Decades

Washes You Clean

The hours rolled by, and the rest of the band was relieved and surprised that there was no shouting, screaming, or breaking things. Occasionally, they thought they'd hear a slightly raised voice or what sounded like sobbing. But, it hadn't turned violently ugly as they'd feared.

Though the aftermath was a disaster, Lindsey's rage was mostly spent by the time he got to Stevie, so he was able to actually listen to what she had to say. Still, the rest of the group assembled and talked strategy in the living room until late into the night.

Mick was concerned about that pain-in-the-ass reporter pressing charges against Lindsey for assault. The idea of paying him to go away was appealing but unrealistic. Provoking Lindsey was too easy, and they couldn't start a habit of providing a payout for people who antagonized him.

They were all surprised about Stevie's abortion. They knew something had been wrong and felt terrible that she hadn't confided in them. Christine was worried about what having the pregnancy she had terminated publicly scrutinized would do to Stevie. She was already using a lot of drugs, and the idea that things would intensify was a very real possibility.

Mick was worried that their fans would turn on them if they knew all the sordid details. However, there were plenty of fans who would eat up seeing the tabloid photos of Lindsey and Stevie back together, so it might actually not be the worst thing for the band. The publicity, paired with their usual onstage interactions, would draw in the crowds.

However, if the PR contacts the Eagles were using could squelch it, that would probably be the best thing. They had enough attention without the addition of the more unsavory aspects. Labeling her a cheater and having the public wonder who her baby had belonged to might be pushing things a little too far. The band could get plenty of attention by writing good music and putting on a good concert. They didn't need to resort to the musical soap opera aspect of their reputation.

Mick's ideas for getting Lindsey and Stevie to reconnect for their stage chemistry had turned out to be pretty disastrous. He was still unclear what the pictures of them on the balcony of the press party draped all over each other had been about. But, he had learned from Don's people that Lindsey had blown the whistle on the reporter for trying to get in Stevie's pants that night.

Lindsey was clearly still very invested in Stevie. Though, this came as no real surprise.

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The three bandmates who weren't crammed in a closet all decided it was safe to leave the former couple alone, and they went to their suites in the same hotel to catch as much sleep as they could, knowing that tomorrow would require a lot of damage control from each of them.

Mick let himself back into Stevie's suite the next morning, knocking first but hearing no reply. He walked back to the bedroom, but the bed was still empty. He tapped on the closet door and called out, "Everybody still alive in there?"

He heard their annoyed groans from behind the door and opened it slightly, light flooding in. It was obvious that they had been asleep and were not ready to communicate with him yet. They covered their eyes and squinted at him.

But, he continued, "I'm going to make a pot of coffee. Lindsey, we brought your bags over. You're not welcome back at the other hotel, even to get your belongings. You've actually been banned. Typical rockstar," he tried to joke. "We figured you could change for the appearance here. Get cleaned up, you two. Make yourselves presentable."

Lindsey groaned loudly at the idea of making an appearance today.

Stevie's head was resting on Lindsey's chest, and his arms were around her shoulders, as hers were wrapped around his waist. When they left this closet, she feared things would be totally different between them. They both wanted to hang onto each other as long as they could. So, they lay together on that closet floor a little longer.