Fool Me Once...

Part 10

When Mick arrived at the band's house, he found Stevie and Lindsey already working on a song. She was recording her backing vocals for one of his songs. Mick frowned, it had been happening more often than not. Without much of a greeting, Mick sat down, his eyes moving from Stevie to Lindsey and back again. 

"It seems the less I'm here, the more she's here." Mick spoke up to which Lindsey shrugged his shoulders.

"Can you really blame her?" Lindsey asked, not really hoping for an answer. "When it's just the two of us, everything's going smoothly. I'm here all the time anyway, so if Stevie wants to work early in the morning or late at night, I don't care. I'll be here with her."

Mick scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "I bet you enjoy it more when it's late at night, right?"

"Will you stop already with that? How many more times do I have to tell you that nothing is going on?" Lindsey sighed, getting really annoyed with Mick.

"As many as you like, I don't believe you." Mick replied simply. "If nothing's going on, how come you two are so close?"

"Because we're friends? Because we've finally grown up?" By now Stevie had joined them as well. "Because when we're at each other's throats, we can't get shit done?"

"Sure, sure." Mick rolled his eyes. "I don't like it."

"What do you mean, you don't like it?" Stevie frowned. "Nobody asked your opinion to begin with."

"I see the way he looks at you." Mick referred to Lindsey. "He's practically drooling. You're my wife after all and he doesn't even hide the fact he wants you to himself."

"Ex wife." Stevie corrected. "And Lindsey's right here in the room with us. Show some respect."

"It's cute how the two of you instantly defend each other no matter what I say." Mick laughed, shaking his head. 

Another person entered the room. Stevie was surprised and Mick's wicked smile faded from his face. 

"Mia... What are you doing here?" Stevie asked, but her daughter's eyes settled on Mick.

"I arrived with Dad." She replied, then turned to Mick. "Why are you being so mean towards Mom and Lindsey?" 

Mick shifted in his seat, struggling for an answer. "I was just.... I was joking around, sweetheart."

Feeling like this was a family matter, Lindsey upped and left the room.

"I overheard, what you said." Mia was still concentrated on her father. "You sounded pretty serious."

"Don't worry about it, Mia." Stevie said. "It's between us. Your father just has a wild imagination, that's all." 

Something had changed. Stevie had barely seen her daughter in the past two months and Mia seemed different compared to when she left. Approaching the teenager, Stevie hugged her around the shoulders, walking them out of the room. 

"How you've been, honey?" Stevie asked, Mia shrugged. Naturally, Stevie was concerned. She led them to a spare room upstairs, saying they could talk there. "What's wrong?" 

Mia sat down on the bed, avoiding her mother's eyes. She wanted to say it, but she was afraid of Stevie's answer to her question. Mia knew she was far from a perfect daughter and she knew she had hurt her mother without even realizing what she was doing.

"No matter what's on your mind, sweetie, you know you can always tell me." Stevie encouraged, smiling a little.

With tears in her eyes, Mia looked up and at her mother. "Can I come back home?"

Without hesitation, Stevie replied. "Of course. You don't have to ask me that. Your home is always your home." 

"I shouldn't have left." She shook her head, taking Stevie's hand in both of hers. "I'm sorry."

"Did something happened, baby?" Stevie's eyebrows were creased as she looked at her distressed daughter.

"Not really." Mia shook her head, sniffling. "I wanted to come home maybe after a week. I was afraid to ask you, because I know I hurt you behaving the way I did. I just couldn't see it. I spent this whole time at... at some house. I should have felt like I was at home, with my Dad, but..." Mia shrugged. "He's never there. He just throws money at me, so I could buy something pretty for myself. I leave for school in the morning, he's asleep. I come back, he's asleep or he's gone. I want to wish him a goodnight before I go to bed, he's gone or he's busy." Mia spat the last word out. "I had a lot of time to think and I realized that there's something I can't buy, no matter how much money Dad gives me." Mia paused for a moment, a tear slipping down her cheek as she said. "Your love. You've loved me unconditionally, always, and as a thank you I was an immature brat."

"Oh, honey..." Stevie embraced her daughter in a tight hug. Rubbing circles across her back, Stevie said. "Like you just said, I have and I will always love you unconditionally. I hate that you were afraid of opening up to me."

"I felt that I didn't deserve you..." Mia admitted quietly, breaking Stevie's heart. 

The two remained seated like that for a while. Stevie was stroking Mia's hair, softly singing to her, until she calmed down and eventually stopped crying. 

"I hope I won't be a nuisance like I was at Dad's."

"Why do you say that?" Stevie asked.

"Dad's got some tramp living with him and when he wasn't there, she kept telling me that I'm standing in their way. And you've got a man at home too."

"Listen to me." Stevie pulled back, cradling Mia's face in her hands. "No one will ever stand between me and my children. If I found out that Ryan said something like that to you, he'd be gone just like that." She emphasized snapping her fingers.

A glimpse of a smile appeared on Mia's face as she hugged her mother again. She felt safe in Stevie's arms. "I love you."

Stevie hadn't heard those words from Mia for too long. She pressed a kiss to her daughter's hair and echoed her words. "I love you."

~

A bit of a filler. I know it seems like this Stevie/Lindsey/Mick thing is repeating again and again, but it's leading to something, I promise. Thanks for reading ♥