Wide Open Spaces

Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

Stevie left and he didn't even say goodbye. He couldn't. They had a huge fight and they confessed so many things to each other tonight and many nights before. She was drawn to him and he to her. Nothing about this felt right. He picked at the strings of his guitar, unable to imagine life without Stevie. How could he walk through this house and not see her keys hanging in the door from where she had forgotten to retrieve them, or her boots in the entryway . How could he never again be able to see her making strange concoctions in the kitchen at three in the morning? How could he not smell her incense and candles burning as she took her long "mommy baths" with a glass of wine and her book of the moment? He let the tears fall. He meant it when he said he would miss her, that he wouldn't ever move on. They were too linked, too connected. Their bond was much too strong to break. He thought back to a night many years ago when they were almost nearly back together. They had dreams of a future and even thought about more children but nothing ever came of it. Less than half a year later she met Brock and things changed drastically. She would be a little standoffish, afraid to get too close. She tried to put distance between them but it never worked. They longed to be together but with how much fire they had, surely it could never work. Lindsey's fingers found a song and he began to sing.

It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dyin' breath of
This love we've been workin' on

Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms

We're goin' down
And you can see it too
We're goin' down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burnin' room

I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw

I'll make the most of all the sadness
You'll be a bitch because you can
You try to hit me, just hurt me
So you leave me feeling dirty
'Cause you can't understand

We're goin' down
And you can see it too
We're goin' down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear
We're slow dancing in a burnin' room

Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
Go cry about it, why don't you
My dear, we're slow dancin' in a burnin' room
Burnin' room, burnin' room
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?
Don't you think we outta know by now?
Don't you think we shoulda learned somehow?

"I wish I could hate you" he says, stopping a moment. "God, I miss you already" he weeps. He sits there in the silence, the kids not even there to comfort him. He wishes he had said goodbye, held her one last time. She would only be coming to take the kids, what if he didn't even get a chance to talk to her outside of the custody arrangement? He couldn't deal with his thoughts. He put down his guitar and went straight to where they housed their liquor. He makes himself a double scotch, trying to find the courage to at least call her. He could try her cell phone but she barely knew how to use it. It was so cute. He smiled briefly at a memory.

"Linds, I think I broke it" she says, holding out her brand new iPhone Lindsey had bought her for her birthday.

"Already? How?" Lindsey says taking it from her.

"The screen went black, I don't know" she says, shrugging. "I just wanted it to take pictures. I don't get this stuff, I never have. In 1995, things were so much simpler"

"Yes, yes they were." He says. "Oh Stevie, you just locked the screen, baby. It's not broken. I will give you a little lesson after dinner so I can help you figure it out"

"Okay"

"Don't worry. This is one of your most endearing qualities"

"What, that without you I'd be controlled by robots?"

"The fact that you call anything remotely technologically advanced a robot." He smiles, kissing her.

"I love you, and thank you for helping me"

"Any time, I love you too" He kissed her one more time and she leaned into him, feeling comforted and safe.

He was shaken out of his memory by a phone call. He was so terrified for her when he was filled in on the details of the interaction the officers had encountered. "Where is she?"

"Dallas but she wants to go back to Phoenix"

"Hold her, don't let her leave"

"Sir..."

"I'll be there" he says, hanging up. He jumps in his car without a second thought. "Fuck it" he says aloud. "I will buy anything I need when I get there."

He goes to the desk and buys a ticket, not caring about the cost. He had to get to her. There were no bags to check and security was a breeze for once. He boards his flight, anxiously tapping his foot or bobbing his knee up and down. He was going out of his mind with worry. From the sounds of it, it wasn't pretty and he has to see her. I bet she's terrified. I can't believe he would even think about putting hands on her! When I see him I'm going to kill him. He thinks of every possible thing he could say to her to make this better but nothing sounds right. The plane lands and he runs to meet her. She falls to the floor at the sight of him, sobbing.

"I'm sorry" she says "I'm so sorry"

"Shhhh...it's over. It's all over" he says, holding her and kissing the top of her head repeatedly as she clings to him, crying into his shirt.

I was the one you always dreamed of
You were the one I tried to draw
How dare you say it's nothing to me
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw