Stay With Me a While

Part 21

They lay together for a while longer. They steered away from heavy conversations and reminisced about better times instead. There was no chance that any more work was going to be done, so Lindsey suggested they should migrate into the house. Stevie was a bit hesitant. The studio was his, it was a safe place and she couldn't be sure if her mood and attitude regarding their situation wasn't going to change abruptly. 

Stevie asked if they could move into her room and Lindsey saw no reason to disagree. She changed out of her clothes and into a nightgown in front of him and he was glad, they'd gotten back that level of security in each other's presence again. He would have gladly undressed, too, but he didn't want to assume that she was going to let him stay with her throughout the night. After all, everything was happening on Stevie's terms. 

"I'll be right back." Lindsey rolled out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Stevie asked, her back resting against the headboard, Sulamith peacefully sleeping on her lap. 

"To get something." He didn't elaborate as he walked out. It took Lindsey a few minutes, before he returned and took his place beside Stevie again. She tried to look, what he was holding, but he made sure, she couldn't. "I have a box of things that are near and dear to my heart. I don't open it often, but..." Lindsey looked at the picture himself first, then handed it to Stevie. "This was taken during a very bad time for us. While we were recording Tusk, I set out to hurt you, because I was still hurting, too."

Stevie couldn't remember, what song they were working on, she couldn't remember much about that period of time in general. She stared at the two of them, Lindsey sitting at the piano, she was standing next to him, a sincere smile on her face, one of the very few, she'd given him then. 

"We were trying to figure out the harmonies on Angel." Lindsey continued. "For some reason, I remember that clearly. And you know, why, I think, that is?" Stevie shook her head slightly. "Because we went out of our way to keep hurting each other, hating each other. But in that moment, you smiled at me and my heart skipped a beat. I hadn't seen you smile so genuinely in forever. What I'm trying to say is that this picture shows that even though we might be going through a hell of a lot, there are still moments, when we look at each other and we're able to forget everything just for a second, except for the fact that there's still love there and it will always be there." He noticed that her eyes welled up with tears, but he didn't think she was upset. "You probably have this one, though."

Sniffling, Stevie shook her head and smiled tearfully. "I don't."

"I want you to have it." Lindsey said, lacing their fingers together, he brought her hand up to his lips. 

"Are you sure? It means a lot to you, Linds."

"You mean a lot to me." He emphasized.