I Need You

Part 5

In the evening of the same day, Stevie was waiting for Lindsey to open the door for her, as they had agreed she would come see him at his condo. She didn't have to wait for long, swinging a bottle of wine in front of him, as soon as he appeared in the doorway.

"Well, hello there!" Lindsey laughed, letting her through. "I didn't know we were celebrating tonight."

"Of course we are!" Stevie beamed, pulling him into a hug. "You have no idea how happy and relieved I am, Linds. I had all kinds of morbid thoughts going through my head..."

Stepping back, he led their way to the living area, showing her to take a seat. "Trust me, me too. When the doctor found that lump, he started telling me how I'm at the highest risk right now for having thyroid cancer and with my history... He was almost sure."

"So, what was it then?" 

"Some kind of infection, I couldn't possibly tell you. What matters is that it's completely curable."

"Good, that's fantastic."

"I'll go fetch the corkscrew, be right back."

While waiting, Stevie suddenly thought, why was Lindsey still here and not back home with his family? They hadn't touched the subject in a very long time. Even though she got married way before Lindsey did, when it happened, she wasn't the happiest. She was jealous in away, although, the feeling couldn't have been justified. But she did notice that lately, Lindsey had mentioned his wife less and less, only ever speaking about his kids.

"Found some snacks." Lindsey said, coming into the room. He put everything down on the coffee table and sat down beside Stevie, reaching for the bottle. She held up two glasses for him to fill, giving one to him.

"May I ask?"

"Sure, go ahead." He nodded, leaning back, placing his arm along the back of the couch. 

"Why are you at this condo and not your home?"

First, he took a sip, then shrugged his shoulders. "Because I like it here."

"I don't mean to be nosy, but... is there something going on with Kristen?"

If there was one person Lindsey could openly talk to, it was Stevie. He knew that even if he made up a lie, she would see right through him. 

"I can't say that something's really wrong between us, we just... we've drifted apart. We'd gotten a lot closer when Stella was born, but over the last few years, I've noticed that we don't really have things to talk about anymore. We used to. We'd talk about my music or her designs, or whatever, but recently it's been... you know, who's going to pick up the kids from school and what are we going to have for dinner."

"Sounds familiar..." Stevie took a gulp of the wine. "It's horrible. It's a lot like with me and Michael. Nothing is exactly wrong, but nothing is right either. I love him, because he's the father of my children and I love him, because he's been a wonderful, loyal husband to me, but something is missing. Something that brought us together in the first place, it's disappeared."

"You're not in love with him anymore?" Lindsey asked frankly, seeing her struggling with the answer. 

"No, to be honest I'm not. I love him, but I'm not in love. Actually... these past couple of days, since you've told me about that damn lump, I've been freaking out. It did awoke something in me, making me question if this divorce is really what I want. I, um... I spent the last two nights with him. And I liked being there again; around Michael and the girls, all together, you know. I'm just not sure if it's a temporary feeling or I really do want to get back together with him."

"Well, truthfully, I'm not sure what to say here. I myself, I haven't actually considered divorce, but the fact I enjoy spending time here away from my wife..." Sighing heavily, Lindsey trailed off. "Can we not get into this deep stuff, though? You said we're here to celebrate."

"That's correct!" Stevie nodded, turning more to him. "I wanted to ask you something else."

"Yeah and what's that?"

"I've started recording a new album. There's this one song that I feel cannot do without you."

"Is that so?" Lindsey laughed lightly. "Why do you say that?"

"I don't know, I just.. We've tried and tried, but it doesn't come out the way I want to. I got Dave Stewart as a producer and we've also been writing together, I asked him to sing on it, but I don't like any version of what we have."

"I'm flattered and of course I'll do it."

"Aw, thank you! I would like to keep Fleetwood Mac and my solo career separate, but... Besides, Mick has also been in the studio with me, playing the drums on a few songs."

"You first went to Mick before me?" Lindsey acted offended, although, he soon realized she took it seriously.

"I mean... I wasn't even sure if you wanted to be a part of it and if you had the time or-"

"Stevie, it's fine." He said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm just teasing."

"Well, don't do that then. I thought you got upset."

"No, not at all." He shook his head. "It's all good."

They were silent for a few minutes, before Stevie got closer to Lindsey, his arm instantly wrapping around her. For them, this was normal. They didn't care how it looked from aside, being affection with each other like this was perfectly fine.

"I've missed this. Us, just talking without anyone else."

"Me too." Lindsey agreed, his palm lazily stroking the length of her arm. "And I've missed you too. I didn't feel like our last tour did much for us, like... almost like it wasn't genuine between you and I."

"A lot was going on in my personal life. Putting on a show for the fans was too much of an effort for me and I know it sounds bad, because we get paid for it."

"Is it though?"

"What is what?" Stevie asked, looking up, causing Lindsey to smile, as she had this cute confused expression on her face. 

"Is it a show, us?"

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean? You know I'm not an actress, I only do things that feel right. If I take your hand on stage or we share a hug, or whatever... yeah, I mean all of it."

"Good, because I'd hate it if it was one sided." Lindsey replied honestly. "I need it, you know... Even if it's so little, I need that reassurance from you that in whatever way we're okay."

"Do I sometimes make it look like we're not?"

"Well, sometimes, yeah... Like you're so fed up with me and I hate that."

"Linds, I'm not. You mean so much to me after everything we've been through. If I'm acting like, well a bitch sometimes, it's most likely not because of you. You're... I feel a lot of things for you still, but I can assure you, none of them is hatred or anything like that."

"Stevie?" He asked suddenly.

"Mhm?"

"I want to kiss you." Everything they'd been talking about made him reminiscent of how and who they used to be...

She didn't know how to reply in words, placing a hand on the side of his face, running her thumb over his cheek, as she reached up and he met her halfway, pressing their lips together. She opened her mouth, feeling his tongue against her own, as they kissed slowly, yet passionately. They freed their hands of the wine glasses, instead using them to explore each other's bodies. Taking it one step further, he pushed her on her back, lying on top of her, as she moaned at the feeling of him pressed against her. 

After some time, though, he broke the kiss, asking again. "Would it be too much if I asked you to stay the night?"