Dana pulled into the parking lot of The Planet, and into a parking spot next to Alices Mini. Before she got out, she looked over at Alice and smiled, the gesture was reciprocated. “Hey, mind if I stop by your place for a couple minutes to see Tina. I mean, I wouldnt wanna seem partial or anything.” She winked at Alice, referring to her previous attentiveness to Bette.

“Yea sure, that would be nice.” Alice smiled warmly. “See you in a little bit?” Dana nodded. With that, Alice hopped out of Danas car and into her own, and headed over to her apartment complex. Dana followed, and soon they were climbing the stairs to Alices place. The held hands as they ascended, and every few seconds looked up to smile at each other. When they reached Alices floor they paused before continuing down the hall.

“Hey, before we go in, theres something Ive been wanting to do all morning.” Alice whispered. Dana felt her heart begin to palpitate as she looked into Alices eyes.

“Yea?” Dana asked, her voice catching in her throat.

“Yea.” Alice responded before leaning in slowly, and gently placing her lips on Danas. The kiss was soft, their mouths barely touching. Dana felt her knees buckle, the same way that they had the previous night, and she found herself having to lean back against the wall of the apartment building to steady herself. She opened her eyes to meet Alices, and they both simultaneously smiled into the kiss. Somehow, Dana managed to gain control of her arms, and she slowly slipped them around Alices waist pulling the other woman against her. Alice reached out and placed one of her hands on the wall behind Danas head, while taking the other and gliding in behind Danas neck, pulling her in to deepen their contact.

Dana felt the tension of the day and previous night melting away, as her tongue met tentatively with Alices, and she felt Alices warm body against her, pressing her against the cool wall. Her hands moved over Alices lower back, and then up until her fingers were entwined in blonde locks. The kiss became gradually more hungry, and Dana felt as if volts of electricity were now coursing through her body. It would have been a lie to say that Alice was the only one who had wanted to do this all morning. She felt Alices hand shift from the wall behind her to her shoulder, then lower, until it softly grazed over the curve of her chest. Just as Alice began to caress Danas breast, they heard a voice from down the hall.

“Hello?” It was Tina. “Is someone out there?” Quickly, Dana and Alice pulled apart both quite out of breath.

“Hey T! Its just meand Dana. We were justummrunning some errands together.” Alices voice was choppy, and she looked at Dana while trying to stifle a giggle. She grabbed Danas hand and pulled her towards her apartment.

“What have you guys been doing?” Tina asked, noticing their flushed faces.

“Oh, ummm, we raced up the stairs.” Alice quickly responded. “Dana won, of course.” She smiled coyly at Dana when Tina turned around to reenter the apartment. “So T, how are you feeling? “Alice asked, approaching the other blonde woman and gently touching her hair.

“Ehhhh, not great.” Tina responded. She looked at Alice and then over at Dana and back to Alice.

“Dana knows what happened.” Alice said gently. “Actually, she was at your house this morning.” Alice paused to observe Tinas reaction before she continued. She saw Tinas eyes well with tears. She quickly looked over at Dana, not knowing what to do.

“Bette feels horrible.” Dana said gently, approaching. “Ive never seen her so upset Tina, she really regrets whats happened.”

“Yeah, well that doesnt exactly change things.” Tina said as she reached up to wipe her tears away.

“I know it doesnt, but” Dana tried to continue.

“Tina, Bette loves you, she wanted me to tell you that.” Alice said stepping forward next to Dana. Alice glanced up as Dana smiled and nodded approvingly at her for relaying Bettes message.

“God, why? It would be so much easier if she didnt love me, you know? If she just fell in love with Candace.” Tina choked on these last words and sat on the couch, covering her face with her hands.

“Tina, you know that could never happen. Bette loves you, no one else.” Dana soothed, sitting down and tucking a few stray blonde hairs behind Tinas ear. “Look, I know everything seems all fucked up, and I know its too soon right now, but at some point you need to talk to her, to figure out whats going on.” Dana said gently. Tina nodded.

“Well Im gonna go get something to eat, anyone else?” Alice asked, in a clumsy attempt to lighten the mood, heading to the kitchen.

“You and your never-ending appetite Alice!” Dana shouted towards the kitchen. “Tina, I hope youre not expecting to eat while youre here, because Alice is a food vacuum.” Dana laughed. She was relieved when she saw a slight smile form at the corner of Tinas mouth.

“***** you Dana!” Alice called from the kitchen, popping out to toss Dana a quick middle finger.

“Nice Al, real nice!” She laughed back. “Ok, Im gonna go.” Dana stood up and placed a soft kiss on the top of Tinas head. “Ill give you a call later, ok?”

“Wait!” Alice yelled running from the kitchen. For a second Dana thought Alice was gonna run up and kiss her in front of Tina, and she began to panic. This was neither the time nor place for Tina to find out about them. “My stuff and Tinas clothes are still in your car.” Alice said. “T, Ill be right back, Im just gonna go grab it, Ill be back in a minute.” Dana and Alice headed out the door and down to the parking garage. At Danas car, Alice paused a moment before reaching out and taking Danas hand.

“Im sorry we were interrupted back there in the hall, you know I was just starting to work my mojo.” Alice said, moving in closer.

Dana chuckled. “Im sorry too, and yes, you were.” She grinned and leaned in to kiss Alice, teasing Alice with just a tantalizing amount of tongue. God, what has gotten into me lately? she thought. She pulled back and kissed Alice on the forehead. “I was thinking, maybe we should play cool with this around the rest of the gang, until the Bette/ Tina thing settles down.” Alice sighed, but nodded in agreement. “Well then, I guess you better get back up there” Dana whispered. Alice nodded again, and gave Dana one more quick peck.

“Ill call you later.” Alice said after getting her stuff out of Danas car. She couldnt help it and leaned in for one more kiss. She sighed wistfully as she pulled back and began to walk away.

” Oh, Ill be waiting by the phone.” Dana said in a sarcastically whiny voice.

“You better!”