One Night Only

Part 23

Stevie was the first one to wake up the following morning. Since it was Saturday, she didn't have to rush Lindsey out, because she had to go to work. She allowed him to sleep, his head resting on her middle, his arm wrapped protectively around her. Running her fingers through his hair, Stevie couldn't stop thinking about how drastically her life was about to change. The one thing more than anything else Stevie wanted was to be a mother, to have a family. However, she'd never thought, her best friend's boyfriend would get her pregnant. With each day, Stevie felt worse and worse about it, about developing strong feelings for a man, who was not hers to love. She wanted to tell Lauren, to come clean, without considering the consequences. It would hurt her immensely if she lost her friend, but the guilt was eating her up.

"How big do you think they are?" 

Steve smiled at the sound of Lindsey voice. "I thought, you were still asleep." She said, laying her hand on his back. "I don't even know if there's anything there."

Lindsey tilted his head up. "This wasn't just a beautiful dream I had, was it?"

"No." Shaking her head, Stevie assured him. 

Scooting up over closer to the headboard, Lindsey lay on his back and opened his arms, indicating that she should move in. He closed his eyes again, not opposed to another hour or so of sleep. The silence was interrupted moments later by Stevie.

"Your phone's been vibrating a lot." She said and they both knew exactly, who was trying to reach him. "You should call her."

"We didn't, uh... we didn't exactly part on good terms last night." Lindsey wasn't sure if he should tell Stevie that Lauren knew something was going on. "When you called me, I tossed my phone onto the bed to get dressed and Laurne took a look."

Stevie propped herself up on her elbow, locking eyes with Lindsey. "What did she see?"

"Well, she knows that I was coming to see you. She also knows we've been texting a lot." Seeing that she wanted to interrupt, Lindsey continued. "But I grabbed my phone before she could read anything. Lauren asked me, why you and I have been talking, why was I leaving her to come see you."

"What- what did you say?" Stevie didn't really want to know, but she had to ask.

"I didn't say anything. I told her, not right now and I left." Lindsey sighed, not having a clue, how he was going to deal with this situation.

"You do realize that we're gonna have to come clean now?" 

"One way or another." He nodded.

Stevie raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Before Lindsey could answer, his phone started buzzing again. He looked at Stevie first, then reached to answer the call. 

"Where the hell have you been, Lindsey?" Lauren yelled as soon as he picked up. "I've been trying to reach you for hours!"

"I know, I'm sorry. I was sleeping." He sat up against the headboard and Stevie pulled away from him. Watching her get out of bed and leave the room, Lindsey wanted to grasp her hand and make her stay, but he guessed, she didn't want to listen in on the conversation. "I thought, you said if I walked out that door, I wasn't supposed to bother you again." And he wasn't, but Lauren did want to talk to him.

"Well, I stayed up late, thinking." Lauren replied, seemingly having calmed down. "I hope, I overreacted, Lindsey. I just can't think of a reason, why you would be in constant contact with a friend of mine. You two barely talk, when we're all together, but you're best buddies over the phone? I didn't know what to think and I just... I didn't react very well." They both remained silent for a moment. "This is the part, where you explain it to me, Lindsey, because I still don't understand."

"I'll explain, but I don't think we should do this over the phone."

"Why not?" Lauren paused, then sighed. "Please, please don't tell me, you're still with Stevie?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lindsey hesitated. He'd already lied enough to her, but should he really answer her honestly now? "Yes, I spent the night here."

"Did you sleep in her bed?"

"Lauren-"

"Are you having an affair?"

"Lauren, I'll come over and we can talk." Saying that, he feared that he'd already given her the answer.

"I'm not sure, I want you to anymore. Besides, I can't think of a good enough explanation you could give me to make all of this make sense. And if you plan on lying to me, don't bother." With that Lauren hung up.

Lindsey swung his legs over the edge of the bed and got up on his feet. He went to look for Stevie and found her in the kitchen, making herself a cup of tea. She didn't say anything, having heared his side of the phone call made her feel bad enough.

"Please, know that I love you." Lindsey asked, somehow afraid to touch her. "I'll sort this out. I swear, I'll come back, Stevie."

"I'll believe it, when I say it." Stevie said, keeping her back turned to him. 

Lindsey felt like it wasn't the time to plead and insist, he was telling the truth. It was time to take action, so he could show Stevie, he was telling her the truth.