"Are you sure you're okay?" Alice murmured fretfully.

Helena smiled at her. "I'm fine, Alice. Wilson and Jun Ying should spend time with their…other mother. I don't want to deprive them of that."

"Still…" Alice said. She furrowed her brow. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Helena never seemed 'okay' when Wilson and Jun Ying were with Winnie. She was more anxious and agitated, like she was always waiting for bad news. It was a little unnerving considering how calm and unflappable Helena usually was. Alice always worried about her when the children were away. Alice knew the custody proceedings took a lot of out Helena, but the British woman kept that mostly to herself, and that upset Alice a little. It was the last piece of herself that Helena kept from her, but it was clearly the one that currently affected her the most.

"I'm fine," Helena murmured.

Alice sighed, accepting it. This wasn't the time for a serious discussion anyway. Alice dragged Helena out for a shopping excursion at the Beverly Centre to take her mind off more serious matters. "Oh shit," Alice said excitedly, spotting a photo booth.

"What?" Helena asked.

"Pictures!" Alice said cheerfully, dragging Helena to the photo booth.

Helena complied easily, and followed Alice into the booth and watched as Alice inserted two dollars into the bill acceptor.

"Okay, we'll take one normal one first, and then we'll do the rest goofy, okay?"

"All right," Helena agreed, grinning.

"Okay, smile," Alice said. She put her arm around Helena's shoulder and grinned.

There was a bright flash, and Alice and Helena were left blinking.

"Dear God, that was bright," Helena remarked, rubbing at her eyes. "Why are you trying to blind me?" Helena teased, gently poking Alice in the ribs with her elbow. "I'm only twenty-nine."

Alice laughed and put both arms around Helena in pure delight and affection. She pressed her face against Helena's chest. "I've finally gotten you to accept the fact you're a young'un," she crooned. "Does that mean you're going to lighten up a little now?"

Helena turned her head to her and grinned. She was about to respond when the camera flashed.

"I did not realize I needed to lighten up."

Alice smiled and pulled away and placed bunny ears over Helena's head as she waited for the next flash. "I don't know," Alice said. "Sometimes, I think you forget you're still young and you don't have to be so serious," she remarked. She stuck her tongue out at the camera and the flash went off. "Don't get me wrong though, I think you're a lot of fun to be around." And she really did. Helena was always game to do anything, and Alice adored her for it.

Helena chuckled. "You should tell that to my mother, she thinks I'm not serious enough."

"Yeah, well, your mother's word is shit to me," Alice said, kissing Helena's cheek as the flash went off for the fourth and final time. "Okay, we need to do another so we can each have one."

"I think I'll go blind," Helena remarked.

"Then I'll lead you around," Alice said pleasantly, rifling through her wallet to find some more one-dollar bills.

"But you'll be blind, too," Helena said, reaching into her purse to fetch her wallet. "I have some one-dollar bills," she said. "I'll get this one."

Alice rifled through her wallet a little longer but could not any more one-dollar bills and agreed to let Helena pay. "Well, if I lead you, it'll be a case of the--"

"Blind leading the blind," Helena said dryly. "I knew you were going to say it."

Alice playfully pointed her finger in Helena's face. "Curse you for taking that away from me! How often do you get to use that one in context! Damn! A pox on you, Peabody! You really are the Scourge of the Universe," she teased in dramatic tones.

Helena chuckled as she inserted the bills into the bill acceptor. She put her arm around Alice. "Should we do what we did last time? A normal one, and the rest playful?"

Alice nodded. "Yeah, perfect," she said.

They readied themselves for the flash and when it came, they looked at each other, pleased.

"Okay, the next one will be normal," Alice said.

"What do you mean, the next one will be normal?" Helena asked. "I thought the first one was always normal."

"We didn't agree to that this time! I stuck my tongue out and crossed my eyes."

"Well, I smiled like I was in a fucking toothpaste advertisement!" Helena said.

The two women faced each other, scowling a little.

The flash went off again and Helena and Alice looked at the camera in confusion.

