Not the One

Part 36

"You don't have to yell at me, Mick. I can hear you just fine." Lindsey rolled his eyes, glancing down at Stevie as she rested her head on his chest.

Stevie was the one, who called Mick. However, she couldn't get a word in due to his verbal abuse, Lindsey had to take over. Yes, a lot of people were furious with her, but none of them were with her right now and he could tell that she wasn't doing all that well.

"You have to bring her back, Lindsey."

"I didn't kidnap Stevie, Mick. She left, it was her choice." Lindsey argued, mindlessly tightening his hold on her. 

"Right. And how convenient that you arrived just in time to whisk her away! You called her, didn't you? You spilled some bullshit about your undying love and got her back, where you've wanted her for a long time."

"I don't appreciate you saying these things, Mick." Lindsey remained calm and collected, though, unsure for how long. "Stevie didn't know I was coming. It was Christine, who reached out to me yesterday." He realized that Stevie didn't know that and cursed himself. "I didn't force Stevie to run away from her own wedding, she made that choice, she left."

"Do you have any idea, how Dave's doing right now? Let me answer that for you, Lindsey, he's a wreck! He forgave the affair, he was about to get married and-"

"Stop. Just stop." Lindsey sighed. "Mick, none of this is my fault. I'm sorry about Dave, I truly am, but-"

"Why couldn't you just let them be happy?" Mick interrupted and Lindsey gritted his teeth. 

"Does the fact that Stevie couldn't say, I do, tell you nothing? She's a grown woman, capable of making decisions for herself. You didn't hear her say it, but she did, she told me that Dave isn't the one, Mick. I do sincerely wish it didn't have to go this far, but it didn't and nothing can change that."

"You seriously don't see your fault in all of this?" Mick scoffed. "You kept calling, you wrote letters, you went to see her in the middle of the night! You kept playing mind games!"

"I see that there is no point in continuing on with this conversation. Besides, this has nothing to do with you or me. This is about Stevie and Dave. They should be the ones talking about this and they will if they want to."

"Do not hang up, Li-"

Lindsey hung up the phone and sighed heavily. He turned on his side and pulled Stevie closer, who had remained quiet throughout the whole phone call. Her eyes didn't meet his, Lindsey put his finger under her chin and tilted her head up slightly.

"It's going to be okay."

"I've made such a mess." Stevie said, shaking her head. "I feel so incredibly guilty."

"I know you do, angel. But I think it's best that you realized it now and didn't go through with the wedding rather than later on, when you were actually married." Lindsey pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm sure that Dave is hurt and possibly very angry, but some time will pass and you two will get together to talk about this."

"I doubt he'll ever want to see me again." 

Mick's voice echoed in the back of Lindsey's mind. "But it was your decision? I wasn't playing any mind games, like Mick suggested."

"This is not Mick's place to suggest anything. He can keep his opinion to himself." Stevie said, sounding angrier than she had a minute ago. "I didn't know, you were coming, did I? No. Like I've already told you, Linds, I can only see you by my side if I'm ever able to say, I do. I love you and I'm sorry, for everything. I've hurt you badly, Lindsey. Everything you said to me in those letters, it broke my heart, because I knew you were hurting. Honestly, I felt embarrassed, I felt like I was the one, who played you, who promised you things and then snatched them away."

"We're both to blame, Steph." Lindsey shrugged, he truly felt that. "I'm just glad that you're not wearing another man's ring on your finger." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Maybe someday soon, you'll be wearing mine."