"Because of you." He pointed his index finger at the blonde, more mad at her than he had ever been before and it was obvious by the cold look in his blue eyes
"Enough, Crosby..." Barbara raised a brow, not giving anyone else room to speak as she shook her head. "Sit down and talk like an adult." Her voice was very calm and mundane- she always had that ability to be reasonable, even in unreasonable situations.
"I don't want to sit with her." He replied, still looking into his moms orbs. "She's a b-"
"Hey," Lindsey began to push himself up out of his chair, but Stevie caught him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back down to sit.
"It's okay." She assured, biting down on her bottom lip as she patted her husbands knee. "Can we talk about this somewhere else then?" She didn't break eye contact with Crosby either, even though she was really trying to be as soft and gentle as possible.
But by then, since he had been so loud right off the bat, the entire room had obviously quieted down and everyone was trying their best not to stare too prominently.
Letting his jaw settle, Crosby casually glanced around the room, seeing all eyes on him. "Sure." He nodded his head lightly, voice growing softer as a hint of embarrassment washed over him.
Setting her napkin down on the table, Stevie stood up with Lindsey's hand in hers. "We'll be back." she used her free hand to ruffle Levy's curls, a soft smile on her face as she gave her parents a reassuring wink.
Lindsey led the way through the room, still cradling his cup of coffee in his hand as they headed through the lobby.
"I-" Crosby was going to start in as soon as they got into the elevator, but his dad cut him off before he got the chance.
"Hush." He was not in the mood, not anymore.
Biting down on her bottom lip, Stevie's eyes remained on the tile floor as they moved three floors up, not daring enough to speak just yet.
She honestly couldn't believe Claire actually broke up with him... that wasn't what she was expecting, yet as she thought back on the afternoon they spent hanging out, she realized that it definitely might have sounded that way.
She didn't know how she was going to explain it to Crosby.... not when he had always been so set in his ways.
"I am very sorry to hear that she broke up with you, honey." Stevie announced as soon as they stepped through doorway of the hotel room, where silence greeted them for only a minute.
"Bullshit." He was still standing by the door that separated the small entrance of the suite from the living room area. "She called me this morning with this big speech about destiny and our life journey..." he creased a brow, very much reminding her of his father when spoke like that. "And at first I thought she went to see some psychic lady...." He added, staring at her intently.
By then she was sitting on the very edge of the accent chair, one leg crossed over the other as she twisted her wedding ring around her finger from built up nerves.
"And then I realized that you are the psychic lady, who is telling her all this shit about destiny." He held up his hands, emphasizing how wild he thought that sounded. "That's like your favorite word." Crosby added with a gentle scoff as he shook his head in disbelief.
Letting out a soft sigh, Lindsey took a seat as well... not sure what to say.
He had no clue what was going on.
"Well," Stevie paused for a second, shifting in her chair as her eyes traveled from her husband, back to Crosby. "She was going to take an entire year off school and wait around." She shrugged, heart beginning to beat a little faster as she felt the tensions rise. "She was going to sit at home with her parents and let her dreams collect dust, all so that you could decide where you belong in this world." She added, not at all sympathetic like she was a few minutes ago.
She didn't expect Claire to just break up with him, but if that's what she felt like she had to do, then Stevie didn't really blame her.
"And why do you care so much?" Crosby creased a brow, throwing his hands to his sides and then letting them fall.
"I was just-" she was getting ready to defend herself, but he wasn't willing to listen to her just yet.
"You are the first person to talk about sacrifices and trying to make things work, even when it isn't easy." His voice grew a little bit softer- he wasn't really yelling at her anymore, but instead trying to understand why she would do that...
"Crosby, you're both eighteen...." She reminded him. "You have your entire lives ahead of you and if you aren't on the same page now, you never will be." Stevie was right- she knew she was, because she had been there.
She had been in that exact same situation, but with a man who had the same dreams as she did... She didn't have to worry about where Lindsey wanted to be in this world, because she already knew and she wanted it too.
"If you can't make it work now, it won't work in ten years either." She could be tough- she really could and that was one of those moments.
And though he thought she was totally awful for doing that, she was right and one day he would realize it.
In twenty years, when he was traveling the country with his own band, Claire would come to one of his shows out East, where she was a piano teacher. She would tell him how she had played for the New York Symphony on multiple occasions, show him pictures of her three kids, her husband of fifteen years and a beautiful home in the outskirts of the city.
And of course, she told him how she still looked forward to the Christmas cards his mother would send her each year...
Stevie was right, they would go on to live very different lives, but in the moment, Crosby was too upset to realize it.
"I can't wait to move so far away from you." He told her as he yanked open the door and flew out into the hallway, leaving his parents in an awkward state of silence.
Lindsey pushed himself up to stand, not looking at her as he shook his head. "Really nice, Stevie." He mumbled, carrying his cup of coffee to the door.
