&&&

It was just as she had left it.

Tina dropped her bag by the front door and walked further into her home.

There were some small things that had changed. Like in the centre of the table there was a small vase which held a bouquet of colourful flowers. Tina approached the table and ran her fingertips over a velvety petal. A small smile fell across her lips at the touch.

The shrill noise of the phone ringing made Tina jump, the sound seemed to last forever. She sat down on the sofa and clasped her hands on her lap.

“Hi this is Bette and Tina, sorry we can’t reach the phone at the moment, please leave a message after the beep – Tina, what are you…” Beep.

A toothy smile appeared on her lips when she heard the beautiful voice of her lover, ex-lover, girlfriend, ex-girlfriend? She didn’t know. It had been two years.

Tina ran her fingers through her dirty blond locks and it was then that she decided on having a shower before collapsing on the bed. She stood up and headed into the bathroom.

&&&

“Bette won’t mind Dane.” Alice said as she shoved her key into the lock. She gave it a sharp turn and pushed the door open.

Dana looked back down the pathway towards the street before stepping inside Bette’s house.

They were planning on getting an outfit ready for Bette to wear as they weren’t going to let their friend sit at home again. Because Alice hadn’t turned on the lights, Dana couldn’t see where she was going and her foot got caught on something which was on the floor. The tennis player crashed to the floor, smacking her knee painfully.

“Oh fucking hell, what the hell is that?” Dana hissed. Out of anger she kicked the object she had tripped over and sent it flying out of the house. Alice giggled and flicked on a switch. “Alice, stop laughing, it’s not funny. I’ve really hurt my knee.” She could feel tears prickling behind her eyes because of the pain.

Alice suddenly felt really bad for laughing and walked across the room to crouch down beside her girlfriend. “Oh baby,” She murmured, kissing her on the top of her head, “Lets get some ice on it, ok?”

She helped Dana to the sofa and laid her down before going to the freezer to get some ice.

“What the hell?”

Dana and Alice looked towards the front door when they heard Bette’s voice. Seconds later she had appeared at the door and was peering into the room curiously. Upon seeing her friends, Bette sighed heavily. “What was this doing outside?” Bette asked, holding up a battered looking bag. She eyed it for a second or two before placing it on the sofa beside Dana.

“Whose is it?” Alice asked. She plopped her body down beside Dana and held out a bag of peas. “It doesn’t look like your sort of bag,” She said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Bette nodded and slowly unzipped it. She looked inside and gasped loudly. Dana and Alice watched her with amused eyes. “What is it Bette?” Dana asked, while trying to stifle a laugh.

“These are Tina’s…” Bette whispered.

“What?” Alice sound loudly and dived across the sofa, she grabbed the bag and pulled out a shirt. Bette was right, it was one that Tina used to wear all the time. She looked up at Bette with wide eyes, as if asking what the hell was going on.

Bette didn’t look at her or say anything. Instead she stood up and walked towards her bedroom. Alice and Dana watched her carefully. Bette approached the door and pushed it open silently. Her hand came up to cover her mouth while the tears she had been holding back rolled down her cheeks. “Tina?”