"Do you think she's okay?" Stevie was sitting in the passenger seat, staring aimlessly at the street lights passing by.
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Lindsey let out an uneven sigh. "I think she's fine, yeah." He mumbled as he used one hand to rub his tired eyes.
He was pretty annoyed- kind of fed up, actually, which really didn't go unnoticed by his wife, not for a split second. And even though she didn't quite understand why he was so frustrated, instead of worrier, she didn't think enough to ask.
Stevie didn't know he'd already had to bail their daughter out of trouble quite a few times before that, because he didn't tell her that.
"She's never done anything like this before." The irony was uncanny. "Why would they sneak out? That doesn't even sound like something Evee would do." She had tears in her eyes as she sank back into the seat a little further.
She had gotten herself pretty worked up in the short couple of minutes in between getting that phone call and getting to the car. Of course, like all mothers naturally do, she thought the absolute worst had happened... Every mother's biggest fear.
Running the palm of his hand from his forehead, down to his chin, Lindsey tried hard not to roll his eyes. "I don't know, Steph."
With heavy a sigh, Stevie reached over the center counsel to take her husbands right hand in hers. "It's okay." The tables had suddenly turned and now she was the one trying her best to assure him, which was kind of unusual.
He glanced over at her for a moment, seeing a look of pure panic lingering in those deep brown eyes as he left a couple of soft kisses along her knuckles. "I think I know where they might be." He admitted, even though he wasn't necessarily thrilled to do so... He didn't want to get in trouble, too.
She sank back in the passenger seat as her head hit the rest. "I just want her to be okay." That was her silent promise that she wasn't mad- not at him, not at her, not at anyone... She just wanted her daughter back, under her roof- that was all.
He kept her hand in his as silence washed over them.
She wasn't going to ask him where they were headed, because once they'd gotten onto the highway, she figured it out herself.
She didn't have very many rules- she wasn't actually pretty laid back compared to a lot of other parents she knew, but one thing she had made very clear was that the beach, at night was far too dangerous for teenagers.
And that's probably why it hurt her feelings so much when they pulled into the empty lot, only a couple hundred yards away from the water.
"They usually hang out under the bridge." He announced in a low voice as he shut the engine off. "Lock yourself-"
"You aren't going alone, Lindsey." She argued as she worked on unbuckling her seatbelt. "I can live with a lot of things, but I can't live without you." Stevie mumbled, pushing open the car door a moment later.
There was always crazy stuff happening down there- scary stuff, which just didn't settle well with Stevie. She didn't want to stay by herself in the car and she didn't want him to go by himself, so going together was their only option.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head a tad as he traveled around their SUV. He held out a hand for her once more, tangling their fingers together before he led the way down the rocky path.
It was a chilly night- the wind howling and the water swaying at a rapid pace.
"Slow down," she pulled his hand towards her a little more, trying to stay close as she trudged through the sand.
With his phone flash light out to guide the way, he cracked a faint smile. "This is kind of romantic, huh?" He was kidding... sort of.
She rolled her eyes playfully, even though his humor in that moment was very much appreciated. "Not at all." She assured with a soft shake of her head.
They grew quiet for a second, both of them watching their step as they headed down the rocks that led them to the bridge.
And sure enough, as they neared the underpass, the sound of loud laughs overpowered the windy night air.
There was a group of ten or eleven of them sitting around a camp fire, and listening to music through a Bluetooth speaker on full blast.
"Party's over." Lindsey's voice got so loud, it even startled Stevie a little.
All the teenagers completely froze, this stone cold look falling upon each of their faces.
Stevie's eyes scanned over the group and then, tucked in between some of her friends, with tears in her eyes was their baby... Stevie's baby.
"Your parents are all very worried." Letting go of his wife's hand, Lindsey grabbed an empty cup off the cement to fill it with water. "Clean up all this shit." He added as he splashed it on the fire, putting it out completely as all the kids scurried around to pack up their stuff.
They had board games, snacks and blankets... If they didn't know any better, they would have figured that they were all planning to spend the night out there.
Wrapping her jacket around herself tighter, Stevie's eyes followed Lindsey, trying hard not to make eye contact with their daughter.
"Are my parents mad, Mr. B?" Samantha's hands were shaking as she fumbled around to find her phone to call home.
With a soft chuckle, he nodded his head. "Yeah, probably." He didn't sugar coat stuff, not like Stevie did.
"Oh, honey, no." The older woman frowned lightly as she rolled her eyes at Lindsey's prior comment. "They just want you to be safe, that's all." She was almost certain that her parents weren't totally angry with her, but more so just really worried and anxious... That's how she felt, at least.
"Sure." Lindsey raised a brow softly as he slipped his hand in his pants pocket.
Grabbing her backpack and her blanket off the ground, Evee bit down on her lower lip. "I'm sorry, mom." She was embarrassed... So, so embarrassed that they had come out there to pick her up in front of all of her friends, but she also felt sorry for them, too.
Stevie kind of ignored her as she reached out to slip her arm in Lindsey's. "We'll drive you and Lauren home." She motioned for Samantha to start gathering her things too, while a couple of the unfamiliar kids began to scatter.
"Mom, I-" Evee was getting ready to apologize again, but the look her mother gave her was enough to silence everyone.
"Go to the car." Her voice was stern- something that was very out of the ordinary for her, especially when it came to Ev.
With tears in her eyes, she led the way back up the hill to get the parking lot- her two friends not far behind.
Lindsey wrapped an arm around Stevie's shoulders, kissing the top of her head lightly. "They're just kids." He didn't want her to stress out about it, even though he could tell that she'd already started.
Sinking into his side, she let out a heavy sigh. "We're too old for this, Lindsey."
