It had always been Alex-and-Stevie, right from the start, but after all they've managed to go through, it was beginning to feel more like Alex. And Stevie. Alex knew he and the lads wouldn't have been able to do it without her, which was all the more reason he felt a vacuum in his chest. He knew he hadn't abandoned her, but when he wasn't drowning himself in work guilt still clawed at him for leaving her behind. Whatever "wasted potential" Stevie had in regards to musical talent, however badly she loved music, it was all greatly overshadowed by the growing distance between the two of them, and the right moment was beginning to feel like a pipe dream. The liminal space between Alex and Stevie and Alex-and-Stevie was disorienting, but with about a decade of things unsaid, having their guards down at exactly the wrong moment forces them to confront the inevitable.