A/N:

1) Thank you for the reviews, faves, follows and encouragement.

2) Please remember at all times that Bea is a hairdresser. :)

3) Note that Angst precedes Romance in the tags.

4) If you stick around, cheeky Allie and flustered Bea will make cameo appearances in the next chapter.

In the meantime, let's introduce a few more characters and some Ballie eye contact. :) Thanks for reading.

Chapeter 2:

"Alright then, let's move on from check in shall we? We do have a few new members tonight, and I'd like to ask if perhaps one of you might want to introduce yourself, and begin sharing with the group a little? It's not mandatory here, not by any means, we share when we feel ready to, but if you'd like to get started, we like to make sure new members have the opportunity to speak first."

Bea's eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened. She had remained largely tuned out to this point, having cocooned herself tightly in her head to fight off the rising panic in her body. The desire to bolt was overwhelming. She looked over to the grief counsellor and shook her head vehemently, 'no'. The counsellor, whose kind face and soft spoken voice didn't quite fit with her rather severe hair bun, silently acknowledged Bea's reluctance with a quick reassuring smile and a mouthed "ok".

Relieved, Bea sat back and quickly scanned the room for others facing the same demons as herself. She couldn't really get a read on this mostly somber group, but it certainly didn't escape her attention that a young blonde woman was watching her from across the room. Bea feared it was her abject terror at even being in the room that had attracted attention, but then the woman smiled at her. Warmly. Bea caught the woman's eyes, and saw nothing but softness and sympathy. It caught her off guard and made her feel shy. She looked down unable to stand the woman's intense scrutiny any longer. She was nervous. For a lot of reasons. But the attention from the attractive young woman across the room was now one of them.

"Uh, yeah, I'd like to share. Me and my friend Maxie here, we got stuff to share."

Bea's head shot up again to locate the rough sounding voice. It belonged to a rather large woman with long dark hair in desperate need of some style. But it's not what caught Bea most. No, it was her unflinching sincerity, and her bouncing, almost childlike demeanor. They were so touching, infectious even. She smiled a little, despite herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught those of the woman who had been staring at her smile a little too. She seemed affected by the same observations, reacting in the same way. Feeling just a little stronger, Bea let her eyes lock on the blonde's until they found each other and acknowledged the shared smile, as if communicating without speech. She held the gaze as long as she could before looking into her lap again. She would never admit it in court, but she was still smiling a little. Something about the woman unnerved her. She didn't want the attention at all, but she was surprised to notice the feeling wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Yes, Sue. Please continue," the counsellor urged.

"Yeah, so when we went around and said our names, I said Sue Jenkins. And it is. My name. I mean. But everyone just calls me Boomer, or Booms, on accounta I'm loud, and I can be a right bitch and kick some arse when I need to, or when someone hurts the people I care about. So yeah, just so y'all are clear on that.

This here is Maxine. I mean Maxie. We been friends for like ever, and I love her, ya know? And we kinda have this unusual situation. We're not really a couple, like, but we get on real good, and Maxie here would make a real good parent. I would too. We both would I mean. So, we tried. Maxi had some sperm saved up from before her change, and we used it to get me pregnant.

"We were so happy," Maxine interjected, linking her arm through Boomer's. "It was all so perfect. We were going to raise the child together. It would have been a love child, for sure, even if the circumstances were a little unconventional." Maxine touched her scarf enshrouded head to Boomer's shoulder, urging her to continue.

Boomer looked a little unsure, but Maxine smiled and nodded gently and she continued.

"So it worked, ya know? Well at first it did. And we celebrated and all. But then 3 months later, I started bleedin' again. And it hit us both real hard. Maxi don't got no more sperm left, so we can't try again. So that's it. We lost our baby. But then we found out Maxi's got cancer. And well, I just love her so much, and it's real hard. So I'm sad about the baby, and I'm sad about Maxi, and it was her idea to come to this grief group, to talk about losing the baby, and about us losing each other. Ya know, like before it happens." By this point, Boomer was crying, full on ugly crying, and Maxine had one arm wrapped around the big woman, while she patted Boomer's leg with her other hand.

Bea had been holding her eyes squeezed shut, channeling the big woman's pain. It was palpable. The woman wore her heart on her sleeve, and her friend was just so lovely. So present, and so supportive. She unclenched her eyes when Boomer stopped talking and chanced a look at the grieving couple. They were so strikingly opposite, but so beautiful all the same. She felt dangerously close to crying herself.

Unthinkingly, Bea sought out the blonde and caught the same look of sadness in her eyes. This time, she waited for the other woman's eyes to catch hers. When she did, her gaze was unflinching and held all the warmth and comfort she could could project with just a look. The raw emotion held in that gaze pierced Bea, and instead of grounding her, the woman's power to connect with just her eyes unraveled her completely. She bit her lip and clenched her fists, willing herself to stay put.

"Losing a child is hard," she heard the counsellor utter finally into the silence, "and we have a few people in this room who are grappling with that same loss. Perhaps over time, they will be able to share their experiences and their coping strategies with you." Bea clenched herself tighter. "And you're decision to deal with your grief at losing your friendship in the present rather than posthumously is so very, very brave. I'm sure I speak for everyone in this room Sue…er, Boomer and Maxine, in wishing you a very warm welcome to the group. Here, we strive to try and make sense of our losses, to at least come to terms with them, and in doing so, to carry on with our lives one day at a time feeling confident that our loved ones are preciously preserved in our hearts, and stored clearly in our memories."

With that, Bea lost her battle with panic and overwhelming turmoil. Tearing from her seat, she muttered "sorry" and walked, then ran unceremoniously to the door, flinging it open, and running through it without looking back.

As the group processed Bea's exit, Allie rose from her seat and headed for the exit after the woman. Her flight was not as frantic as Bea's, but unlike Bea, she didn't apologize. She would be back. With the redhead, or without her. But she felt like she damn well needed to at least try and reach the woman. Liz looked on in surprise and something like horror. But follow she must. Not knowing Allie's intentions, she had to at least follow the woman and ensure she didn't leave the premises. Allie wasn't a prisoner, but she had come too damned far now to throw progress out the window for a woman she didn't even know. No longer shocked as she got up to follow the fleeing pair, Liz realized she was actually pissed. Really, fucking pissed. "Goddammit, Allie!" she declared aloud, and then looked back at the group apologetically as she left, and just shrugged.