beautiful child

6

Lindsey smirks at Stevie as she dances over to him, throwing her arm around him and singing into his microphone. As usual, they're electric. As Stevie introduces the next song, Lindsey stands behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder. She tells a little story, and he closes his eyes. She pats his head as he starts playing, laughing at him.

The second they walk off stage, hand in hand, Stevie is greeted by a screaming Kristen.

"I told you not to give him any ideas!"

"What are you talking about?" Stevie demands, crossing her arms. Kristen is fuming.

"What was all that up there? You guys were whispering to each other all night."

"Kris, calm down," Lindsey says softly, stepping between them.

"Lindsey, why are you defending her? She's trying to rip you away from your family. She's got her filthy little homewrecking claws in you already?"

"Hey," Lindsey snaps. Even Stevie jumps at that.

"I'm an adult, Kristen. I'm in charge of myself."

"She's trying to take you away from me, can't you see?" Kristen asks, grabbing onto Lindsey's arm. Stevie takes a step back, the wind suddenly knocked out of her. She won't take that away from him.

"She's not," Lindsey yells back, yanking his arm from her. She gives him a confused look. Stevie takes another small step back, bumping into the wall. They've gathered a crowd of onlookers. Mick, John and practically half the crew.

"How do you explain the fact that you seem to hate me every time you come home from working with her? I'm not her, Lindsey. Stop comparing us!"

"That's right, you're not her! I love her, Kristen!" Lindsey snaps, pushing through the crowd and storming off.

"Lindsey," Kristen calls. Mick looks to Stevie, who is shaking her head.

"He needs to be alone right now. He'll blow up again," Stevie says softly, tears streaming down her face. John steps forward to stop Kristen from going after Lindsey. She turns to Stevie, tears in her eyes too.

"Stay away from him."

Stevie only nods, covering her mouth as she sobs. Kristen storms off the other way. Stevie braces herself against the wall with one hand, the other pressed to her stomach. She's nearly doubled over, sobbing.

She knows Lindsey feels terrible. She does too, knowing that, slowly, she's ruining his life. She's pulling him away slowly, almost easily. She can't continue, she knows.

Stevie lets Karen guide her to the car and get her into her hotel room. Stevie takes a hot shower, letting herself cry it out.

She's laying on the bed in her comfiest pajamas, emotionally exhausted but too wound up to sleep, when there's a knock on her door. Almost painfully, she pulls herself out of bed.

She's surprised to see Lindsey standing outside her door. She ushers him inside quickly.

"I'm sorry," She says softly.

"Stevie-"

"She's right, Linds. I'm pulling you away from them. I can't do that to you."

Lindsey rubs a hand down his face.

"Stevie, you're so stubborn. Kristen and I talked. When I get home, I'm going to stay at the condo. She thinks we need some time apart, and I agree. We both need time to figure out what we want."

Lindsey steps toward Stevie, pushing her hair behind her ear. She grabs his wrist, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Are you alright?" She asks.

"Perfect. Are you alright?"

Stevie nods, just leaning against him. She's suddenly more exhausted than she thought physically possible. Lindsey guides her back to bed, both of them falling asleep quickly.

Stevie wakes with Lindsey's face buried in her neck. Her hands go to his hair immediately. She can't ever seem to get enough of his curls. He stirs, but doesn't wake. Stevie lets herself drift off again. Having him with her seems to make her forget about everything.

Lindsey kisses Stevie's cheek softly, playing with the pendent around her neck. She nuzzles into him, reaching for his hand.

"Lindsey, I love you," She mumbles, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

"I love you too, Steph."

She smiles, looking up at him with nothing but pure adoration. His heart nearly bursts, and he leans down to kiss her. It escalates quickly.

Stevie wipes the tears from her eyes, gripping tightly to Lindsey's bicep.

"Are you alright?" He asks, pushing a stray piece of hair from her sweaty forehead. She nods, pulling him down on top of her. She runs her hand over his bare back, her nails scratching lightly. Stevie pushes his sweaty curls from his forehead, her hand resting on his face.

"I love you, baby," He says, hand resting on her hip, their legs tangled together.

"I love you too."

Stevie leans down and kisses her forehead. They lay like that most of the day, just enjoying being with each other.

They each shower and change into fresh clothes. Lindsey disappears to his room to grab his guitar and actual pajamas. When he returns, Stevie is ordering room service. She's asked him to help her cut a demo.

He warms up on his guitar for a few minutes while she gets her lyrics sorted out.

"Okay, are you ready?" She asks. Lindsey nods. Stevie sings the melody she's been thinking of, and Lindsey plays a few chords, making her back up a few times so he can perfect a riff. They finish it in about two hours. Lindsey only puts his input in a few times, which pleases Stevie. She's satisfied with the demo, so she gets to work finishing another song. Lindsey messes around on his guitar while Stevie writes.

He starts playing a familiar tune and Stevie looks up. His eyes are closed, and she watches him, smiling. He opens his eyes when he's done.

"I love that song."

"Well, I sure hope so, since it's yours."

Stephanie had always been her favorite song. Stevie takes Lindsey's hand, stroking her thumb over his knuckles.

"Stevie," Lindsey says, squeezing her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the fights we had, and all the awful things I ever said to you. I hated fighting with you, even when we were living together."

"Linds, you're not the same person you were back then. You're off drugs. You're more mature. And, you're not the only one to blame. You know how I get," She jokes. "Thank you for apologizing. I'm sorry too, for putting you through everything I did. I know it couldn't have been easy watching me hit rock bottom."

"I loved you through it all," Lindsey says, setting his guitar down, pulling Stevie into his lap.

"I know. So did I."

Stevie rests her head on his shoulder, fingers rubbing lightly up and down his forearm.

"I missed being with you like this, just us. It's nice," She says softly, kissing his jaw. Lindsey nods.

"I know."

Stevie goes to bed a little while later, but Lindsey stays up, working on his own song. As she falls asleep to the sound of him working out a melody on his guitar, she smiles. It reminds her of when they were living together in their tiny little apartment, their mattress on the floor.