The Mistakes We Made

Part IX

A few hours later, Lindsey's car stopped in front of Stevie's condo.

"I had a great time, today. Thank you, Lindsey.", Stevie said, turning her head to look at him.

"You sound surprised..", Lindsey chuckled.

"I am, actually. I didn't expect us to get along so well. In my imagination, I already saw us fighting the minute we got into your car and drove to that gallery."

"You need to relax, Stevie.", he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "Of course, there will be times when we're going to be arguing but that still doesn't mean that our relationship is destined to fail."

"So, we're in a relationship, now?!", she raised her eyebrows, "Well, that went fast."

"Too fast?!", he looked as if he was afraid he had said something wrong, "I mean, maybe I used the wrong word. Maybe, I-"

"No, it's fine.", Stevie interrupted him, bending forward to place a soft kiss on his lips, "Would you like to come in for a coffee, maybe?"

"I'd love to!", Lindsey replied, releasing a deep breath he didn't know he had been holding.

The both of them climbed out of his car and made their way upstairs into the building, Stevie opening the door, switching on the lights and getting out of her coat. She held onto him, trying to keep her balance as she took off her shoes, all of a sudden being four inches shorter than before, causing Lindsey to chuckle slightly.

"What?", she looked up at him.

"It's nothing.", he smiled, tucking a strand of golden hair behind her left ear, "It's just, you're so short and... it's incredibly cute.."

Stevie rolled her eyes in response and made her way into the living-area. She had long lost count on how many times she had heard someone saying that to her, "Can I get you something? A cup of coffee? A glass of water? Some more wine?"

"More wine?!", Lindsey laughed, playfully furrowing his brow.

"Yeah, you're right. We've probably had enough, already.", she chuckled and sat down on the couch Indian-style, "Can you believe I used to have a whole bottle of vodka, three lines of coke, topped it off with about five joints, and be totally fine? Now, I have two glasses of wine maybe and I'm completely spent!"

"Well, totally fine might be an understatement. You were not yourself at all during that time...", he said, sitting down next to her.

"Yeah.. That's true.", she bit her lip, not meeting his eyes, "Lindsey, can we please not talk about this, right now? I know I started it but.. We had such a great time and I.. I really don't want this night to be ruined just like that."

"Of course. I didn't mean to, Stevie. Really, that was not my intention at all, I'm sorry.", Lindsey said, taking her hand into his, "But I hope you are aware that one day we will have to talk about all of this. Not tonight, though.", he brought her hand up and kissed it softly.

"Why do we need to talk about this again?!", Stevie asked, looking at him, "Haven't we talked about this often enough, already?!"

"Because it's part of who we are and where we stand, today. Of course, we cannot turn back time and erase all the mistakes we made, but we can only move on from all of this, if we sit down and talk it all out one day. It's important. I don't want anything from our past standing in our way while we try to give our relationship a second chance. It's not healthy."

Stevie shook sadly her head, "I hate talking about this time of my life.."

"I know you do. And so do I, baby.", Lindsey bent forward and enveloped her gently in his arms, "I hate thinking about the man I used to be, the one that treated you so badly. It hurts me to think that I hurt you so much. But it's a part of me just like your past is a part of you. And I'm sure it'd help us to not make the same mistakes all over again in the future."