Hellooouuu, sorry I'm taking a long time to publish chapters, I have uni exams :3 hope you enojoy a little, and let me know if you find any grammar mistake please. That would be nice of you.

P.S. I decided to include more of Shane's storyline here, and I'll add more of Alice's in the next chapters too.

Bette's phone started ringing a short time after Dani left.

- Hello? – she picked up.

- Hi, it's me, uhm… Carrie can't make it tonight, I guess I'll just spend the night with Angie if that's ok. –

Bette felt weirdly relieved, like a weight had just been lifted from her stomach.

- Sure, no problem, we'll reschedule. Oh, and… we're going out for drinks after dinner, Shane and Alice and me, but you'll be with Angie, so… -

- Yeah, I'll join some other time. I miss them so much! – Bette could hear her smile through the phone.

- They miss you too, T. Well, bye then, give Angie a kiss for me. –

- I will! Bye. –

After they hang up, the afternoon went on pretty quickly, though she felt a bit lonely. But soon enough, it was time to go out.

Dani tried to pull herself together as much as possible before walking in. The bar was packed, and she didn't really expect it to be. It took a while before she could spot Alice in the crowd, sitting at a table that was being shielded by a pack of girls dancing in the middle of the room. She walked towards the table: next to Alice, Nat was sipping a drink. Dani saw her start laughing and then kissing Alice's cheek.

- Hi! Dani! – Alice had spotted her before she could say anything. She smiled at her and then greeted the others: Shane and Bette were sitting on the other side of the table.

- You came, - Bette said, a little surprised; that was probably because it was a little late.

- Yeah, here I am! – It had taken a while for her to make up her mind about going.

Shane patted the space next to her: - Sit! – She spoke a little drunkenly, which made Dani chuckle as she sat.

- You've been drinking a little, huh? –

Alice laughed: - ooh yeah, busted! We're a tiny bit tipsy… - she showed her how little by placing her thumb and index fingers close together in front of her face.

- Oh, we are, except for Bette cause she's perfect, - added Shane, while lightly punching Bette's shoulder, which made her burst into a small, slightly self-sarcastic laugh.

- Sure I am… -

- Excuse me, no, she's just as bad as us! – Alice sounded as enthusiastic as ever, - we have sooo many storied about her being completely wasted… -

Nat nodded: - yeah, we do… -

- Baby, you have no idea, you didn't even see her years ago, when she was actually bad! –

- Ooooh, so there's better stories? Tell us! – Nat turned to Bette, - Sorry! I wanna know! –

Bette didn't have time to try and stop Alice from talking, as she was already blabbering after zero point one seconds:

- Remember when Tina and her had their first house with a pool, - she was talking to Shane, - and she was so drunk she threw up in there while we were all bathing and everyone started swimming away real fast… -

- Actually, that was Carmen. – Bette interrupted her.

- What? –

Shane nodded: - Yeah Alice, that was Carmen… I guess you were pretty drunk as well, cause you don't even remember! –

Dani laughed. – So is she perfect then? – Bette smiled at her while sipping her drink.

- Oh, hell no! – Alice and Nat kept giggling like teenagers.

- What if… - Bette decided to take the situation into her hands to avoid further damage, - we go dance? –

Nat and Alice squirmed.

- Let's go! – said Shane. Dani stood up looking a little surprised, but then got what Bette was actually doing when she saw her staring at her three friends leaving and never actually following them.

- Oh, I see. – she smiled knowingly as she sat in front of Bette, where Nat was sitting just a second ago.

- Yeah… - Bette stared at her for a second, - should we get you a drink? –

Dani nodded and called for a waitress.

- Can I get a sour whiskey… - she looked over at Bette from the corner of her eye and added: - please? –

The waitress gave her a flirty smile and nodded before leaving.

- So, how's Shane holding up? – she was referring to the conversation they had that morning at Bette's.

- If I tell you, will you tell me how you're holding up? –

Dani looked down as she lost her smile for a second, - Maybe. – she said.

