And somehow she was disappointed. She had hoped for the easy way out, that her mother found out from some innocent passer-by, and then she didn’t have to do the telling herself. But she knew that it would be severely damaging to her relationship with her family, and that all the trust they had in her would instantly shatter into pieces.

‘One step at a time Carmen, take one step at a time.’ Carmen sighed internally. She looked up and realized that Anna was still talking away about this crush she had in college. Doing the usual nodding and ‘ahuh’ without actually hearing a word, Carmen was too caught up in thoughts to actually take in anything right now.

——————

“Have you ever thought that, maybe Carmen would like you to be there for her when she out herself to her family.” Alice patted Shane on the shoulder.

“That’s the thing see, I know that is exactly what she wants. But I don’t know if I can take that responsibility.” Running her hand through her tussled-up hair, Shane heaved a breath of exasperation.

“Then have you thought that, maybe she is drawing courage from you, just like you drew courage from her?” Alice continued.

Her hand froze on top of her head as she turned and stared at Alice.

“Shane, I can see how much you have grown since you were with Carmen. You stand in the face of adversity like you never did before. Seriously, I half expected the old Shane to run away when hit with a disaster like illness. But the new Shane, the Shane I know and love stood by her woman. And I know it is because of Carmen.”

Shane dropped her face and buried it in her hands as Alice continued.

“Don’t let the old Shane resurface. No responsibility is too great to take if it involves the woman you love most.”

“Then why did you let Dana go?” Shane quipped.

Alice looked at Shane in silence, not knowing how to answer that question. Even though she still loved Dana, they had decided to call it quits as lovers and return to being friends again a year ago. Alice was still hurting, and even though Shane wasn’t around for the last few months, Shane could still tell that Alice hadn’t recovered fully.