To Tina, it all seemed so clear now.  Things she thought she’d read into now appeared to actually mean something.  Leading conversations, touches, loaded questions, gazes that lasted too long, lingering hugs, movie nights that turned into cuddle fests that turned into sleepovers.  The feelings she’s been striving to drive away or, at the very least, lock away, flooded back with a vengeance.  But it was suddenly all right to have them, to think about all the things that had kept her up countless nights.  Knowing Bette was open to the possibility of being a couple led Tina to a completely new line of thoughts, questions and fantasies.  Finally, she let herself see children and a home again where she’d locked it away, so sure it was only to ever be a dream.

           She knew she was getting ahead of herself, particularly since she had yet to officially tell Bette she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her.  But if Tina had learned anything from all of this, it was that her eyes had probably told Bette everything already, if Bette had the courage to see it there.

*          *            *            *            *

          Sunday night Tina decided to try to get her mind off what would come Monday and try to get her mind in a place where she could prepare for or at least think about her classes for the week.  Giving up on her nearly empty cupboards, she changed and walked down to the corner market, deciding on a frozen pizza and a six-pack of beer.  As she walked back to her building, she admonished herself under her breath.

          “This is it, huh?  Dressing to go to the store, frozen pizza and alcohol… if I don’t choke to death alone in my apartment first.  It’d be days before anyone noticed…  Bette… was drunk.  She must have been.  After all… what are the chances?”

          She looked in the mirror upon entering her apartment, snorting as she caught sight of the lines beneath her eyes that indicated lack of sleep, her slightly disheveled hair, her complete lack of make-up.

          “Nice.  That’s hot,” she smiled at herself, turning from side-to-side.  She shed her shirt, replacing it with the rugby she’d had on before.  She put her hair up in a quick messy bun and preheated the oven for her pizza, returning to her sitting room and popping in Four Weddings and a Funeral.  The buzzer indicating the oven was heated found Tina with an already empty bottle in hand, a fact she rectified as she placed the pizza in the oven. 

          An hour later Tina sat on the floor behind her coffee table, staring out the window as the movie ran on.  She shortly was brought back by a knock on her door that caused Yankee to being barking.  She stood, noting that having the first few beers on a nearly empty stomach was not the best idea she ever had.  She swung the door open, freezing where she stood.

          “Hi,” half-whispered Bette.  “I couldn’t wait until Monday to see you.”

          “I…  I ate all the pizza.”