Bette Porter glanced around the bar, still somewhat empty from its regulars of workers who flooded its walls after work. Right now it remained viciously empty, save for a few souls like herself.

A month. She's been in New York for a month, and she and Tina were never better. It was like a second breath in their relationship, picking up where they left off, and sometimes, when Tina moved against her just right, Bette would forget why they were cross-country from where they started.

Bette scanned the few faces, not seeing Tina. It had become ritual, this one drink at the bar after work, where they would meet after work and together make their way home from. It was Tina's ritual, and Bette knew this was her T's way of letting her in, bit by bit, into the life she's led in their three years apart.

"Bette," a voice said from behind her, making the newly-appointed art director, jump.

Bette turned, and came face to face with a woman who had once threatened her life. "Shannen."

Shannen Hutton gave her a small smile. "Waiting for Tina?"

"Yes, actually."

"Me too. Come on, let's sit." Shannen shed her coat, and turned to the bartender. "Martini." Then she pointed to the general direction of where she intended to sit.

Bette turned to the bartender. "Martini."

Shannen watched Bette take the seat opposite her in the booth. "How's work?"

"It's good." Bette nodded.

"Tina told me you had a gallery all planned out in LA," Shannen said.

"Yup," Bette nodded. All she seemed to do around Shannen was nod.

There was a grudging respect between the two Yale graduates, but there was always that tension between them.

For Bette, Shannen represented Tina's life before her, and when they were apart. Tina and Shannen had been the force to be reckoned with back in their days at Alphaville, and Bette knew it had been Shannen who had brought Tina to New York. Never mind the fact that she'd threatened Bette with violence, Bette knew that Shannen was Tina's sounding board, the last vestiges of her life Before Bette Porter. And when her life with Bette had fallen apart, Tina had called Shannen. It wasn't romantic, not at all, but it was nonetheless a threat.

And Shannen saw in Bette a force that cannot be messed with. She'd known Tina for a pretty long time, and had been there through different boyfriends, and had watched Tina as she fell in love with Bette Porter. She'd been there when Tina broke up with Eric, she'd been there when Tina came to terms with her new relationship. She'd been there for Tina when Bette's history with women reared its ugly head at their relationship. When she left for New York she had said, simply, that if Bette Porter ever hurt Tina Kennard she would kill her.

During the past month, as Bette found her footing in The City, she did not fail to notice how Shannen was remarkably reserved with her opinions and thoughts regarding Bette's presence. Tina had assured her that Shannen was completely behind their reconciliation, but it couldn't be that simple.

Shannen regarded Bette. "She really loves you."

Bette couldn't help the smile that took over her features. "She does."

"I mean, you got her to do something none of us could get her to do for three years," Shannen continued.

"Which is--?" Bette asked.

"Therapy. I think it really helps that you're here." Shannen told her.

"I'm just glad she's letting me. When she left that morning..." Bette let her voice trail off, going back to that awful morning when Tina left the second time.

Shannen hesitated. "Bette, do you mind me asking what happened?"

"Right now, yes, I do." Bette said honestly. "It wasn't a good way to start your day."

Shannen nodded, and looked up as a guy placed their drinks on the table. "Thanks."

Bette merely nodded.

Shannen turned back to Bette. "I know you love her. You wouldn't be here if you didn't. But I'm sure some part of you's thinking you have a whole life you didn't have to give up."

"You'd be wrong." Bette said quietly.

Shannen lifted an eyebrow.

Bette looked at her. "When I got on that plane to find her the only thing that mattered to me was finding her. Being with her. When she said I could be here with her there was no going back. And I didn't care. In retrospect, sure, there's a lot I still have in LA. But Tina's here. And that's the only thing that matters to me."

"How can you sit there and tell me that, and expect me to believe you even after the disaster that brought you here?"

Bette looked at her. "Sometimes you make choices. Sometimes you love the choices you've made, sometimes you learn to love them. Or you just learn to live with them. I'm not proud of what I did. Of why I'm here. But I'm here. And that's the only thing that matters. I'm here. And Tina's with me."

"You do know that I will kill you if you hurt her again, right?"

"The same way you know you killed a part of me when you made her move here." Bette said simply.

Shannen remained silent, never having thought of it that way.

Bette watched her, this woman with the long auburn hair and luminous skin, her green-hazel eyes never missing anything. This woman who had two kids that worshipped Tina. This woman who knew what Tina went through those months that she was finding her way back to Bette.

Shannen looked up, and found Bette staring at her. "What?"

"Do you love her?" Bette asked simply, curious, knowing the answer could go either way and not sure how she'd react.