Thank you for the review and comments Beatrice. I appreciate it. :)

Chapter 37

Betty opened the door of her house and went inside. She looked to see if anyone was around. She didn't see anyone and figured they were all in their bedrooms. Betty was relieved. She didn't really want to see anyone right now. She needed to be alone . She needed to think about Henry and his proposal. She had to figure out what to do about that. And Gio had told her that he loved her. That had come out of left field. Betty touched her lips remembering their kiss. That kiss was very powerful and very…. There were a lot of adjectives that Betty could use to describe that kiss, and she needed to think about it. What did that kiss mean for her and Gio? Betty knew now that he loved her, something she wasn't aware of before, but what did that mean for them, for their friendship? Betty knew that she really needed to think about things. As she made her way towards the stairs she saw Hilda come into the living room.

"Hey Betty you're home. You were out for a while." Hilda stated looking at her sister curiously.

Betty nodded silenty, the events of the night spinning through her mind.

Hilda noticed the solemn look on her sister's face. She wondered if something was wrong with her. "Betty is everything okay?" She asked concerned. Betty thought about lying and saying yes so that she could go up to her room and think by herself. But she realized that Hilda was a very good listener and that maybe she could give her some solid advice about what to about the situation with Henry and Gio. Betty turned to face Hilda a weary look on her face. "Not exactly Hilda… I need to talk to you."

Hilda nodded. "Come over and sit on the couch with me and tell me what is wrong Betty." Betty followed her sister to the couch and put her sandwich on the table. "Where do I begin? A lot happened tonight Hilda with Henry and then Gio."

"What happened with Henry and Gio?" Hilda questioned.

"Well Henry asked me to marry him." Betty informed her.

Hilda eyes widened. "What?! Betty really… wow! What did you say to him?"

"I told him that I needed to think about it. That I needed time to think things through before I could give him a clear answer."

"That was a wise choice, Betty."

"Yeah, and he understands that I need time to think things through. And I do… Marrying Henry would be such a big decision, I need time to process things and figure out if I want to marry him or not."

Hilda nodded. "It is definitely something that you need to think about. I mean Henry wants to move back to Tuscon after his child is born, and well of course you would be living with him and the baby, and that's a big thing, plus your family is here, as well as Mode. You definitely need to think about things Betty before you make your decision."

"I know." Betty paused before she told Hilda about what else had happened that night. "Hilda there is something else I need to talk to you about. It's about Gio… Gio told me that he was in love with me tonight. And we kissed."

Hilda became quiet. For a few moments she didn't say anything. Betty was wondering why her sister was so quiet. She was expecting her to be surprised like she was about Henry's proposal.

"Hilda… Gio told me that he loved me, what do you think about that?"

Hilda gave Betty a knowing look. "It took him long enough." She stated.

Now it was Betty's turn to be surprised. "What? What do you mean it took him long enough?"

Hilda sighed and put her hand on Betty's shoulder. "Oh, Betty…I'm not surprised about Gio loving you. I mean I had suspected he had feelings for you for months. I wasn't so sure about it being as deep as love, but I can't really say it surprises me"

Betty was surprised. "You knew he had feelings for me and you didn't tell me?" She questioned.

Hilda shook her head. "At first I wasn't so sure… but that night that we were out dancing with you and Henry, I saw the way that he was looking at you. I thought that maybe he had feelings for you. And then when he took me home, I called him out on it. He kind of denied it, but I didn't really believe him. It's why I never went out with him again."

Betty was surprised by what her sister had told her.

Hilda continued talking. "I didn't want to say anything to you about it, because you were with Henry. You guys only had a certain amount of time left together, and I thought that you should spend it focusing on him and not really worrying about Gio's feelings for you. I didn't tell you about Gio because I didn't want to complicate even more your already complicated love life. I thought it was the right thing to do."

Betty nodded taking in what her sister had said. "I understand Hilda. With everything that has been going on with Henry, Charlie and the baby, I can understand why you didn't want to tell me about Gio's feelings for me."

"And how do you feel now that you do know the truth about his feelings?"

"I'm not really sure."

Hilda nodded and moved a little closer to her sister. "So he told you tonight? Where? When? Before or After Henry proposed? And you guys kissed? You have to tell me about that."

"He told me at his deli, after Henry had proposed to me. After Henry had asked me to marry him, I decided to go out and try to clear my mind. I was out for a while, and then I got a little hungry. I knew Gio's deli was nearby so I went there. It was almost closing time, but Gio still offered to make me a sandwich. While he was making it I decided to ask him about what I should do about Henry…"

"Oh, Betty you told him about that? I can imagine the expression on his face."

Betty threw her hands up. "I didn't know he was in love with me, maybe if I had known, I wouldn't have brought up the subject of Henry's proposal the way I did and I certainly would not have asked him for advice on how to deal with it… But I didn't know and I did. And…"

"And how did he react? What did he say? I need details girl."