"Oh shit," Alice groaned, covering her face and laughing. She shook her head

Helena laughed, clutching her stomach. "Oh, shit," she echoed.

They gasped with laughter, holding onto each other for support. The flash went off once again, and they looked at the camera, once again in confusion and laughed even harder.

"Okay, okay," Alice gasped. "This is the last one, we'll both smile!"

"Smile normal, or smile--"

"Smile normal!" Alice exclaimed. "I looked like an idiot in the first one because we got our signals crossed."

"Well, I look like an idiot, too!" Helena thought, thinking back to her pose which was that of someone who was trying too hard to smile.

"At least you aren't cross-eyed," Alice shot back. "Now smile!"

Helena and Alice each wrapped an arm around the other and then smiled into the camera.

With the final picture taken, Helena and Alice emerged from the photo booth, giggling and shoving each other playfully and waited for the pictures to develop. When the pictures dropped down, Alice took each photo strip carefully and passed one to Helena. The two women immediately broke into laughter.

"You look adorable," Helena commented, gazing adoringly at the picture of Alice where she was sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes because they'd gotten their signals confused. "May I have this one?" she asked.

Alice laughed. "Yeah, but never show anyone, because I look like a dork."

"You're adorable," Helena insisted.

Alice lightly slapped Helena's stomach with the back of her hand. "Stop teasing me! Just because you're amazingly photogenic doesn't mean everyone else is!"

"Am I?" Helena drawled, with a soft smile.

Alice poked at Helena's shoulder. "You do have eyes right?"

"Well, they worked correctly until you coerced me into that photo booth of glaucoma."

Alice stared at her for a moment and then giggled. "Oh God," she said, shaking her head. "Photo booth of glaucoma," Alice repeated. "Where do you come up with this stuff? Here, let's switch real quick," Alice said, passing the photos she held to Helena.

Helena switched with her and scanned the set, smiling softly.

Alice giggled. "We are such Beaches wannabes," she said.

Helena looked at her blankly. "Pardon me?"

Alice looked at her, horrified. "Oh my God, please tell me you know what Beaches is."

"Beaches are," Helena said, correcting what she thought was incorrect grammar purely out of maternal habit.

Alice shook her head. "No, not the plural form of 'beach,' Helena," Alice said patiently. "Geez. Beaches, the movie with Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey!"

"Ohh," Helena said, suddenly comprehending. "I don't believe I've seen that film."

Alice stared at her. "How could you not? It's the ultimate best friend, chick flick!"

Helena shrugged. "I've never had a best friend."

"Well, you do now," Alice said, grinning at her friend. She put her arm around Helena's waist. "We're so stopping by the video store and getting the DVD," she said. "It can be a chick flick night. We'll get the classics. Beaches, Steel Magnolias, Terms of Endearment and Fried Green Tomatoes. It will be fucking awesome," Alice declared.

"I haven't seen any of those films," Helena said mildly.

Alice shook her head, horrified. "You've been so deprived," she said with mock sadness. "That will all change now," she grinned. "But first, we'll finish up here," she said, taking Helena by the arm and leading her around to the next store.

Helena let herself be swept away by Alice's excitement, and realized she was just as excited. She'd been so depressed without the children. Every time they went with Winnie, she wondered if Winnie was taking care of them, or if she was just ignoring them. Winnie did an admirable job of pretending to be the doting mother who refused to be kept away from her children, but when she actually had the children, she ignored them. Each time they went to stay with Winnie, she wondered if the children were being taken care of properly. She wondered if they would come back hating her a little because she knew Winnie could never resist the urge to bad-mouth her. Every time they went away, Helena felt a deep, black depression until it was time to take them back, but Alice…Alice always tried to make it better, and most of the time, it worked.

Helena smiled at Alice. She adored this woman, she really did.

-----

"Will you hold still?" Alice demanded, holding onto Helena's wriggling foot.

"You're tickling me!" Helena laughed, squirming.

"I'm giving you a pedicure! How do you hold still when you go to your fancy pedicure places, huh?" Alice demanded.

"They're professionals!"

