Title:Here's to the Night - 2 Author: tiff_duke [ Send a Private Message ]
Copyright: tduke.2007. Content Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: The characters belong to IC and Showtime, the story is inspired by Before Sunrise/Before Sunset, but is basically mine.
Title and summary are from the Eve 6 song.
Author's Note: First off, thank you for the comments and feedback. It's quite flattering to know that my writing has been missed.
Second, some individual replies (because why not?) ZLFan - full disclosure: it was on reading your recent story that certain details of this story clicked together. This disclosure will make more sense as the story continues. Linbooks - Chiaroscuro? Still rocks. lucybelly - no, it's not. It's sheer insecurity. Me as a writer? Thrive on it. Gumby - well, hello there. MutedTempest - then I hope I make it worth your time. Chicki - silly, silly thing called life. And writer's block. I miss Swimmie too.
Oh, and working title for this story was "Close Your Eyes". (Buffy friends, that'd be a spoiler for you. Don't share.)
Read. Enjoy. Comment. Support the site.
Summary: Are you cool with just tonight? Total Views: 3595 times.
Tina turned from her observation of the garden fountain, then lifted an eyebrow at Bette as she returned. "Took you long enough."
Said with a feigned casual tone, hiding the anxiety and excitement she felt of simply being in the same general area as Bette Porter.
"You know, I could have a well-thought retort to that statement, but I won't do it," Bette told her. "I told the girls I was turning in."
"At ten-thirty?" Tina asked skeptically. "I don't believe for a moment that they bought that."
"I might have implied that I met someone I want to spend some time with alone." Bette admitted.
Tina laughed. "Still so selfish."
"You said you didn't want to see them yet." Bette reminded, feigning hurt.
"I know." Tina conceded. "Sorry."
"You know how you can make it up to me?"
Tina tilted her head to the side. "Dare I ask?"
Bette revealed the bottle of wine and the appropriate glasses she held in her hands. "Drink this with me."
Tina smiled. "You never fail to surprise me."
"Could say the same of you," Bette returned.
Then back to the awkwardness.
They didn't need to lie to themselves, they knew a lot had happened during their time apart, not to mention the catalyst for their separation still remained unresolved between them. Their past - their history, the feelings that remained - kept them from walking away, but the words that needed to be said were likely to cause the other to leave.
They knew this. And it was this knowledge that created the lull in conversation.
"Well. This is awkward," Tina noted.
"We could drink," Bette suggested.
"Let's," Tina agreed, urging Bette to open the bottle.
Except it occurred to Bette that as a consequence to getting an unopened bottle of wine, the bottle would be unopened. And here she was without a corkscrew just lying around. Bette paused. "Oh."
Tina looked at Bette, then at the unopened bottle, and smiled. She pulled out a pocketknife, and handed it to Bette. "Pays to come prepared."
Bette smiled. "You're my hero."
Tina smiled at the dry delivery, and grinned back. "What would you do without me."
Bette glanced at her, then turned back to the task at hand.
Strike two, TK, Tina chided herself mentally. When she'd made the decision to talk to Bette tonight she'd also made the decision that she would not bring to the fore all the issues, the problems that had led to their separation.
They would be two people who used to share their lives together, but had since ended that part of their lives.
They were different people, and Tina had to respect that.
It was funny, just being around Bette again made Tina feel like weight was lifted off her shoulders, like her life - its responsibilities, the things that needed to be thought about, the things that needed to be done - did not exist. Being around Bette made her remember what it meant to just remain in the safe cocoon of being in Bette's world, the world they'd once shared, where nothing meant more than just being with each other.
Then a stray thought would come out of nowhere and remind her that those responsibilities not only existed, but her world no longer involved Bette.
It had taken her some time, but the decision to leave not only allowed her to gain perspective on what had happened to them, but also gave her the permission to forgive Bette. The betrayal, the implications of it: they no longer mattered. Not anymore. Bette was Bette, and she was more than just the woman who had broken the trust that existed between them, she was the woman who had given Tina the world. Gave her more than she could ever ask for, and no one would ever compare.
In eight years her feelings for this woman never changed.
Bette turned to her, and caught Tina staring. "What?"
"This never figured in all the ways I imagined seeing you again," Tina admitted.
Bette smiled. "I always thought we'd see each other in some romantic city like Paris or Venice."
"Same here." Tina smiled back. "Some elaborate landmark, like the Eiffel Tower, or, if we're going to be all-American about it, the Empire State Building."
"I take it I'm not allowed to ask where you've been?"
"That'll ruin everything."
Bette shook her head. "You know so much about me. I need to know something - anything - about you. I promise not to ask about it, to press further, to ask for explanations."
Tina looked up at her. "I have a daughter."
Promises should not be made when you are not sure of what is in store. Bette stared at her, frozen, wanting to ask more, but Tina's expression telling her that, yes, she was holding Bette to that promise.
Bette cleared her throat. "How nice for you."
"She doesn't figure in this, Bette."
This. Whatever the hell 'this' is. Bette never truly allowed herself to imagine a time that she would be with Tina again, but if she were to be honest, this current situation, with its hands-off approach, would not have figured in them. She would never have allowed herself to be with Tina and have so much distance between them, figuratively.
Tina had a daughter. Bette's thoughts raced with endless questions, but she made a promise. And to break that, she knew, would negate this whole night, she would forfeit this moment with Tina.
"I know."
Tina watched her, the resignation in Bette's tone and expression, as the art enthusiast gathered her composure. She knew Bette well enough to recognize the following subtleties, of Bette compartmentalizing her thoughts and feelings, locking them away, to be accessed at a later date, or probably never at all.
She watched Bette finish the act of opening the wine bottle, effectively moving on from Tina's revelation.
Bette handed her back the Swiss Army knife, and paused. "Should I be worried you carry one of those around?"
"Don't think about it," Tina told her.
"That's probably the first time I've seen a knife that comes with a corkscrew," Bette noted.
"How long have Alice and Dana been seeing each other?" Tina asked, deviating from the topic.
"Seven, eight years," Bette paused, then glanced at her. "You really haven't kept in touch with anyone?"
