Stevie was getting ready in her dressing room when Lindsey came in. He bent down to kiss her neck and smiled at her. "You look gorgeous Stevie." he told her. She smiled at him and took his hand. "Thank you." she said. He sat down beside her watching her finish her makeup. He noticed that she had flowers next to her makeup. "Those are pretty." he said gesturing to the flowers. She didn't answer and he knew why. He saw a small card sitting next to her and he tried to make out what it said without her getting suspicious You're going to be amazing tonight. I love you. Lindsey felt his stomach turn. They were that serious? He knew she felt something for Robert, but love? Stevie wasn't supposed to love anyone but him. "Stevie..." he started. "Lindsey please don't do this now." she begged. "Do you?" he asked. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Does it matter?" she asked with her eyes closed. "What about me Stevie?" he almost whimpered. "Nothing's changed Lindsey. Please don't do this right now." she begged again. "I love you Stevie." he told her before leaving her room. "I know, I love you too." she said quietly. Lindsey walked back into his dressing room and the rage poured out of him. He was kicking things across the room and punched the wall swearing. How could this have happened? Instead of being angry at himself he decided to be angry with Stevie instead. It was much easier to blame her than to take responsibility for his own role in this. She obviously didn't love him like she said she did if she was falling in love with another man. She had just been playing with him the whole time he thought angrily. He completely ignored her when they walked out onstage and she walked with Mick instead. He gave her no loving interaction during the show. She didn't deserve it. He decided to hit her in a well known sore spot. He spat "Go Your Own Way" at her as hatefully as he could. When he sang the lines he knew she hated the most, he looked right at her with an intense glare. He could see the surprise in her eyes at his intense meanness but he didn't care. Maybe now she would feel like he did.
Stevie walked quickly out to her car. She didn't want anyone to see that Lindsey had gotten to her. She didn't know what had come over him and couldn't believe that he could still treat her this way. She was happy that she kept the tears from falling until she got into her car. She laid her head against the window and sat in silence trying to get herself calm until she was alone in her room. "It's going to be ok Stevie." Karen told her, handing her a tissue. Stevie wiped her eyes and got out of the car to go to her room. She settled in and wrote in her journal. Her phone was ringing and she almost didn't reach for it assuming it would probably be Lindsey. She didn't want to deal with him. She was pleasantly surprised to see Robert's name on the screen. "Hi! I'm so happy you called." she told him. "Hey, how did the show go tonight?" he asked her. She sighed. "It was fine." she replied dully. "It doesn't sound like it. What happened?" he asked her, sounding concerned. "It was nothing, just Lindsey being an asshole to me again. He was miserable to have to perform with." she complained. "I'm sorry Stevie. I know it's gotta be a hard thing." he told her. "It is, but I don't want to talk about it anymore. No need to ruin the rest of my night. How have you been?" she asked changing the subject. She let herself become immersed in the conversation and let Lindsey leave her thoughts. If he was going to start acting like this again then he didn't deserve for her to be upset over him.
The next six weeks were so awkward. Lindsey and Stevie barely spoke. He still wanted to be angry with her and she didn't want to deal with it. She thought the shows suffered from their tension but she couldn't let Lindsey emotionally control her this way anymore. She found herself looking forward to getting back to her room every night and talking to Robert. She was relying on him more and more for support. She missed him terribly. When Mick and Lindsey's families joined them for a few days she missed him even more. She assumed that Lindsey was trying to be vindictive and was being overly affectionate with Kristen whenver she was around. Stevie tried to not show that it bothered her but even after all this time it was like a slap in the face every time she saw him touch her. She retreated to her room and did what she did when she was lonely. Called Robert. "Hi, how's your day going?" he asked her. "It's fine. I'm just in my room. The guys' families are in and I'm a little out of place with that scene." she told him but he knew that she felt out of place around Lindsey's family. "So you're off tonight?" he asked her, thinking to himself. "Yes, I think I might go out shopping with Karen for a bit and then just spend the evening in the room. I should probably be writing." she told him. "Yes you should. Go start your day off and call me when you get back. I love you." he told her. "Ok, I'll call you. I love you too." she replied. She hung up and got ready for her day. There was nothing bad about a day of shopping.
