Destiny

Part 13

Lindsey knew that Stevie was talking and she was talking to him, but he barely heard anything coming out of her mouth. He just stared at her, quietly studying all the different little details he noticed. Her lips were a much brighter shade of red than the last few times he'd seen her wear lipstick. Her hair wasn't straightened out and he wondered if that was because she knew that he liked it better that way. Even the diamond earrings didn't go unnoticed, the very same ones that were a gift from Don Henley on Stevie's 50th birthday the year before. The very same ones she so proudly showed off and it made him extremely jealous. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. All he could do was try and focus on not blurting out words of his deep love for her right there and then.  

"Do I have something on my face?" Stevie asked and when she went quiet for a moment, waiting for him to respond, Lindsey only then finally opened his mouth to speak.

"No, why?" He shook his head, his eyebrows slightly creased.

"Because you've been staring at me for like half an hour and if I've had something on my face for half and hour, then-"

Lindsey reached across the table and took her hand in his to slow her down. "No. You're just... I can't believe we're this lucky, you know?"

"Uh, not really." Stevie chuckled lightly as his thumb softly brushed over her knuckles. 

"We've fallen out so many times over the years we've known each other, yet here we are." Lindsey began. "No matter what happens, somehow we still manage to find our way back to each other. For example-" And he hated to use that particular event, but he also wanted to make a point. "After how I left in '87, I would have never believed that a little over ten years later, I'd have you with me right now, just the two of us having a wonderful evening together."

"I try not to think about that." Stevie smiled somewhat sadly. "I'm just thankful that we are here tonight."

Lindsey stayed true to his word and asked Stevie out the first chance he got. He told her to wear something nice and be ready at 7pm - she did and she was. They didn't talk about how she managed to leave the house and whether Michael was okay with it. And when she let him lift her hand up and press a soft kiss to it in public, he didn't care to ask.

"There's something I want to ask you." Stevie said, pulling her hand away. She picked up her glass of wine and took a sip. 

"What's that?" Lindsey couldn't be sure, which direction the conversation was going to turn to, it made him a little nervous. 

Stevie leaned in a bit closer and lowered her voice. "When I spent the night at your place and what happened, happened..." She saw him look down at his half finished dessert and she knew, he was getting uncomfortable. "We've been together after that, but you kind of been keeping me at arm's length. Did I do something wrong or...?"

"God, no." Lindsey shook his head. "Trust me, you did everything right."

"Well, then what?" Stevie pushed and he looked away for a second again.

"You stopped." Lindsey answered after thinking about it for a moment. "You didn't want to continue and I have to be okay with that."

"But I also kissed you back." Stevie argued for what reason, she didn't really know. 

"Yes and I'm afraid that if I kiss you again, you'll kiss me back again, too." It didn't make sense to her what he was saying, that was obvious to him by the expression on her face. "Stevie, I-" He sighed. "I can't force you to do something you're not sure about. I'm afraid that if you kiss me back, I won't be able to stop." She didn't respond, so he continued. "This isn't easy for me. I have to accept your decision, I have to accept the fact that you're happy with a man who's not me. Same way you did, when..." He shook his head and decided not to go there. "There's nothing more that I'd want right now than to take you home and..." He didn't need to spell it out for her to understand. "We've already slipped once. If we take things further, we both know what follows. This time it's you going home to someone else and I'm left behind with a broken heart."

She felt guilty and embarrassed for bringing it up. She should have known better. "Lindsey, I'm sorry." She took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I should have realized, I..."

"It's okay." Lindsey gave her a small smile, trying to tell her that they were okay. "Maybe it's not a bad thing that we're open about this."

Dinner ended not much later after that conversation. Stevie apologized for ruining the night and Lindsey insisted that she hadn't done anything wrong, that he had a great time. There was still some tension though as he drove her home and they barely spoke. He stopped outside the gates, kissed her on the cheek and asked her to call him when she had the chance. 

Stevie went straight upstairs after she closed the front door behind her. She found Michael in bed already, which was not at all surprising. She undressed first and was about to go take her makeup off, when Michael stopped her.

"Where were you?" Michael asked. 

"With Sharon, I told you." Stevie frowned, unsure of why he was asking again.

"No, you weren't." Michael shook his head. "She called while you were out, asking for you and not about any dinner, which you supposedly had planned." Stevie gulped, she didn't know what to say. "You saw Lindsey, didn't you?"

"I-" Stevie began then grew quiet.

Michael just scoffed, pushing down the covers, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "I can't believe this." He said and she heard the door of one of the guest rooms slam shut a few seconds later. 

She could have run after him, but she didn't.