Angel

Part 22

Lindsey returned to the hotel after the show, alone, and went straight to bed. Stevie showed no intention of wanting to continue on with their conversation, she left with the others for drinks instead. Lindsey knew that drinks really meant a ton of cocaine. Under different circumstances, he would have joined everyone else and kept an eye on Stevie, but he was mad. He was angry with her, mostly with himself. That might have been the reason why he was unable to fall asleep. She asked him to trust her, but all he could picture was a bunch of assholes trying to cop a feel and if she was mad at him too, she might just let them take things further.

It was well past midnight and Lindsey was still wide awake. He checked the time and sighed, rubbing at his tired eyes. He had a drink, he smoked a joint, but nothing helped. Maybe she's back, he thought, kicking the covers off. Lindsey picked up his clothes off the floor, dressed up and walked out of his room.

Stevie's door remained closed after Lindsey had knocked on it a few times. It was stupid of him to expect she'd come back already. Letting out a deep breath, he turned to walk away, but then stopped, when he heard some movement on the other side.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Stevie didn't look pleased as she stood in the doorway, holding her robe together with her hand. 

"Were you sleeping?" Lindsey asked, his eyebrows creased. "I thought, you were out."

"I was and then I came back. It's how it works, you know." She glared at him and he felt bad for waking her up. "I wasn't really in the mood to party." She added, noticing his guilty expression.

"Oh, uh..." Lindsey faked a cough, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go."

"You already woke me up." Stevie stepped back with an eyeroll, letting him come in.

Lindsey stayed silent as he followed Stevie to bed. She got comfortable under the covers, while he awkwardly stood at the foot of the bed, unsure of what to do. "So..."

"Are you just going to stand there?" Stevie asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Lindsey kicked off his shoes and got in on the other side of the bed. He sat up and leaned against the headboard. He looked down at her lying on her side, her eyes already closed. Maybe he should just let her rest.

"I can almost hear you thinking." Stevie said. 

"Oh, well... I've been up for hours doing just that." Lindsey nodded. "No, I don't trust you completely." He continued, when she didn't say anything else. "A lot of things happened over the years and you can't blame me for that. Though, the worst part is that I don't trust the men around you at all. Everyone wants a piece of you. I know you and you're just a flirtatious person, but more often than not it's taken the wrong way. I should be able to trust you, but I've seen so many sides of you that I can't help but worry, when I'm not there to see exactly what's going on."

"So, what you're saying is that this is all my fault?" Stevie moved to sit up too so they were face to face.

"No." Lindsey shook his head. "Not at all. Another massive problem we have is my jealousy. I know that one of the biggest reasons what drove you away from in the first place was thinking that you're mine, that I own you, which I don't." 

"That's right." She nodded and he sighed.

"This isn't easy and I'm not sure if it's ever going to be, but the conclusion I've come to tonight is that our first reaction to everything can't be anger." Lindsey saw her opening her mouth, but he continued. "I know, I know. I'm usually the one, who gets angry first, but like you've said it yourself, you tend to get defensive. There will be situations like this again in the future, we both know that, but..." He paused for a second, he reached for her hand. "I don't want to give up. Everything I've told you before is true. I do love you and I do want to be with you. We just need to learn other ways to solve our issues. I promise that I won't immediately jump to conclusions, make up my mind about things. I won't accuse you of sleeping with every man you come in contact with. And you... you have to promise that all that's ever going to be is just my wild imagination." He finished and grew quiet.

"I can do that." Stevie responded with a small smile. She brought his hand up to kiss.

He managed a weak smile too and then let out a shaky breath. He wanted to believe her.