Betty looked at Hilda. "He looked kind of sad and then he said he couldn't help me. I had no idea what was wrong with him. But I pushed him, to tell me his thoughts about Henry's proposal. I pushed him to tell me how he felt about it and to give me advice on what I should do."

"And that's when he told you that he loved you?" Hilda asked excitedly.

Betty gave her a smile. "Not exactly. He gave me advice. He told me that if following my dreams meant more to me than marrying Henry at this point in my life than to follow them."

"That sounds like good advice." Hilda commented.

"Yeah I thought so too… But then he told me something else. He told me that if I loved Henry more than anything and wanted to be with Henry more than anything then I should be with Henry. He seemed to be in deep thought after he told me that, and I decided to leave him to his thoughts and then…"

Hilda smiled. "Then he told you that he loved you."

Betty's face grew warm thinking about her and Gio's kiss and his declaration of love. "He told me to wait and so I stopped walking. And then he kissed me. Hilda it was like…" Betty searched for the words to describe her and Gio's kiss. "Powerful, and Passionate, and tender, and long." Betty blushed. "I should have pulled away from him sooner, the kiss shouldn't have gone on as long as it did."

Hilda smiled.

"I mean I was startled that he did it, I even dropped my sandwich. But then we just continued kissing, for a long time. Then I pulled away." Betty looked embarrassed. "I could have pulled away from him sooner…I don't know why I didn't… I should have." She looked at Hilda sheepishly.

"Hmm…" Hilda wondered. "You keep saying 'we' kept kissing for a long time. You didn't just stand there and let him kiss you? You kissed him back?"

Betty thought back to the kiss and remembered grabbing Gio's face. She did eventually pull away from him but she didn't resist him when he was kissing her.

"Yes." She admitted hesitantly.

Hilda eyes widened. "Wow…"

A worried look came across Betty's face. "I don't why I did, Hilda, I don't know… he was so …passionate, maybe I just got caught up in it…I don't know." Betty looked at her helplessly.

"Or ..." A sly look came across Hilda face. "Maybe you liked it and wanted to kiss him back."

"Hilda!" Betty was astonished by her sister's suggestion. "No… I love Henry."

Hilda sighed. "I know you love Henry, Betty. But that doesn't mean that maybe you don't have some sort of feelings for Gio. You said you kissed him back. You returned his kiss, maybe because deep down…"

"We're just friends." Betty interjected quickly.

"Yeah, but he's in love with you Betty. You guys have spent time together. He's attractive and has a lot of good qualities about him. It's possible that you.."

"I'm not in love with him." Betty stated firmly.

"That maybe you like him more than a friend." Hilda continued. "Maybe you like him more than you're willing to admit. Or maybe you are attracted to him and enjoyed that he was kissing you. Geesh Betty, no one said you had to dump Henry and move onto Gio. I'm just saying maybe you do feel something for Gio romantically. You might not be in love with him, but you could feel something for him. Something that explains why you kissed him back, and why he was the first person that you told about your proposal, unless you told someone else?"

Betty shook her head. "No he was the first person I told."

"Okay, it's safe to say that you trust him. And that you care about him. You depend on him sometimes, you told me he used to help you review your writing assignments…"

Betty nodded. "He did help me out with my writing. I used to read some of my assignments to him and he would give me constructive criticism."

"Okay, well maybe since you have gotten to know him and spend some time with him, you have developed feelings for Gio." Hilda suggested. "That would explain why you kissed him back." Hilda laughed. "Or you could have done that because he is a good kisser."

Betty thought about what Hilda had said. She did kiss Gio back. But that didn't mean that she had feelings for him. Or did it? Betty knew that she wasn't in love with Gio, she was in love with Henry. But what if she did have romantic feelings for Gio? Betty didn't know how she was going to deal with things if she did. She definitely needed to examine her feelings about Gio more.

"So… after you guys kissed, he told you that he loved you then. What exactly did he say to you?"

Betty told Hilda all the things that Gio, said about her, and how he professed his love for her. Hilda listened intently smiling at the stuff that Gio had said about Betty.

"Wow, Betty." She commented happily. "It sounds like he really loves you."

Betty nodded. "I believe that he does too."

Hilda smiled at her. "You are so lucky Betty. You have two wonderful guys that are in love with you. I wish that I could find one man that felt that way about me."

"You will eventually find a man that will fall deeply in love with you Hilda. Don't give up hope."

"I won't."

Betty and Hilda talked for a little while longer about Henry and Gio and then they decided to turn in for the night. Before they did Hilda told Betty to really think about what she wanted to do about Henry's proposal as well as really examine her feelings for Gio. Betty promised that she would and went upstairs to get ready for bed.