"You overpay! I can do just a good a job if you would stop moving around!"

"You're tickling me!"

"Stop moving around!" Alice exclaimed, trying to apply nail polish to Helena's middle toe, but instead getting it on the skin. "Look at what you made me do!"

Helena looked at her foot and gasped dramatically. "You've ruined my foot!" she exclaimed.

Alice laughed. "I did not ruin your foot! I just…got a little nail polish on it, and I wouldn't have if you would have stopped wiggling around!"

"You tickled me!" Helena laughed as she reached for the nail polish remover on the coffee table.

"I'll do it!" Alice said, reaching for it as well.

The motion caused Alice to push Helena off the couch. Helena hit the floor and her head hit the coffee table with a resounding thud.

"Oh my GOD!" Alice shrieked, quickly dropping to the ground. She slammed the bottle of nail polish on the coffee table and immediately placed her hands on Helena's arms. The dark-haired woman was rubbing her head. "Let me see," Alice said urgently, trying to push Helena's hands away so she could inspect the injured area herself. "Let me see. Oh my GOD! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Alice said. "Are you okay?" shed asked. She held Helena's head in her hands and frantically looked around for signs of damage. "Oh my God."

Helena laughed, and pushed Alice away. "I'm fine, Alice," she said.

"Oh my God," Alice repeated.

"I'm fine," Helena said. "Wilson once hit me in the head with one of my paperweights, and you've seen my paperweights. They're fucking huge ! It's quite all right."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alice asked, her voice hushed. She touched Helena's head. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she said quietly, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears at the thought of hurting her friend, however unintentionally.

"I know," Helena said, holding onto Alice's hand. "I'm fine."

Alice held up one finger. "Follow my finger with your eyes!" she said.

Helena laughed. "Alice, really. I have children, I know when an injury is serious."

"Do it!" Alice said.

Helena rolled her eyes, but dutifully complied as Alice moved her index finger very slowly in a straight horizontal line. The blonde peered into Helena's eyes as they followed in the finger's direction. Once that was done, Alice nodded, satisfied.

"There," Helena said, "are you satisfied now that you know I don't have brain damage?"

Alice smiled at her, and gently stroked Helena's cheek. "Hey, you can't pin that one on me, that was there before we met. I was just checking for a concussion."

Helena chuckled. "Always so clever, darling."

Alice smiled, with mock smugness. "I am, aren't I?" she said, grinning. Her smile began to fade. She touched Helena's head. "You're really okay?"

"You could never hurt me, Alice," Helena said softly.

"I wouldn't," Alice swore sincerely. "I would never hurt you on purpose, Helena."

"I know," Helena said. "Now shall we watch those movies you raved about the entire time we came back here?"

"Wait," Alice said, standing up to run to her freezer. "I have to get the ice cream." Alice ran back into the room carrying a tub of Ben and Jerry's and two spoons and plopped down on her couch next to Helena. She grabbed her remote control. "Are you ready for the best best-friend movie ever?" Alice asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Yes," Helena drawled. "Can't you see? I'm breathless with anticipation."

Alice waved a spoon at Helena. "You're sarcastic. Your blood sugar must be low. Have some Chunky Monkey," she said, passing Helena the ice cream as she started to turn out the light.

"Brass monkey, that funky monkey, brass monkey, junkie, that funky monkey" Helena sang absently, under her breath.

Alice turned the light back on. "Are you sure I didn't hurt you?" she asked, laughing a little. She could not believe Helena sang a few bars of a Beastie Boys song.

"What? I like that song," Helena said. She couldn't help it. Every time she heard 'Chunky Monkey' she felt like singing 'Brass Monkey,' she was fairly sure she couldn't be the only one.

Alice laughed. "You rock, Helena," she said warmly. She turned the light out again. "Now sit back and revel in the wonder that is Beaches."

-----

Mathematically, their group is bigger than ever. Years ago, their group only consisted of the five of them-- Bette, Tina, Alice, Dana and Shane, a core group of friends. Of course, over the years, new people have come and gone, mostly women Alice dated because neither Shane nor Dana dated until relatively recently. Now, they had three new additions, Jenny, Carmen and Lara, but somehow Alice had become lost in the mix and something did feel missing.