- Well then, I'm just saying, the main reason I'm not drinking, though I could now that I don't have paparazzi following me around, is I want to keep an eye on her, cause this must be really hard. And she needs this night out, I don't want it to go sideways. –

Dani softened up as she heard that. – that's really nice of you, though I do think she's old enough to take care of herself. –

Bette chuckled. – Yeah, guess so… -

They chatted for a while, and Dani could never find the courage to open up about the wedding. Then Alice came back to drag them to the bar, while singing some made up song about having shots.

Shane and Nat were already waiting for them with a double line of shots in front of them, amounting to a total of ten small glasses.

- Finally! – Shane smiled big as she put her arm around Bette's shoulders, - let's get you funny! –

She raised one of the glasses and seemed to be thinking for a second before she came up with a toast:

- To Alice and Nat! I'm so glad the two of you got back together! –

They all raised their glasses and had the first shot.

- So much for staying sober… - Bette smiled at Dani as she said that.

Alice grabbed the second glass, - To us being out and having fun! –

As Tess was taking the glasses away and Alice was pulling Nat back to the dancefloor, Shane sat down at the bar, next to Bette. She was feeling really dizzy, so she thought she better not get another drink. Tess was being the best bartender ever and, as she stared at her from afar, she hoped she wouldn't start drinking again. She seemed to have it under control, but it wasn't like last time she'd gotten drunk she'd given any signal.

Well, maybe it should have been obvious she'd drink right after breaking up with her girlfriend... Shane was doing the same.

She was so distracted by her own thoughts, she almost didn't notice the woman talking to her:

- Hi, you must be Dana right? – She was pretty tall, wearing mostly black clothes and many rings on her hands.

- What? Me? No, you got me confused with someone else. –

The woman kept looking back and forth between her and Tess. She was probably waiting for her drink.

- You're not? I was told you're the owner of this place. –

- Oooh! – Shane made a sad smile: - I am, but it's called Dana after a friend. –

The woman smiled sheepishly: - A friend, huh? Or an ex-girlfriend? – She had completely misread the situation.

Shane shook her head.

- Just a friend. –

The woman finally got her drink and started sipping it.

- So, bar owner, what's your name? –

- I'm Shane. – She made her patent charming smile and the woman looked like she melted.

- I'm Jeanine. – she wrapped some of her curly, red hair around her right hand fingers, - would you like to dance? –

- Sure. – Shane smiled some more as she got up and took the woman's hand to then lead her to the dancefloor.

They danced for a while, she couldn't tell how long, but everything was spinning and the woman was getting closer and closer to her, touching her hips now and then, or pulling her hands to her body. Shane just kept a little smile on her face, though she didn't really feel like smiling, until the woman wrapped her arms around her neck, and she suddenly had a dejavu about Quiara doing that.

She tried to move away the woman's arms as she noticed her perfume didn't smell like Quiara's at all, but right then the girl tried to kiss her.

It was just a short, closed lips kiss, and then Shane managed to push her away.

The woman looked bewildered.

- Did I do something wrong? – she stared at Shane with her green eyes wide open. – I'm sorry. –

Shane shook her head. – No, I'm… I'm sorry. I need to go. –

And she just left her there, walking away as fast as she could, as if Quiara were following.

A couple drinks later, Dani was sitting next to Bette at the bar, and she suddenly felt like she could think clearly through the alcohol fumes, so she randomly spurted out: - Sophie left me at the airport. –

Bette turned around to give her a surprised look.

- She… was late, and I was just sitting there paralyzed, thinking she'd never show up. When she did show up I was so relieved, but she'd just come to tell me she's in love with someone else. –

Bette silently stared at her.

- And the best part is, that someone is her colleague and best friend who would always be around the house we used to share… she was always there, and I never saw it coming. –

She turned around to face Tess, who was bartending, and held her head in one of her hands, like it was suddenly too heavy to stay up on its own. She could feel the stickiness of the bar under her elbow, but she didn't care.

She hadn't talked for a while, so Bette gently touched her upper back with her free hand.

- I'm sorry, I know how it happens. Sometimes we just can't see what's right in front of us. –

Dani smiled sadly.

