I looked down seeing Alice’s face in my mind, “ I had to see her”.

Carmen started to rub my back, “ she missed you a lot”.

I took a deep breath, “ I missed her so much,” then I asked the question I probably didn’t want answered, “ is she seeing anyone?”.

Shane just looked at me in a way I couldn’t describe to anyone, “ 5 years is a long time Dane…”.

I shook my head knowing what she meant, “ no…of course…she’s Alice…irresistible…who wouldn’t want to be with her. So…is she married?”.

Shane held my hand, “ you didn’t let me finish…five years is a long time…a long time for someone to wait for someone…but that’s what Alice did. Dana, she hasn’t been with anyone else, she’s waited for you this whole time”.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Alice waited for me? She still loves me, I am so sorry Alice.

Before I could say anything else, the phone rang, and we all knew who it was. Shane walked over and picked up the phone, “ Hey T…sure…hey Al…how you doin? Yeah…she’s here…she’s good Al…

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Alice sat next to her window staring outside as she spoke to Shane, not believing Dana was really here, “ …how is she Shane? She’s good?” she let out a sigh of relief and smiled softly through her tears, “ she looked good…listen I know she doesn’t want to talk to me right now, and I don’t want our first conversation to be on the phone, but will you tell her if she wants to talk to me, I’ll be at our place tonight, I’ll be there in an hour, she can meet me…just tell her for me…thanks Shane…bye”.

Alice hung up the phone and looked at the photo she was holding of her and Dana. Tina walked over and hugged her, “ you okay Alice?”

Alice laughed softly through her tears, “ I don’t know T. I’ve missed her so much”, she smiled, “ she looks really good, I just hope she shows up tonight”.

Tina smiled as she moved a strand of hair out of Alice’s face, “ she will”.

Alice smiled, giggled through her tears, “ She better…it’s because of her I’ve been celibate for the past 5 years”.

Tina and Alice laughed together, “ I guess Dana brought back your sense of humor too”.

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It was a beautiful night in L.A., the only thing that lit up the trail were the lights of the city and the night sky. Alice had been there for a good 2 hours now, just thinking. She remembered everything her and Dana did, everything that happened and was said between them. It was a hard 5 years for her, just waking up one morning and not seeing the woman she loved. For the first time, a day did not consist of 24 hours, to Alice that day lasted 5 years, just waiting for her love to come back. She knew why Dana left, and she understood. She swore to Dana and herself that she could wait, and she did.

It started to grow colder, Alice had only a thin sweater on. It was time to go home now, she may not have been able to talk to Dana tonight, but she will in the morning. She wiped away the last tear, and turned around, she gasped seeing who was there.

“hey Al…” Dana whispered, Alice could see she was holding her favorite sweater in her arm.

“Hey Dane…” Alice breathed out, “ you’re late”.

Dane smiled and walked towards Alice, wrapping the sweatshirt around her, feeling her heartbeat again being so close to the woman she hadn’t seen in 5 years, the woman she was in love with, “ No…I’ve been here for 2 hours…”.

Dana held Alice as they spoke, “ where were you?”.

Dana looked Alice into her eyes, “ I was just watching you…”.

They held each others’ gaze for a long moment, each drowning themselves in each others’ closeness.

Dana smiled, noticing how much more beautiful Alice had gotten, “ Can I walk you home?”.

Alice smiled, never breaking their connection, “ will you stay the night?”

All Dana could do was simply nod, their connection so strong, all she wanted to do was hear her voice, and then the angel spoke again, “ will you tell me everything?”.

And again, all Dana could do was nod.

To Be Continued…