Love You Enough

Eighteen

To see Stevie falling apart like that, and knowing the reason behind her emotional outburst, flipped a sudden switch in Lindsey, and an almost unbearable need to be as close to her as possible came over him. "Steves", he whispered softly, "Baby, shh... you need to calm yourself down."

"I-I can't," Stevie said with a shake of her head. Speaking out the truth she had been forced to keep to herself for such a long time somehow felt incredibly freeing, as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. After so many years, she had finally managed to be brave enough to admit her true feelings to Lindsey, and she didn't feel the need to pretend to be over him, anymore. There was no more pretense to be cold and distant towards him, even though she was dying inside every single time she saw him because of just how much she missed him. Now, that her feelings were all out there in the open, she had basically gave her fate into Lindsey's hands. Now, it was all up to him what he would be doing with this piece of information.

"Please," Lindsey said and caressed the side of her face, "I can't stand to see you cry."

Stevie pulled back slightly and reached up with both hands to wipe underneath her eyes while taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down some. She had cried so many tears within the past hour that she was seriously surprised that there were even any left at this point. "I'm sorry. I'm trying."

"No, please, don't apologize for being real. It's been so long since you've been this honest and open with me. I am so glad you told me all of this."

Stevie smiled weakly, "This is our last night together. We'll go back home, tomorrow."

"I know."

"I don't want to go home without you.", Stevie suddenly said. She didn't know why, but all of a sudden, she wasn't afraid to voice what she wanted, anymore.

"Do you mean that?", Lindsey asked and looked at her, intently.

"I wouldn't say it, if I didn't mean it.", Stevie said, "I'm going to miss you. Heck, I miss you, already."

"Steph...", he was barely able to say before she interrupted him, again.

"No, it's okay. I knew this was going to happen. It's my own fault, really. I went into this knowing you were married. It's not as if you lied to me or made any false promises. It was bound to happen eventually, I just didn't expect for our last night together to come this fast."

The way Stevie casted her eyes down while one single tear slid down the side of her face, broke Lindsey's heart. He could only recall two other times he had ever seen her this sad before. One time, of course, when her best friend Robin had died from leukemia, the second time had been a couple years later at a doctor's appointment, when they had been told that there was no heartbeat to be found. "If I tried, would you let me kiss you?"

His question didn't surprise Stevie, at all. They had always been best at showing their true emotions through physical intimacy. She looked up at him and smiled sadly, "Of course, I would. But chances are, that once you started, I wouldn't want you to stop, anymore."

Her words were enough for Lindsey to reach for her face and pull her in for an intimate kiss. They held onto each other as their lips moved slowly, their tongues swiping at each other every now and then. With every passing second, the kiss grew in intensity and passion, and all too soon, Lindsey had pushed Stevie down onto her back without losing contact with her mouth as he hovered above her. "I don't want to stop, either.", he whispered against her lips, one hand running into her hair.

"Then, by all means, don't."

"Are you sure?", he asked, pulling back slightly to look into her eyes. Even though, they had slept in the same bed together the past couple weeks, even fooled around a little here and there, Stevie had been very strict about not having sex with him, again. "I wouldn't want to do anything you don't feel comfortable with."