Sitting in bed with her legs crossed, Stevie cracked open her fourth bottle of water. "Do you ever keep secrets?" She asked that like they were two best friends in college, not husband and wife- fifty years in.
Shaking his head, he leaned back into the desk. "Not from you." He assured, watching as this mischievous grin marked her face... it was almost scary. "I don't think we should talk about this right now." Lindsey wasn't a fan of drunk conversation... That's when people start to say things that they usually wouldn't and many times, it doesn't end well.
He didn't want to hear something he wasn't going to like.
"You don't ever fib to me?" Even after quite a few drinks, she knew better than to believe that. "You haven't kept anything from me, ever...?" Her words were so jumbled, her voice had completely shifted into a much higher pitch.
"Alright, why don't you lie down?" He had said that about six times in the last hour, but she just wasn't having it. "You should drink some more water and-"
"Will you hold me?" Her eyes were suddenly so sad, it caused his heart to sink. "Just for a few minutes?" She added as she slowly sank down into the bed a little further.
Nodding his head, he pulled his jacket off and set it on the chair before he slipped out of his shoes. "Of course, I'll hold you." He crawled in next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist as she slid into his side.
He laid there for a second, waiting for her to comfortable with her head on his shoulder, one leg wrapped around his middle and her hand in his hair.
"Good night, angel." Lindsey's fingers danced across the hem of her silk nightgown, pulling it up slowly to find the curve of her hip.
He knew the only thing that would help her fall asleep was a massage, which was something he did most nights anyway.
"I have a secret." She whispered, chin resting on his chest as she stared up at him.
"We don't have to do this right now, baby." He didn't want her to say something that she would regret in the morning.
She would be really embarrassed, and uncomfortable if she actually woke up and remembered it.
She leaned in closer, eyes scanning over his face as she silently begged him to kiss her. "You don't wanna know my secret?" She frowned playfully as she brought her hand up to his lips, letting the tips of her index and middle finger trace them.
He shook his head, closing his eyes as he continued to rub her back. "If you still wanna tell me in the morning, I'll be more than willing to listen." He knew she wouldn't, therefore he wasn't going to pressure her in that state.
"You're right." She sighed, eyes falling closed as well. "You might be mad at me, anyway." She added, feeling him run his fingers through her hair.
"Go to sleep, baby." He kissed her forehead once more, staring up at the ceiling, and hoping that she would just relax.
~~~
"I can't believe I did that." Stevie was sitting on the bathroom floor, leaning into the tub as she stared at her husband with a blank expression.
She'd fallen asleep shortly after the lengthy conversation that went no where, only for her to wake up in the middle of the night with a headache, and sick to her stomach.
"That was so selfish." She mumbled, head in her hands as another wave of nausea washed over her.
She couldn't recall anything after the cab ride back to the hotel, where she had begged the driver to play another Harry Styles song... even though they'd listened to three before that.
"Is Everleigh mad at me?" Stevie whispered as her eyes fell closed in hopes it would calm her down some.
"Drink some more water, Steph." He motioned towards the bottle sitting on the floor next to her. "We're gonna walk downstairs and find you some toast, or something." Lindsey was really exhausted from a night of hardly any rest.
After she'd finally fallen asleep, he crawled out of bed and waited for Evee to text him, asking him to pick her up from Lucy's apartment.
Luckily, she didn't say a thing about her mother, instead she just talked about Lucy the entire way back to the hotel. She told him all about her new line of clothing that was set to launch by the end of the year and how Lucy wanted to take her to her office sometime... It was a lot, and since he already had other stuff on his mind, all Lindsey could do was nod his head and pretend to listen.
Sucking in her bottom lip lightly, Stevie tried hard to read him. "What did I say?" She wondered as she slouched down to one side.
"Text me if you think of anything else you might want." He ignored her question again, not really in the mood to talk about it.
Biting down on her lower lip, she rubbed her temple lightly. "I can walk down there with-"
"Lucy is meeting us down there to take Ev with her to go shopping, so I'll be back in ten minutes." He knew she wasn't actually feeling up to getting out- she just didn't want to disappoint anyone.
Stevie felt so sick, she could hardly formulate words. "My purse is somewhere out there," she paused, waving lazily towards the other room. "Just give her the whole wallet."
"I got it taken care of." He stepped further into the bathroom, holding his breath as he bent down to kiss her head. "I love you." He added as he rubbed her shoulder.
Reaching up, her hand met his. "You're the best."
~~~
"Make sure your phone is always on, okay?" Lindsey trailed next to his daughter as they headed out of the elevator. "And once your mom is feeling a little
better, we'll meet you for lunch, or something." He raised a brow once his eyes fell on Lucy, who was sitting in the lobby, waiting.
"I hope she starts to feel better soon..." Ev felt terrible for leaving Stevie, but it was their last day in Chicago and she really didn't want to waste it.
"Me, too." He sighed lightly, still watching Lucy from afar.
He wouldn't even trust her with his dry cleaning, but she was taking his daughter for a day? It was nerve- wracking.
"Good morning." She pushed herself off the bench as a smile danced across her face. "So happy we get to spend the day together." Lucy wrapped Ev in a warm hug right away.
"I'm excited." The teenager assured as a gentle laugh filled the air around them.
Lucy's eyes traveled over, melting into Lindsey's almost instantly. "How's Stevie?" She wondered with an arched brow.
She wasn't totally stunned to see one of them stumbling down the hallway the night before, but if she had to bet, her money would have been on Lindsey, not Stevie.
Internally rolling his eyes, he slipped a hand in his pocket, casually. "She's doing just fine." He lied, annoyed that she would even ask.
He knew that she didn't actually care either way.
"Well..." she chuckled lightly, arm intertwined with Evee's. "If she's stuck in bed all day with a.... headache, we would love for you to spend the day with us." Lucy's voice had gotten so gentle as she batted her eyes in his direction. "Then you don't have to take care of her all day." She added with a soft shrug.
