As Tina turned to Bette, the cab stopped in front of her building.  They got out and headed toward the door, Bette taking Tina’s hand in hers as they climbed the stairs to Tina’s apartment.  Tina opened the door to an enthusiastic Yankee, who, unsurprisingly, instantly fell for Bette, licking her face when she picked him up.  He ran off to play somewhere, seeming to sense that the women needed a minute.  They went to the couch and sat down, Bette instantly moving closer to an unexpectedly nervous Tina.

            “What did you mean back there?” asked Tina, who suddenly found her hands very interesting.  Laying her hands on Tina’s, Bette turned Tina’s face until it was right in front of hers.

            “Tina, I don’t know what to do, or how to go about this, and I’m so scared and confused for so many reasons, but one thing that I know doesn’t frighten me is that I’m in love with you and have been since the day you showed up at my office.  I had accept the fact you were gone, and then there you were, smiling that enthralling smile, asking me if I wanted to spend time with you.  I almost laughed.  You’d occupied every though since we’d met, much to my shock, and I almost burst when Susan told me how persistent you were about seeing me.

            “You’re so incredible, and the fact that you wanted to spend time with me and be my friend even though you thought we couldn’t be together was so endearing, I fell harder and faster than I ever had, much to my extreme confusion.  Yet, you’re always just so wonderfully you that somehow I couldn’t bring myself to deny or try to reject or lessen what I feel for you.  You’re so comfortable with your life and who you are, how could I bring myself to reject that piece of you I now see in myself?  What other choice did I have but to just love you?”

            Tina sat silent, staring awestruck at Bette who merely smiled, correctly interpreting the silence.  As if trying not to wake a sleepwalker, Bette leaned forward slowly, gently laying her lips against Tina’s as her arms snaked around Tina’s back.  The movement seemed to rouse Tina as her lips responded, and she gently took Bette’s face in her hands.  The kiss intensified quickly, the need finally displaying itself at full force.  Just as Tina felt her thinking slowing and her brain beginning to shut down, she felt Bette go limp, passed out cold.

            “Of course,” she whispered, allowing herself an excruciating moment to get her breath under control before lifting Bette and taking her into the bedroom, removing her dress gently, putting her in an oversized t-shirt and tucking her in.  As she shut the door, Yankee ran up as if on cue, looking for his last walk of the night.  “What would I do without you, puppy?”  He wagged his tail as she hooked up the leash.  She took him out for a short walk, came back and readied the couch for herself.  Somewhere around sunrise, she finally fell asleep, the exhausted prey of her thoughts and trepidations of what the morning would bring.