PREVIOUSLY

“So now our little girl has heard our fairty tale,” Bette ssaid

“Was that a fairy tale? I thought you said all fairy tales are sexual

“Well obviously ours is filled with lots of ***** but personally I don’t want to tell our baby that, ” Bette said with a wide grin

Tina kissed Bette again. “Me either, but that does support your theory.”

“I know. Can’t be proven wrong,” she said proudly

Tina stroked Bette’s face. “And you’ve proven how much you love me over the past few days. I promise to show you how much I love you when we get back.”

“Mmm I’m holding you to that.”

“Just hold me now until then,” Tina said before cudding up into Bette’s arms. They sat this way for the rest of the plane ride. They enjoyed the peace before they went back home, where they had a long road ahead of them.

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When the girls finally arrived in LA it concluded their 19 hour journey across the globe. They were all totally feeling the jet lag and it showed as they shuffled their feet along over to pick up their luggage. Tina stayed a few feet behind Bette as her mind wondered.

Shane was walking next to her and felt the light tug on her sleeve. “Yeah Tina?

“Shane, can you do me a huge favor?” she whispered.

“Sure what is it?”

“Can you take me over to Helena’s place. I need to pick up a few things and I want to do it while she’s gone and I can’t let Bette know I’m going there.”

Shane could see the eagerness in Tina’s eyes. “Yeah no problem, but how are we going to get this past Bette?”

“I’ll take care of that. Just come by my apartment after you get home.”

“Alright.”

Tina caught up with Bette and linked arms with her. A smile was all they could share because words took too much energy, which they didn’t have. They all grabbed their bags and made their way outside, seeing daylight for what felt like the first time.

“*****, I feel like I’m just coming out of the womb!” Alice complained as the sun peered into her eyes.

Dana looked down at her watch and was confused. “It’s 4:00?”

“Definately not,” Shane said as she tried to do the math in her head as to what time it really was.

“It’s 8am,” Tina said.

“***** again! Now my body is all confused,” ranted Alice.

“It’s called jet lag, and you’ll get over it,” Bette said.

“You always have an answer for everything don’t you Porter?” Alice asked.

“No, I don’t know why you’re such a pain in the *****,” Bette bluntly stated.

Shane seperated the two who looked like they were going to rip each other’s necks off. “Ladies, it’s too early to be fighting. We’re all tired so let’s just get a cab and head home.”

“Yeah good idea Yoda,” Alice said turning her back to Bette and hailing down a cab. They all piled in the van and quickly began bickering over who should be dropped off first.

“Clearly Dana and I should be first because it’s the easiest to get to,” Alice said.

“You’re just self centered Al,” Bette said.

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of your ***** this morning! I’m rolling up my sleeves and we’re taking this outside!” Alice was furious.

The stocky taxi driver turned around and yelled, “There will be no fighting in my cab! Light talking or I drop you off in the middle of the street!”

They all laughed but then gained their composure. Bette whispered, “Sorry Al, I’m just not a morning person especially when my body thinks it’s afternoon, so I’m just a little cranky.”

“I can tell, but yeah you’re forgiven.”

“You and Dana can get dropped off first, then Shane, then Tina and I.”

Tina bit her lip, a new habit she was noticing she was doing when she was nervous. “Umm Bette?”

Bette made Tina the focus of her attention, “Yeah T?”

“Umm is it ok if I go back to my apartment alone. I just need to rest and take care of things around the house.”

Bette was taken back. She knew Tina had her own apartment, so how could she have been so confident that Tina was going to go back to their home right away. She felt worried but knew it was nothing important. “Yeah that’s fine T.” Bette remained silent for the remainder of the ride and it didn’t go un-noticed but no one wanted to interrupt her deep thinking. Bette just sat there with a dazed look in her eyes as she thought about all the time wasted in the past with Tina not being in their home.