Like, now.

Bette, Tina, Shane, Carmen, Jenny, Dana and Lara were huddled around a table at Milk that was a little too small for a group as large as theirs, watching a fierce verbal argument between two very drunk women who could have been Barbie dolls or Sephora saleswomen. One woman was the more classic Barbie Doll whereas the other woman was more of a Malibu Stacy look-alike. If Alice had been there, she certainly would have made some smart-assed remark, but there was merely silence because of her absence. They merely watched with sardonic, knowing smiles. The Barbie Girls have fought this way every weekend for the past six weeks, and it was becoming a well-loved, much-watched routine. But no one said anything about it, as if waiting for Alice to pop up out of nowhere and drawl out some clever remark.

Dana pulled out her camera phone after Malibu Stacy threw her Blue Hawaiian drink on Classic Barbie to snap a picture. "Alice will totally die when she sees this," Dana said with a laugh.

"Call her up and ask her to come out and meet up with us," Carmen suggested. "It's been so long since I've seen her," she said. She genuinely liked the blonde, but Carmen didn't think they had a relationship where she could just call up the blonde and ask her to hang out individually. Carmen knew she was still mostly considered Shane's girlfriend, which was quite a feat that incurred both admiration and wrath from other West Hollywood lesbians, but ultimately, Carmen knew she was just the girlfriend. It would be weird to just call Alice up and ask to hang out.

Dana shrugged. "I think she had other plans," she said, not wanting to tell the others that Alice didn't want to hang out with her quite yet. She was sure they secretly blamed her for driving Alice away, even if no one was saying it out loud. She blamed herself, too.

"Yeah," Lara agreed, exchanging a look with Dana. She knew Alice asked Dana to keep their contact limited to the phone, and that Dana didn't want to broadcast that fact. "She probably had other plans," Lara said, smiling at Dana.

Dana smiled back. "Yeah."

"That Caroline girl seemed nice," Lara said. "So maybe Alice is with her."

"Yeah," Dana said, inwardly cringing, just a little.

"What Caroline girl?" Bette asked.

Dana turned to her. "Lara and I were having dinner last week and we ran into Alice. She was on a date with this girl, Caroline. She seemed nice."

"Alice was on a date?" Tina asked, with a smile. "She really seemed nice?" she questioned, knowing Alice had a habit of dating people who weren't very nice to her.

"She's a doctor," Dana said grumpily. "I talked to Al a couple days ago. Caroline's a pediatric surgeon. She dresses up like a clown every month and goes to the children's cancer ward," Dana said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, she sounds a little too perfect if you ask me. I think Alice should be careful."

"She seemed really nice, Dana," Lara protested. "And Alice seemed to like her. Alice is smart and she's a big girl. I'm sure she'll take care of herself."

"Alice has a habit of dating people who are sweet to her and then turn on her," Dana huffed, wincing when she belatedly realized the same could be said of her. She sighed. "Caroline seems nice, but I don't know enough to say if she'll be good to Al," Dana said.

"We'll have to meet her," Tina said. "I haven't talked to Al in a while. I'm going to have to give her a call. Maybe we should have Caroline over at the house," Tina suggested, glancing at Bette. "What do you think?" she asked.

Bette shrugged. "Maybe it's not that serious. We can't invite every person Alice dates, or else we'd throw a party every weekend. She doesn't have the best track record with her attention span when it comes to dating, you know."

Tina frowned at her. "So what?" she demanded. "We can't take an interest in who Al's dating? We should just have them over anyway. It would be really good to see Al We haven't seen her in a while and this is the first I've heard about her dating anyone."

"Well, she was dating that Jack guy," Jenny offered. "I had drinks with them. He was nice. But I think that was, like, a month ago," Jenny said, trying to remember exactly when that had been.

