Dreams

8

Carolina.

Carolina sits at the back of the plane by herself, tumbler of coffee balanced in her lap over the blanket she's covered by. She has sunglasses covering her closed eyes as she rests in the silence. Stevie is running late, so they're holding the plane. Carolina has never been on a private jet. She wishes she were in the mood to enjoy it. She presses her hand to the spot where her lip is split and groans - hopefully her cover up is still doing its job.

"Sorry, sorry," Stevie calls out to the entire plane as she walks on with Sulamith in her arms. Carolina looks up momentarily, butterflies in her stomach as she sees her. She turns her head toward the window and closes her eyes, hoping if stevie thinks she's asleep she'll leave her alone and won't notice her face.

Stevie gets Sulamith settled on a couch across from Carolina, then leans over the younger woman and smacks her lips against her forehead. "Morning, pretty girl," Stevie whispers against her hair, clearly not buying the whole sleeping act.

"Morning," Carolina smiles despite herself, but she keeps her head turned. Stevie settles in to the seat next to her, stealing part of her blanket to snuggle under.

"Oh she's a tired girl," Stevie smirks as she feels Carolina's hand in her lap under the blanket, squeezing her thigh as she closes her eyes again. She feels immediately relieved; if Carolina is already touching her like this today that means Stevie did not cross any lines Carolina didn't want her to last night.

"I am, shhh," Carolina smiles as she holds on to Stevie under the blanket. Stevie pulls her own sunglasses off the top of her head and shades her eyes, resting her head against the seat.

Karen looks back and rolls her eyes at the sight of the two women together. She gives it another week before she catches Carolina in one of Stevie's suites without her clothes. She'll leave them be for now. Retrieving Stevie will only let on that she knows what she's up to.

It takes Carolina no time at all to actually fall asleep. By the time she actually got Jackson to leave her house she was too wound up to sleep at all. Twenty minutes into the flight she's dead asleep. She shifts to rest her head against Stevie's shoulder, hand creeping further up her inner thigh. Stevie rests her head on top of Carolina's and looks down at her. She figures no one will question it. Stevie is affectionate with everyone. She notices her lip first, the line against the corner of her swollen mouth like she ran into the corner of something. She studies her face, taking in the sight of the angry bruise on her cheekbone starting to show through her foundation. Stevie feels murderous immediately. Instead of waking her to question how the hell the entire right side of her face got bruised she slips her hand into Carolina's under the blanket and lets her sleep on her shoulder. She obviously needs the rest. She'll deal with asking her about this later when they can be alone.

Stevie.

Stevie opens her eyes as the plane touches down, lifting her head off Carolina's and squeezing her hand under the blanket. "Wake up, sleepy head," she mutters against her ear. She knows she's being an idiot; that this is too much affection to show a member of her band. Falling asleep against her was perhaps a little too friendly. She can't find it in her to care though, now that Lindsey isn't keeping her under foot.

Carolina mumbles incoherently and opens her eyes, squinting at Stevie through her sunglasses. The flight to San Francisco was not long enough; she's still exhausted. "I'm going to go up with Karen and get settled at the hotel but would you like to get dinner this evening? We can order in to my suite and discuss the show."

Carolina smiles and nods, rubbing her thumb over Stevie's face gently before she stands. Stevie drops her smile as soon as she's out of Carolina's line of sight.

"That asshole husband of hers," Stevie snaps as she sits next to Karen and balances Sulamith in her lap, "is not allowed on this tour. If she allows him to come around I will fire her. We have to reconfigure the stage so she's on stage left for a few shows. And let Eilynn know she'll be doing her makeup, too."

Karen frowns as she takes notes in her cell phone. "Care to share what happened back there while you two were cuddling?" Karen looks down her nose at Stevie, letting her know the jig is up and she needs to cool it, at least in public.

"Her whole face," Stevie sighs, trying to keep her cool. "Whatever happened last night, the whole right side of her face is bruised."

"Did she tell you what happened?" Karen sighs as she stands and walks off the plane with Stevie.

Stevie shakes her head as they get into the back of their car. "I didn't ask her. She's exhausted. I'm going to see her for dinner this evening, I'll ask her then."

"Dinner. Alone?" Karen rolls her eyes behind her sunglasses. This is starting much sooner than she thought.

"Yes, alone," Stevie nods, "she's just grabbing room service with me so we can talk through the new venue and some order changes."

"Do you still want your massage at eight tonight?" Karen already knows she's going to say no. She knows stevie to well to think that girl won't be spending the night in her room. She can see it written all over her face; Stevie is smitten.

"Move it tomorrow at two. I can do it before I go in for sound check."

"So you don't need me for the rest of the night then after we get you settled?"

"Nope, you're off the hook," Stevie smiles at her, but Karen ignores it. This is only going to cause drama she doesn't want to deal with. Stevie will expect her to lie to Lindsey and cover for her. Then they'll fight.

"Don't forget to call Lindsey this evening in the midst of all of your... discussing with Carolina."

"Oh Karen, come on," Stevie sighs, "nothing is going on. She is a young artist I'm fond of. Same as any of my other musical ... uh, friends." Stevie didn't expect it to feel so wrong to call Carolina a kid, but she can't force herself to do it. She may not say it out loud, but she certainly does not see Carolina as one of her adopted musical kids, even if she is young enough to be one.

Karen recognizes the discomfort on her face and digs in a little deeper. "Kids? Like Vanessa," Karen cocks her head to the side. She hopes Stevie is deeply uncomfortable by the thought. This it going to be nothing but a problem if she doesn't behave herself.

"You've proved your point, Karen," Stevie warns as she opens the door on her side of the car and steps out into the alley on the side of the hotel. Karen follows security in front of Stevie, leading her silently through the service entrance and up to her suite.

"Do you need anything else?" Karen asks as she stands against the door, annoyed by Stevie.

"Nope," Stevie shakes her head, "enjoy your night off and come back tomorrow with a better attitude."

The moment Karen is gone Stevie draws a bath and goes through her suitcase, looking for her best lingerie. It's crazy. She knows it is. She just can't get the thought of Carolina maybe seeing it later out of her head.