Bette was sure Helena had no clue about that.

"I hear a lot of things about you Tina, that make me not want to get too deep with you." Bette gave her a slick smile.

"Like what?"

"Like you’ve been seeing Eric and Helena, all while trying to get at me." Tina smiled.

"That’s only partially true. I saw Eric once and Helena twice, but I only want to be with you."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes."

That night, Bette took Tina home with her for a night of unattached sex and Helena left with Dylan, who made it her mission to stop Helena from thinking about Elizabeth Porter. A week later, Bette and Helena’s blow up happened and they never spoke to one another again. A month after that, Dylan was suing Helena for sexual harassment.

"Hey, Shane. Can a bum a cigarrette?" Bette asked. Shane nodded and passed her one, "I’m going outside to smoke." Everybody watched Bette leave The Planet.

She lit her cigarrette and shakily raised it to her lips. She hadn’t smoked since she was twenty-five, but she needed something to put her nerves at ease. Thinking about how her life had unfolded always stressed her out and having Helena right there and not being able to say the things on her mind was driving her insane.

Helena walked outside, eyeing the beauty from behind. Her lean figure would seem formidable to the untrained eye, but Helena knew better. She knew Bette better than she knew herself. Her shoulders, otherwise squared and strong, looked slumped and weak. She watched as the puff of smoke left Bette’s lips and dissappeared, thinning in the night air. She took one more drag before she turned to look at Helena.

Her gaze dismantled Helena. Piece by piece of her became visible to Bette. She was weak to Bette. She was broken. She was needy.

"We need to talk." Helena said, "If there’s anything I’ve learned since I’ve been in LA is that tomorrow is not promised and that love, no matter how romantic or unromantic, doesn’t wait for anyone."

"Love?" Bette said tossing the burning cigarette into the street, "You want to talk about love."

"I think that’s the only reason why I followed you out here in the middle of West Hollywood."

"Because you know everything there is to know about love? The expert on it, are you?" Bette said sarcastically.

"I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear your tone." She stopped to sit against the curb, "Do you love Tina?"

"Yes."

"Are you in love with her?"

"I think you know the answer to that already." Helena looked back at Bette. She needed her to say that she wasn’t in love with Tina, but she wasn’t going to get that, "She’s been the only person to stand by me no matter what."

"But that’s not enough to want a family, is it Bette? It’s not fair to Tina or you or me."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can’t let you make the biggest mistake of your life by having a child with her." Helena stood up and placed herself in front of Bette,"I made the biggest mistake of my life when I let you walk away from me and into her arms."

TBC