It was you.

Part II

She didn't understand right away and looked confused in his direction.

"My marriage is finally over for good.", Lindsey said and showed her his left hand, a very bare left hand.

"No.", she gasped, taking his hand into hers to circle his ring finger where a very prominent golden band was missing for the first time in over sixteen years.

"Yes.", he said softly, lifting up her chin with his other hand and forcing her to look at him. He could see tears glistening in her beautiful brown eyes, "She signed the papers today."

"You're kidding me, Buckingham!", she said, the tears now running down her cheeks, "I swear, if this is some sick joke to -"

"It's not.", he said quickly, he was smiling now, wiping the tears from her soft skin, "Baby, it's not."

"Oh God.", she whispered and her head fell against his chest, sobbing. He wrapped his arms around her body and held her tight, his hands found their way into her hair to free it from its bun and run his fingers through the long, silky strands. He loved her hair.

"I can't believe you did this..", Stevie cried as she felt him placing soft kisses on top of her head, "I just can't believe it.. How? Tell me, Lindsey, how? And why? Why now?!", she lifted her head up again to look into his crystal blue eyes, "What has changed your mind about this? About us?"

"You.", he said softly, "You did, Steph. I just couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't take to see you day after day after day without being able to touch you, kiss you, feel you, be close to you.."

"Lindsey..", she sobbed.

"One night, I was having a dream - and that dream just changed things. I always thought I still got time, you know, enough time to be with you one day. That I should stay with Kristen for the children's sake but that dream let me see that that was not the case.."

"W-what did you dream?", she asked.

"It was a bad dream, Steph - a really bad dream.", all of a sudden his voice sounded very heavy.

"What was it about? Tell me, please! I need to know what changed your mind about being with me..", Stevie begged, holding onto the collar of his shirt, puffy, red eyes looking up at him.

"You..", he choked, "you were dead, Steph."

"Oh..", Stevie looked up at him and saw tears stinging in his eyes, "Lindsey, no.."

"You died and I was sitting there by your side, holding your cold hand in mine..", the tears were now freely running down his cheeks, "and when I woke up, I just couldn't stop thinking how we're running out of time. How we wasted all our precious time fighting and hurting each other over and over again, making up sick excuses for not being together.."

"Lindsey, hey..", Stevie tried to comfort him, now she being the one wiping away his hot tears, "Don't.. Stop crying, I'm here. I'm still here."

"Yes, you're here. Thanks God, you're still here. But who knows how much longer we still will be here? I just can't take the idea of dying one day without having you by my side. I just can't, Steph."

Stevie took him into her arms, holding him as close to her petite figure as she could, while he burrowed his face in her neck, breathing in the unique scent of her.

"Fifty years, Stephanie. Fifty fucking years did it take for me to find my way back home to you. Isn't that horrible?"

"No, it's not", Stevie said softly, "because you found your way back home to me at last."

"But that is not how things were supposed to be", Lindsey went on, "I was 16 years old when I first laid my eyes on you. And I swear I knew that very moment that you were the one. You were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Whom I wanted to grow old and wrinkly with. Whom I wanted to have children with and a dog and a house and all those stupid, silly things, you know. You, Steph, that was you."

"Things never work out as they were planned, Lindsey", Stevie said sadly, trying hard to maintain her composure. It was hard for her to speak about the things that could have been. A life she had so desperately wanted with him but drugs, fame and their damn fucking egos had destroyed that beautiful dream.

"Have I ever told you how sorry I am for not giving you these things?", Lindsey asked earnestly, forcing her to look straight into his eyes.

"Lindsey, don't..", Stevie bit her lip, new tears threatening to fall, "that still hurts too much.

"I know. It still hurts me, too", he said, "but I need you to know how much I regret that."

"It was not only your fault. I was the one who broke up with you in the first place, who cheated on you, pushed you away again and again..", Stevie said.

"I know but I'll never forgive myself for not trying hard enough, Steph."