Not the One

Part 31

"What more do you want from me, Lindsey?" Kristen asked and a heavy sigh followed, showing her annoyance.

"What did you write in that letter?" 

"Exactly what you'd asked me to write. I told her, the baby is someone else's." Kristen replied, genuinely having thought that was over. "She didn't believe it, did she?" She asked, a trace of amusement in her voice.

"She did, I guess, but..." Lindsey trailed off, running a hand through his hair. "Stevie told me to move on."

"Listen, you cheated on me, then you dumped me, you forced me to confess to your girlfriend that you didn't get me pregnant and now you think that I'm going to listen to your problems?" Kristen scoffed. "Call me, when you're bringing over my check. Goodbye, Lindsey."

Kristen hung up and Lindsey spent a moment staring at the phone receiver. He then frowned and slammed it down in its place. To be honest, Lindsey wasn't quite sure, why he even called Kristen in the first place. Maybe if he had had her on the line long enough, he would have asked if Kristen could reach out to Stevie again. Shaking his head, Lindsey sighed, it was a dumb idea.

The whole day had passed and it was nearing midnight. Lindsey couldn't open his mouth, when Stevie was at his earlier, but now he wanted to talk to her, he had to talk to her. He located his car keys, then stopped to think, when he grabbed them. The last drink he had was some time ago, Lindsey decided that he was well enough to drive.

Speeding way over the legal limit, Lindsey found himself in front of Stevie's gated driveway. He punched in the code and passed through. Turning the engine of the car off, Lindsey picked up several items he had tossed on the passenger's seat. He knew that Stevie was going to be up, but he didn't consider the fact that Dave was there, too. Lindsey didn't know about his children being in the house either.

"What the hell?" Dave propped himself up on his elbows at the loud banging on the front door. "Are you expecting someone at this time of night?"

Stevie shook her head, pulling the covers up over her chest. "No." Seeing him ready to get out of bed, Stevie grabbed Dave's hand in order to stop him. "No, don't."

"It's okay, baby." Dave smiled and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll go and check it out."

She watched him walk out of the room as she hugged her knees close to her chest, when the banging continued. Dave, wearing only his pajama bottoms, jogged his way down the stairs and turned the light on, before he went to answer the door on the nth time someone's fists had connected with it.

Lindsey opened his mouth to speak, having expected to see Stevie, instead of a man, 5 or 6 inches taller, jet black hair down to his shoulders and his muscular chest on full display. Lindsey made an attempt at straightening himself out, but he still came up short in comparison to Dave.

"Care to explain yourself?" Dave asked, folding his arms. "Do you have any idea, what time it is?"

"I didn't expect you'd be here." Lindsey replied through gritted teeth. "Would you like to explain, what the hell you're doing with my woman?" He had just realized that he wasn't as sober as he thought he was. 

"Stevie is not a piece of property. She doesn't belong to you." Dave said, thinking to himself how pathetic Lindsey appeared. "I think, you should leave."

"I didn't come here to talk to you." Lindsey pointed at Dave, nearly jabbing his finger into the other man's chest. "Stevie! Stevie, come down here! I want to talk to you!"

"Keep your voice down, you idiot!" Dave tried to shush Lindsey to no avail, when he called out Stevie's name again. "My two little kids are sleeping upstairs, you're going to scare them."

That didn't seem to work, because Lindsey didn't quiet down. He only shut up, when he saw Stevie past Dave's shoulder, coming their way. A smile crossed his lips, while Stevie looked quite mad. 

"Steph, baby!" 

"Excuse me?" Dave's eyes grew wide. He was about to say something else, but Stevie pushed him gently away from the door.

"I've got this." She said, looking up at him. "Go back to bed. I'll be fine." 

"I'm not going to leave you alone with this lunatic, Stevie." Dave shook his head. 

Stevie brought her hand up to touch the side of Dave's face, her other hand on his chest. "I can handle this myself. I've been dealing with Lindsey for the better part of my life." 

Standing still, breathing heavy for a couple more seconds, Dave gave Lindsey a threatening look, before he turned to head back up the stairs. However, he didn't go into the bedroom like Stevie had asked, he rounded the corner and lingered, so he was able to hear, whatever was about to be said.

"Why are you here, Lindsey?" Stevie asked as she stepped forward, making Lindsey take a step back, so they were outside. "I've already told you everything that I have to say."

"I haven't told you anything." Lindsey shook his head as he placed one hand on Stevie's shoulder and held out the other. "Please, listen to this." He gave her a CD, then added. "And read these letters." 

Looking down at the items now in her hand, Stevie sighed. "I'm not sure that I should."

"Stevie, I'm not giving up on you, on us! Maybe you'll undertsand, what you mean to me, once you do as I ask of you. I love you, I'm so in love with you it hurts. I understand why you're doing this, why Dave's here. You want a normal life, I get that. He's simple, he's not a complicated asshole like I am, but his feelings run nowhere near as deep for you as mine, Steph. You're living in a fantasy world, baby. Sure, things are great right now. You've got a man by your side and you can be a mother to his children, but don't you think that's going to vanish as soon as you realize that I'm your other half, Stevie? The only other piece of the puzzle? I've no longer got any strings attached to someone else, I'm a free man. I want to be your man, Stevie." Lindsey stopped to breathe and she was about to say something, when he dropped to his knees and wrapped himself around her. "You're my everything, angel. You're the first one I think about in the morning and the last before I fall asleep. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You've made me feel things, I've never thought I could feel. You own my heart, Stephanie."

At some point during Lindsey's speech, Stevie's fingers had disappeared in his curls, which made him press his body closer to hers.

You are song for me, melody
Ingrained in my soul

Lindsey began singing quietly. Stevie recognized the song immediately, even though she hadn't heard it or thought about it in a very long time. 

"Stop." She asked in a whisper.

If I never knew the likes of you
Where would I be without you?

"Lindsey, please..." Stevie closed her eyes, trying to prevent the tears. "I love you, too, but please, Lindsey, I've made up my mind. I disagree with what you've said. I think that Dave and I do have a future together. I know it hurts, I know it isn't easy, but I'm begging you to try and accept, to respect my decision."

Lindsey struggled back up to his feet. He stared into her eyes, he knew the tears were there for a reason. It was as if she was in some kind of a bubble that she had created for herself and he had no clue of how to get her out of it.

"He's not the one, Stevie." Lindsey shook his head. "He's not your happiness, he's not your happily ever after!"

Stevie hung her head low and hugged herself, taking more of the same until Lindsey seemingly tired himself out. He didn't try to touch her, hug her, kiss her. He didn't even say goodbye as he looked at her for a long moment, then turned around, got in his car and drove off.