I Can't Stop (Part 2)

Part 7

With a glass of water in her hand, Stevie turned the lights off in the kitchen, she was headed upstairs to her bedroom. She stopped, listening for a second. Letting go of the railing, Stevie turned towards the room, which Lindsey currently occupied in her house. Of course she would have liked to have him closer, but for practical purposes, he remained downstairs.

Stevie saw the light, coming from underneath the door, so she knew Lindsey was still awake. Knocking softly, she waited for him to invite her in. She was pleasantly surprised, seeing him with his acoustic in his lap. 

"What's going on here?" 

"Am I being too loud?" Lindsey asked, putting away the instrument. 

"No, not at all. I wasn't sure if I truly heard you playing, decided to come in and check." Stevie explained, approaching Lindsey's bed. He patted the empty space beside him and she sat down. "How's it going?"

"Um..." Lindsey shrugged. "It definitely shows that I haven't played in a while."

"And that is to be expected." Stevie shrugged, not wanting him to get discouraged. "Do you mind playing something?"

 Hesitating for a second, Lindsey picked up his guitar again. He didn't start picking at the strings right away as if he was trying to remember, whatever he had decided on, first. Soon, the gorgeous melody, Stevie loved so dearly, filled the quietness of the room. Lindsey had it as a part of his setlist, when he did his solo tour a couple of years ago, which actually came as a surprise to her. He had told the story of the name, which became sort of a joke to the fans, but it was no joke to either of them. Lindsey finished playing 'Stephanie' and he didn't meet her eyes, feeling them on him.

With the guitar laid on the floor, Lindsey rested his back against the headboard, feeling Stevie lace her fingers through his, he faced her. "H-how was it?"

"Beautiful." Stevie said. "You haven't played that for me in many many years."

"What are we doing here, Steph?" Lindsey asked, focused on their joined hands. "We haven't lived together since the beginning of the 70's and we're pretending like this is no big deal. I know I'm the one, who brought it up, to make things easier for both of us, but I think you and I know, that's just pretext."

"I don't know what to tell you, Lindsey." She shook her head. "I love having you around all the time and I know that we have lots to talk about, but I'm afraid. I'm scared that if we open that can of worms... this will go away, again."

"But we can't not talk about it either."

"I agree." Stevie sighed. "Can we focus on getting you better first?"

"My cast is going to come off soon." Lindsey smiled weakly. "I'd like to know, where I stand with you, when that happens."

"All I can tell you is that I love you, Lindsey. I've hurt you and I know that you're not over that. But I do love you. This feels like a second chance, well, let's be honest, we can't call this a second chance. We've blown all of them. Either you or I always find a way to ruin everything."

Lindsey couldn't disagree. "You're right, but I would hate myself if I didn't try yet again. For the first time in a very long time, Steph, nothing and no one is standing in our way. We're not involved with anyone, we're free to allow ourselves another try at this."

"I'm scared that with every failed attempt, we're pushing each other farther away."

"Let me ask you this, then I'll drop it." Lindsey looked over at her and Stevie gave a small nod of her head. "I get that you're afraid, I'm terrified too, but... Is there still a part of you that thinks, we could make this work? Is there a part of you that hopes, it will work this time?"

"I have never stopped hoping, Lindsey."

Staying true to his word, he didn't say anything else regarding the subject. "Stay with me tonight?"