Tina felt Bette tense up a little bit. Bette’s expression didn’t change, but Tina knew Bette was still hurt that it took her two days to tell Sam she had a girlfriend. 

One heartbeat.  

“How did Alice make good on her promise,” Bette finally asked. 

“She kicked my ass.”

Bette looked up. 

“Verbally. Over the phone. But it was still a good old fashioned ass kicking.”

Bette pictured the night she saw Alice silently screaming on the patio during Family Sunday. She wondered if that was the night Alice verbally kicked Tina’s ass. 

“Was that the night you called me for the first time?” Bette asked quietly. 

Tina nodded.

“How did you know?”

“I just did.”

Tina felt Bette tense some more. 

“What did Alice say to you?”

“She basically told me to shut the fuck up because she couldn’t hear any more of it because she didn’t want to lie to you. She also told me to figure out my shit and figure out what the fuck I wanted. Then she said the in-between shit wasn’t working for anyone and she forcefully suggested I call you, write you, come back to you or let you go.”

“And that’s why you called?”

“Partly,” Tina nodded.

“But also because I had wanted to call you for a long time before that but I didn’t have the courage. I was scared. I knew I hurt you. I knew you were angry with me. And I was afraid of what you were going to say. But after Alice ripped me a new one, I had to get the fuck over myself…”

“Like Dana told me to…”

“No. Not like that. You had every right to feel the way you were feeling about me. I deserved it.”

“You didn’t. But neither did I.”

“No…you didn’t,” Tina whispered.

One heartbeat.

Two heartbeats.

Three heartbeats. 

They stared into each other’s eyes. Not saying anything. But saying so much. 

“Alice said all of that?”

Bette finally broke the silence.

“And then some. But that’s the gist of it. Oh…and then she called me Tina and hung up on me.”

Tina shrugged. 

“She never calls you Tina.”

“I know.”

One heartbeat.

“Neither did you. Before…” 

Silence. 

Tina cleared her throat.

“Your turn.”

Bette looked deeply into Tina’s eyes. There was so much emotion. This was the first time they had been this open with each other in months. It was nice…and overwhelming.