Stevie spent the first two days back home from Arizona all curled up in the safety of her own little world. She had a thousand things to process and the only way she knew how to do that was by sitting alone with a journal in her lap, a pen in her hand and a vinyl on the turntable... She needed time to figure out what was supposed to come next and even though it felt pretty clear, she was still on the edge of her seat.
She knew what she wanted, but she didn't know how she was going to comfortably get there and that scared her more than anything.
However, by the time Lindsey had brought her back to Laurel Canyon, her wedding was only five days away and every time she spoke to Dan on the phone, he sounded a little more anxious about it as well... He hadn't seen her in ten days and she wasn't doing that good at staying in touch, so it was a little concerning to him.
But she couldn't get married- not to him, not after everything.
"I'm kind of nervous." Stevie announced as she lingered in the center of her bedroom with her silk robe draped over her arms and her hair pulled up into a clip.
Lindsey looked up at her, still lying at the foot of the bed on his stomach, where he had spent the last half an hour watching the news... They had become very mundane with one another, which was honestly, so relaxing.
It was dinner at home, homemade desserts, movie nights, naps, and talking about the weather... It was so calm.
"Come here and sit down for a second." He reached out with one hand as the other continued to hold his head up.
She cracked a soft smile, trailing through the room and instantly letting herself sink down into the edge of the bed. "What if he gets mad?" Stevie bit down on her lower lip, looking down at him as he stared right back up at her.
His hand met her back, running the tips of his fingers up and down the silk fabric of her pajamas. "Let me drive you." Lindsey had already offered that earlier in the morning, but Stevie had assured him, before she got nervous, that she would be just fine.
She thought about it for a second, knowing that she should have probably been able to handle it herself. After all, Lindsey had already broke the news to Erin, who wasn't too shocked to hear that he was having an affair with Stevie... The way they had acted around each other spoke volumes and everyone in the room could tell there was something going on, even if they thought they were doing a good job at hiding it.
"I really appreciate you." She leaned back, cracking a little smile when she fell flat on her back on the duvet right next to him.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, thumb running back and forth along the curve of her hip. "It'll all be okay, Steph."
~~~
"Three days before the wedding and you're pulling this kind of bullshit?" Dan held out his hands, brow creased as he stood in the middle of the living room, eyes burning into her.
She had just finished telling him that she couldn't go through with the wedding and even though he had felt the shift in their relationship, he was honestly pretty surprised.
Sighing lightly, her brown eyes grew weak as she sank down into the sofa. "I'm sorry." She repeated for the fifth time in the last ten minutes.
"You are such a complicated woman." He shook his head, not at all enthused with her. "Five fucking years together." Dan was more mad than he was sad, obviously.
He had already paid a caterer, a venue, got a tuxedo, rented a limo, planned a honeymoon, and had family and friends in town... Everything was done and he was supposed to be married in a few short days- this wasn't part of his plan.
"I don't think it's fair to get married when I'm so conflicted about what I want." Stevie was trying to be kind... She didn't want to fight with him, but she also knew it wasn't going to be easy either.
"You are fifty- three years old!" He shouted, eyes wide as he tried to decide if she was being serious or not. "You should know what the fuck you want in life at this point." Dan added, quieting down just a tad but still holding an awfully aggressive tone.
She nodded softly, still sitting down on the couch as she took a moment to process that before she replied. "There's someone else." Stevie admitted, even though she really hadn't planned on it. "I've been seeing him since we got home from Hawaii and-"
"I should have known." He scoffed lightly, shaking his head as he cut off her rambling explanation. "But I really thought you were better than that." Dan chuckled in such an annoying way, it caused her to roll her eyes.
"It's not like I started dating you with the intention of falling in love with someone else." She held a hand up to her chest, trying to be sensitive but also not going to let him talk bad about her either... "I think we've had a lot of fun and I've been so thankful of all the memories we've made but-"
"Shut up already." He held up a hand to silence her as he brought the other up to his face to rub his temple, where a headache was already beginning to form. "Just shut your mouth for once."
Biting down on the inside of her cheek, she nodded her head as she began to push herself up to stand. "Like you said, I'm fifty three..." she mumbled, tears lingering in her eyes. "And there's one thing I know for sure and it's that I don't have to be spoken to like this." She announced as she started to trail around the coffee table to head through the room. "You can pack all my stuff up and set it outside or something." Stevie waved a hand in the air and to her surprise, before she could make it to the door, he grabbed ahold of it.
And without a second thought, he twisted her wrist, causing her to let out a deep gasp. "You are a woman that will never truly be happy." He stated before he threw her hand back at her. "And that makes me happy."
