Two weeks had passed since that night. The night when Bette had felt like she was someone else. She’d done things that night that she could never have imagined herself doing. And yet they were her actions. She still couldn’t face sleeping the bedroom. Since Tina had walked out of the door and she’d eventually picked herself up from the bed, she hadn’t been able to lie on it. She slept on the couch, and every night she cried herself to sleep. She hadn’t seen Tina since that night, although she wasn’t quite sure if that was a good or a bad thing. What on earth would they say to each other? The wounds that were inflicted that night ran much deeper than the bite marks that no were longer visible on Bette’s neck and chest. These wounds would take much longer to heal. And what Bette feared most of all was that Tina’s wounds would never heal at all. It had taken her days to leave the house, and even now that was only to go to work, or occasionally to see Shane. Tina was staying with Alice, so seeing her was hardly appropriate.

Two weeks after that night it was one of Bette’s infrequent meetings with Shane that took her out of the house. They met at a fairly quiet bar for a casual drink. Bette still wasn’t up to a proper night out.

“Hey” Shane greeted Bette and pulled her into a hug.

“You going soft on me Shane?” Bette managed a smile – a rare thing for her since that night.

“I’m just showing a bit of love for a good friend, that’s all” Shane took a swig of beer.

“I know, and I really appreciate that you’re here for me” Bette put her hand on Shane’s arm.

“That’s what friends are for. No matter how much you ***** up, we’re still here to pick up the pieces”

“You can’t pick up all the pieces though, can you?” Bette asked softly.

“I can try”

“There’ll always be one piece missing though” Bette said regretfully.

“Give it time, Bette. Come on, for tonight at least pretend to be happy” Shane handed Bette a drink.

Bette smiled weakly and took a sip of beer “I’ll try”

They talked about neutral subjects – Alice’s latest ridiculous articles for the magazine, their hopes that Dana would finally see sense and leave Tonya, and how Shane had come to terms with the end of her affair with Cherie by sleeping with several hot women over the past two weeks.

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Alice had dragged Tina out of the house and they were just walking down the street to get some fresh air. Tina had spent the first few hours after that night just sobbing constantly. When she’d finally cried herself to the point of exhaustion, she’d fallen asleep. When she woke up, fresh tears fell down her cheeks. She’d come to terms with what had happened, and it just felt like her world had fallen apart. She couldn’t work out who she blamed the most – Bette or that carpenter. It made her sick just to think of it. She tried to distract her thoughts by getting Alice talking.

“So how are things with Dana?”

“Well she’s still with Tonya…”

“Oh”

“So not good really” Alice forced herself to smile.

“Why’s it so different?” Tina wondered out loud.

“What?”

“Well Dana cheated on Tonya with you, and Bette cheated on me with…that woman. Why are we all backing Dana but not Bette?”

“Because what Bette’s lost…well that was something real. Dana and Tonya…well, we all know what that is”

“I guess”

“What are you thinking?”

“What if there’s people out there willing Bette to get with her? What if people think of me like they think of Tonya?”

Alice laughed “trust me, they don’t”

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

“Shane, I can’t do this”

“What?”

“I can’t be out. I just need to go home. I’m sorry” Bette got up.

“It’s okay. Things’ll take time. I understand” Shane too got up.

“You stay. Enjoy yourself, I’ll be okay”

“You take care”

“Thanks, Shane”

Bette picked up her jacket and walked out of the bar. She sighed as the fresh air hit her. When would things be better? She was just a shadow of the person she’d been before. She knew why that was – she didn’t feel like a whole person without Tina. But being without her was something she was going to have to learn to deal with. She turned and started to walk up the street, her gaze fixed on the ground. Something suddenly made her stop and look up. She couldn’t explain it, it was just a feeling she had. A few metres up the street Alice and Tina stopped in their tracks.

“Bette!” Alice smiled.

Bette didn’t speak. She just stared desperately at Tina. At that moment she felt like her heart was being ripped out. The coldness in Tina’s eyes cut her like a knife.

“I’m sorry” she whispered.

Alice went to speak, but Bette fixed her eyes back on the ground and hurried back to her car, where she broke down in tears.