"Aw, c'mon, just one more game!" Alex heard Rita whine from the kitchen.

"Nope, no more video games for you. Your mother would kill me if she knew I let you play those anyway," Caitlyn responded.

"Which one?" Alex muttered to herself from the doorway.

"You ready to go?" Cait asked once she noticed Alex leaning against the kitchen door frame. Alex briefly met Caitlyn's eyes before going back to studying the floor. She nodded. "Alright. Rita, go get your stuff."

"Thanks for the ride. I hate to be an inconvenience," Alex said as Rita rushed by her and jogged down the hall.

"Yeah. You hate to be an inconvenience," Caitlyn scoffed. Alex merely nodded once more and moved to leave the kitchen and wait by the front door instead. "What you don't even have a response?" Caitlyn said to Alex's retreating back.

"No, Cait. I don't," Alex said, pausing but not turning around.

"Why not?" the other girl demanded after a moment.

"I'm not the same person I was. Mitchie changed that. And I changed even more after she left."

"After she left? Excuse me! You left her! She was in quite the state at the time, too. She came crying to me, pregnant and hopeless. I didn't know what to do any more than she did!" Caitlyn screeched. Alex turned to face the furious woman behind her and met her hard gaze.

"She. Left. Me. She told me that she didn't love me anymore. That she didn't want to be with me. I had no idea that she was pregnant. I had no idea what happened to her at all until yesterday. And as for her state after our little break-up, I didn't take it well either," Alex said, pulling up her sleeves and showing Caitlyn her arms. Caitlyn gasped but didn't reply. "Not enough for you?" Alex asked, her eyes tearing up with pain and anger as she reached behind her neck and removed her choker. "Happy now, Cait?" The other girl merely put a hand over her mouth and shook her head. "She fucked me up, too. But I'm sure you still don't believe me. That isn't my problem though, Cait," Alex continued in a gentler voice. "I'm telling you the truth. Mitchie didn't and she's learning to pay the price for it as much as I'm trying to learn to trust her again. I want to try again. I don't want to live without her anymore. Her or Rita."

"What about me?" asked the aforementioned eleven year old.

"We're going to have fun today," Alex said. "That's all. I was letting Cait in on the plan," she said with a smile as she replaced her choker and pulled down her sleeves hurriedly before Rita could see her scars.

"Sounds like you guys are going to have a blast," Caitlyn said after clearing her throat.

"Are you alright, Auntie?" Rita asked, giving the older woman a hug.

"I'm fine," she said, returning the hug. "Let's get going. Do you want to start the car?"

"Can I?" Rita asked.

"Sure. My keys are on the table by the door."

"Thanks, Auntie!" Rita said, bounding out of the room. Caitlyn gave her a curt nod in response. The two older women stood in silence for a few moments before Caitlyn cleared her throat again and spoke.

"I'm sorry. I still don't entirely trust you, but I can see your side of things a little clearer now," Caitlyn said, looking slightly ashamed for the first time Alex could remember. Alex nodded.

"Let's work on that. Seeing each other's side of things. Alright?" Alex proposed. Caitlyn nodded. Both women headed outside and got in the car together. Rita got shotgun since she was outside first. Alex didn't really mind sitting in the backseat of Caitlyn's little car anyway.

Rita and Caitlyn laughed and talked amiably about the video games they had played on the way back to the mall and Alex's car. Alex stared out the window and became lost in her thoughts for the majority of the car ride. She couldn't help watching the two girls in the front seat and wondering if she really belonged there - back in Mitchie's life with Rita and Cait. She wondered if their relationship would be similar to what it was when she and Mitchie had been dating. She had been good friends with Caitlyn before, but she lost that friendship when Mitchie left. All Alex wanted to do was cry for the years she had lost, but Caitlyn was pulling up next to Alex's truck and there wasn't time for tears now. She had to pull herself together and think of some kick-ass activities to do with Rita so Rita would like her. Rita surely wouldn't like her if she was a blubbering mess of an adult.

"You girls have fun," Cait said giving Alex a slightly forced smile. Alex nodded.

"We'll have a blast," she said, smiling in turn at Rita. Rita grinned back with a smile that matched her own. "Thanks for everything, Cait."

"Yeah! Thanks, Auntie!" Rita said, diving over the armrest in the car to give Caitlyn a hug. Caitlyn hugged her tightly and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'll see you soon, doll," Cait said with a genuine smile.

"Bye, Auntie!"

"Bye. Goodbye, Alex."

"Bye, Cait. I'll see you soon, I'm sure," Alex said with a lopsided smile. Caitlyn nodded and drove off once Alex and Rita had shut their respective doors.

"So what are we doing?" Rita asked.

"Ah...anything you want! Within reason, I guess. Did you want to go shopping?" Alex asked.

"No, not really. I kinda got bored with that yesterday. Can we go to your house?"

"Can we go to my house? I guess...I wasn't..." Alex paused at Rita's puppy-dog look. "Sure. Yep, we can go to my house. Hop in," she said, unlocking her truck's doors with a beep.