She looks at Shane hoping that she has some knowledge that Tina hasn’t shared with her. ‘She was with Candace.’ Alice‘s eyes widen and her mouth drops open in disbelief as Shane says this. Maybe this has what made Tina so jumpy, only if she knows that Bette is still with Candace then there is no need for her to be waiting on Bette’s phone call.

Alice can’t help but lean back against the wall at the realisation that Bette and Tina may never get back together. ‘This is so fucked up Shane.’ Her words barely audible as the tears streak down her face. Shane takes a step forward and pulls Alice into her arms and holds her as Alice‘s arms wrap around her in a much needed embrace.

Shane allows Alice to cry into her shoulder until her tears subside. When she is certain that they have Shane loosens her embrace and takes a step back tilting Alice‘s head up to make sure she’s okay. Alice looks like a small child as she looks up at Shane as she wipes away her tears with her sleeve, trying to sniff away any remnants of tears. Shane smiles and gets the smallest of smiles back in return, but at least it’s a smile.

She opens the door to the living room once again and quietly steps in. She walks over to the sofa where Tina is still fast asleep. Alice remains in the doorway silently watching Shane as she surveys the room. Tina’s clothes hanging on the back of chairs at the dinner table, her bags sitting neatly by the window, and her phone close enough for her to grab within moments if it should decide to ring.

Shane puts her hands into her back pockets and looks over her left shoulder. Her attention is caught by something she has seen on Alice‘s back wall, the wall with the chart. She makes her way over to it and Alice‘s gaze follows her movement. She is staring at its latest addition, the unfinished ‘CA’ that everyone knows how to complete.

Slowly she takes her hands from her back pocket and picks up one of the marker pens and removes the lid. At first Alice thought she might cross the name out but instead Shane completes it, adding the final ‘NDACE’ to ultimately spell out Bette’s infidelity. When she was done she replaced the lid back on the pen and put it down before stepping back to see the once again whole chart.

Without saying a word she walked over to the armchair next to the sofa and sat down. She took off her boots and put them next to the seat and propped her feet up on the table and made herself comfortable. Alice knew that Shane would sit there silently for the rest of the night and into the morning watching Tina sleep. Letting her thoughts come to her trying to make sense of the world she had come back to.

Alice closed the door and walked back to her room. In the silence of the space between night and day perhaps Shane would find the answers they all needed. Regardless, Shane was home and that had to bring a smile back to Tina’s face even if only momentarily. A smile that they all needed to see again as much as Tina needed to feel it again.