One whole week went by, and Stevie and Lindsey actually managed to stay true to their word and stay away from each other. Sadly, it was way easier to just not speak at all, unless it was something work-related, than pretend to be over what had happened, and so they were pretty much ignoring each other at this point. Stevie was just glad they weren't fighting, again.
It was October 3rd, Lindsey's birthday, when things once again took a turn for them. Tonight's show was taking place in Glasgow. The whole band had already arrived at the arena, and after a brief soundcheck, they were all now getting ready for the show later on. Christine had not come along. After joining Fleetwood Mac onstage for "Don't stop" in England, she had decided to go back home, again. Stevie had been sad, to say the least. Christine had been the only one she had been able to talk to about what had happened between her and Lindsey. On top of that, having one of her best friends close had also helped to stay away from her ex and distract her to some extent.
After keeping a close eye on her, Stevie had decided to not talk to Chris about her increased alcohol consumption. She had been an addict herself for many years and knew that every intervention from friends and family members had only made her consume even more substances. Instead, she had called several of Christine's friends who lived close, and asked them to visit and call more often. Stevie knew from experience that loneliness was often a trigger when it came to drug abuse, alcohol was no different, but Chris had to realize that herself.
After her make-up artist had made the final touches on her eyes and hair, Stevie was now standing in front of Lindsey's dressing room. She was nervous to talk to him alone but it was his birthday after all, and she knew he was probably upset he wouldn't be able to spend it with his family. She took a deep breath, then knocked softly at the door, the sound of a strumming guitar stopping abruptly.
"Who is it?"
"Umm, it's me."
"Stevie?", Lindsey asked in surprise before pulling the door open to take a look outside.
"Hey...", Stevie said softly, a shy smile taking over her face as his piercing blue eyes settled on her, "I just, umm, wanted to wish you a happy birthday. And, umm, give you a little something." She handed him a small box, beautifully wrapped in dark red fancy paper.
Curiously, Lindsey took it from her, his eyes travelling back up to her face. "You shouldn't have...", he said with a shake of his head, but his genuine smile told her he was more than happy about the gesture. "I almost thought you forgot..."
"I would never forget your birthday, Linds.", she said, slightly offended by his statement.
"No, that's not...", Lindsey stopped mid-sentence, then took a look down the hall to make sure they were alone before saying, "I just thought that after what happened between us... I mean, you didn't say anything earlier during soundcheck, so I thought-"
"Just do me a favor and don't open it up just yet. Can you do that?", Stevie interrupted his rambling. It was almost cute to see him struggling so much, but the thought that he might have had the impression she didn't remember his birthday after knowing him for almost her whole life, had indeed hurt her a little. It almost made her question, if he had actually understood what she had been trying to tell him during their last heart-to-heart talk just about a week ago.
"Of course.", Lindsey was quick to reply, hoping to not anger her any further, before adding, "Why, though?"
"I just... it's a little personal, you know." Now, Stevie was the one rambling, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink, "I don't want it to affect tonight's show. Just open it up later, when you're alone in your room."
"Okay.", Lindsey said understandingly and nodded.
Stevie smiled briefly, then turned around to leave, again, but Lindsey's fingers slipping in-between hers, stopped her. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath of air before turning to face him once more, "Yeah?"
"I just... thank you, Steph.", he said before pulling her into a warm hug.
The feeling of his strong arms wrapping her into a tight embrace was all it took to make her melt on the spot. All of a sudden, she felt weak in the knees and her heart beat a little faster than before. The unmistakable scent of his cologne mixed in with his own very unique body odor didn't help either, as it just made her want to bury her face in his neck and never let go, again.
Apparently, Lindsey seemed to be on the same page, because instead of pulling back as he probably should have done, he just tightened his hold around her waist, one hand travelling up the length of her back to tangle in her golden hair as he pressed his lips against her forehead, "I miss you."
Stevie slowly shook her head. She was fighting this so hard, but once again, Lindsey knew instinctively what to say and do to make her reconsider everything she had been so sure was the right thing to do in their current situation, which was ending things between them in favor of his wife and kids back at home.
"Please, don't do this to me.", she pleaded in a quiet voice, "You're only making it worse."
Lindsey nodded subtly, then squeezed her small body one more time before letting go of her. "I'm sure you're going to be amazing onstage, tonight. But then again, you always are.", she only heard him say before he turned around and disappeared inside his dressing room without as much as looking at her, again.
__________
A couple hours later, Stevie entered her hotel suite in Glasgow. They had two days off before their next gig in Germany and she was just happy to have some time to herself.
Tonight's show went over without special incidents. The whole band and crew was in top form at this point, and it showed in everybody's performance.
After bidding Karen a good night, she pulled of her clothes, pinned her long blonde hair up on top of her head and drew herself a nice hot bath. Sinking into the warm water, she sighed contentedly. Scented candles were lighting up the room and filling the air with one of her favorite smells - a mixture of coconuts and vanilla.
Stevie had just closed her eyes and started to relax, when the ringing of her fire phone disturbed the silence. Curiously, she reached for her glasses to see who was calling since only a handful of people knew this number. A look at the name caused her to sigh heavily.
"What do you want?", she asked exasperatedly.
"Hey...", she heard Lindsey's voice greeting her.
Stevie rolled her eyes, "Lindsey, why are you calling this number? It's for emergencies."
"Yeah, well, this happens to be one."
Stevie sat up straight in the tub, "Why? What's going on? Did you hurt youself? Are you sick?"
The instant worry in Stevie's voice amused and warmed his heart at the same time, "Can you come over?"
"Wh-No! Tell me what happened, first."
"Please?", Lindsey asked softly.
"I'm in the tub. If you're not hurt or sick, I'm going to end this conversation, right now.", Stevie said sternly.
"You're in the tub?", Lindsey asked as if that was the only thing she had just said, the excitement about this specific information unmistakable.
"Goodnight, Lindsey."
"Wait.", Lindsey said quickly before she could hang up the phone, "I'm serious."
"So? What did happen that you want me to get out of the water, get dressed again and come over to your room, huh?", Stevie asked with a furrowed brow. That man was going to be the death of her one day.
"Today's my birthday...", Lindsey said lamely, "And I just opened up your present." His answer caused Stevie to close her eyes and sigh. When she didn't answer him, he continued, "I was surprised to say the least. I had no idea you had it."
"Well, I did.", she managed to say before biting down on her bottom lip.
"I was wondering where it got to... For years, I thought I had lost it."
"Well, you kinda did.", Stevie said, "You left it at my house about two years ago."
"Wait... you mean, during the making of your solo record?"
"Yeah...", Stevie nodded, "After you had already left again, I found the necklace on top of one of the shelves in the guest bathroom."
"Why didn't you give it back to me sooner?", Lindsey asked in surprise, "I loved this necklace. It meant something to me."
"It did?" Now, Stevie was the one who sounded surprised by his answer. She had thought that it couldn't have been that important to him since he never brought it up after leaving it behind, nor had he ever told her he was missing it.
"Of course. It was from you."
Once again, Stevie didn't say a word, so Lindsey disturbed the silence that had surrounded them to repeat his previous question, "Will you come over?"
"You know, I can't do that.", she tried to reason with him.
"Please?"
"Lindsey..."
"I wouldn't ask, if it wasn't important to me. It's just that today is my birthday and I really don't want to be alone, tonight."
"You know that we actually wanted to throw you a party, go out for drinks, celebrate with you, but you said no.", Stevie reminded him.
"Yeah, I know but I don't want any of that."
"Well, what do you want, then?"
"I want you."