"See?" Bette said. "It's probably not even serious. It's not worth having everyone over at the house." Bette glanced around. "No offense, guys, it's just with Angelica…"

"Hey, we get it," Shane said, putting up a hand, indicating no further explanation would be necessary. She glanced at Jenny. "We should do it at our place."

Jenny grinned happily. "That would be great."

"I'll call Al later," Shane said. It had been a while since she talked to the blonde as well. But she wasn't exactly the kind of person who spent hours chatting on the phone either. Except with Carmen. Shane smiled affectionately at Carmen and put her arm around the DJ. "I'll let you guys all know later," Shane said.

"I still don't think it's very serious," Bette commented. "We shouldn't make too big of a deal. It'll only embarrass her when it doesn't work out."

Tina sighed with exasperation. "Bette! Can't you try to be a little more supportive? Maybe it'll work out with this woman. And even if it doesn't, why can't we make an effort?"

Bette shrugged. "What's the likelihood it's going to work out?" she asked. "She hasn't had a relationship that's lasted more than a few months." Bette winced. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Dana," she said apologetically, realizing her faux pas a moment too late.
Tina shook her head disapprovingly. "Bette."

Bette grabbed Tina's hand and kissed it. She smiled charmingly. "Look, all I'm saying is that Alice's relationships have a tendency not to work out. The best one she had was with our Dana. And you know people just won't compare to her," Bette said, grinning at the tennis player and trying to cover her earlier mistake. "So maybe it's better that we just wait until she comes and tells us about the newest love of her life. So we don't, you know, force anything. And how do you think she'll feel if we made some big deal about some person she's dating and it doesn't work out? We're all couples here, after all." Bette winced when she saw Jenny. "Uh…"

Jenny waved her hand dismissively and took a drink.

"I mean, if she really found someone, we would have heard about it, right?" Bette finally asked as she smiled at Dana. "Like Dana and Lara."

Tina shook her head with a mixture of affection, anger and exasperation. She was a little angry with Bette for being insensitive, but Tina knew Bette was only trying her best. And she had to admit, it was a little endearing the way Bette always seemed to get her foot in her mouth because she couldn't manage to think everything through before she spoke and then managed to lodge it in even deeper when she tried to talk her way out of it. It used to drive her crazy, but she realized it was something about Bette that would never change, and she would just have to accept it if she planned to stay with Bette. Bette was impetuous--she didn't really think things through before she said them or did them, and Tina more or less was beginning to just accept that, even if she wasn't very happy with it. And Bette wasn't even inclined to want to change anyway. Tina thought it was futile getting angry over something that would never change. "Still, we should hang out," Tina said quietly. "It's been so long since any of us has seen her."
"Although it has made it easier," Bette said.

Tina looked at her quizzically. "Made what easier?"

"Taking sides, you know…." Bette shrugged. She looked apologetically at Lara and Dana. Fuck, she was such an asshole. She just kept shoving her foot in deeper into her mouth, and she didn't really mean to do it. She missed Alice just as much as the rest of them, and she hoped Alice would find the right person, she really did. But she just didn't have a lot of faith in her friend's romantic choices, and Bette wasn't someone who wanted to waste time getting to know someone who wasn't going to be there in the next week, or next month. She just didn't think it was worth it, and Alice never seemed to care that Bette wasn't particularly interested in who she dated, so why should Bette care? She didn't think that was unreasonable. And yes, it had been a while since she'd seen Alice, but Bette called Alice a couple times in the week after Dana and Alice broke up, and Alice had been belligerent and despondent and just completely unresponsive, so Bette thought she would just let Alice come to her. But the blonde didn't. And secretly, Bette was a little grateful for that. It made it that much easier because it meant she wouldn't have to take sides, and it was just easier to deal with the half of the couple who wasn't completely miserable.

Tina shook her head, but chose not to respond to Bette's comment. She sort of understood what Bette was trying to say, and was glad that Bette was choosing to trail off into silence rather than stick her foot in her mouth again. Dana and Lara were looking increasingly uncomfortable, and the once light-hearted atmosphere at the table was growing heavy at the mention of Alice's very obvious absence from their lives and her possible romantic woes. "I know what you mean," Tina said, her tone a little surly. She shook her head. She wondered what Alice was up to.

