say hello wave goodbye

26: we're strange allies with warring hearts (1997)

August 1997

"Rise and shine, it's time to get ready for school," Karen calls out from the other side of the bedroom door, rapping sharply on the wood.

The dogs leap down from the foot of the bed and start yapping, no doubt hoping to be fed, but the human occupants are decidedly less enthusiastic. Lindsey rolls onto his back and groans. "But Mom, I don't wanna go today."

"We've got the interviewer from Rolling Stone coming in less than two hours," Karen reminds them. "Stevie needs to get ready and you need to get lost."

Stevie giggles sleepily, more amused by Lindsey than Karen was. "Now Mom's mad."

"Who cares. Let's cut class." Lindsey looks over at the bedside clock to confirm what Karen had said, a little surprised that he had slept this late. Of course, it had been a long night... "Mmm. Did I mention how good you look on the big screen?"

"Still thinking about that, huh?" she asks, unable to keep the shy smile off of her face as she runs her fingers across his bare chest. The album release party had been held the night before- a rather laid back event compared to parties of the past, without the massive amounts of cocaine and even more massive amounts of personal drama. She hadn't even had anything to drink, although she was tempted once it was time for the video screening. Seeing herself on camera had always been an uncomfortable thing for her, let alone in a room full of people and on a movie theater-sized screen, and at first she'd spent more time watching everyone else than she did watching their performance.

"I might be." Lindsey had been nervous about watching it too. Even though as the producer, he'd seen it more than just about anyone, he knew that he'd find a dozen more imperfections that he hadn't caught in the editing process. What he hadn't counted on was the way that viewing it for the first time on a big screen made it that much more real, reminding him of all the emotions that he'd felt on that night. Watching himself watching Stevie during Landslide, seeing himself choking back tears by the end of the song- this time, he wasn't able to fight them off. Stevie had noticed right away, the two of them sitting hand in hand beside each other, and whispered 'stop, you'll make me cry too' to try distracting him. When that didn't work, she put her arm around him and nudged him to rest his head on her shoulder, leaning over with her chin on his own head so that her hair would shield him from others' view. "And did I also mention how amazing you are?"

"Remind me," she says, humming happily as his hand travels up the back of her thigh. She had thought she'd be able to stay composed as they watched, even after Lindsey started tearing up, but she couldn't help getting misty eyed when Silver Springs began. Not only was she reliving that moment, she was thinking about how far they had come in the course of one summer. She's still not sure what came over her that night, but whatever it was, it had shattered the last of the walls between them and allowed her to give herself over to him completely. And now here they were practically living together, talking about being parents...things she'd never imagined happening six months ago.

Another knock at the door, this one more impatient. "I'm not joking, you two. Get your asses up."

"Later," Lindsey promises his disappointed girlfriend, pulling on his boxers before opening the door to let the dogs go running downstairs.

"Why not now?" She gives him a joking pout, pushing back the covers and sauntering over to him. He loves the way that she seems more comfortable in her own skin day by day, how she doesn't rush to cover up as often as she used to and how she was even bold enough to leave a semi-risque Polaroid on his pillow before she left for Phoenix. In it she was sitting backwards in a chair with one of her black shawls draped over it, bare legs visible all the way to her hipbones and plenty of cleavage on display. It might not have been a shot of her completely naked except for that red beret from the Tusk tour (which you'd better believe he'd managed to hold onto for the last decade), but it definitely got a reaction out of him.