Tina subtly placed her hand on the small of Bette’s back and leant in when she was sure that the other two weren’t looking.

"What would you say if I asked you to come home with me tonight?" she whispered.

***********************************************************************************

Bette swallowed hard as she tried to process what Tina had just said without letting her eyes give away what she was thinking. It took all of her efforts to maintain regular breathing as she felt Tina’s hand softly caressing the small of her back. When she was certain that Jodi was suitably distracted by Alice she angled her head slightly so that she could see Tina’s face out of the corner of her eye.

Tina’s eyes met Bette’s, and for the first time that evening, Tina felt her confidence start to slip away. She’d stared into Bette’s eyes a million times before, and could always pride herself on being able to read the hidden meaning behind them. Even in the days when all that the brunette was feeling towards her was anger, Tina could still see the slight glimpse of hope revealed by the love that was hidden deep in her eyes. But now as she stood there, once again trying to establish the meaning behind Bette’s look, she was worried. Her eyes were slightly clouded over, which Tina recognised immediately as lust. A lust that she had waited for so long to envoke again. But masking the lust was an overwhelming amount of fear and sadness, which caused Tina to prepare herself for the worst.

"You know how much I want to…" Bette whispered.

Tina felt her heart start to sink "Why do I sense that there’s a but coming?"

"I need….I need…" Bette struggled to find the words to verbalise how she was feeling.

"Babe, what’s going on in your head? Talk to me" Tina seemed genuinely concerned.

"I can’t seem to focus right now"

"What’s wrong?"

"Your hand…it’s…err…distracting me a little" Bette managed a small smile.

"Sorry" Tina whispered, taking a step backwards and removing her hand.

Bette cleared her throat "Erm, would you guys excuse us for a minute? I need to have a word with Tina"

Alice waved them away, clearly more interested in her own conversation. Jodi on the other hand just glared alternately at the two women.