“Bette…”

“I’m not used to lying it all on the line here. So, here it is, all of me. Get to know me, do you want any of that?”

“Please don’t make me choose. Not today, not after what happened this morning, please.” Truth is, I’m terrified of the ‘what happens next.’ If I accept her invitation to take all of her, what’s the price that we pay?

“You want time Tina? How much?”

“What kind of question is that. I don’t know.”

“Tell Grace how you feel. Tell Eric how you feel. Let them know that they don’t have a chance. It’ll be us two.” Sounds crazy, right? And how does she know I want her. How come she’s so sure.

“Hey. How come I have to be the one to break two hearts. Where’s your responsibility in this Bette?…..Where is it?……What do you stand to lose here?”

“Right now, everything. My pride, a the love of a brother that doesn’t understand, a friend in love with me, my dignity. But for some crazy reason it doesn’t compare to losing you.”

I can’t believe she just said nothing compares to losing me. The other stuffs crazy too. She just answered all of my questions I had about Alice and Eric. But if she’s willing to do it for me and leave with nothing, then maybe it does make sense. Me and her.

“You really mean that Bette?”

“With everything that I am at this moment. Which isn’t much considering that I have no job and soon won’t have a place to stay.” That’s all I needed to hear. Not the homeless and jobless stuff. But that she believes in us at this very moment. If she can jump off the high wire with no guarantee that there isn’t a safety net, maybe it was time I join her.

She stands to leave, looking drained by this morning’s declarations. I meet her eyes for the second time this morning. But this time I’m not crying and she doesn’t feel ashamed about anything. It gave me butterflies and courage at the same time. I leaned in to kiss her cheek. Something simple, not rushing her in any way. Plus with all she said to me today, anything more than a kiss on the cheek, would really start something I know for sure I wasn’t ready for. But she smiled this brilliant, huge smile. And her eyes sparkled, with happiness and hope, not tears when I grabbed her hand and walked her to the door. I hope she can see that I feel the same way.