I Think I'm in Trouble {Reimagined}

XXI.

The drive home would be incredibly hostile, although silent.

It seemed that the quietness was heard and even though they both had a lot to say, the married couple waited. 

Stevie walked through the front door of her home and she sighed as she turned on the dining room light and settled her purse on the table. 

Robert would enter second, shutting and locking the front door before harshly settling his keys down.

"I can't believe you were with him..." he mumbled, allowing his arms to fling out slightly as his anger settled at his core.

He was simply frustrated by the encounter of the whole evening; seeing Shannon and then running into the center of her issue just a few hours later. 

"You know, I want to trust that if you say nothing happened, nothing happened, but what I saw was definitely more than the friendship you keep saying it is," he gestured, looking her in the eyes.

She moved through the dining room and kitchen, not saying a word, though taking in what he had to say as she grabbed a glass of iced water.

"I was a little iffy when you originally said that he was going to be helping you on the album, but I didn't say anything because I know he's your friend and I didn't want to offend you. I kept my mouth shut... Week after week, you come home late and then go out with your friends and I hated it because I was jealous you were giving them your time over me," he assured. "That and your friends as a group, your band is not a good influence on you and I was worried after your whole trip to rehab at the beginning of the year..."

She sat down on the stool at her kitchen island and she made eye contact with him as she sipped her water and crunched pieces of her ice. 

"But after you saying you went out with the girls and I get there and he was there and you're making out with him..." he sighed. "And the worst part of it is that he just told Shannon he couldn't see her because he got back with his girlfriend..."

She took a deep breath and clasped her hands together for a second, recounting all that he had to say before taking one more sip of water.

She was completely sober by that point no matter how much she had drank that day; not one of her nerves could relax.

"Well..." he lingered. "Do you have anything to say?" he wondered. "I would love for you to tell me I have it all wrong, Stevie..." he shook his head desperately. 

Looking up, she made eye contact once more and she sighed as she recounted what Sharon had told her that evening about making a decision.

"While we were in the car, my head was spinning as I thought of all the lies I could possibly come up with... I had a damn good story, but now that we're here and now that we're this far, I'm tired and I just don't want to lie anymore," she shook her head, allowing her shoulders to relax just slightly. 

Her words sliced through him like a knife. 

"You're not going insane, you have every right to be angry with me..." she paused. "Since Jeffrey deployed, Lindsey and me have been having an affair..." she expressed. 

"Oh, my God..." he looked up, the hurt shifting within him.

"When I got out of rehab, I wasn't myself and then Jeffrey left... I wasn't okay at all. I did call him to help me on my album because I didn't have the capacity to engage with my music like I would," she said, frustration at her core as she went over that topic once more. "But Lindsey has always understood me musically... And yes, when he came to work with me, he was seeing somebody... He broke it off with her and from then on, we've been at this," she sighed. "Tonight was different though, it was Jeff, the girls and me... Lindsey happened to come to that bar and we ran into him."