Fix it

I hope you're happy

No later than after an hour, Lindsey showed up at the arena himself. Crew members greeted him on his way, as he was set on finding Stevie's dressing room first. He also passed by Christine, who didn't acknowledge him in any way, as she kept on walking to wherever she was going. 

Stevie had just calmed down, having asked everyone to leave her alone. She didn't care about anything at this point. Her marriage had finally collapsed, she wasn't going to stay still while her makeup artist worked on her face. 

A knock on the door echoed around the room again and she was already dreading it. What now? She slid off the high stool and went to unlock the door, gasping as she saw Lindsey standing in the hallway. Her initial thought was to slam the door in his face, but quite obviously they needed to talk.

"Where in the hell have you been?!" She wasn't going to ease into it, once they were in the privacy of her dressing room. "Have you any idea how worried we all have been about you?! YOU DISAPPEARED! No phone calls, no messages, no nothing! NO YOU! I started thinking whether you're still alive!"

"Stevie, please-"

"And how do I find out you're just fucking fine? Divorce papers! I can't believe it! Oh my God!" She shouted, clearing everything off the table, along with that damned file. "Can you imagine how I'm feeling right now?"

"Stevie, I-" 

"You completely ignore me - your wife, your bandmates, who are your best friends, I'm not even talking about assistants, then I'm presented with DIVORCE PAPERS hours before the show, which we had no idea you would show up for or not!"

"Stevie, I'm begging you-" Lindsey tried to place his hands on her shoulders, but she shrugged them off.

"Don't touch me." She hissed, making much needed space between them. Then she started crying again, asking weakly. "Why? Why did you do it after we've overcome the worst and you gave me hope again?"

"It just... It hit me so hard when it came out, I couldn't handle the whole thing anymore. It's one thing when it's between you and me, but it's another when the whole world knows it."

"Fuck the whole world, Lindsey! I'm the one people hate. It wasn't you who cheated, it was me - I'm the bad one, the homewrecker, the whore, whatever! You didn't do anything wrong! Even when you had the chance, you chose not to. You just loved me..."

"It doesn't seem like it. Christine walked by me without so much as hi just a minute ago."

"It doesn't matter... She has an opinion, just like everyone else."

"I thought I could move on, but as it turns out I can't. I can't be reminded about it every day. It's just too painful. I realized that I can't be associated with you any longer, because that shadow will always follow me, us... I tried, but I can't find the answer to the question of how to be happy with you again."

"Associated? What, am I some business partner to you? A crew member? You're associated with Chris, Mick, John... You're married to me! Oh wait..." She cocked her head back, to prevent any more tears, although, it didn't quite work. "Do I mean nothing to you at all? Is it that easy for you to just throw everything away?"

"Easy? Stevie, this is the hardest decision I have ever made. I didn't file for divorce because I don't love you, it's because there's always something in our way, keeping us from being happy. It's because I'm tired of arguing with you all the time and like I've already said, I don't want it to escalate so much, that we couldn't bear looking at each other!" 

"I don't understand what it is that you want from me... If you say you love me, but you still want to separate."

"Stevie-"

"No." She shook her head. "Don't say anything, please." She bent down, picking up the file as she also searched for a pen. Lindsey stood as if paralyzed, watching her sign her name where her signature was required. She handed him back the papers, wiping away tears. "Here. I hope now you're happy."

Lindsey could hardly believe what just happened, as he opened his mouth to say something, but he had clearly done enough damage, watching Stevie for a moment, before he turned around and left. 

The word spread fast, the other band members already knew what was going on, when performing Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits in front of thousands of people. Despite what Stevie said, she was a pretty good actress, but even she couldn't interact with Lindsey onstage at all. There were no hugs, no hand holding, no looks, no whispers - nothing. The only time she looked at his side, was when he came back with his acoustic, his fingers positioned to play the song, as she took a quick glance to see whether he still had his wedding ring on and he had, but it wasn't much solace she then thought and started singing Landslide.

Stevie was holding up rather well considering, until it was time for Silver Springs. She stood next to her mic stand, waiting for the intro and as soon as it started, she broke down; tears rolling down her face freely, there was no way she could continue now, as she rushed off stage, leaving her bandmates confused. 

Lindsey went to Mick, telling him to just wrap the show up with Songbird, his guitar tech would fill in for him. Mick nodded and did as Lindsey asked, while he hurried backstage, seeing Stevie having, what looked a lot like a panic attack, as she just couldn't stop crying and it was hard to breath. 

Someone from the staff handed him a bottle of water that he opened and gave it to Stevie, insisting on her drinking some. She put the bottle away, then he pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair, rocking her, telling her whatever came to mind to calm her down. 

The concert ended, Mick apologized to the audience for the mishap, as he came backstage along with Christine and John, all three staring at the (still) married couple, Stevie just resting against Lindsey's chest, her arms by her sides, as they felt strangely heavy to her right now, while Lindsey stood holding her close. 

Later the same night, Stevie was in her hotel room, as Karen overtook from Lindsey, Christine joining them, as she said she would stay the night with her friend if needed. John was worried about the two in his own way, but he was never much for drama, so he called it a night too, while Mick was keeping an eye on Lindsey, who was currently drinking his pain away in his suite, that he booked just before joining the rest of the band earlier that day.

"Talk to me, Lindsey." Mick tried again, watching his friend for so many years hurt this much. 

"What's there to say?" Lindsey looked up, his eyes bloody red and he wasn't at all ashamed to be crying. "It's over. I've lost the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Well, wasn't it you who took the first step?"

"I don't know what I was thinking. She hates me, I know she hates me, Mick. I don't know how am I going to live without her..." A gulp of whiskey. "She's everything to me."

"You still love each other, don't you? You love Stevie more than any other man loves their woman."

"I do, I love her so much." 

"Then I think you know exactly what you have to do right now."

Lindsey said nothing for a minute, then nodded and put the half-way empty bottle away, standing up. "You're right. I know exactly what I have to do right now."