How Could You?

You're not going to

Flipping through the channels, Lindsey sighed, I wish I had my guitars with me. He couldn't understand a word on any of the TV shows, nor did they seem all that interesting anyway. It was only 8 pm and he was bored out of his mind. It had been a few days since Lindsey came to Florence and he didn't regret it in the slightest, but... a part of him wished he had Stevie with him. He knew for sure he wouldn't be in bed right now, they'd be strolling down some street hand in hand or going to a lovely restaurant they had already dined at on their honeymoon, or just having a glass of wine together on the balcony, with the gorgeous view of the city at night, or... or making love. Stop thinking about her, Lindsey scolded himself, turning the TV off. Yet, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He missed her. Immensely. 

Closing his eyes, Lindsey just lay still for a while, until the persistent knocking on the door startled him. Who in the world...

At first Lindsey considered staying in bed, but the knocking didn't stop and it was hard to keep ignoring it. Clearly annoyed, Lindsey made his way to the door and opened it, then took a step back, shocked.

"Am I... am I dreaming?"

"I could pinch you." Stevie said, a small smile on her lips. They just stood silently staring at each other for a minute, before Stevie spoke up again. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Lindsey shook himself mentally, as if to come back to the present moment. "What are you doing here, Stevie?" 

"I wanted to show you that it doesn't matter how far away you get from me, I'll still find you. I'll  haunt you forever. You just can't get rid of me, Linds, deal with it." Stevie knew there were many possible reactions to her showing up like that, so she decided to take a more humorous approach and hope to God Lindsey wouldn't tell her to go and get on the next flight home.

Much to Stevie's surprise, Lindsey didn't seem angry at all if anything he had a smile on his face and he closed the gap between them, pulling her into his arms. She didn't expect that, so it took her a moment to hug him back.

"How did you find me?" Lindsey asked, taking a step back, taking her hand gently in his. 

"Well, you told me you're here, we spent our honeymoon here, so my first thought was the hotel we stayed at back then." Stevie shrugged, loving how his thumb soothed over the back of her hand. It was the small things that meant the world to her. "The room, well... people talk, when you give them money."

Laughing lightly at that, Lindsey took her to the couch to sit. "I couldn't stop thinking about you. I tried to process everything that's happened recently, but I always came back to you and how badly I wanted you with me." He admitted. "I needed to get away, but I realized that more than that, I need you, Steph."

"Oh, Linds..." Her heart melted, as she brought his hand up to her lips. "I'm so sorry for everything, Lindsey. I wish I could go back and do things differently. I hate that I can't. You don't deserve what I did to you."

"I'm definitely to blame for some things, too, this isn't completely your fault. I mean, we spent that night together and I didn't even bother to call you. We went our separate ways again as quickly as we had reunited."

"You're just trying to make me feel better." Stevie smiled sadly, looking down at their clasped hands. "And I thank you for that." 

The palm of his hand touched the side of her face, tilting her chin up, so she would look at him. "I want you to know that I forgive you. I'm not sure I'll forget very quickly, but I do forgive you." She turned her head slightly, kissing his palm, as he then felt a tear that escaped her eye. "Don't cry, baby. I love you." Putting one arm around her shoulders, Lindsey pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple. 

"I love you so much." Stevie whispered, knowing if she tried speaking louder, she couldn't due to the tears threatening to fall.

"Like you've already said, we have to concentrate on the fact we have a daughter and what a beautiful, bright girl she is." Lindsey said with a smile on his face, but Stevie just started crying. "Hey..."

"When you called me, Alice and Sheryl were at ours. We started talking and I mentioned Mick and..."

"Go on." Lindsey said, unsure if he really wanted to hear it.

"Alice said, Mick could be her father, so they were going to meet anyway and I went quiet. She felt I wasn't telling her something, so..."

"Stevie, come on. Just say it."

"I told Alice you're her father, Lindsey. I'm sorry, I know I should have waited, I'm so sorry." 

Lindsey tensed up for a moment, letting go of Stevie's hand, running his fingers through his hair back and forth, before letting out a heavy breath. "It's okay. I would have liked to be there of course, but it's fine. I'm not angry."

"No?" Stevie asked carefully and Lindsey shook his head. "Alice practically ran out of our house, though..."

"What, why?" Lindsey frowned.

Shrugging, Stevie sighed. "I don't know. She started crying and asked Sheryl if they could leave. I called several times, but Sheryl said, Alice isn't ready talk yet."

Lindsey looked up and at Stevie, he could tell her heart was broken. Circling his arms around her waist, Lindsey drew Stevie closer again, kissing her gently on the lips. "I guess, we just have to give her some time."

"It's so hard, Linds, it hurts." Stevie sniffled, looking up at him, tear filled eyes. 

"I know, baby, I know." Kissing her again, Lindsey said.

"I can't do this alone." 

"You're not going to." Lindsey shook his head slightly, cradling her face in his hands, giving her a passionate kiss, that was all the reassurance Stevie needed to know they were going to make it. How? She didn't know yet, but they were going to.