- I guess my relationship with Sophie wasn't working anyway, so maybe it's for the best. She couldn't deal with me being a workaholic, and I couldn't deal with her pushing me to open up whenever she wanted me to, so… and I thought I could fix everything by basically eloping, but that was clearly a dumb, impulsive idea. –

Bette had a melancholic smile on her face when Dani looked back at her.

- Trust me, being a workaholic can destroy the best relationships. Happened to me too. –

- It did? I mean, honestly I can imagine that. – Dani chuckled and sipped her drink.

- Sure, probably more than once too. Remember Tina? – Dani nodded, - me being so hung up on work, and so controlling, made it very hard for her to stay when we were first together. –

- First? –

- Yes, first. We broke up and got back together a few times. – she chuckled.

- So did you ever get over the work problem? –

Bette shuddered. – I don't know. It wasn't exclusively a work problem, more like a me being controlling problem that also caused my being so obsessed and passionate about my jobs. It's not all bad, just complicated… but I wouldn't trade any of those work experiences for anything in the world. –

Dani smiled to herself.

- So, anyway, - Bette continued, - is it kind of my fault you're out of both a job and a wife? –

That made Dani laugh pretty big.

- Shut up, - she said, probably losing her normal language filters due to the alcohol, - I can make my own decisions! I really loved working with you, and "I'd never trade that work experience for anything in the world!" – she made a silly voice to make it clear she was repeating what Bette had just said. But Bette didn't laugh, so she spinned her stool around to face her. She was staring at the glass in her hand, looking melancholic. Then she spoke:

- I'm sorry we didn't win. You did an amazing job, and maybe if I hadn't made those mistakes with Felicity… - Dani took her hand to interrupt her,

- You know it's more complicated than that. You should be major, people are just not ready for the change you'd bring yet…–

Bette laughed a crystalline, short laugh, one that sounded like she wanted to make fun of herself, like she was embarrassed by the compliments.

- And making mistakes is ok, - Dani continued, – As long as you learn from them, I guess. -

- Well I'm not so sure I ever learnt from some of my mistakes. But anyway, I'm honored we worked together, you're really talented at what you do. –

Dani was still holding her hand.

- I know I am. – she smiled proudly, but looked like she was distracted by something, not really following the conversation anymore. She stared at Bette's smiley eyes, her lips, and then she felt the urge to stand up and run away, but when she stood she was even closer to Bette, and she was tangled there, like an invisible net was keeping her still.

The stools were so tall her eyes were at the level of Bette's, and Dani didn't even feel herself slowly moving towards her. Bette looked really serious as their faces were just inches apart, her eyes sparkling with a mix of feelings.

Dani didn't know her own hand had moved until she felt the fabric of Bette's silk shirt on the tips of her fingers. She travelled over the neck of the shirt…

Bette grabbed her wrist, and she got a little bit startled. As Bette's lips parted, she thought she was going to kiss her…

- Stop. – Bette moved her arm away, holding her wrist. - This is wrong, I can't make the same mistake again. –

Though Dani didn't work for her anymore, it was a matter of principle. She'd had such a hard time with Felicity, not even alcohol could make her forget.

Dani's face tuned into a mix of surprise, embarrassment and fear.

- I'm sorry! – she stepped back, looking confused. But then she pulled herself together pretty quickly, and badly hid her feelings. She looked like a little kid that knew she'd done something bad, her eyebrows close together in a hardly concealable frown.

Bette took a deep breath as her heartbeat started to slow down. - It's ok, I just… I can't. – she really hoped Dani would understand why.

Tess saw Shane walking fast to the back of the bar. She could very well recognize the signs of a soon to be throw-up, so the thought she better check up on her. She told the new barista to take care of everything for a few minutes and followed Shane to the back room.

She knocked on the door a couple times, until she heard Shane say "come in" in a pretty distressed voice. When she opened the door, she saw her sitting on the sofa, her head in her hands, hair tangled up in her long fingers. She didn't even raise her head to check who it was.

