Miss Fantasy

Chapter 5: A New Year for Us

January 2013

The sound of Stevie's heels filled the hallways as she arrived at NBC Studios to film an interview with Extra TV alongside Lindsey and Mick. It was their first sit down interview together in quite some time, and the first big press event ahead of the upcoming tour that was slated to start in April. It was also the first time she would be seeing Lindsey since they finished recording Extended Play at his house back in November.

"Here she is!" Mick announced, standing up excitedly as Stevie entered the dressing room backstage. "You look beautiful, darling," he whispered against her as they hugged.

She was the last to arrive and could feel the eyes of Lindsey on her intently as she let Mick hold her, it being the first time they were reunited in nearly a year. It was her first interview of the new year, and Lindsey couldn't help but notice how rejuvenated she looked, she was practically glowing. Her long blonde hair fell down her back in loose, shiny waves and her signature all black was slightly different as she donned a white lacy top underneath her jacket for a change.

"Hi Linds," she smiled as she broke away from Mick's arms.

"Hi Steves," he pulled her into his chest now, annoyed at how long he had to wait for Mick to let her go.

"You smell good," she purred against his neck, pulling back to look him up and down.

"You smell even better."

She giggled, a light blush sweeping her cheeks as they took a moment to let themselves be in their own world, ignoring the watching eyes of everyone surrounding them. He couldn't deny the fact that he missed her during the last two months, having to stop himself from calling her every time he worked on finalizing the EP recordings in his bunker late at night.

"How was your holiday?" She asked, her hand squeezing his.

"Haven't I spoken to you since?" He teased her with a smile, his eyes not once leaving hers.

"I want to hear about it in person," she whispered, their voices both low as they found themselves in their own world once again.

"I ate too many cookies and bought too many gifts for my kids," he groaned.

She laughed, shoving his chest playfully, "You're such a Scrooge."

The three of them caught up as they were being wired with microphones for their interview. Lindsey couldn't help himself from staring as Stevie got her makeup touched up. She seemed quiet today, and much like while they were recording the new songs, he felt very protective over her.

"You okay?" He asked, his voice extra quiet as he brushed past her chair. The interaction didn't go unnoticed by Mick, who watched from the corner of his eye.

She nodded up at him wordlessly, offering a tiny smile as their eyes met. It had been many years since Lindsey last babied Stevie like this, and as much as she hated to admit it, she secretly loved it. It had happened before when her best friend Robin was sick and dying during Mirage, and again years later when they embarked on The Dance - nervous about her first Mac tour experience fully clean from any pills or drugs. Each time they had accidentally fallen back into love and back into bed, of course, as Lindsey's over protectiveness and nurturing sparked old feelings within them both. And now, as she felt that similar pattern repeating itself, she found herself getting nervous about where that would lead. This time things were different, they had to be.

"Okay everybody, let's go, they're ready. We're going to give them twenty minutes of interview time," a manager announced.

In the middle of the interview, Stevie realized she was accidentally holding Lindsey's hand - their fingers brushing up against each other warmly as they always did. Fuck, she didn't even realize she'd been doing it. As subtly as possible, she pulled her hand away - continuing to talk and hoping maybe nobody would notice. Maybe the cameras didn't even capture that part. She knew it was a fat chance. If she wanted to prevent history from repeating itself, she was going to have to get better about these sorts of things before the tour started. Yes, she would definitely make an effort to touch him less.

"Stevie, hey, wait up," Lindsey's voice called out as he ran after her down the studio hallway.

"What's up?" She turned as casually as possible.

"Do you have a minute?"

"Uh, sure."

He took that as permission to follow her into the dressing room they were approaching. Once inside, as if she could read their minds, Karen made herself scarce and disappeared out of the room, acting as if she had to go talk to someone.

"Everything okay?" She turned to him nervously once they were left alone.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I just...I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, yeah, of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"I didn't think you were going to bring up your mom, I know that was tough for you to talk about," his hands grabbed hers, his gaze intense.

Nervously, she pulled back, shaking him off nonchalantly. "Oh yeah, I'm fine that was...nothing."

He pulled her hand back towards him, his body now leaning up against hers, "You know you can talk to me, you know I'm here always."

She swallowed uneasily, their close proximity the exact thing she'd been trying to avoid, "I know. Thank you, Lindsey. But..."

"But what?"

"Nothing."

His finger pulled her chin up, looking at her once again, "This is a new year for us. A new leaf, I feel good about it."

A tear filled in the corner of her eye, "You mean that?" God, she hated how quickly this man was able to reduce her to a puddle of emotions.

"Of course I mean it, Stevie. We got so close during the recording...I'm really thankful for that. I hope it continues with the tour and everything."

"I want this tour to be all love," she smiled, "I mean really...no fighting, no tension, no childish games."

"I can't think of anything that sounds better," his lips pressed themselves to her nose delicately, causing her brow to scrunch up as her eyes closed at the sensation.

She wanted so badly for him to kiss her for real. And then she quickly hated herself for even letting her mind wander there. Why was she thinking that way? What in the world had gotten into her?

"Okay," her voice chirped at an awkwardly high pitch as she pulled away from him with the clap of her hands, trying to play everything off she was feeling inside, "So a success, then! Great stuff. Well, I better be going, Karen and I have a ton of stuff left on the calendar today."

"Oh," he stammered, thrown off by her sudden change in mood, "Okay then."

"I guess we'll see each other at rehearsals next month?"

"Unless you want me to stop by before then? I'll be around..."

"Oh no," she laughed, "You'll have to spend enough time with me on tour, I don't want you to get sick of me before then."

As if that could ever happen, he thought with a sigh. "Okay Steph," he smiled, giving her a hug goodbye, "Can't wait to see you then. It'll be a lovefest, promise."

"A lovefest," she laughed, "I like the sound of that."

Reluctantly, he saw himself out of the dressing room, leaving her behind along with a million more words he wanted to say, but decided to hold back. Why did he suddenly have this longing to be around her? Somehow while he had been trying to comfort her this past year, her presence ended up comforting him just as much. He found himself constantly thinking of her, wondering if she was okay, what she was doing, how it would be if she were there curled up in his arms. He wasn't an idiot, he knew it was wrong. Knew it was dangerous. And yet here he was, hoping she would finally let him save her after all these years of trying. He needed saving too, after all.