Destiny

Part 23

Stevie lay on her back, pressed up against Lindsey's side, her head resting on his chest. He wasn't in a deep sleep, but his eyes were shut and his breathing was slow and even. Stevie, on the other hand, was wide awake, focused on his hand in between both of hers as she kneaded each finger. He clearly didn't mind, it was quite relaxing.

"You completely ignored what I said earlier." Stevie spoke up, tilting her chin up to look at Lindsey.

"Hmmm?" Lindsey just rolled onto his side and draped his other arm around her middle.

"I told you that if you asked me to call off the wedding, I would." Now was probably not the best time for that conversation, but it was exactly what was keeping her up.

"Can we do this in the morning?" Lindsey sighed, burying his face in her hair. 

"I expected some kind of a reaction, Lindsey." Stevie was not about to let this go. "It's not like I asked you to make me a cup of tea."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, hoping that she would drop it. "I really think that we should have this conversation after we've had some rest."

"Oh, so whatever it is you have to say to me about it, I won't like it?" Stevie dropped his hand and Lindsey's eyes snapped open. "What the hell is this? I thought-"

"Hey..." Lindsey propped himself up on his elbow and brought his hand up to cup her cheek. "I don't want us to get into an argument."

"You don't want want us to get into an argument right now, you mean." Stevie emphasized and pulled away from his touch to sit up, she pulled the covers up over her chest. "But it's totally fine to fight about it in the morning, huh?"

Breathing in heavily, Lindsey turned the light on on his bedside table and turned back around to face her. "You're going to run away if I say, what's on my mind." 

"Oh, fuck this." Stevie scoffed and kicked the covers off to get out of bed. 

"No!" Lindsey reached to grab her hand before she got too far away. "No, please." 

Her jaw clenched, Stevie took in a few deep breaths to calm down. "You're not making this any easier, Lindsey."

Sitting hunched over, Lindsey rubbed his eyes then ran a hand through his hair, he nodded his head as he faced her. "I know. Please, hear me out and try to understand." He held her hand tightly in his. "I shouldn't be the one making this decision for you, Stevie. I could tell you so many things, but I can't. It's you, who has to choose. It's up to you to decide if you want to marry Michael or if you want me. I can't tell you to do anything. I would always wonder if you did it because I said so or was it because you wanted it."

"Isn't it pretty fucking obvious, what I want?" Stevie cursed and it might have not been the perfect time, but it made Lindsey smile a little.

"You're like a sailor tonight, you know." He noticed the corners of her mouth turning upwards slightly too. 

"Fuck off." She said, making him laugh.

Lindsey wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her back closer to him. "You know I love you, but I can't decide for you, Steph. I'm sorry."

"Yeah." Stevie nodded with a sigh. "And it's unfair of me asking you to do that."

"The wedding is only a couple of weeks away, right?" She nodded again. "Even though it tears my heart apart, I, uh... I think, we shouldn't see each other until then." Stevie frowned and moved to sit up, she glared at him. "Listen to me." Lindsey begged, cradling her face in his hands. "You need to not think about me. We need to stay away from each other, so you can think things through carefully."

"And..." Stevie gulped, covering his hands with hers, she lowered them down into her lap. "And what if end up married?"

Lindsey smiled sadly and shrugged his shoulders weakly. "Then it's what you wanted all along." Stevie looked down at their joined hands and Lindsey felt a tear drop on his. "The way I feel about you, that's not going to change in a couple of weeks. If you can't go through with it, I'll be waiting."

Stevie had nothing to say to that. She lay down again and pressed herself close to Lindsey, his arms went around her and he planted a kiss to her hair.

"I'll be waiting." He repeated and exhaled heavily, realizing that he'd just suggested possibly the worst idea he'd ever had.