"Lindsey, that is absolutely cheating!" She screeched, throwing her cards on the table, "Do you even know the rules of Go Fish?!"
"It is not cheating!" He laughed at her, "Don't be a sore loser!"
"You only get 7 cards at a time!!!"
"I think it's 8."
"You're wrong."
"GO FISH!" He shouted playfully at her, messing up her pile of cards, causing them both to laugh.
As they sat in the middle of the plane, Mick, Christine, and John watched in relief as the two of them finally seemed to be getting along again after a tense week. They were all on the way to the band's next tour stop: Denver. Followed by the highly-anticipated destination: Vegas. Mick made sure to have a night full of fun plans for them all after that show, and he was already itching with excitement. They hadn't been to Vegas in YEARS. And now that Stevie and Lindsey were talking again, that meant they could all actually have fun.
Lindsey and Stevie laughed, taking their seats side by side again now that their card game ended. He watched as Stevie snuggled up under her blanket, her tiny body somehow looking even tinier all curled up like that. Lindsey tried not to take notice of how cute it was, but he let his eyes linger for a moment in admiration. They were in a good place. Four days had gone by since their rooftop conversation and after a couple minor awkward moments, they finally seemed to be finding their footing as friends. And no, they never did have that other conversation about The Dance tour...but honestly he was too scared to go there now and rock the boat with the surprisingly good place they found themselves in. He guessed Stevie felt the same, because she hadn't brought it up either.
"Will Dave be coming to any of the California shows?" Lindsey asked after a few minutes.
"He'll definitely be at the first LA night. Not sure about Anaheim or Sacramento. They're weekend shows and he's got the kids, so it may be tough to bring them all. What about your family?"
"Yeah Kristen will be there. I think the kids are all coming to the first LA night too, Will was already saying he wanted to go to the show that Lily would be at," he laughed.
She smiled, "They're so sweet."
"They are. I hope they stay that way for as long as possible."
"Me too. But for the record, you're still sweet when you want to be too," she teased with a smile, "The other times though? Very very sour."
He laughed, "Yeah yeahhhh."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something caught his eye from the stage that night. As they finished Secondhand News, he couldn't help but notice someone standing in the front row, jumping up and down waving a copy of the Buckingham Nicks vinyl all over the place. He smiled as he saw it, turning to Stevie to point in the direction of the album cover. She grinned and blushed once she saw the old photo looking back at her.
Lindsey walked up to take the copy in his hands, along with the Sharpie that the fan was holding in hopes of getting them to sign it. He turned around to Stevie to show her the record and she laughed again - covering her face and pretending to be completely embarrassed.
"Someone brought their copy of our Buckingham Nicks record," she announced into her microphone, letting the rest of the audience know what was going on. "And look how very young and cute Lindsey and I look...and very naked," she grinned.
He laughed hysterically, "How I like us best," he mouthed to her as he signed the copy, passing it in her direction to do the same.
As she did, he took over the microphone, "Stevie and I put a lot of love and hard work into this album many many years ago. And she was not only talented, but also so damn beautiful," he held up the album once again, "I mean, look at her! It's probably one of my favorite things we've ever done because it's so special. And the memories and blood and sweat and tears it took to make it are so special too."
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.