“No, Baby. I thought so little of myself.”

“What!”

Tina exhaled.

“I had never been loved by anyone the way you loved…the way you love me.”

Tina slowly corrected the tense of that verb.

“When my grandmother died, I didn’t have anyone to grieve with me. No one else cared about my feelings. How I was feeling. What I was going through. When you tried to connect, I didn’t know how to receive it.”

“So, you treated me like they treated you. Does that seem fair? Did I deserve that? What did I do to deser to be treated like that?”

“You loved me too much,” Tina said plainly.

“What!”

“You loved me too much and it brought up all the feelings of never having been loved enough in the past.”

“So, it’s my fault? You left me because I loved you too much. I didn’t know there was a love barometer I should have been keeping track of.”

“Baby…”

“No, Tina. None of this makes sense. You broke us because our love was too real. Where the hell do we go from here?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“Do you even love me?”

“With all of my heart.”

Bette stared at Tina blankly.

“I don’t believe you,” Bette said through clenched teeth.

“It’s the truth!” Tina yelled.

“You don’t treat someone you love so carelessly.”

“You’re right,” Tina sighed.

Bette looked at her and exhaled.

“I can’t keep doing this with you. This limbo we’re in. It’s not working for me. I don’t think we should communicate with each other.”

“What!”

Tears rolled down Tina’s cheeks.

“This is too hard, Tina. We’ll talk when you get back to LA.”

“When I get back home.”

Bette looked at her.

“Where is your home?”

“With you.”

“That’s bullshit.”

Tina looked hurt.

“Don’t get all galled and affronted. You did this.”

“You’re right! I did do this. I screwed up. I was a brat. Like I typically am.”

Bette blinked rapidly.

“I was careless with your heart. I’m done telling you how sorry I am. Now, I’m going to show you. If you want to wait until I get back home, then we will wait. If I have to rent an apartment when I get back, I will rent an apartment. I know I left. I know what I did was hurtful.”