Where I Belong

Part 19

'Can you talk?'

Later the same evening, Stevie needed a friend. No, she had never been madly in love with Chris, but they spent quite some time together after all. She wasn't sad, but she wasn't exactly happy either. She didn't really know how she felt.

Her phone started ringing about five minutes after she'd send the text. She smiled to herself as she picked it up to answer. 

"What's up?"

"Hey." Stevie slumped down on the bed. "I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to call you unannounced."

"I'm not at home." Lindsey replied, lowering the volume on the radio.

"Oh? Where are you?" Stevie asked, lying down. 

"Uh, hm..." Lindsey paused. "Somewhere, by the side of the road."

"What?" Stevie chuckled, her smile grew wider. "It's late. Are you picking up young hitchhikers?"

"I wanted to get out of the house, I'm just driving around." Lindsey replied, feeling himself relax just from hearing her voice. "And you? Everything okay?"

"Well..." Stevie shifted to lie down on the bed properly. "Define okay."

"What happened?" Lindsey asked, instantly concerned. "Do you want me to come?"

"I'm away from home." Stevie sighed, wishing she could have answered 'yes' to his question. "We broke up."

"You broke up?" Lindsey repeated as soon as Stevie finished her sentence. "You mean, you and Chris?"

"Yes, Lindsey. I had just the one relationship this time."

"So, what did happen?" Lindsey pushed, trying his best not to sound too excited by the news.

"He kissed me in public." Stevie heard herself say and was waiting for Lindsey to start making fun of her, but he stayed quiet. She sighed. "He had a private gig, I came with to do one song together. I walked onto the stage and he kissed me. We came back to the hotel and, well, it all went downhill from there."

"And that's it? It's over?" Lindsey wanted to be absolutely 100% sure he understood her correctly.

"I told him, I had no romantic feelings for him, Lindsey. Yeah, it's over." Stevie added, reaching for her drink she'd made for herself from whatever she found in the minibar.

"Huh."

"Huh?" Stevie frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I just wasn't expecting it to happen so soon." Lindsey answered honestly. "You tried really hard to make it look like you two were serious."

"Uh-huh, so serious that I slept with you." 

"Still thinking about it, I see."

Stevie rolled her eyes and took another sip. "Are you saying that you're not?" 

"Oh, constantly." Lindsey admitted and it wasn't a joke. "What are you wearing?"

"Line - crossed." Stevie said and heard him laugh, a smile crossed her face again. "I'm alright by the way. Thanks for asking."

"Are you? Like, really."

"Yeah. My heart's not broken, but it's-" She thought for a second. "I don't know, I feel like all that relationship did for me was ruin a friendship."

"It'll be fine." Lindsey wasn't sure what else to say. "So, where are you?"

"San Francisco."

"I could be there in-"

"No." Stevie shut him down immediately. "You're not coming here, Lindsey."

"But I could-"

"Doesn't mean you should." She shook her head even though he couldn't see. "I'm coming back tomorrow."

"Fine." Lindsey sighed. "When can I see you?"

Stevie took a minute before replying. Don't say tomorrow, remember the boundaries you've set. "I'll let you know."

She rushed to say, goodnight, after that so he couldn't argue. It didn't matter how good it felt hearing his voice or how much she'd missed him, she had to be careful.

~

AN: A short update, completely inspired by Nicksfix. I promised that no pictures of the kiss would get leaked before S&L talked! Thank you all for reading ♥