Not the One

Part 35

"Am I too late?" Lindsey asked, his heart thumping. "Aren't you supposed to be exchanging vows right now?"

Stevie shook her head and slowly approached him. "You're not too late, Linds. I- I ran away."

"Excuse me?" He frowned. He didn't want to assume anything, he needed to hear her say it. "You mean, you ran out of your own wedding ceremony?"

Stevie then suddenly realized that Lindsey wasn't supposed to be there. "What are you doing here?" She asked, but then added. "Can we go some place? Do you have a car?"

"Yeah, a rental." Lindsey nodded. "Where do you want to go?"

"Doesn't matter, anywhere. People are gonna have questions, I just... I can't deal with that right now." Stevie looked down at her clasped hands. A second later, she saw Lindsey reaching for them, she tilted her eyes up.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He smiled and helped her walk out of the house, he opened the passenger's side door for her and then got in behind the wheel. "I have a room booked, we could go there?"

"Sounds perfect." Stevie nodded as Lindsey started the car and sped off out of the driveway. Several minutes passed in silence, before Stevie spoke up again. "What are you doing here, Lindsey?"

Glancing at her briefly, Lindsey gripped the steering wheel tighter. "I kind of... sort of... came to ruin your wedding." She didn't respond. "I found out yesterday and I thought for so long, whether I should come or... or let you be happy, respect your choice like you've asked me to."

"I thought, you hated me." Stevie admitted, turning her head the other way, away from Lindsey.

"What? Steph, I could never hate you." He assured her and sought out her hand blindly. "You're the love of my life, angel." He kissed the back of her hand.

"I don't deserve you." Stevie pulled her hand away from Lindsey and she covered her face, when the tears came. 

Lindsey hated that he couldn't console her. "Please, don't cry, Steph. You're breaking my heart."

"I don't deserve anyone! I only hurt people! Dave trusted me and I broke his heart again." She sniffled. "You've written me so many beautiful letters and I couldn't even pick up the phone, Lindsey! I should be alone, I deserve to be alone for the rest of my life!"

The one thing that Lindsey could do right now was get to the hotel as fast as possible. Once they'd arrived, Lindsey took Stevie by the hand and went inside to check in. He was worried about the state she was in and she was quite a sight to witness; her makeup was ruined, her hair was a mess and her wedding dress was looking worse by the minute. 

"Please, Stevie, please, stop crying." Lindsey asked her again, finally able to embrace Stevie, once they entered his room. "You believed, you were doing the right thing. You believed in your feelings for Dave and I understand, Stevie. I'm not mad, I don't hate you." He shook his head, pulling back as he cradled her face in his hands. "Maybe I should have taken a step back. Maybe I should have allowed you to be happy with another man, instead of being jealous and believing that you belong to me."

Stevie let him wipe her tears away, before she spoke up. "No, Linds, you were right. Not Dave, not any other man is the one for me, my happily ever after. You are. It's always been you, Lindsey. I've taken away so much from us, so much time..." Stevie said, shaking her head as her bottom lip trembled again. 

Lindsey leaned in and softly kissed her tears away. "Just imagine all the time we still have ahead of us, baby. We'll make up for lost time, that's the easiest part." He smiled, making her do so too. "Please, never think that I could ever hate you." Lindsey walked them over to the bed. He had to know. "What made you leave?"

"Honestly, it just didn't feel right. Even walking down the aisle, I was so sure that I was doing the right thing, but once I was suppose to say, I do, I just froze. I looked at Dave and... I kept thinking that it was supposed to be you. I was meant to stand there with you." Stevie answered. "Although, I kind of wish now, I had stayed for a minute longer until you came out and made a spectacle of yourself."

Lindsey was relieved to see her smile, but he nudged her playfully anyway. "Such a drama queen."

She turned serious quickly again, lacing her fingers through his. "I know that there's a lot for us to talk about, Linds, but right now, all I want to do is get out of this dress and lie down for a bit. My head is still spinning."

"I completely understand and hey, you know that getting you out of clothes is one of my favorite pastime activities." He wiggled his eyebrows and proceeded helping her out of the garment.