Only two weeks were left of the On With The Show tour, which Stevie begged Chad to come and spend with her. She knew it wasn't going to be very easy without him, since she was already so used to having him around, but she certainly didn't imagine it being that tough on her. Speaking on the phone just wasn't enough. It also told her that she made the right decision; they met for a reason, them together was, as she would say, destiny.
Chad agreed, but it took some persuasiveness. He would have loved to take Greta with him, but it was such a long journey, he didn't want to exhaust her. He only told Stevie he would come to her, but she didn't know exactly when. And now when she was on stage and he was watching her from the wings, she still wasn't aware.
Song after song, Chad was having very mixed emotions about it all. He had never before been to a Fleetwood Mac show, nor was he really a user of Twitter, Facebook and such. So, seeing his woman smile and touch, hug, whisper, simply openly flirt with another man... He didn't know what to make of it. It was weird and uncomfortable, and it didn't seem quite right to him.
Once the show ended and the whole band left the stage, Stevie was holding onto Lindsey's hand, as he was helping her down the metal stairs, but then she saw Chad, leaning against the wall in the hallway and her heart leaped, as she practically skipped over to him.
"You're here! Oh my God, you came!" She was so excited, wrapping her arms around him as he did around her, but then she wanted to pull back. "I'm sorry, I'm all sweaty."
"Don't be ridiculous." He drew her closer, leaning in for a kiss, while the other four members of the group stood back and watched.
All for different reasons; Lindsey couldn't believe he let her go, she was his for so many years and he made the biggest mistake of his life and lost her forever. Mick was seeing his best friend the happiest she had been for as long as he could remember. Christine was relieved that Stevie seemed to finally have moved on from Lindsey and allowed herself to enjoy what life gave her to its fullest. John, well John, didn't want to seem rude and ruin the moment. It wasn't that he didn't care, he did, he cared a great deal, but he just wasn't the kind of person to showcase it.
"Well, hello then." Mick spoke up after a moment, making everyone laugh.
"Nice to see you all, the show was absolutely incredible." Chad shook hands with men and gave Christine a hug, still holding Stevie by his side.
"You were here from the start?" She asked.
"Yeah, I arrived somewhere in the middle of the opening song."
"Hey, maybe we could all meet up back at the hotel for drinks?" Mick suggested, but Stevie was quick to disagree.
"No. We're going to be spending time all by ourselves, just the two of us."
"Oh okay!" Mick held up his hands, laughing softly. "I wouldn't dare to interfere."
"You better don't." Stevie looked at him pointedly, but then smiled, hugging and saying goodbye to the four, before she took Chad by the hand and led the way to her dressing room. "I'm so happy you're here."
"I'm happy to be here. Those couple of weeks were awfully long."
"Tell me about it!" Stevie nodded, going to the mirror, as she was struggling to take off her earrings. "I hope I didn't force you into it though, that you felt bad for me, so you decided to hop on a plane?"
"Don't be silly, of course not. No, I missed you. You know... just waking up in the morning and seeing you near me or kissing you, making love to you. Everything."
"Right, I should have known you were just horny." She joked, allowing him to spin her around in his embrace.
"I've got something for you."
"Oh? You shouldn't have, honey. You're enough for me."
But Chad didn't listen, searching in the inside pocket of his jacket, as he then pulled out a small black gift box. "I had promised you something." He half smiled, lifting it to her eye level.
"Chad..."
"Hey, I always keep to my word." He said, opening the little box, revealing a gorgeous, a truly beautiful ring inside. It didn't have a huge rock or such, but it was made of white gold, with little diamonds and other gems along the band the whole way around, complimenting a bigger, but tasteful one. "Do you still want to marry me?"
"I still want to marry you." She nodded, without any hesitation, holding her hand up for him to put the ring on. "I love it." She said, admiring it. "And I love you."
When they finally left the venue, they were driven to the hotel Stevie was staying at, as she told her assistant, also Lori, Mary and Sharon, that she was off limits for the night. She ordered room service too while at it; something to eat and a bottle of champagne.
"Is everything okay?" Stevie asked, joining Chad in the bedroom, once she changed into more comfortable clothes.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, you're kind of... very quiet and keeping to yourself."
"I just..." He shrugged, then shook his head. "It's nothing."
"No, it's something, because I see it bothers you."
"Well, fine. I wasn't going to say anything, but now you've asked..." Chad sighed. "I'm not accusing you of anything, but to me it was very strange seeing you and Lindsey on stage together. There's just too much between you, that's what I think anyway."
"We've been trying to prove it to everyone for a long time. I can't lie and say it's always been the case, but it's mostly an act. It is, for the fans, because they love it. They never really got over our relationship, so... I know, I realize sometimes we take it too far and when we do, I tell Lindsey that. I did so on one of the first shows here."
"You don't have to stop, just because I don't like it, but..."
"No, you have every right to express your concern. Though, I assure you, ever since you and I started seeing each other, never once did something happen between him and I."
"And I'm not saying it did, just, you know... What does his wife think about it?"
"I wouldn't know, she never said a word to me and if she mentioned it to Lindsey, he didn't seem to think it was important enough to tell me. She's... their whole relationship is... it's complicated."
"You don't have to tell me, because I really don't care about them." Chad said honestly. "But... I still want you to be truthful. We don't talk about your relationship with him, but if there's something, you can tell me."
Stevie got closer, sitting down Indian style next to Chad. "A part of me will always belong to him. I know it's not something you want to hear, but it's how it is. I will always love him in some ways and he will always love me too, but... it wasn't meant to be, we weren't meant for each other. Do I sometimes wonder and fantasize? Absolutely, but do I want to change what I have now, with you, for something I could never be sure about? I don't."
"That's all I need to know and I can accept that."
Breathing a sigh of relief, she smiled, leaning in to kiss him. "I like it, that we can be honest with each other."
"That's the key, isn't it?"
"It is." She agreed and lay down by his side, feeling that everything was just so right.