After Alice, Dana, and Shane were dropped off, Tina was next. In front of her apartment she said goodbye to Bette with a hug and a kiss before walking away. Bette was sick of seeing Tina walk away from her, even if it was just for five minutes it made her think back to the past. When Bette arrived home she opened the door, dropped her bags immediately, and walked straight to the bedroom where she collapsed on the bed and let tears trickle down her cheeks, “What is Tina never really comes home?” before falling into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Shane was just pulling up to Tina’s and she didn’t even have to beep because Tina was waiting outside.

“Shane, you’re a life saver,” Tina said as she got in the car and buckled up.

“I’m here to help.”

A few minutes later they arrived at Helena’s and Tina took a deep breath before getting out of the car.

“Do you want me to come with you Tina?” Shane asked.

“If you don’t mind. She shouldn’t be here but god forbid she is ya know?” Tina said with worry.

“I don’t mind at all.”

Tina used the key Helena had given her and entered with caution. When she saw no signs of life, she felt at ease. She quickly walked around looking for anything that belonged to her. Shane trailed behind checking out the place and nodding in approval. Tina went into the bedroom and sat on the bed as she dumped more things into the bag she brought over. She pulled open the nightstand drawer and was surprised to see a small black velvet box that she had never seen before. She slowly lifted the lid and was not expecting to see what her eyes were claiming were there.

“Holy *****!” Tina gasped, taking in the beauty of the rock before her eyes.

Shane had just entered the room and heard Tina. “What’s wrong Tina?”

Tina turned around instantiously and showed Shane the box. “This! This is what’s wrong!”

Shane inched closer and took the box out of Tina’s palm and placed it in her own. “This looks like an engagement ring.”

“That’s what I thought!”

Then it hit Shane that even though she had chose to ignore the relationship between Tina and Helena, it did in fact exist. “She was going to propose to you?”

“I don’t know. I guess so, I mean sho else could it have been for? There had to be a reason why she bought it.”

Shane closed the lid and handed the box back to Tina. “You guys must have been serious.”

Tina shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t think we were serious enough to be getting married.” She then put the box back where she found it, closing the drawer hoping that not seeing it would make her forget she ever saw it in the first place.

Once she doubled checked every possible place that could have had something she owned, she led Shane to the kitchen where she pulled a beer out of the fridge and handed it to her. “Have this later.”

Shane smiled at the gesture. “Thanks, I’m sure I’ll need it.”

Tina left her key on the kitchen table, knowing that she’d never use it again. They exited the house and got back in Shane’s car. As Shane was putting the car into drive, Tina took one last look at the house and bid it farewell. They drove in silence and that only made Shane’s mind wonder further into a scary place.

She cleared her throat before asking Tina what had been on her mind since she saw the ring. “Would you have said yes?’

“What?” Tina asked, not realizing what Shane was referring to.

“If Helena asked you to marry her, would you have said yes?”

This was something Tina never thought about, but she still knew the answer. “No. There would be no way I could marry her when she didn’t have my heart.”

Shane couldn’t help but smile. “So you still loved Bette when you were with Helena?”

“Of course. I never stopped, but I think I needed to be with Helena for the sake of my mental stability, if that makes sense. I only inteneded for it to be an ephemeral relationship anyway.”

Shane nodded even though she didn’t agree with Tina’s justification, plus she didn’t know what ephemeral meant. “I think I know what you mean.”

They pulled up in front of Tina’s apartment and Shane offered to help Tina in but Tina told her to just hurry home and get some much needed rest. When Tina opened her door she was glad to finally have some time to herself. She walked in and grabbed a bottle of water before going straight into her bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed while she drank the cold crisp liquid that cooled off her body temperature. She laid down, letting her body relax for the first time since she got off the plane. She closed her eyes to try to fall asleep but an image kept haunting her; Bette’s beautiful face. After unsuccessfully trying to ignore the image so she could sleep, she sat up again and said to herself, “What am I doing here? I need to be with Bette!”

TBC…