(Don't) Leave Me Behind

Part 5

"You're here early!" Mick beamed at Stevie, who was in the middle of a sentence, sitting next to Rick as he mindlessly strummed the strings of his guitar.

"We're not early, we came here on time. You, on the other hand, are late." She said with a playful glint in her eyes.

"Tell him, Stevie!" Rick laughed, standing up to shake hands with Mick.

She was officially a part of Fleetwood Mac for a month now and the five of them had wonderful chemistry together. Stevie feared of feeling like an intruder, but that thought vanished from her head quickly; she was welcomed with open arms. Listening to Mick, Stevie quit her job at the diner and she felt incredibly relieved not having to go back there. That way she could dedicate herself fully to the band. However, there was one person who didn't like it - Lindsey. Even though it was him who helped her become a part of Fleetwood Mac, he was starting to regret it. Stevie was rarely home now, leaving rather early and coming back late. Of course, it wasn't much different from her being a waitress, but when she worked at the diner, Lindsey could be sure she actually worked. Going for rehearsals every single day? What were they rehearsing, they had no songs together! He couldn't just pop in to check on her either. Then there was Mick, about whom Stevie told Lindsey a great deal and... and Rick Vito, who seemed very interested in every aspect of Stevie's life. Lindsey knew Stevie to be rather naïve at times, so all he could hope for was that she was still able to separate men, who want to be her friend, from men, who wanted to get her in their bed.

"Where are Johnny and Chris?"

"Arguing." Stevie replied with a shrug of her shoulders. It didn't take long for her to understand that was the norm for them.

"Hey, Mick. Stevie sang me a part of her song, I think you'd really like it." Rick said, even though he had promised Stevie not to. Seeing her eyes widening, he added. "I know, I'm sorry. But I think it might be the hit song we need."

"Well, come on then." Mick took a seat and reached for one of the unopened bottles of beer on the table.

"I'm not sure..." Stevie bit on her lip, contemplating. "It's not really my song, Lindsey played guitar on it."

"Oh, God! Not again." Mick rolled his eyes. "Did he write the words?" Stevie shook her head. "Then what's there to worry about. He wants you to become a star, doesn't he? What if this is the song? Rick seems to think so already."

"Well... fine." Stevie sighed and turned to Rick. "You'll help me?"

"Always." With a nod of his head and a smile on his face, Rick started (roughly) playing the melody Stevie showed him earlier of a song she told him was called Rhiannon.

"You've been holding out on me, Nicks." Mick said, once Stevie stopped singing, suddenly feeling very shy. "Funny thing about you. When you perform, you transform into a completely different person even if it's just me and Rick as your audience. Man..." He chuckled and finished his thought. "I'm one lucky bastard to have you in my band."

"So, you liked it?"

"Liked it? We're recording a demo for it as soon as our missing pair returns. If they do." Mick added and guzzled the last of his beer. "What's it about anyway?"

"Oh, uh..." Chuckling nervously, Stevie shrugged. About a witch. "Just... I don't really know."

"Again, you're a weird little thing." Mick squeezed her shoulder on his way out. "I'll be right back."

"See? I told you he's going to love it!" Rick leaned in slightly closer to Stevie, as if it was some big secret he was telling her. "You've got some serious talent, you know that? It's crazy Mick found you at a diner."

"But he found me." Stevie pointed out, then sighed in relief.

It was nearing midnight, when Stevie came home that night. She didn't know if Lindsey was going to be asleep, so she entered their apartment quietly, tiptoeing to their bedroom, but she didn't find him there. Or anywhere else in their small home. She knew he wasn't particularly pleased with her new, uh, work schedule, but they weren't really fighting over it either. It was unusual of him to disappear like that and she was worried. They only had one mutual friend, whose number Stevie dialed and received no answer. Probably high and passed out, the two of them. Or so she hoped. That scenario was better than most of the others Stevie didn't want to picture.

Stevie was going to wait for Lindsey, surely he was going to come home at some point?

But he didn't. There came a time during the night when Stevie couldn't fight sleep any longer, besides she definitely needed to rest and she fell asleep. Waking up the following morning, she remained in the bed for a short while, carefully listening for any sounds which would mean that Lindsey was back.

Nothing.

Where the hell was he?