I Can't Stop (Part 2)

Part 5

Alice chuckled, confusing Stevie, as she bit into her slice of pizza. "What?" Stevie asked, looking at her daughter wide eyed.

"Nothing." Alice shook her head. "I can't remember the last time I saw you eating pizza."

"Call it a cheat day." Stevie shrugged, putting down her plate, she grabbed a napkin. "Besides, I barely have anything in the fridge."

"That's because you barely spend time at home. I mean, you're always with Lindsey now." Alice said, but it didn't sound like some sort of accusation. "Is he doing alright?"

"He's fine. He was released today, enjoying the comforts of his home. Well, more like the comfort of his own bed." Stevie added, crossing her legs as she leaned back against the couch. "His leg is still in a cast, so there's not much of moving around going on."

"Who's looking after him, while you're here?" Alice asked, reaching for her glass of iced tea.

"Will. He'll be staying with Lindsey for now. But..." She trailed off. "I'm sure Will can bring Lindsey a plate of food or a glass of water, but-"

"But you're still worried, he's not being taken good enough care." Alice gave her mother a pointed look. She sighed. "Why don't you just stay with Lindsey or bring him here? I don't know, who you're trying to fool, mom."

"What do you mean?" Stevie's eyebrows slightly creased. 

"Well, for one, you can't tear your eyes away from each other, when you're in the same room. And they way you two talk, it's very... couply." Alice finished her thought, unable to come up with a better word. 

"I would be lying if I said that I no longer think about us in that way, but there's so much for us to talk about. A lot has happened in a very short period of time, I can't just blindly jump into anything. Besides, I don't even know if Lindsey wants to have me as more than just a friend." Stevie said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Alice scoffed, shaking her head. "It's pretty obvious that he does. I get that there's a lot of history, some of which isn't very nice, and you're right, you don't have to dive head first into it, but come on, mom. Lindsey didn't just divorce Kristen, you didn't just keep coming back to him either. It hurts me to think about you being unfaithful to dad, but I'm not a kid anymore. I can tell, who does and doesn't make you happy. After all, that's what I want." Alice shrugged. "For you to be happy."

"When did you grow up?" Stevie smiled, laying her hand over Alice's. "Would you be okay with it? If anything were to happen between us, I mean."

"Of course." Alice nodded. "I'm okay with dad's new girlfriend."

Stevie frowned, she hadn't heard anything about that. "He's seeing someone?"

"He calls her a friend, but she's been coming over quite a lot lately." Alice replied, shrugging her shoulders. "She's not famous or anything, so I don't think you know her. Why? Does it bother you?"

"N-no." Did it?

"So, what movie are we going to watch then?" Alice changed the subject. "I know you don't like scary movies." She looked over at Stevie and Alice could tell it from her face. "A romcom? Really?"

"Well, you picked last time." 

"Fine." Alice sighed.

Somewhere halfway through the movie, the screen of Stevie's phone lit up and she reached for it, a smile settled on her lips, seeing it was a text from Lindsey. Alice caught a glimpse of the sender's name and smirked to herself, shifting her gaze back to the TV screen.

"I hope you two are having a good night."

Stevie typed a reply and got a message back almost immediately. 

"I miss you."

A couple of the butterflies awoke in her stomach and her thumb hovered as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"I miss you, too."