"The pictures of my friends and family are in this room," Liv said as she approached Alex who was now seated on the couch just staring at the photo of Abbie and Liv. Liv took the photo out of Alex's hands and placed it back on the shelf. "That photo was taken after you and I had been together for a couple of months. I never told you about going to DC to see Abbie because I was afraid of how you'd react. You had gone upstate to visit your mother and I was here alone. I knew you weren't ready to tell your family about us—which is why you didn't bother inviting me to go with you. I needed to tell someone. I needed someone to know how I felt about you. Going to see Abbie—that wasn't about seeing Abbie. It was about me telling her that I was in love with you. It was me telling her that I had moved on. It was me making sure that part of my life had ended. That picture was taken when we went out after I had told her about us," Liv explained.
She sat down on the coffee table so that she was facing Alex and took both of her hands. "Al, look at me. The last few weeks…well, they've been torture for me. I—we—can't go back and undo all of it—the fantasy—Abbie—but we can move forward. I don't know how all of it will work—or if it will work. I just know that I can't live with myself without knowing that we at least gave it a shot." She stood up and pulled Alex's hands to lift her to her feet as well. "Follow me. I want you to see something," Liv said as she led Alex to her bedroom. "Look around. What do you notice?"
Alex glanced around the room. "I don't know. What am I supposed to be looking for?"
"Look on the dresser & on my nightstand. What do you see?"
Alex crossed the room to the dresser. On it, she found a picture of herself apparently deep in thought. "I took that picture at your office when I first got that digital camera. Remember? My God, you looked so incredibly sexy like that. Your glasses in your hand, head bowed, hair falling around your face—framing it perfectly. I don't think I've ever seen someone as sexy as you are when you're so deep in thought," Liv explained. "What else do you see here?"
Alex continued looking at the items on the dresser. The simple black velvet box that had once contained the necklace she gave to Liv sat prominently on the dresser. There were several notes and cards stacked together beneath the box. She didn't have to look through them. She recognized them as notes she had given Liv since their time together. Glancing at the mirror that hung above the dresser, her eyes were drawn to various ticket stubs tucked into the frame. "That one there is from our first date. I can't believe I let you choose that movie. And that one there is from the concert we went to the following weekend. That leaf—remember walking through the woods in Vermont that day before we made love for the first time?" Liv walked up behind Alex and wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her back against her.
Alex pulled away and turned to face Liv, crossing her arms over her chest. "What's this all supposed to mean? Am I supposed to forget walking in and finding Abbie between your legs? Are you supposed to forget Abbie telling you that she and I slept together? Am I supposed to forgive myself for manipulating you into fulfilling my fantasy?" Tears began to fall from Alex's eyes as she walked toward the door leading from the room.
"Alex, there's one more thing you need to see. Look in the drawer on your side of the bed," Liv pleaded with her.
Alex crossed to the side of the bed that she slept on the few times she stayed at Liv's apartment and opened the drawer.