"You must hate me." Lindsey let go of her and hung his head low.
"You hurt me by lying so much, but I could never hate you." Stevie crossed her arms, looking at him.
"If I were you, I would be screaming at me right now."
"Really, I simply want you to tell me why? You saw me Lindsey, you knew I wasn't as strong, I was fragile, even if we could joke about it."
"Would you believe me if I said I don't know why I've been acting like that?"
"I don't want you to answer me with a question, I just want you to tell me the truth. I gave you a chance then, if I were you, I wouldn't waste this one, because it will be the very last time we see each other."
"The day you were coming back from rehab, Karen called me."
"My assistant?"
"Yes, she said I should come see you."
"But we didn't... I didn't ask her to tell you that."
"I know, but she said you're as stubborn as ever and you wouldn't pick up the phone yourself, but it's about time we talk. And I was honest, saying that I couldn't get you off my mind, I don't know why, but that part was true. When I finally saw you, I knew that we should set our differences aside, talk it out and try again."
"While you were living with another woman."
"If I had told you then, you would have thrown me out the same second. I couldn't tell you, but I couldn't break it off with Jennifer either, because she was carrying my baby."
"You should have told me, Lindsey!"
"I understand that now."
"You don't think now is too late?"
"It probably is." He still couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. "I have never wanted to hurt you intentionally. I just didn't know how to deal with it. I got so caught up with being around you again, I would sometimes even forget someone else was waiting for me to come home. And yes, I do hear myself, and it sounds horrible, but it's all because I love you with all my heart, Stevie. I couldn't let you go again."
"You didn't have me, Lindsey. You came to my parent's house, invited yourself into my room and decided we should give it another shot. I can't lie, I had butterflies at the thought of being with you again, because I never did not love you. It was wonderful, you were wonderful to me. At first I felt completely worthless, but in a seriously short period of time you made me feel beautiful again, I got self-confident again, enough to undress in front of you, to let you look at me, to let you make love to me. You have no idea how hard it was for me, but you brought that back for me. Only for me to find out how everything was a lie, how you simply wanted to get me into bed and be done with me."
"That isn't and never was true, Stevie. You can't question my feelings for you!"
"I'm in my forties, Lindsey. This whole lying, cheating, heart breaking isn't what I want. I'm not saying you don't love me, but I don't need everything that comes with you. All I want is to have your heart, be happy and grown old with you. But I was right saying this would never happen for us, there's just no right way for us."
"You're just as in love with me as I am with you, Steph. We can go on and on about this for hours, but it all remains the same. We hurt each other, we can't leave that behind us."
"Then why are we even talking about this if we can't put it behinds us? We will never work out, we tried, so many times, Lindsey... Either you or I would always be left with a shattered heart. I'll be okay, you know. I'm tough, I'll pull through this. You should go home and sort things out with Jennifer. She's a lovely girl and I don't understand why you've done so much to hurt her too. She loves you, Lindsey, and you two will have a baby soon. It will be alright, the wounds will heal and we'll be fine." Stevie was staring straight ahead while talking, so she jerked her head in his direction, hearing a quiet whimper escaping from him. "Linds?"
He refused to connect their eyes, cocking his head up. "She's gone."
"What are you saying?"
"Jennifer's gone, she left me."
"She did what? When did this happen?"
"About two weeks ago, maybe three." He shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"Well, why did she do it? Besides the obvious reasons or was it just that?"
Lindsey shook his head, taking some time before speaking up again. "She said she loved me, but I was too hard for her to handle, that she stayed with me because of the baby."
"And she decided that after all she would be better on her own?"
"Not really." Another pause. "She fell..."
Stevie gasped, bringing a hand up to her mouth. "Don't tell me that..."
"Yeah."
"Oh my God, Lindsey, I'm so sorry!" She rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him as he quietly sobbed in her hair, only after a while, putting his arms around her too. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I thought you didn't know about Jennifer or the baby, I thought it was better to just keep my mouth shut."
She was rubbing his back, trying to calm him down and it was working as they were simply holding onto each other now. "I can't imagine what you must be going through."
"You can, Stevie. You know exactly how it feels." He squeezed her body tighter, bringing tears to her eyes as well. "God, I screwed it all up... I lost them and I lost you, too. I'm this close to losing myself also."
"Hey, don't talk like that!"
"There's nothing left to live for. I can't forgive myself and I know you could never do it either."
"You still have me."
Lindsey lifted his head up, confusion, shock and surprise written across his face. "How can you say that after everything I've done to you?"
"Maybe I've gone mad." She touched the side of his face, smiling a little. "I want you, Lindsey, still. What I don't want is for you to lie to me again. I don't want any other women involved, nothing. I want you and me, together."
"Are you serious?"
"Deadly."
"You're an angel!" He drew her closer again, kissing her lips. "I'm so sorry for all of it, you have to at least believe me I didn't do it on purpose. Stevie, I love you, you're the most important part of my life."
"I love you, too. But I'm telling you, Lindsey, and I mean it, I'm giving you the very last chance. You blow it this time, we're over for good."
"I don't deserve you."
"You don't, but I can't imagine my life without you."
"I'll never, I promise, I'll never do you wrong."
"I couldn't handle it, Lindsey." They spent another moment in silence, trying to take it all in. "You said, if I asked you, you would never walk out that door again."
"That's right."
"So..."
"So..." He mimicked, knowing perfectly well where she was going with it.
"I don't want you to ever leave me. Stay here, stay with me. Forever."
"Forever."
He echoed her words and captured her lips, unbelievably grateful for the heart of gold she had. He would never cause her pain, from now on, he would only love her.
THE END
~
Thank you for reading another one of my stories! I said this was going to be short and it was, but I have to admit, this story was the least favorite one of what I've written so far. It took a turn in the beginning that I didn't think it would and I found myself not enjoying writing it as much. Anyway... Thanks!