- Hey, it's me. – Tess closed the door, walked towards her and kneeled in front of her. – Are you ok? –

- I'm fine. – the answer came too fast, like she expected to be asked that.

- Listen, I'll get you a bucket. I know you probably don't want people around, and you don't want to hear me talking, so… -

Shane didn't respond in any way, so Tess just went on doing what she thought might help.

When she gave her the bucket, Shane held it for a little bit and then said in a low voice:

- I really need to throw up. –

Tess sat next to her and patted her back. - Yeah, you'll feel much better after you do, – she replied. Shane nodded weakly.

After a minute, still nauseous, she turned to Tess: - I'm sorry about your girlfriend. –

Tess shrugged. – I know, you already told me. Ex-girlfriend anyway. –

Shane stared at her with a sad half-smile, her eyes kind. She set down the bucket and enclosed Tess in a gentle hug, her arms locking Tess's to her body, so she couldn't hug her back. To her, being sober too, it felt a little uncomfortable, and she realized they'd never hug before.

- I'm sorry I made you drink. – Shane laid her head on Tess' shoulder as she said that.

- You didn't do anything, I decided to drink. –

- I'm sorry. –

Tess smiled. – You're sorry about a lot of things huh? You keep saying that. –

- Yeah, sorry. I have a lot of things to be sorry for. – she slurred the words, and Tess felt her arms around her let go gradually. Was Shane falling asleep? Her body was now weighing against Tess', so she gently moved away and let Shane lay on the sofa. She got both Shane's and her jackets and used them as blankets. Then she kneeled in front of Shane's face and moved her hair away from her face.

- Don't be sorry, - she whispered, - I don't know what happened to you, but it will get better. –

Shane muttered something in response, but she couldn't understand what, so she just went back to work.

As Tess was walking back behind bar, she saw Dani walking outside pretty fast and with a weird look on her face. She went ask some girls what they'd like to drink, and then noticed Bette was sitting at the bar alone.

- Hey. – Bette raised her head as she heard her.

- Hi. – She smiled politely. Tess poured some gin in a drink.

- Shane drank a little too much, she's sleeping in the back room. – she didn't look at Bette as she talked to her, as she was busy making the drinks: she liked putting effort into making them look and taste good.

- Oh. – Bette paused, - Is she ok? –

- Yeah, she's fine, I'll go check on her every once in a while. – Tess handed the girls their two drinks.

- It's ok, I'll do that, you're working. Thanks for telling me, I got a little distracted… -

Tess smiled knowingly as she washed a glass.

- Isn't that girl that just ran outside your employee? –

- Ex-employee. Her name is Daniela. –

- Thought so. I don't wanna be intruding, but did something happen between the two of you? –

Bette looked weirdly serious.

- No, it didn't… I think she was going to kiss me. –

- And you didn't let her? –

Bette shrugged and sipped her drink.

- Why not? – Tess handed the other barista a bottle.

- Why not? – Bette echoed, - She used to work for me! I made that mistake more than once already. –

Tess stared at her for a second: - Is that it? She's not working for you now, and you're not being persecuted by journalists anymore, are you? –

Bette smiled. Her eyes looked pretty charming when she did. – I guess so. But, well… Dani's too young anyway. –

- Oh, so that's why! Finally admitting it! – Tess laughed as she rinsed a glass.

- Well, yes! She doesn't know half of what I've been through, and… -

- And? She didn't ask you to marry her. Doesn't everyone say maturity isn't really related to age anyway? – someone asked her for drinks again.

- They do, and I agree with that, but… - she stared at her drink, - and about marriages, she was just basically left at the altar. Probably not in the right mindset for making choices right now. And I'm not either. –

Tess laughed. – Maybe she just wanted a little comfort. Do you always think everything through? –

Bette smiled and then let out a small laugh. – Apparently I never did that enough, so I'm trying to do it now. – she paused, - you're a good shrink-bartender, did you practice a lot? – she smiled at Tess.

- I did, and you have no idea what people tell me here, especially cause they're drunk. But I can't tell: everything is subject to professional secrecy. – she winked at Bette and took her empty glass.