----

"Did you like it?" Alice asked, as she absently ran her fingers through Helena's hair with one hand and channel surfed with the remote control with the other.

The British woman was lying on her side, her head in Alice's lap. She looked away from the television to turn her head and smile at Alice. "Why does Mary Louise Parker die in all her movies? It's a rather odd, don't you think? She's so beautiful. It makes me a little sad."

"So it wouldn't have been sad if Ruth had been played by someone less hot than Mary Louise Parker?" Alice teased.

Helena chuckled. "Yes, Alice," she said dryly. "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Alice laughed and then paused. "You know, I don't know why she's always dying in her movies." Now that Helena mentioned it, it was a little odd. "Did you like them?" Alice asked, peering down into Helena's eyes, like an eager puppy desperately searching for affection. "Did you like them, or did we waste about eight hours for nothing?"

"I liked them," Helena murmured. "Even if some poor woman died in every film you so urgently wanted me to watch."

Alice chuckled. "That's just the way '80s chick flicks are, some woman always ends up dying, usually of some disease that allows them to keep their hair."

"Ah," Helena said, nodding wisely.

"You tired?" Alice asked softly, looking down into Helena's face and curling a lock of the British woman's hair around her index finger.

Helena shook her head slightly.

Alice glanced out the window and saw the sun would come up soon. "Then do you want to go watch the sun come out and get some breakfast?"

"Yes," Helena said softly.

"Okay, let's go," Alice said.

Helena sat up, and then stood, and stretched her limbs. "We should get changed," Helena said, heading for Alice's bedroom where her clothes were lying on Alice's bed. For the purpose of comfort of Chick Flick Night, Helena had changed into an overgrown t-shirt Alice stole from an ex-boyfriend and a pair of dark blue shorts.

"Yeah," Alice said, following behind Helena, her eyes grazing down Helena's bare legs. She mentally slapped herself for it. 'That's your best friend, you pervert,' she thought, scowling. She knew Helena was hot, of course, but she didn't think she should be ogling her best friend either. Ogling led to…well, other things, and other things led to…well, just look at how the ogling with Dana turned out. Not well. 'No ogling,' Alice told herself firmly. Definitely no ogling.

They changed and then started to leave Alice's bedroom when Alice stopped, pulling gently on Helena's arm. "Wait. Helena? It's going to be kind of cold and you didn't bring a jacket," Alice said. It was early November and not particularly cold, but they'd decided on going by Santa Monica Pier and Alice thought Helena could be chilly. "Hold on, let me get something for you," Alice said, walking to her closet and rummaging for something that would match with Helena's outfit. Finally, she shrugged and settled on a black leather jacket she rarely wore because black leather jackets weren't really her thing, despite the fact all the fashion magazines seemed to think it should be a staple in a woman's wardrobe. "Here," she said, passing it to Helena.

Helena took it and put it on. "I love leather," she commented.
Alice grinned wickedly. "I'm glad."

They drove to Santa Monica in Helena's convertible and watched the sunrise together, with the top of Helena's convertbile down, reclined in their respective seats.

"It's been a long time since I've done this," Alice said quietly. "Hey, wave at the sun, Helena."

"Oh?" Helena questioned, though she hoped Alice wouldn't tell her blonde used to bring Dana to this very spot. She dutifully complied and waved at the sun. "Hello, Mr. Sun," she called, flashing back to the month several years ago when Wilson and Jun Ying begged her to read Good night, Moon to them every night.

Alice chucked softly. "Hello, Mr. Sun," she echoed, waving at rising sun. She turned to respond to Helena's question. "Yeah, I haven't done this since, like, college, really." Alice said.

"Oh," Helena said, relieved to know this was not a Dana-place.

"I wonder why," Alice mused. "I used to do that all the time." Alice grinned. "Then again, I was usually still up from the night before when the sun rose, so why wouldn't I see the sunrise?"

Helena laughed. "Yes," she murmured. "Why wouldn't you?"

