It was early in the morning for most people, but just a late night for Stevie, who hadn't caught any rest after she'd gotten back to her hotel room at almost three.
She was excited, and anxious, and tired all at the same time... She was ready to go home, but also not in a way.
Home always meant reality and sometimes reality wasn't her favorite place to live in.
"Can I sit with you?" Lindsey set his plate down on the table, staring down at the blonde before he actually took a seat.
Pursing her lips to one side, she glanced around the hotel dining room, where a dozen other tour members were getting breakfast... He could have sat with any of them, but she could never get that lucky. "I suppose so." She shrugged, reaching out to take her cup of coffee in hand. "I don't own the chairs..." the sarcasm was strong- thick and toxic.
"You sleep good?" He asked as he slipped in across from her.
"Nope." She mumbled before she brought the much needed caffeine up to her lips.
All she had was a bowl of oatmeal with a couple of blueberries sprinkled on top, which caused him to smirk softly. "There's actual food up there, ya know." He mentioned as he pushed a piece of bacon around his plate.
She raised a brow, nodding her head in agreement. "I think I'm done." Stevie was just about to push herself up, when his hand met hers.
"Come on." He shook his head softly. "I'm just teasing you, Steph." Lindsey could remember a time when jokes were actually fun between the two of them... that time felt extremely out of reach at that point. "Stay?" He gave her the weakest set of blue eyes... she knew it was fake, but it still tugged on her heartstrings.
She let out a gentle sigh, shifting in her seat as she took her hand back. That was her way of silently telling him that she wasn't getting up... not yet, at least.
"Can we talk about it?" He wondered in a low tone of voice as his eyes scanned over her face.
She had put just a small touch of makeup on that morning, but he thought she was the most absolute beautiful woman in the room... Always.
"I've made up my mind, Lindsey." She shook her head, eyes growing softer, but voice not cracking. "It's time." She added, even though neither of them totally believed that.
His heart sank, a deep sigh filling the air around them. "Is it because you're getting-"
"It's because I said so." She pulled that card a lot. "I'm not changing my mind. It's been long enough and this is way overdue." Stevie had spent a lot of time thinking it over and it wasn't going to be that easy for him to convince her otherwise.
Leaning forward, he grew quiet for a long moment. "So many memories..." he lingered, a sadness washing over him that was incredibly obvious.
She paused, thinking about those words in every aspect of the form.
They did have a lot of memories... Some totally amazing and some totally devastating. Sometimes she thought he had just blocked all the bad out, which was nearly impossible for her.
She had tried, but every once in awhile, just when she thought she was getting over it and healing, that feeling and the darkness snuck back in.
"My daughter is coming." Her eyes never left his, even though she could see Becks and Silas coming through the door.
He cracked another smile, turning around to see Stevie's grandson run towards them. "Hey, buddy!" Lindsey gave the kid a high five before Silas crawled into the chair in between the two.
"Hey, Lindsey." He had the deepest set of brown eyes. "Hi, grandma" he glanced over at her for a second, that smile causing her to do the same.
"Good morning, kids." Stevie giggled softly when Becks wrapped her arm around her shoulders from behind, giving her a little hug.
"It's something," the burnette was probably a worse morning person than her mother was, which really said a lot. "Where's your ring?" Becks creased a brow as soon as she saw Stevie bring the cup up, a hand full of all the others but not the engagement ring.
Swallowing hard, Stevie's eyes moved back to Lindsey, who had grown incredibly quiet. "I-"
"Is there chocolate pancakes?" Silas cut her off, thankfully causing a soft laughter to spread amongst the table.
"You know what?" Lindsey grinned, nodding his head. "I did see some chocolate chip pancakes up there, buddy." He was already pushing himself out from the under the table as Silas did the same.
Stevie's eyes followed them the whole way, finding it amusing that they raced across the busy room.
At heart, Lindsey was still a kid, too. He was fun and outgoing, and still had a lot of energy for his age... When she saw him like that- nice and happy, that's when she felt herself slipping back in love with him.
"I'm glad you came." Stevie took that as her opportunity to change their topic of conversation.
"So am I, mom." Becks slowly sipped her coffee, way too distracted by the morning news to even realize Stevie had totally zoned out.
It wasn't until the two boys came back to the table when both women snapped out of it.
"We found strawberries to make grandma and mom happy, huh?" Lindsey teased, pulling out the chair for Silas, who had his plate in both hands.
With her chin resting in her hand, Becks nodded. "How sweet." She chuckled as she reached across to help her son cut his food.
Lindsey grinned in return, but quickly flinching when he felt her kick him under the table. Shifting awkwardly, his eyes met Stevie's, who had this look on her face that made his heart start beating fast.
"I need more coffee." She announced, slipping off the chair but never looking away.
Lindsey waited a second, hoping it didn't look too suspicious, but he also stood up. "Yeah... me, too." He told the kids as he followed the blonde through the room.
"Fine." She whispered once they were away from the crowd of people. "One more summer... That's it."
