She looked up at the brunette who continued to cry.  It was no use, Tina was realizing, she could not swallow her own tears any longer and all the years of loneliness and regret, the horror of her fourteenth year as she suffered alone with the guilt and shame of her dirty secret and the subsequent two years of her struggle with alcohol and self-hate, all of it burst through like a torrent of flooding waters overtaking a weak dam.

“What’s that for?” Tina managed to get out, her voice breaking under the pressure of her emotions.

“For you,” Bette said through her tears.  “Because you’re my friend.”

“Your friend?  Really?” Tina said bitterly, but seeing the candy bar, seeing Bette weeping was making her weak, unable to hold that grudge any longer.

Bette knew her words, her actions were crucial here.  She would either win Tina back or lose her for good.  So she decided to be bold.  She reached over and grabbed Tina by the wrist and turned her palm upward and slapped the Big Hulk candy bar down in the young woman’s hands.

“I know you probably hate me right now, but I’m going to prove to you how sorry I am.  Even if it takes all summer, Tina, I’m not going to stop trying!” Bette said still crying.

“All summer?” Tina had pulled away and was holding the candy bar still in an upturned palm.  “You leave in two weeks,” she spat back.  “You got your grand trip on some rich girl’s yacht, remember?”

Bette shook her head.  “No, I don’t.  I just called Coleman and told him to go without me.  I’m not going, Tina.  I’m staying the summer in Athens with you and I’m not going to rest until you take me back.  Do you hear me?!”  Bette seemed to be yelling, but it was the only way she could get the words out past her tight throat and tears.

When Tina didn’t move, didn’t say anything, only stood there shaking and crying and staring at Bette, the brunette pleaded, unashamed to beg.

“God, Tina!” she yelled.  “Please don’t do this.  Don’t shut me out.  Please come back to me. Please be my friend.  I promise I won’t hurt you again.  I promise.”

Tina looked at the candy bar in her hand then up again.  This could be a trap, she realized.  Just as she had seen raccoons trapped by shiny object inside a contraption where they would close their little fist around their treasure and then become ensnared, Tina knew she was running the same risk here. But at this point, she thought, what did she really have to lose?  Even if dropping her guard and reaching out to Bette meant being clubbed in the head and skinned and stuffed, she couldn’t resist.

So she gripped that candy bar tightly in one hand and then she made two short steps and pulled the young woman into her arms and squeezed her tightly. She was determined she wouldn’t let go of her shiny treasure ever again. “Bette,” she whispered. 

Bette collapsed into the tight embrace and buried her face against Tina’s shoulder and wept uncontrollably.

Tina stroked Bette’s hair and given she was a nurturer as was her nature, she comforted Bette as she held her…comforting Bette and by extension herself.

“Don’t cry now.  It’s gonna be okay, I promise.  It’s gonna be okay,” Tina sobbed as she gripped the other girl in her arms. “My sweet Angel May I have missed you!  I’ve missed you so much!”

Bette giggled at her familiar nick name and looked up into kind eyes.  “I’ve missed you too,” she smiled.    

They had found each other once again…at least for the time being.

TBC