Tegan must decide

Tegan and Dakota decided to have an informal dinner grabbing burgers at the nearest fast food on the way out of town.

as they sat eating they talked.

after a while Dakota spoke quietly.

"Tegan?"

Tegan took a bite of her burger then chewed a moment and swallowed.

"what's up?"

"uh...um." Dakota struggled with her words.

"well...I have feelings for you Tegan. you know that."

"yeah.." Tegan felt a cold pit growing in her chest.

Dakota looked at Tegan, her large brown eyes looking soft and ****.

"it's just...I saw you kissing Sonya. I thought we....I thought we were a thing."

Tegan laid her half eaten burger down on the wrapper and laced her fingers together.

"we are. I just..."

"Tegan you were literally rubbing tongues. if you give me the friends line I will leave you here to hitch hike to the arena."

Dakota said firmly.

Tegan stared at her plate, suddenly mesmerized by the broken tip of a french fry lying on the wrapper by her burger.

"Dakota I'm sorry. I..."

Dakota reached over and clasped her hand.

"Tegan, it's ok. you can talk to me."

Tegan sighed.

"I just feel so bad about this. I've been trying so hard to fix our friendship and I had to do it."

Dakota squeezed her hand.

"I-" Tegan had a guilty look on her face.

"I had to make love with Sonya to get my title shot."

Dakota stared at her.

"Tegan."

"I'm SORRY!" Tegan sobbed.

"I never meant to hurt you! to cheat on you! but she told me if I did it My shot was guaranteed!"

Dakota gazed at her with pity in her eyes.

"Tegan,....I... I forgive you. but now I wonder where we are as a couple."

Tegan finally raised her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Tegan's voice was quivering.

"please understand Dakota. I HAD to."

Dakota gazed at her.

"I can respect your need to do it. but I can't respect you for doing it. Tegan you sold your body for this."

Tegan nodded, tears still falling, dripping onto the table.

for a while they resumed eating, not talking.

"Tegan where did this sudden rivalry with Becky come from? you guys were FRIENDS."

Tegan nodded as she finished her burger.

"I'm just tired of being in her shadow. Dakota I HAVE to beat her."

"why?!" Dakota asked.

"because!" Tegan said angrily.

"have you SEEN the things on twitter? the things on instagram they said about me?"

Dakota nibbled a french fry.

"Tegan, fans are WEIRD. the other day some guy told me he wanted to suck my toes. before that some guy DM'ed me wanting nudes.

you kind of get used to it after a while but it never gets any easier."

Tegan sighed and sipped her shake.

"I almost miss the creepy fans. it's worse when they insult my skill."

"I understand Tegan. people tell me I suck all the time." Dakota told her.

Tegan gazed into her eyes.

"I just don't want to lose you Dakota."

Dakota met her eyes.

"we'll see," she said quietly.

meanwhile in a seedy motel....

Becky lay wrapped tight in Kaylee's arms.

"are ye still worried about Tegan?" Kay lee asked.

Becky sighed,

"I shouldn't. but I do. it feels like my fault somehow."

Kay lee gently kissed Becky's shoulder.

"ye need te relax. go te sleep." Kaylee ray whispered.

Becky snuggled deeper into her pillow and Kaylee wrapped her arms tighter around Becky.

then as she often did on nights when Becky needed to relax, Kaylee softly sang a Scottish folk tune until Becky fell asleep.

once Becky was asleep Kaylee gently kissed her on the cheek and snuggled closer.