They spent the next couple of days unwinding from their trip out East... Unpacking everything, except the baggage that everyone was carrying around emotional.
Lindsey and Stevie hadn't talked much- in fact, he wouldn't even entertain the idea of having a conversation about the small disagreement they'd had the day they'd gotten home, so she stopped trying.
She wasn't going to talk to him about it- not if he didn't want to... Sometimes marriage was just tiring and they were both feeling it that week.
Another person who had been insanely quiet was Crosby, who had spent most days locked in his room to refrain from having to socialize with his parents... It was very awkward, but it wasn't anything new. That's how he'd spent most of his life- hiding from his problems.
Other than that, life was pretty much back to normal. Stevie was back to work, Lindsey was hauled up in his studio all day, Evee spent her days at school and the evenings with friends, all while trying to maintain some sort of communication with her biological mother... That was hard.
She had always been very thankful that she didn't have to bounce around from parent to parent... Her parents were married- happily married and she'd never had to worry. But suddenly it felt like she was at some crossroad. She had these two completely families and it was obvious that there was tension between them.
She felt stuck in the middle.
~~~
Her jaw settled as she trailed down the hallway, feet hitting the floor harder than normal. "Open the door." She demanded as her hand met the wood forcefully.
It was only nine in the morning- way too early for such a hostile tone of voice.
"Crosby, open the door right now." Stevie repeated, jiggling the locked doorknob.
With sleepy eyes and messy hair, Crosby pulled open his bedroom door. "Jeez..." he mumbled, squinting from the bright hallway light as he stared down at his mom. "What?" He rubbed his face, trying to clear his vision.
"What are these?" She held out her hands, showing off a couple of two ounce liquor bottles. "Huh?" Stevie raised a brow, not in the mood for the stupid silence.
He wrinkled a brow, shrugging a shoulder. "Those aren't mine." Crosby shook his head lightly, running his fingers through his curls as he let out a yawn.
She fell back on her heels, a look that could scare a piranha trailing across her face. "These aren't yours?" She didn't believe him, not for a second.
"I don't drink whiskey anymore." He wasn't lying... he had nothing to hide- he hadn't even had a drink in almost a week.
She scoffed as she rolled her eyes lightly. "I found them in the washing machine after I did a load of blue jeans..." Stevie lingered, blinking a couple of times out of annoyance.
He looked at them again, a thousand percent certain that they weren't his. He didn't drink that shit.... but Lindsey did.
"What can I say?" He shrugged his shoulder again. "I guess I'm a whiskey guy now." He wasn't going to throw his dad under the bus, not when the look in Stevie's eyes was so cold.
With a soft sigh, she bit down on her lower lip as she dropped them to the floor. "What do I have to do?" Her voice shifted quickly, this softness washing over her immediately.
He shifted awkwardly, not sure what she was expecting from him. "Go back to bed." It was way too early to do the whole heart- to- heart thing he could feel happening. "Get some more rest and you'll probably feel better." He suggested, tossing a hand out to his side lightly.
"Don't be a fucking smart ass." She warned, though the stillness in her voice never changed.
He leaned into the doorframe, a soft sigh escaping him as he stared into her brown eyes.
Crosby did feel bad for his mother... She was the only thing that kept that entire family bonded together. It had to be stressful carrying the weight of everyone else's issues and mistakes.
"Will you just talk to me?" Her eyes were suddenly a lot less mean and a lot more sad. "I just wanna talk." She wasn't going to beg him, but she also wanted him to know how much she cared.
She felt like sometimes she forgot that he had feelings too, and this couldn't have been easy on him, either.
After all, that was still her baby and no matter what happened, she would always love him the same.
He paused for a moment, this silence engulfing the air before he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "No," he shook his head, patting her arm lightly. "I don't wanna talk." Crosby wasn't being mean when he said that- he was being honest.
He didn't know how to speak to her anymore, or maybe he never really did to begin with.
"Take a deep breath, okay?" Crosby had always sort of lived carefree, even when there was a lot to worry about- it didn't bother him. "I love you, mom." His didn't say that often- only when he really meant it.
With tears in her eyes, she nodded her head as she bent down to pick the bottles up off the floor. "We're going out to dinner tonight with your brothers..." she lingered, standing back up after she'd collected them. "You and Kara are more than welcome to join us." Stevie mentioned before she began to head back down the hallway.
~~~
Standing in the kitchen, leaning up against the island, Stevie listened to her daughter ramble on about the school formal coming up as they waited for Lindsey.
"So can we go look this week for dresses?" Evee wondered, a big smile plastered to her face as she sat across the counter from her mom.
Chuckling softly, the blonde nodded softly. "Of course, honey." She assured. "Maybe this weekend we can plan it, so Elise can tag along?" She shrugged lightly, leaving that up to Ev to decide.
"That sounds good." She agreeed, already so excited.
Bringing her cup up to her lips, she gave her daughter a thumbs up.
"I forgot to tell you," Evee held up a hand. "Lucy and her mom are planning a trip to come out here really soon." She announced it with hardly any grace.
Creasing a brow, Stevie carefully put the glass in the sink. "Really soon?" She repeated, suddenly a little nervous. "Like what? Tomorrow?"
She knew that eventually, Lucy would venture out to California... or at least she hoped so, considering that they'd gone out there, but it seemed so sudden.
They had just been to visit a week and a half earlier- it seemed like too much, almost.
"Like within a few weeks." Everleigh clarified, which for some reason, wasn't much better.
"Her mother, too?" Stevie mumbled, staring aimlessly at the marble counter as she recounted how awful she'd been before... Of course she'd never mention that to Ev.
"Well, don't sound so enthused." With an annoyed chuckle, the teenager pushed herself up to stand.
Shaking her head, Stevie held a hand up to her chest to defend herself. "I'm not trying to sound unenthusiastic, Everleigh." She assured. "I just think there is a lot happening, very quickly." She admitted with a light shrug.
"I don't think it's a lot." Everleigh argued. "I don't think that finally meeting my grandma is too much."
