Nothing Ever Changes

Part 26

"I'm coming in." Stevie announced, having just left the bathroom, she stood in front of the ajar door to the bedroom. 

"Okay?" Lindsey replied, somewhat confused as to why she needed to tell him. 

"You can't look, got it? Close your eyes." She waited. "Have you closed your eyes?"

"Stevie, this is silly. I've seen you naked before, at every possibly angle." He added with a sigh. 

Her cheeks got a little warmer. "Yeah, but you haven't seen me nearly naked at 73." She shrugged to herself. "Well, can I come in?"

"Yes." Lindsey said, his eyes not at all shut. 

"Okay." Stevie pushed the door open wider and gasped. "Liar!"

"Oh, come on!" He laughed, shaking his head. "This is stupid! It's nothing I haven't seen before."

She stood in the doorway, her face now clean, the makeup she'd worn all day washed off. Her hair was parted in two, covering her chest. She'd put on his T-shirt, which was too large for her, but it did come down to just above her knees, that was what she had asked for. 

"You look adorable." Lindsey smiled, sitting against the headboard. 

Looking down at the floor, Stevie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, before she willed herself to move and approached the bed. "We've stepped over about a dozen lines today."

"When have we ever not done that?" Lindsey shrugged and pulled the sheets away, so she could climb in. "Need a stepladder or..."

"Hilarious." She rolled her eyes and situated herself beside him. 

"I mean it, you look great. You have absolutely nothing to worry about." He told her once more, lacing his fingers through hers, their clasped hands now resting between them.  

"It's been years since any man has seen me like this." Stevie admitted, glancing at him shyly. 

"I'm flattered." Lindsey said, placing his hand over his heart. 

Stevie's eyes settled on the scar on his chest. It was just peeking through the top of his T-shirt, but it was there. He felt her stare, he didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he held their joined hands up and pressed a kiss to hers. 

"So, when was the last time a man saw you like this?" Curiosity got the best of him. 

"If you're asking if you were the last man I slept with, the answer is, no." Stevie replied and leaned against him, his arm naturally wrapped around her. 

"That hurts to know." 

She laughed lightly, shrugging her shoulders. "It was a couple of years ago. Well, a bit more than a couple."

"Who was he? Do I know him?" Jealousy crept into the tone of his voice.

"You do." She turned on her side and lay her head on his chest. "It's Mick."

"WHAT?!" 

"I'm joking!" Stevie quickly added, seeing the shock written all over his face. "Seriously, I'm kidding."

"My heart nearly stopped." Lindsey said, feeling his heart now beating a lot faster than it was supposed to. 

"It was definitely not him. Not for a long long time." 

"Alright, just answer me this, then I'll stop asking." He promised and looked down, when she tilted her chin up. "Was it one of the Eagles."

"Oh, God no." She shook her head. "They're married with kids."

"Well..." Lindsey shifted slightly. "So was I. That didn't stop us."

"True, but they're not you." Stevie admitted easily and he smiled. "A few years ago, when Don invited me to perform at his birthday concert-" She paused to laugh, but Lindsey didn't find it all that amusing. "I found myself in such a weird position."

"Say, what?" 

"Not that kind of a position, Linds, Christ." She rolled her eyes. "No, I mean, we all stood together on the stage and I was sandwiched between Don and Joe. It was so awkward, but I had to smile and pretend I was just so very happy to be there."

"Why did you go then?" Lindsey questioned, he never understood her need to remain close to her ex-boyfriends. Well, except for him. "You could have just said, no."

"Yes, but even after everything that I'd gone through with them, we remained friends." She replied, mindlessly grazing his chest with her nails. "Don more so than Joe."

"Never liked them." He said, shaking his head. "Never. They were horrible."

"Well, not at first. No one shows their true colors at first. I don't know..." Stevie trailed off, thinking for a moment. "Something just kept us in each other's lives. Besides, they were not the worst I've ever dated."

"What's the worst decision you've ever made regarding your relationships then?" Lindsey silently prayed she wouldn't say, him.

"Uh, besides giving up on us, I'd have to admit that marrying Kim was a massive mistake." She exhaled heavily, but that was not really a secret. "Mick was a close second."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we were never in love. Just... a copious amount of cocaine messes with your ability to make good decisions." They had never truly talked about it and while Lindsey didn't particularly enjoy hearing about it, he was glad to know that there weren't any actual feelings involved. "We partied, did a lot of drugs and had sex." Lindsey made a disgusted face, trying to push that image out of his mind. "Besides, it was nice to have someone always around, when you and Carol Ann were sucking each other's faces off."

"I was just trying to make you jealous." Lindsey didn't see a point in lying. 

"I know. So, I wanted to make you jealous, too."

"Trust me, worked every time." He laughed, shaking his head. "I can't even count the times I'd wanted to punch Mick in his smug face."

"Well, it wouldn't have been right. I wasn't yours." 

"Don't I know it..." His words brought on a long moment of silence between them.

After some time, Stevie looked up and Lindsey stared back at her. Suddenly, he was very aware of the fact that she was in his bed, wearing next to nothing, pressed against his side. Her words of how old they were echoed in the back of his mind. Were they really, though?

"Do you honestly want to talk about my ex-boyfriends?" Stevie asked, having a hunch of were that silence might have led to if she didn't speak up. 

"Not at all." Lindsey shook his head, hoping it wasn't obvious just how nervous he'd got. 

"What do you want to talk about then?"

Eyes locked, his hold on her tightened, he pulled her in closer and...