"Did you ever do that in college?" Alice asked.

"No," Helena said softly. "Winnie liked going to bed early, and I liked doing what Winnie liked."

"Seriously, Helena. Don't ever leave me alone with her, because I will hit her."

Helena chuckled. "She can hold her own," she said. "She actually packs quite the punch."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "You better not know from experience, or I'm really going to hit her."

Helena laughed. "No, Winnie had many faults, but that wasn't one of them."

"Okay," Alice said, softly. She took Helena's hand. "But Helena, you would tell me, wouldn't you? If she had?" she asked quietly.

Helena looked at her. "Yes," she murmured. "I would."

Alice nodded, accepting this. She didn't like Winnie any better though, and she still thought that if she were ever alone with Winnie, it would be very difficult to resist the temptation to punch her in the face, just once. "Where do you want to go for breakfast? Anything in your mind?"

Helena shook her head. "No, you choose," she said. She trusted Alice's tastes and she loved all the new places Alice was introducing her to.

"Fred 62?" Alice asked. "Have you been there?"

"No."

"It's a diner. I think you'll like it. Or at least find it quaint," Alice said with a laugh. "Do you want me to drive, since I know where it is?"

"All right," Helena agreed, grinning.

The two women tried to maneuver their way into each other's seats, and began laughing.

"It would have been so much simpler if we'd just gotten out of the car," Alice said.

"Yes," Helena agreed.

Finally, the two women wriggled their way past each other. Alice settled into the driver's seat. "Your legs are long," she noted.

"I am taller," Helena said.

Alice narrowed her eyes playfully. "Only by two inches!"

Helena chuckled. "The way you're only fifteen months older?" she shot back.

"Whatever," Alice grumbled, though she smiled good-naturedly as she started Helena's car.

Once they were ensconced in a booth at Fred 62, waiting for their orders and sipping on mimosas, Alice decided it was time to broach a particular subject. "Helena?"

"Yes?"

"You should really call Amy. She's into you. And she's hot."

"Hmm," Helena said noncommittally.

"She's really hot," Alice said again. "And she's smart."

Alice thought Amy would be perfect for Helena. Alice set Helena up with Amy the previous weekend when they'd gone to the hot springs. It had originally been intended only for Alice and her date, Michael, but he mentioned one of his close childhood friends, Amy, was beginning to move into the dating scene after being dumped a year ago, and Alice thought it was the perfect opportunity to set Helena up, especially after hearing more about Amy and seeing a picture. Then Alice had the chance to actually meet Amy when she and Michael met for lunch, and she thought Amy might actually almost deserve Helena, which is why she immediately set them up.
After all, Amy was attractive--very much the blonde, brown-eyed type Helena seemed to like so much, independently wealthy, so Helena would not have to worry about being taken advantage of for her money, and Amy was an attorney for Public Counsel, the largest pro bono law office in Southern California. Alice thought that surely with Amy's commitment to social justice, which matched Helena's, the two women would have a lot to talk about. And they had, in fact, hit it off. And granted, Amy and Helena spent the entire weekend at the hot springs talking about the work they did, but they each enjoyed their work immensely, and their jobs complemented each others'. Alice thought she found a perfect match.

At the end of last weekend, Helena told Amy she would call.

Alice knew for a fact Helena never did.

"Amy has my tentative stamp of approval," Alice said.

Helena laughed. "Why only tentative?"

"Because you'd have to actually date her, so I could see how she treats you before she gets my full approval," Alice said. "Why don't you give her a call, Helena? She might be good for you."

Helena looked uneasy. "I don't think that would be such a good idea," she said. She did think Amy was, in fact, genuinely sweet, which was precisely why she didn't want to get involved with the attorney. Helena knew where her heart was, and she did not want to mislead anyone. Amy had recently broken up with her girlfriend, whom she met ten years prior in law school, and Helena knew what it felt like to go into a relationship after a difficult break-up, with high hopes and expectations only to be used and cast aside because the person you were into was in love with someone else and was just using you to pass the time. Helena did not want to do that to anyone, certainly not to Amy after getting to know the other woman a little. No, if she were going to get involved with someone, it would just have to be for fun--nothing serious.

