“Tegan and Sara are playing at The Planet tonight,” Dana explained, laughing as Ellie’s expression altered excitedly.  

“Oh my god!” she nearly screamed.  “I love them!  I was listening to them the whole way to L.A. in the car!”

“Well, you should come with us, if you aren’t too tired from your trip,” Dana suggested.  “I think the show has sold out, but I’m sure Kit would be able to squeeze in one extra person.”

“Yeah, come on, Ellie,” Alice added with a grin.  “But, we’re leaving right now, so you’d better hurry up.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” Ellie said happily, as she quickly opened her backpack and grabbed a tank top and a hairbrush and rushed into Alice’s bathroom.  “Give me three minutes!” she yelled as she slammed the door behind her.

Dana grinned at Alice.  “Lenore must have some powerful genes,” she teased.

“Fuck you,” Alice said with a laugh.  “Ellie and mom are definitely alike, but she and I are total opposites.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Dana asked incredulously.  “You guys are like two halves of the same person; even your names are alike.  Granted, she’s a little more excitable than you, but I don’t think anyone would mistake you for anything other than sisters.”

“You seemed to mistake us for something else,” Alice challenged, and almost immediately wished she could erase the words as they came out of her mouth.

“What?” Dana asked in surprise.

“Nothing,” Alice replied, walking down the hall into the living room in an attempt to end the conversation before it started.

Dana followed Alice and sat down next to her on the couch, giving her an inquisitive look.  “What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Alice insisted, but one look at Dana’s face told her that she would have to explain.  “It’s just that you seemed to want to get out of here pretty quickly when Ellie arrived, and I thought that maybe you thought she was more than just my sister.  That’s all.”  She trailed off uncertainly, looking down at her hands, which were clasped tightly on her lap.  She didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt nervous about what Dana would say in response.

Dana was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to reply to Alice’s perceptive comment.  Finally, she decided to be honest.  “I guess I did leap to conclusions,” she admitted.  “I thought maybe you were involved with someone else, and I didn’t know how to handle it.  So, I tried to bolt.”

“Well, what if I was involved with someone?” Alice asked, looking up to meet Dana’s gaze inquisitively.  “Would that bother you?”

Dana bit her bottom lip nervously.  “Why?  Are you seeing someone?”

“No,” Alice answered firmly.  “But if I was…”

“It would bother me,” Dana replied, surprising herself and Alice with her honest admission.  

“It would?” Alice asked, her voice rising happily.

Dana grinned shyly as she heard the relief in Alice’s tone.  “Yeah, of course,” she confirmed.  Her expression quickly shifted as another thought drew a shadow over her mind.  “But, if you want to date someone, I’d figure out a way to be ok with it.”

“I don’t want to date anyone,” Alice said quietly.

“You don’t?” Dana asked, glancing up hopefully.

Alice shook her head as she shifted closer to Dana on the couch.  “No; I’ve kind of got a thing for this cute pirate girl I know,” she said, her voice dropping coyly.

Dana could feel herself grinning like an idiot as the full weight of Alice’s words settled in her mind.  “Really?” she returned, leaning toward Alice invitingly.  “Wait; you aren’t talking about Kiera Knightly, right?” she teased.    

“God no,” Alice replied with a laugh.  She leaned forward and cupped Dana’s face gently with her hands.  “This girl is way hotter.”

“Ok girls; ready to go?” Ellie called out from down the hallway as she emerged from the bathroom.  Striding into the living room, she grinned widely as she saw Alice and Dana move apart on the couch with guilty expressions.

Alice caught Ellie’s conspiratorial look and shared a shy smile with Dana before getting up to leave.  “We’re ready,” she responded, grabbing Dana’s hand as they headed out the door.

tbc