Shameless

When I See you Again

Three weeks passed, and Stevie found herself desperately trying to escape the feeling that something was missing, that things weren’t perfectly fine the way they had always been. Most days she managed to convince herself that her reaction to everything had been ridiculous. Truth is, she had simply gotten way too used to him: Way too used to tell him about whatever dumb shit happened: really, wasn’t it just as well to tell it to one of the dozens of people who were constantly surrounding her? Way too used to curling up against him while they watched crappy tv that neither were particulary interested in, 'cause they could never agree on what to watch. It was much better to be able to decide without annoying interjections, she would nod to herself. Way too used to sleeping next to him, way too used to waking up way, way too early to him strumming his guitar or just wandering around, wating for her to wake up. Much better to wake up when she wanted to. Definitely. Not to mention that she had gotten way too used to how he, the second she started stirring, would slide back under the covers and curl up against her as she properly woke up. She didn’t really want anyone to see her before she put her makeup on anyway. No matter how good it felt. Yeah, she’d simply allowed herself to get too used to him. That was it. She loved him, but didn’t need him around all the time.  

All her conviction were usually shattered the second someone mentioned his name, or she saw his picture, hell, sometimes it only took someone wandering by with curly hair, or blue eyes, though they never could compare with his. Worst were the nights. She felt like a proper cliché laying there, envisioning his arms around her, lips on hers, body pressed firmly against her. Those hands, not to mention… well, the latter part she could make believe had nothing to do with love per se, nothing to do with needing him. Maybe just a man she tried. She instantly knew it had to be him. Was it the same for him, she wondered, knowing their situations were quite different. For him, it wouldn’t just be a woman. It would be a wife. A wife who knew. Oh, she hated herself for it, but that latter thought did give her some level of satisfaction.

Finally, the day arrived. She knew what it would entail: a ridiculously early flight, followed by a short string of interviews, a quick rehearsal and sound check, then the show. And Lindsey, she smiled. Lindsey. She was humming quite happily, as she suddenly noticed Karen’s rather amused look. “What?” “Nothing, just usually, this time of day, I’m stuck with the grumpy banshee version of you, not the laughing nymph. Not to mention we appear to be slightly ahead of schedule. Not just the actual schedule, but the fifteen minutes early fake time I usually give you so that we’ll be slightly less late”. Stevie smiled “Maybe I’m just exited to get back on the road. wouldn’t want to keep everyone waiting”. “Sure, that’s it. I buy it. You’ve just suddenly, after 66 years, developed an appreciation for other people’s time. Has nothing what so ever  to do with Curly”. Stevie simply bounced past her “Nope, nothing” she sing-songed, able to do absolutely nothing about the massive smile on her face.

As they approached the airport, she could feel her nerves creeping in. She couldn’t wait to see him again, but still found herself somewhat scared that things would be different somehow. That he would pull away from her. “So this is what the lounge looks like when you’re on time” she wondered out loud as she quickly scanned it. There he was. Had he gotten more handsome? She could feel her smile take over her face again. Three weeks shouldn’t feel this long. Had he missed her as much as she had missed him? In the darkest hours she’d wondered if he found the comfort, everything he needed when they were separate with her. Granted, she knew her place in his heart, but still…She was there, Stevie wasn’t. The smile on his face as he saw her told her everything she needed to know.

She tried not to rush approaching him, not to jump straight into his arms. Wouldn’t look too good to give everything away the first five seconds of the tour. He might have been trying the same, but gave it up the second she was within reaching distance as he immediately engulfed her in a massive, tight hug. God it felt good to be back in his arms. “Hi” she grinned, voice slightly higher than intended, as he let her go just about enough so she could bring her face close to his. “Hi” he grinned right back, neither being able to control it, even as she could feel Karen’s massive eyeroll. “Um, I need to talk to you…alone, about…things” she stumbled. Yeah, not acting like a teenager was so far not going well she noted, for either of them. “Very real, very subtle things” Karen muttered behind them. They tried to find some private area, but Karen seemed to be following them, and no amount of staring scared her off. Finally, they decided to just enter the plane. Karen had more to organize, and while  the others had just arrived, knowing them, it would take at least a little while for them to follow. Stevie figured they would at least get a few moments of privacy.  Once inside, she giddily met him in a kiss, while he steered them towards their usual seats. They’d just sat down with a blanket over them, more to cover searching hands than for warmth, lips once again finding each other in between sweet nothings, as she heard chatter nearing the door. He swore under his breath as their lips separated. They never were this quick in actually getting onto the plane. Oh well, soon enough everyone would be dozing off, and this early, everyone usually preferred to sit separate from everyone else. Everyone but them. She squeezed his thigh under the blanket and tried to give him a reassuring smile. That smile disappeared quickly as Christine gracefully plumped down across from them, raising her eyebrow, before innocently intoning ““Well hello there! Someone’s quite the early bird for once!”

Stevie longingly looked at the bathroom door, but quickly tossed it aside. Trapped. So close, and yet… Around them, everyone seemed to be sleeping, or pretty close to it anyway. Everyone but Christine, who with the biggest grin on her face was trying to engage them in conversation with question after question: “You guys sure disappeared quickly?” “Speaking of disappearing, where’d you go at the party?” “And do tell me about your time off, what did you do?”. Stevie curled up closer to Lindsey, and yawned exaggeratedly, Christine never used to be this socially dense, nor did she care about the details of Lindsey’s family holiday Stevie was quite certain of. She was having a hard time keeping the irritation off her face. So was Lindsey she bemusedly noted with a look in his direction. Her hand rested on his stomach, itching to go just a bit lower, and she could still feel his on her thigh. Way to decently placed, fingers clearly dancing as they always did when he didn’t have something occupying them. God she wanted to be what occupied them. She looked at that door again. ‘Maybe? No, no, no’. She huffed in frustration and placed her head on his shoulder, swearing she could see a smirk on Christine’s lips.

Due to bad weather they had to circle the airport for a good forty minutes before finally landing. Forty minutes they were supposed to have to themselves before the interview. Forty minutes she and Lindsey could have put to good use. Watching Karen and others hurriedly discuss, she realized plans were probably made to just head directly to the interview instead. Finally, she must have dozed off, as she woke from a sharp thud as they landed, which did nothing to help her mood.

*No updates for a little week as I will be travelling, but wanted to post one more part before i leave. As always: thank you so much for reading :) *