“You don’t need to hide. I know you. I know you’re scared. And I guess if it was reversed, I’d be a little nervous too. But really, it’s ok. I would never do anything that hurt you, you know that, right, Alice?”

Alice went to move towards Dana and then stopped herself, “Yeah, I know that. You wouldn’t do anything to hurt me.” She paused a second and under her breath continued, “Nothing except break my heart and then die.”

Dana’s face dropped. She took a step closer to Alice, “Al, please. That’s what tonight’s about. Please, don’t feel like that.” She raised her hand to bring it to Alice’s face, but she hitched when she saw Alice flinch. She took a second to resolve herself and continued the path of her hand to Alice’s face. “Al, please don’t be scared. I’m here, really here. I need you to trust that.”

A single tear started falling on Alice’s cheek, the moment Dana moved her thumb to brush it away, Alice broke and the tears started streaming. “I lost you. First, just your love, then I lost you. I couldn’t touch you or call you or hug you. You were gone, Dana, you were gone.”

Alice put her head in the crook of Dana’s neck just letting herself cry. As Dana tightened her arms around her, Alice inhaled deeply, taking in the scent she thought she’d only experience again in her dreams. “But you’re here now. You’re here.”

She took a sharp step away from Dana, “Wait, how are you here? I know you said you need to make peace, but Dane, you’re like real, shouldn’t you be like a ghost or something? Oh my god, I can’t believe I just said that. I’m talking to a dead woman wondering why she isn’t a ghost. I have lost my mind.””

“No, you haven’t lost your mind. But to be honest, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be. I’m not sure exactly how this works. All I know is that I was watching over you the other night and you were talking to me…”

“Wait, you were watching over me?”

Dana’s eyes instantly hit the floor as her face turned a bright crimson. “Um, yeah. I look in on you, you know, to make sure you’re doing ok. I was worried about you.”