Destiny Rules

Chapter 27

She smiled at him, pulling him into a tight hug on stage as the crowd roared for them. They bowed and handed back the record to the fan before returning to the set, ready to start the next song. Stevie looked back at him once more before turning towards the audience, the look of genuine happiness on her face hard to ignore as she replayed the speech he just gave into the mic over in her head once more.

"Come onnnn Stevie, just come out for one drink with us," Mick begged as they all stood backstage after the show.

She rolled her eyes, "I thought we were going out tomorrow night in Vegas?"

"We are! But this is tonight!"

"Mick, I'm tiredddd," she groaned.

Lindsey eyed her closely from across the room, wondering if she would surrender to Mick's annoying pleading and go out with them. He really didn't want to go if she wasn't going, and he secretly hoped they would get to hang out for a bit tonight.

"Stevie, I'm just staying for one drink then going to bed. We can leave together," Christine chimed in.

"Lindsey, are you going?" Stevie asked curiously.

His head snapped up to her quickly, "Are you? I mean, yeah, yeah I'll go for a drink."

She turned back to Christine, "Fine, one drink, that's all! I am exhausted. And the way Mick keeps going on about Vegas, I'll need all the rest in the world to make it through that night."

Christine laughed, "That's the spirit!"

A group of band and crew members found themselves seated at a large semi-circle booth table later that night. The bar was down the street from the hotel they were staying at and dimly-lit with a live band performing. Much to his delight, Lindsey ended up squished next to Stevie in the booth, Christine on the other side of him as they all piled in. He pretended not to noticed the way her entire leg was pressed tightly against his, or the way her heel kept grazing his calf as she nervously swung it around under the table.

"So, when is the Buckingham Nicks reissue coming?" John teased.

"Oh god," Stevie laughed, "I couldn't believe that fan brought that record tonight, how sweet?"

"You guys really should do a reissue..." Mick added.

"They need our supervision on all projects to ensure they don't kill each other," Christine joked.

The table laughed and Stevie shot her a playful glare, "Not true!"

Lindsey turned to face Stevie with a grin, "Kind of true."

With a scoff she playfully pushed him and rolled her eyes, everyone laughing, "Don't start with me," she teased. Before he could say anything, the feeling of her hand squeezing his upper thigh sent shockwaves throughout his entire body. He was sure she felt him jolt at her touch. And now as he saw her biting her bottom lip from the corner of his eye, he knew she did.

"What if we did....a new Mac album," Mick grinned.

The table went silent, and Lindsey felt Stevie's grasp on his thigh loosen. None of them quite knew what to say, all nervously waiting for someone to speak up first.

"You're serious?" Christine finally asked.

"Yeah! Why not? We've already proven we've still got it out there, every show sold out within hours. We're still hot."

"Well...I do have some material that could be better for the band than my solo stuff," Lindsey began apprehensively.

"Well, you know I'm in," John raised his beer.

They all looked to Stevie, who remained quiet.

"I uh...." Lindsey felt his heart drop as she removed her hand from his leg, taking a sip of her drink nervously instead. "I don't know guys. I'm really not sure, it's hard to commit with Lily and everything."

"We would record in LA..." Mick brought up.

"But then we would be expected to tour again?"

"Well yeah...eventually."

She nodded, "I'm not saying no yet...I'm just not saying yes yet either."

"We'll talk about it more, review some options for recording and everything. We've still got two weeks left of this leg," Mick sighed.

As everyone started talking again, Stevie felt Lindsey's palm slide up her thigh reassuringly, giving her a slight squeeze as she sat silently. She glanced over at him with a soft smile, grateful that he understood her apprehension for now. She placed her hand on top of his, lacing their fingers together under the table.

"Steves, are you ready to run? I'm beat," Christine yawned taking her final sip of wine.

"Oh. Right, yeah, I'm ready," she nodded, removing her hand from Lindsey's quickly before anyone saw.

Lindsey watched with a pouty expression as she stood and gathered her things, making her way out of the booth as John stood up and let her slide the rest of the way out. He hoped she would give him a hug goodnight, but she slipped out of the booth so quickly she didn't have a chance to. As Mick stood up to hug her, she met eyes with Lindsey over his shoulder, a soft shrug sent his way. He wanted to say he would go back with she and Christine, but he knew that would be too suspicious.

"Goodnight, Linds," she waved at him from across the table.

"Goodnight, Steves," he waved back, a pained smile on his face.

As Christine took her arm, she turned one last time while they walked out. When her eyes met Lindsey's once more, she felt the incredible pain of being friends with him again. And while she was grateful that they were on good terms, she feared the longing in these quiet, unexpected moments would somehow never go away. She shook her head, turning around and walking on. If she just kept powering through it, it would be fine.