Bluebird

26

The drive to Washington DC was quiet and Sullen. Ray was sleeping and the driver was trying NOT to fall asleep, having stopped to get a coffee from McDonalds. Annabel got her own cup and she cradled it as she watched the cars fly passed. It was only about ten days into this tour and she wasn't happy. She had never wanted to tour anyway, and maybe it would've been different if she was headlining not this big machine of Fleetwood Mac. It was something her father talked about all of the time. How Fleetwood Mac was this big, massive, being that just took over, and she never really understood it until she tagged along on this tour. 

For just a moment she let a tear trickle down her cheek. She had always, thought she was a fighter. That she could handle anything, and for the most part she believed it. But there was just something about what Karen said to her that caught her off guard and she just wanted to run, run away as far and as fast as she can. She wiped her eyes and then she started thinking about her dad. She absolutely hated throwing her adoptive parents in his face because it wasn't his choice. It wasn't his choice to put her up for adoption, and she just felt so bad that he had to relive that, every single time she talked about them. They weren't in the picture anymore, so it's not like Lindsey had any competition, and she wasn't nearly as close to her adoptive father as she is him. But she knew it was hard, hard for him to swallow. 

For the first time in a very long time, she just let it all out. All the emotions she had been bottling up for many years just flooded out of her body in silent painful tears. She was able to compose herself to check into the hotel room, and then when she got herself settled she grabbed her guitar and she started to write. 

Carrying the weight on the end of a limb
You're just waitin' for somebody
To pick you up again
Shaded by a tree, can't live up to a rose
All you ever wanted
Was a silent place to grow

Pretty little thing
Sometimes you gotta look up
And let the world see
All the beauty that you're made of
'Cause the way you hang you head
Nobody can tell
You're my Virginia bluebell
My Virginia bluebell

Even through the snow
A flower can bloom
You just need a little push
Spring is coming soon
Umbrella in the rain
They'll roll off your back
Better watch you can realize what you have

Pretty little thing
Sometimes you gotta look up
And let the world see
All the beauty that you're made of
'Cause the way you hang you head
Nobody can tell
You're my Virginia bluebell

Put a little light in the darkest places
Put a little smile on the saddest faces

Pretty little thing
Sometimes you gotta look up
And let the world see
All the beauty that you're made of
'Cause the way you hang you head
Nobody can tell
You're my Virginia bluebell
My Virginia bluebell

She had dozed off over the side of the guitar when Lindsey finally got there around three in the morning. She had given Ray the extra key to their suite. He looked at her with her hair in a low messy bun, she was still in her stage clothes because he had her luggage, but she was sleeping peacefully her eye lashes fluttering against her cheeks. 

He gave a sad smile and unraveled her from the guitar and situated her on the couch and draped her blanket over her shoulders. He just simply placed his hand on her bicep and tried to funnel his love for her into her and then he went to go shower off and get ready for bed himself. As he was sitting in his bed looking at the baby picture of her that he had, he just felt so bad for her. She didn't deserve what Karen had said to her, and she didn't deserve to be treated like a roadie. Plain and Simple. 

***

April 9, 2013

Lindsey watched her all day, and he was simply concerned. She had been so happy going to the monuments and checking out the museums, before they had to be at the venue but as soon as they walked into the arena her mood shifted. She was sad and he didn't like seeing his little girl sad. He watched her collect her stage things and go into the small bathroom and he shook his head before he going to Mick. 

"I can't do it anymore, No...you need to reign in Stevie's lap dog because I can't keep seeing my little girl like that." 

"Like what?" Mick inquires. 

"Come watch her perform with me tonight." He sighs.

Mick nods and Lindsey just walks out of the dressing room. When her performance time came, they met up side stage and made themselves comfortable on the road cases. She was standing up there in a black tank top, body con dress with a sweetheart neckline. Her hair was still up in that low bun from the night before. She was wearing black platform boots and she was just sullen and the songs she was singing were sad and depressing. 

"That's a total 180 from last night." Mick sighs.

"What is?" Stevie says from behind them causing the men to jump and gasp as the fright. 

"What is?" She repeats.

"Annabel." Lindsey sighs pointing to the stage. It was her last song, Lindsey didn't know it, but it was the song she had written the night prior. 

"Last night she was dancing and happy and all over the place and she was getting the fans riled up. Tonight she's upset and it's showing. The crowd is drawn in because they're concerned but that's so not the mood that we want them in." Lindsey explains. 

"Why do you think that is?" Stevie asks.

"Karen." Mick states.

"Karen?" Stevie asks.

"Your assistant attacked her for going up there and singing a fun song she wrote. So now she's doing that." Mick points out.

"Karen means well." Stevie tries to defend, but before she can say anymore Annabel is finishing up and she's walking towards them. She stops when she sees Stevie, and they make eye contact for a moment and then she just lowers her head and walks by her quickly. And that's when it clicks in Lindsey's head...she was scared of her mother.