Shameless

Miss me?

He lay, staring into darkness, Kristen in deep sleep beside him, not a sound in the house. Checking his watch, noting it was just past 2, he sighed. Touring always did this to him, his entire daily rhythm shifted. He figured it wasn't entirely fair to blame Stevie for this, but picking up his phone, he decided it would be fun anyway. One glance at the blonde on his left however stopped him. He was home now, someone's husband and father, not someone's...what really? They never had been able to figure that one out. "Eternal pains in each others asses" she'd suggested once, and he smiled at the memory. Another memory, this one from that very day shot through him, and he instinctively got out of bed, taking his phone out of the room with him. He broke many rules he knew, but thinking about them when in bed with his wife just felt wrong, even for him. His fingers automatically found her name, ignoring her cell in favour of her landline.

"Miss me?" she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she heard his voice through the line. "What do you want?" surprise sounding more like gruffness. "Clearly, that's a no" he chuckled "Oh stop it. Just figured you had others occupying your time" "Stevie, it's 2 at night, others are sleeping. It's only for you it's still early evening" "And what are you doing up, on the phone? Shouldn't you be sensibly sleeping mister family man?" "Thought we established earlier that neither of us are particulary sensible" he joked in a low seductive voice, before admitting "Couldn't sleep. Thought of you". "How sweet. Missed me huh?" "I believe I asked you that question first" "And I will answer if you answer first" "When did we turn into teenagers?" "Honestly honey, were we ever not?" "Guess not, can't seem to help it when I'm with you" "That a good thing?" "Doubt it". Both laughed and a comfortable silence fell over them, before he continued "So how was your night" "Oh, very interesting ride home. Since then I've been intensely journaling 'till someone rudely interrupted me" she joked "Journaling about me?" "Maybe" "Nice things?" "Have you been nice?" "To you, I'd say very". Voice again low and growling. She could practically hear his stupid grin, and wanted to kiss it off him. They kept talking about everything and nothing , both expertly avoiding the subject of his night. Simpler that way. Finally Stevie could hear the sleepiness creeping into Lindsey's voice, and they said their goodbyes. "Oh, and Linds?" "Yeah?" "I did miss you". She hung up before he had the chance to reply.

Kristen was back in the audience the next night. The backstage area was littered with an unusual amount of people, and the band members basically found themselves busy entertaining before the show even started. Lindsey arrived a bit later than usual, wife and Will in tow. Stevie greeted them both, and made some polite chitchat with Kristen, while Lindsey was mostly silent. She often wondered just how uncomfortable he found the idea of the two talking. Will was obviously in that teenage phase where parents were just not cool, yet obviously still torn, trying hard not to show that dad being a rock star was just a little bit exciting anyway. He was soon distracted by someone much younger and interesting than them, and went wandering away. "Oh, he'll be a proper heartbreaker, just like ol' dad" smile reaching Stevie's eyes as she gazed into Lindsey's blue and touched his chest, before remembering that they were not alone. Attention turning to Kristen, she shot her a conspiratorial smile, "Better watch out, you're way too young to be a grandmother". As she inwardly cringed, wondering if she just managed to make things better or worse, Mick showed up and gave Kristen a big hug. Behind their backs Lindsey raised his eyebrows at Stevie, who could do nothing but shrug and mouth 'sorry' in response. She silently thanked Mick for his intrusion. For a drummer, his timing could often be comically bad, but right now it was absolutely impeccable.

Later, as she left her dressing room fully made up, she searched for him. She knew him well enough to know he'd probably wanted some time alone before the show, and found him in a secluded hallway. "Hiding, little introvert?" He smiled as she approached "Why aren't you out there? Just your kind of scene" "This is my kind of scene", reaching out to him. He quickly grabbed her and pulled her close, kissing her deeply. He pulled slightly away, resting his forehead on hers. "Tonight, I can't... I mean" "I get it" she quickly interjected. "Last night before we go back on the road. You need to be a family man, I get it." "No band meeting" she finished, and winked at him, attempting to show how very ok she was with everything, as she tried to push away the disappointment that flashed across her. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips and sighed, before he signaled for them to leave. "Oh, you're going to have to kiss me harder than that Buckingham. It has to last for a while, plus you've already messed up my lipstick, so better make it count" She'd barely gotten out the words before he spinned her around and pinned her against the wall, lips crashing on hers. A whimper was all she could muster as he let them get up for air. "Hard enough miss Nicks?" he whispered in her ear, arms trapping hers above her head. "You know me, I always have to test something twice before I can make an informed..." His lips decended on hers again, tongue quickly demanding an entrance. If he was going to spend the evening away from her, he sure as hell was going to think of her she thought as she arched her body against his, vaguely aware of a voice shouting "Five minutes!" on the speaker.

First show back on the road, Stevie stood in front of Micks drums with her back to the audience as she heard Lindsey receive his audulation. Oh how he loved this. She waited, till finally she felt him against her. He gave her a quick kiss to the back of her head, lingering a bit longer than usual. She leant back into him for a beat. "Later?" It was more a statement than a question, still she confirmed "My room". It was good to be gone from LA.