Lindsey glanced to his right and smiled to himself, seeing Stevie in the passenger's seat, curled up into a ball as she slept. The weekend turned out to be a lot more eventful than he had imagined it. They arrived as friends, they fell out for a moment and now... well, he wasn't quite sure yet, what they were now.
Stevie must have sensed Lindsey's eyes on her as she stirred and slowly came out of her surprisingly restful sleep. A little disoriented, she took a deep breath and looked around, taking in the city they were passing by.
"I'm sorry, I fell asleep." Stevie said through a yawn.
"Why? You needed it. It's a long, boring drive anyway." Lindsey replied, focused on the road ahead.
"I promised to stay up, so you don't get sleepy."
"It's fine. We've almost made it." He waved it off, stopping at a red light. "We'll be at your house in a few minutes."
What then? Once they're there? Stevie didn't want him to just bring her home, she wanted to ask him to stay. Right now, she wasn't confident enough that Lindsey would say, yes. He suggested that they should take things slow. They had been, hadn't they? They didn't fall into bed right away in an attempt to fix their problems with intimacy. They were talking and being honest with each other. They were patient with each other, but Stevie wasn't sure, how much more patient she could be. In her mind, him wanting to take things slow, meant that he was hesitant, that he wanted to keep her close, but still keep his options open in case someone better came along. Or maybe all of that was just in her head.
"I'm so glad we're back." Lindsey said, stretching in his seat after he'd turned the car engine off. "I've gotten used to hopping on a plane, whenever I need to get somewhere."
"You could have told me that."
"No, I didn't mean it like that." He shook his head, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "No, I enjoyed the trip. Really." He added. "I'm going to get your things."
"Okay." Stevie nodded and remained seated for a minute longer. He was leaving. He was going to bring her things in and leave.
"These somehow feel heavier than when we left." Lindsey joked, putting two of her suitcases by the front door, while she looked for the keys.
"Mom put some stuff in." Stevie replied with a weak smile and slid the key into the lock.
Making one more short trip to the car, Lindsey carried the last bag in and put it down in the foyer. He'd picked up the shift in her mood and he wasn't exactly sure, what had happened. They barely spoke throughout the whole drive and he didn't think, he'd said something to upset her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lindsey asked, standing in front of her.
"I'm fine." Stevie assured. "Thank you. I'll manage from here."
His eyebrows slightly creased, he placed his hand on her shoulder, with the other he tilted her chin up, so she'd look at him. "Do you want me to go?" Stevie shrugged, unable to give him an honest response. "Because I was kinda hoping, I could stay?"
