s. However the laughter on Dana’s part was cut short when she noticed the side of Alice’s head had begun to bleed.

“Al-Alice your head is bleeding,” Dana said seriously as she pointed to the area where Gabby had cut earlier in the evening. Alice shrugged and sat back into the couch only to be pulled up by Dana. “C’mon we have to get that fixed.”

Dana had eventually, through much resistance on Alice’s behalf, been able to get Alice to sit on the toilet seat in Bette’s bathroom while she rummaged through the cabinet in search for anti-septic and band aids. The brunette’s attitude had changed dramatically from cute and shy to in control and calm, and as Dana knelt in front of Alice and began to clean her wound, Alice couldn’t help but realise that she was beginning to feel a deep fondness for this woman.

“Alice this is quite a cut,” Dana said looking into Alice’s eyes and then quickly averting her gaze as she felt her cheeks heat up. “H-How did you manage it?”

“I-I fell while playing ah.. Tennis this morning,” Alice said uncertainly as she tried to remember the excuse she had given Bette earlier. Her answer was met by clear amusement on Dana’s behalf who knew that Alice was anything but a tennis player.

“You play tennis?” Dana asked, deciding to play a long for a little while.

“Oh frequently. I’m very fond of it all. My father taught me it when I was five and I grew up playing the sport,” Alice said confidently. It was all ***** – her father had left by the time Alice was two and the only sport she grew up with was the sport of shoplifting. But rather than delve into family dramatics, Alice thought she’d simply top the cake of her life with a little bit of sweet icing.

“That’s great,” Dana stated, not believing Alice for a second. “I play tennis professionally and am always looking for someone to play against. That is, if you want to?”

Alice’s heart plummeted but she couldn’t help but laugh at herself. Only she’d get herself into a mess like this one. She looked at Dana, who was furiously trying to occupy herself with cleaning Alice’s cut – simply to avoid her gaze, and smiled, knowing that losing (badly) in one game of tennis was more than worth it just to see this girl again.

“You’re on Fairbanks.”