(Don't) Leave Me Behind

Part 4

"Do I look okay?" Stevie asked Lindsey once again as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"You look more than just okay, trust me." Lindsey repeated himself and bent down, kissing the top of her head. "It's not a beauty contest, Steph."

"I want to make a good first impression." She shrugged.

"With your voice. You're going to do that with your voice." Lindsey assured, his hands moving up and down her arms gently. "Come on, you're going to be late."

It was a week later and Stevie was asked by Mick to join him and the rest of the band for practice. She told him (slightly embarrassed) that she didn't know any of Fleetwood Mac songs, but he calmed her worries down, saying they'll figure something out.

"I'll come pick you up at around 10 pm?" Lindsey checked, when they arrived. 

"That's the time Mick gave me." Stevie nodded, not really sure what they could possibly do the whole day. "I love you." She leaned over and gave Lindsey a kiss, his hand cupping the side of her face.

"Love you, too."

Mick spotted Stevie immediately, once she climbed out of her and Lindsey's very worn down car. He was having a smoke outside, waving her to come over to him and she did, a shy smile on her face. 

"Hello, love!" Mick pulled her into a hug and Stevie was taken aback, she had only seen him twice and the man was acting is if they'd been best friends since childhood.

"Hey." Stevie stepped back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear - a nervous habit of hers. "While it's just the two of us, I wanted to talk about something with you. You see, I only get one day off work, so-"

Giving her a look, Mick stubbed out his cigarette and threw it away. "Work? I thought you'd have quit by now."

"Are you crazy? I need the money!" Stevie stared up at him with big eyes. "And we can't be sure this..." She showed between them. "... is going to work yet. What if you don't like me after all."

"Oh, I like you." Mick smirked, stupidly wiggling his eyebrows. 

"I have a-"

"A boyfriend, yes. I know. I'm only kidding, my dear." Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he led them inside. "Come on, let's introduce you to the band."

They approached a room and Mick opened the door to it, allowing Stevie to enter first. She saw three other people sitting around and her heartbeat picked up pace. People loved her, she could easily charm anyone, then why was she so damn nervous?

"This is where we rehears." Mick spoke up. With his arm still around Stevie, he extended the other, showing at one of the two men. "This is John McVie, our bass player. A fantastic one at that." John tipped his cap, instead of opening his mouth for a verbal greeting. "Then we've got our beautiful songbird Christine McVie. The two are married as you could have guessed."

"Hello there." Christine smiled and Stevie did so back. Stevie thought Christine might be older than her.

 "And the last but certainly not least, Rick Vito. Judging the fact he's got a guitar across his lap 24/7, you probably figured what's his job." Mick laughed and Rick got up from his seat, holding out his hand for Stevie.

"Very nice to meet you." Rick grinned at Stevie and she couldn't help her own smile widening, especially when he complimented her. "When Mick told us about you, I bought your record and I was blown away! You've got a one of a kind voice, you really do."

"Now... slow down." Mick chuckled, with his own arm still around Stevie's shoulders. "You're coming onto way too strong, mate."

"It's okay." Stevie waved it off, slightly blushing. "I wanted to thank you for asking me to join your band. I hope this was a mutual decision, I wouldn't want to feel like an intruder."

"Not at all, darling." Christine shook her head, getting up to her feet as she approached Stevie. "We're all quite excited about you. Would you like a drink? I think we should get to know each other better."

"A- a drink?" Stevie stuttered. "It's too early, isn't it?"

"What, too early for wine? Never." Christine laughed and poured Stevie a glass. Not wanting to seem rude, Stevie took it and sat down in between Christine and Rick.

Thinking she was there to show off her vocal abilities, Stevie didn't realize she would spend several hours talking to her new bandmates. Everyone, except for John, had a lot of questions for her and she didn't mind answering them; where did she come from, how long had she been performing for, who were her biggest inspirations musically and such before the questions became a bit more personal. Mick was especially interested about Stevie's boyfriend and the state of their relationship. It was making her a little uncomfortable, but she tried not to show it, after all Mick was the boss. 

It was nearly 8 in the evening, when the band finally decided to play some music. All the songs were Stevie's choices, giving her the opportunity to shine and the other four were impressed to say the least. She then sat back to watch them play together and before long Stevie was starting to figure out her place in Fleetwood Mac.

Half past 10, Stevie gathered her things, said goodbye to everyone and left, seeing Lindsey waiting for her outside. He didn't seem too pleased once he saw her, but she reckoned it was because he had to wait for her so long.

"Hey!" Stevie beamed, getting in the car, leaning in for a kiss. "I'm sorry, we lost track of time. I had so much fun today!"

However, Lindsey wasn't as enthusiastic. He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. From being completely against the idea of joining Fleetwood Mac, Stevie seemed to be extremely excited right now. For some reason it really unnerved him.

And it was only day one.

~

I know Rick Vito isn't British, but just go along with it please. I really wanted him in this story! haha