Start Again

Part 43

Stevie's anxiety grew with each passing minute it seemed. She was completely alone at home, waiting for Eliot to arrive. He called the day before, asking if they could talk, while Stevie was in bed, comfortable resting against Lindsey's side. She knew, they had to, but she didn't expect Eliot to reach out so soon, only a couple of days after Lindsey came to rescue her and Luke from Lawrence's house. Things got a little tense after that phone call, but Stevie did her best to reassure Lindsey, promise him that nothing was going to change.

Lindsey took Luke with him as per Stevie's request. She didn't want their son to have to listen to any more raised voices. She had a feeling that her and Eliot's conversation could possibly take a turn for the worse. 

The doorbell rang, stopping Stevie from her aimless pacing. She took a couple deep breaths first before she went to answer the door. Eliot stood outside with a smile on his face, although, he did appear slightly nervous. He also had a huge bouquet of roses in his arms. He wasn't there to break up, he was there to make up instead.

"These are for you." Eliot held out the flowers. "I'm so sorry."

Stevie swallowed uneasily, unsure if she should accept them. They're just flowers, she thought, as she gave him a small smile. "Thank you."

Eliot let out a shaky breath as he stepped over the threshold and followed Stevie inside. He kept his mouth shut, while she went to search for a big enough vase and filled it up with water. She asked if he wanted anything, he declined. 

"So..." Stevie cleared her throat, shifting in her seat. "Eliot, I-"

"Please, let me start." Eliot cut her off. "First of all, I want to say, how sorry I am about everything. I'm sorry for not being completely honest with you, for not telling you about my marriage and... and my daughter. I just- I thought, I could bring it up some other time, when I-"

"Eliot-"

"No, no, please." He begged her to listen. "I want you to know that there are absolutely no feelings. There's a reason why I divorced Samantha. Since we signed the papers, I have barely even seen her and-"

"Eliot, let me-" Stevie tried again, but he continued talking.

"And I'm so sorry for those things that my mother said. She had absolutely no right!" He shook his head. "She doesn't know you and I thought, it was a great chance for you to get to know each other. If only she listened to you, she would have realized how incredible you are. She would have seen, why I'm with you and why I want to build a future with you, why-" 

"Eliot!" Stevie raised her voice and finally managed to silence him. "I appreciate it. I accept your apology." He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, which instantly made her feel terrible. "But we're here for different reasons."

Eliot frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've been lying to myself." Stevie began, looking away. "I was happy with you, when we started seeing each other and I truly believed that... that there was a future for us, but..." She gulped, facing him again. "But the truth is, I- I'm in love with Lindsey. I always have been and I don't think it's fair for me to string you along, to keep promising you something that I know, I could never give you."

"And you're just realizing that now?" Eliot scoffed, staring at her, eyes wide. 

"Well, no, not really. Over the past few months, something changed." Stevie shrugged weakly, giving him an apologetic look. "The time he and I spent together... I just, I knew it in my heart that I was not over him."

"So, everything you've told me, every single time you swore to me that there was nothing going on..." Eliot trailed off, shaking his head. "You two have been-"

"No." Stevie interrupted, knowing, where he was going with that. "Once." She said after a short pause. "When he stayed over on Luke's birthday." Technically twice, but he didn't need to know the exact details. 

"Oh my God!" Eliot yelled out, putting his head in his hands. "I fucking knew it! I was so stupid to let him stay here!"

"Let him?" Stevie frowned. "This is my house. You have no say in things like that. Believe it or not, when I asked if Lindsey wanted to stay the night, I wasn't plotting to have sex with him."

"Yeah, but it's what happened, isn't it?" Eliot turned to look at her. "You made me feel bad. You made me believe that I was a crazy, jealous boyfriend, while I was actually right." 

 Might as well tell him the whole truth, Stevie sighed. "Lindsey was the one, who drove Luke and I home from your brother's house, not Karen."

"You know-" Eliot laughed without much humor in his voice. "In a way, I already knew that. God, I'm such an idiot." He shook his head, standing up, he made some space between them. 

"He stayed that night here, too." Stevie added.

"And you fucked again." Eliot stated, she stayed silent. "Christ, so my mother was right after all. Turns out, I didn't need to make that big scene at Lawrence's." 

That did sting a little, but Stevie didn't see a point in defending herself anymore. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. At first, I honestly believed that we could be happy together. I never expected to want to be with Lindsey again, mostly because I never imagined him leaving his wife. That's why I trusted myself getting involved with you. I never planned on hurting you."

"I don't really care." Eliot shrugged. "You're a liar and a cheater. At least, I'm only one of those." 

Stevie swallowed a lump of tears in her throat and slowly rose to her feet to approach him. "You don't have to believe me, but I am sorry. Out of all the men, who have tried, you're the only one I gave a chance. Under different circumstances-"

"Oh spare me." Eliot held up a hand, rolling his eyes. "You don't have to lie to me anymore. I really thought you were different." He said, shaking his head. 

Stevie hung her head low, while Eliot's eyes remained on her for a moment longer. He then turned to walk away and a second later she heard the front door open and slam shut loudly. Alone again, she wiped away her tears and located her phone. She felt relieved, when Lindsey answered almost immediately and told her, he was on his way, when she asked him to come home.