Alice furrowed her brow. "But Helena," she protested. "This is the first woman we've known so far who actually fucking might deserve you. Almost, anyway." Alice paused when she said that. She did feel a little guilty for saying it, since Helena had dated Tina who was still a close friend. But Alice thought Tina and Bette deserved each other. In truth, Alice didn't think Tina deserved Helena--she knew Tina merely used Helena to poke at Bette and just used Helena as a temporary substitute until Tina was ready to forgive Bette. If Bette and Tina were happy, more power to them, and Alice was genuinely thrilled they were able to work things out, even if Alice did think they rushed into it a little too soon. Alice knew Tina was going to eventually forgive Bette all along, and she thought it was incredibly shitty of Tina for using Helena. Of course, when Tina was actually doing it, Alice didn't care as much as she did now, but that was only because she didn't know Helena as well back then, and Alice thought that was just more proof of Tina's shabby treatment of Helena. How the hell do you not know someone who is dating one of your best friends, at least a little? It boggled her mind.

Helena smiled at her friend, and stole a forkful of Alice's frittata. "Please drop this," she murmured quietly. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," Alice protested, wondering if Tina had hurt Helena more deeply than she thought. It would make sense. Tina was Helena's first major relationship post-Winnie, and it had ended badly. Maybe Tina had hurt Helena more deeply than Alice previously thought. "Amy is super nice! She would treat you right." Alice paused. "And if she doesn't, I'll put a hit out on her," she offered. "I'm not saying you have to fucking marry her, Helena. But give her a chance. You need to start dating again. Why won't you just give it a try?"

Helena shrugged. "I don't know," she said quietly. She did know, of course, but she couldn't tell it to Alice yet. And she thought it was far too coy to tell Alice 'I don't want to give it a try with Amy because I'm actually interested in someone else who doesn't see me that way,' hoping Alice would ask who it was--because Alice would, and hope something would develop that way. It was too coy, and it wasn't her style. When the time came, she would go to Alice and she would tell her straight-forwardly that she was falling in love with her. But that was when the time came. For now, she would try to divert Alice attention from attempting to set her up.

"Helena," Alice said quietly. "You should really try to move on. Will you give Amy a call, please? For me? Maybe we can all go out again, you, me, Amy and Mike. You liked Mike, right? And you had fun? So will you? Please? Call Amy for me?"

It was tempting to say 'yes,' because she would do almost anything for Alice. But Helena would not hurt another person, not like that. She refused to mislead Amy. "No," Helena said quietly. "I'm not interested in her that way," Helena said honestly. "She would only be hurt in the end, and I don't want to do that. But I promise you, I'll date someone soon." Helena wouldn't mind, really, finding someone temporarily. "And I liked Michael very much," Helena said. She could get over her initial jealousy to genuinely like the man. He'd made homemade sweets for her children and he was good to Alice, and those were two things that would forever put him in the plus column in her mental ledger.

"Okay," Alice said softly. "But I still get to approve of her."

Helena chuckled. "Yes."

Alice took another forkful of Helena's omelet. "I think I like yours better," Alice commented.

Helena grinned. "That's very good," she said, grabbing Alice's plate and switching it with hers. "Because I like yours better."

Alice grinned at her. "You're too good to me," she said softly, touching Helena's hand.

Helena squeezed Alice's hand. "I'm not, really," she said, feeling that she was telling the truth. She smiled at Alice. "How are things with Michael?" she asked.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I've lost interest already, but we could go on dating if you develop an interest in Amy," Alice wheedled. "So it won't make things awkward."

"There's no need for that," Helena said with an easy smile, a little relieved to know that Alice hadn't fallen in love with him. She wasn't used to waiting--it went against every instinct, and she was relieved to know she still had a chance, that Alice hadn't fallen in love with someone else yet. Of course, that meant that Alice was most likely still in love with Dana. But Helena had been dealing with that for months. It was nothing new, and that much, she could deal with.

Next--->