"Rumor has it," a voice cut into Tina's deep introspection, as Helena emerged from behind the fence, "that women who show up in their ex's house at the very early hours of morning can be deemed..."

"Annoying?" Tina guessed.

"I was going to use the word unstable, but..." Helena grinned at her friend.

"What brings you here?"

"I was out for a walk..."

"You walk?" Tina teased, checking the baby monitor beside her, smiling at the sound of Angelica's sleep-induced sounds.

"I was looking for a snack--"

"At seven in the morning?" Tina inquired.

Helena shot her a look. "You're infuriating."

Tina laughed. "I try."

"I was hoping to find you, strangely enough," Helena finally admitted.

"And you came here, instead of my own home?"

"You weren't at your home," Helena pointed out.

"True." Tina conceded. "What if I weren't here?"

"That is quite a scary prospect." Helena laughed, approaching Tina. "Where's Kate?"

"Gone." Tina smiled wryly. "She did the right thing."

Helena glanced at her. "Because you shouldn't sleep with someone you work with?"

"Because everyone and everything still reminds me of Bette." Tina said softly.

"You told her to go." Helena reminded, picking up the newspaper at Tina's feet as she joined the blonde on the front steps of Bette's house. Helena glanced behind her, at the house. "You spent the night?"

"Yeah."

"How come?"

Tina shrugged. "Any piece of her."

Helena nodded. "I can understand that."

They fell silent, Helena waiting for Tina to tell her what was going on, while Tina remained wrapped up in the thoughts that had been keeping her up lately, magnified by the fact that after finally opening up to Bette, just filtering out some details, Bette still chose to go to New York, still chose to show another woman a grand gesture of her love.

Tina glanced at her ex, finally breaking the silence. "Does it ever stop hurting?"

"How do you want me to answer that?"

"Lie to me."

"Of course it does. You'll meet someone else and you forget Bette is your soulmate and you'll live happily ever after with other people." Helena said flatly, saying what she knew would be fairly impossible for Bette, or Tina.

"Liar."

Helena took Tina's hand into her own, and smiled at her friend. "You need to figure out what you really want, Tina. Whether or not that's with Bette should be a separate issue."

Tina sighed. "I didn't know that when I pushed her away she wouldn't push back."

Helena glanced at the newspaper. "Then you shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Thanks for the memo." Tina said bitterly.

Helena smiled at her. "Why did you help her get Jodi? You had your way back in, they were broken up, and you're the one Bette ran to."

"Because it would be irresponsible for me to reel Bette back in just because they were separated." Tina said softly. "Do you know how hard it's been for me, to keep myself in check? To not do what was natural, to not do what I knew would help me get her back? If I didn't know better she'd be with me right now. She wouldn't have gone to New York, she wouldn't have taken that sign, she wouldn't have asked me for the words that would get Jodi back. She wouldn't be anywhere else but with me right now."

"But she is."

"But she is." Tina agreed, nodding. "Because that's where she should be. She should be with someone else right now, someone who won't manipulate her feelings the way I do."

"You're kidding, right?" Helena asked skeptically.

"What?"

"Even apart, you're still manipulating her feelings!"

"I am not!" Tina protested indignantly.

"You've told me about you and Bette. You've told me about her grand gestures, the way she swept you off your feet. Alice has told me how Bette Porter of the Bette Porter Phenomenon so easily sweeps women off their feet. She could have had Jodi back at any time." Helena pointed out. "She didn't, until you pushed her into it."

"She was hurt."

"Tina, when you broke up no long-stemmed rose, no floral arrangement, was left undelivered to you at Alice's doorstep. An hour did not pass that she did not try to call you and tell her apology." Helena reminded. "The Bette Porter I have heard so much about would not have given up so easily."

"Have I not mentioned the 17 Reasons Why sign?" Tina asked dryly. "Has no one mentioned that to you, because that's a pretty grand gesture for her to commit a felony."

"Because you told her she needed to follow up your touching message with a grand gesture." Helena reminded. "Tina, do you want Bette back, or not?"