Destiny

Part 9

It was one of those rare occasions when Stevie couldn't quite figure out what was going through Lindsey's mind. He'd gone quiet out of nowhere and every time she thought of something to say, she chose to keep her mouth shut. They sat in front of each other, but Lindsey hadn't lifted his eyes up for far too long as he quietly ate his dinner. Putting her fork down, Stevie covered his hand with her own and he stilled then finally looked at her.

"What's going on?" Stevie asked, brushing her thumb over his knuckles.

Lindsey hesitated to answer for a short moment. He put his cutlery down and used a napkin, he withdrew his other hand from Stevie's touch and clasped his hands together in his lap. "You must be disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Stevie creased her eyebrows. "I'm not really sure, why you're saying that."

"I promised you a nice dinner." Lindsey shrugged.

"And?" 

"And I couldn't even take you out. The best I could do was invite you over for takeout." Lindsey sighed. "This is not what you had in mind, I'm sure."

"Lindsey, stop." Stevie held up a hand. "You have no idea, how absolutely lovely this evening has been until you went silent." She smiled, but he wasn't buying it.

"You're just saying that." Lindsey gave her a look as if saying, that's bullshit. "I'm sorry, but there was no one to ask to take care of Will and-"

"Lindsey, for God's sake." Stevie interrupted him, she shook her head. "I'll take dinner at home over overcrowded, noisy restaurants any day. No one's bothering us here, we didn't have to dress up, I didn't have to put makeup on and that's always a huge plus."

Lindsey laughed lightly at what she said last. He chewed on his bottom lip, looking at her in somewhat a different way than he had been since their reconciliation. "I am taking you out first chance I get, though." 

"Deal." Stevie nodded with a smile that made his heart beat a little faster. 

"My life has changed so drastically." Lindsey said after a short pause. "I knew, it was going to, but not like this. I was used to a certain routine, you know."

"You mean, spending the better part of the day in your studio?" Stevie teased.

"Well, yeah." Lindsey laughed, nodding his head. "I wasn't really responsible for anything other than what I wanted to be responsible for. I could wake up and go to bed whenever I wanted, I could come and go as I pleased. Now, it's just..." He paused, thinking of a way to put it without sounding like a horrible person. "I love my son, more than anything in the world." He added. "But it was all baby formula and dirty diapers for months, I had nothing else. Then you showed up. Even if you're here for an hour, it..." He was struggling not to say too much. "You've given me a piece of my old self back, which is exactly what I needed to be okay with the current situation and all the changes."

Stevie felt her cheeks getting warmer and she hoped Lindsey couldn't tell she was blushing in the dimly lit room. "I didn't think, I've done anything to have such a big impact on you."

"You're here." Lindsey shrugged and took her hand in his. "Even though you have a lot more important things going on right now."

"Don't say that. You'll always be important to me, Lindsey." Stevie emphasized with a hand on her heart. "Doesn't matter if I'm married or not."

"You're getting married." Lindsey had forgotten about it for a while, he let go of her hand. Suddenly, it didn't feel appropriate. "Are you excited?"

"I was. I mean, I am." Stevie quickly corrected herself, but he raised an eyebrow. "The first time I came to see you, Michael and I had a fight before I left."

"About me?" Lindsey assumed.

"Yeah." Stevie nodded with a sigh. "He's, you know... he tried, he really did try to be okay with whatever you and I have, when we were on tour. Then we didn't speak for half a year and he got used to that. I think, he felt safe."

"He doesn't anymore?" Lindsey asked, hoping that he wasn't prying too much. 

"There's always going to be something between us." Stevie said. "There doesn't have to be any romantic involvement, but the connection you and I have, it's something that Michael and every single man before him have felt threatened by."

Lindsey was quite surprised hearing her say that. He had convinced himself that she was happy, she must have finally found the one if she agreed to marry the man. She certainly didn't think so, when Lindsey himself had pulled out a ring once a long time ago. He believed that door was completely closed. And if he were completely honest, he hadn't even thought about her in that way for quite some time. Until tonight.

"How did you convince him to let you out tonight then?" Lindsey asked, picking up his can of Coke, he took a big gulp.

"Michael is actually out of town for a couple of days, so I didn't exactly have to tell him, where I'd be." Stevie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, now feeling as if she was doing something illegal.

"So, you're here in secret?" Lindsey found the situation somewhat amusing. "You wanted to see me so bad, you lied to your fiancé?"

"I did not lie." Stevie shook her head, a smirk formed on his lips. "Stop it." She ordered him, unable to keep a straight face for too long. "Lindsey, stop it or I'll leave right this second."

"Well, if no one is waiting for you at home, why don't you stay here instead?" The offer was so sudden and out of nowhere, he couldn't think fast enough of how to justify it. "I mean, it's pretty late. You really don't have to drag your assistant out of bed at this hour. Again." He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "I'll drive you home first thing in the morning. Nobody's gonna know."

What the hell is going on, Stevie sat back, staring at Lindsey. Why was he saying those things and why were they making her heartbeat pick up pace?