Stevie couldn't keep her mind off Lindsey. She wondered if he told his parents about his injuries and how he was feeling. She hadn't been able to talk to him at school so she hoped she could go over to his house. Her mother still wasn't thrilled with the idea of the two hanging out together so she would have to sneak out again.

"Chris, you have to cover again" Stevie told her brother as they went upstairs to their rooms.

"I've been covering for you way too often and we always get caught."

"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Tell Mom and Dad the truth! Have you thought of that?" Chris asked

"That wouldn't go over well..."

"Exactly! Lindsey is a lost cause! Why do you keep trying? It's obvious that he doesn't want a friend!"
"That's not true...we connected out there"

"Ohhhh you 'connected'!" Chris said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Not like that. God, get your mind out of the gutter. You want me to stay away because you think he's an ax murderer but now you think I'm sleeping with him?"
"You're a strange girl, Stephanie," Chris shook his head, "anything is possible."

"Well no matter what our parents say I am going over there and checking on him."

"Suit yourself," Chris shrugged, watching his big sister walk out the front door

Stevie rang the bell to the Buckingham house, Ruth answering the door a few seconds later. "Stevie is it? Can I help you?"

"I uh, I came to check on Lindsey."

"He's fine, dear. Thank you for stopping by." She sounded sincere but nervous.

"Can I see him?" Stevie asked, peering inside the house over Ruth's shoulder.
"Wait here, please," Ruth let her inside the door before disappearing to find Lindsey
Stevie waited, staring at the front walk, the street and pretty much anywhere except right at the door. She felt awkward.

"Someone is here to see you" Ruth told Lindsey as the door opened.
"To see me?" Lindsey asked nervously, "Who?"

"The girl a few doors down?" He asked as Ruth nodded in response. He quickly jumped in and checked himself in the mirror, fixing his hair.

"I can tell her to leave if you don't feel like talking."

"No!" Rushing past her, suddenly becoming shy again as he approached the front door.
"Hey, Lindsey."

"Hey"

"Are you feeling any better?" He nodded, looking down at his shoes. "That's great...I guess that's all I came here for." Stevie turned to leave and he grabbed her arm, letting go when he became nervous again. He didn't want to get in trouble for hurting her.
"Stay for lunch?" He asked nervously, he had been in the kitchen eating when Stevie arrived
"Stay for lunch?" He asked nervously, he had been in the kitchen eating when Stevie arrived
"Um..." Stevie looked toward her house, remembering she had snuck out and Chris was probably ratting on her right now. "Yeah, sure."

"Okay" Lindsey said, moving aside to let her in.
He pulled her chair out for her at the table, sitting down across from her as Ruth made her a sandwich. "If I had know that we were going to have company I would have made something better..." she said nervously, Lindsey had never had a friend over before
"This is great. I appreciate you making me lunch and I'm sorry for turning up without notice"

Ruth looked up at the girl and Stevie smiled. "Well, that's quite alright dear" Ruth pat her hand, setting the plate down in front of her.
Lindsey looked extremely nervous, having a hard time eating with one arm as his left wrist was broke
Stevie tried not to stare but felt like she couldn't really talk to Lindsey freely in front of Ruth. She ate her sandwich, looking up at Ruth as she tried to engage in small talk.

"So....what classes do you have together?" Ruth asked.

"Oh, Lindsey and I don't have any together. We do see each other at lunch occasionally," Stevie answered, struggling to swallow
"Fast friends, I suppose" Ruth said. "Tell us more about yourself, Stevie, is it?"
"Well I'm a senior where Lindsey goes to school...um...I love music and I'm a cheerleader," Stevie didn't want to reveal things that may leave her with a bad appearance
"A cheerleader, that's wonderful." Ruth said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"I bet you're very well liked. You're a sweet girl. Did you grow up around here?" Ruth worried about the company Lindsey was keeping. He never had friends before but was prone to be taken advantage of.
"I was born in Phoenix but we've been here for a while now. We move around a lot because of my dad's job." Stevie answered politely

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I do," Stevie nodded
Lindsey looked down at his plate. That seemed to bother him.

"Good for you, dear. Is he kind?"

"Oh he's wonderful." Stevie beamed. "He's a nice guy, fun to be around."
"My Lindsey hasn't seemed to find someone just yet. But he will! I know he will," Ruth kissed the top of his curls, causing him to turn bright red
"Any girl who gets to call him hers will be very lucky when that day comes. He's protective, loyal...sweet." Lindsey looked back down at his plate. He was conflicted, Stevie could tell but knew not to pester him. Ruth nodded her agreement with the statement.
"Lindsey mentioned something about drawing, I'd like to see some of your work if that's okay?" Stevie asked softly, Lindsey's head shooting up as his eyes grew large

"I-I-They're not good..."
"He's being modest." Ruth said. "I've seen a few of his drawing and they're splendid."

"See, I knew that wasn't true!" Stevie smiled at him.

"You're s-sure?" Stevie nodded vigorously. "Okay then."
He stood from the table and walked away, Stevie assuming that she was supposed to follow, "You'll have to excuse him, he doesn't have company over."
"It's okay." Stevie said before following after him. She walked toward his room and he lead, seeming to not realize she was right there behind him. He started moving things on his desk, passing right by her to shut the door.

"Here" he said, thrusting a heavy black notebook in her direction.

"Are these?"

"Mine, they're mine." he said quickly, standing in front of her expectantly.
"May I?" She gestured toward his bed

"What?"

"Can I sit down?" She rephrased

"Yeah."
She took her place and opened the notebook. There were pieces of paper shoved between pages, some with large x's through them, marking them as 'not good enough', but Stevie pretended not to notice. He was good and she was impressed, her fingers lingering over the blackened lines drawn across the pure white sheet. "Wow" she said aloud and Lindsey cautiously made his way to sit on the bed with her. "Wow, Lindsey, I'm..." She looked up and smiled broadly at him. "These are amazing, you're amazing, Lindsey."
"Really?" He smiled softly

"You are fantastic," Stevie grinned, flipping through the pages and finding one of her.

"No!" Lindsey said embarrassed as she wasn't supposed to see it
He tried to take the book from her as her smile faded. "You did this?" He didn't speak, he was afraid she would be angry or tell someone. "Maybe it's conceited to say this but...it's beautiful!" She was happy but there were tears in her eyes. Lindsey didn't know what to make of it. "Thank you" She threw her arms around the young man and he froze.
"You're welcome," he said awkwardly, not hugging her back as no female besides his mom had ever shown him this type of affection

Stevie spotted his guitar in the corner of the room, "Will you play for me?"

Lindsey quickly shook his head, "Not good."
"I know that's not true now. You said your drawings weren't good and I was blown away. Please?"

Lindsey looks at her a moment and eventually nods. She waits patiently as he gets up and grabs his guitar, sitting next to her on the bed again.
"Do you know California Dreamin? I'm obsessed with that song," Stevie chuckled, to her surprise Lindsey began to play the intro as she jumped into sing

As soon as he heard her voice he stopped playing, Stevie quickly encouraged him to continue and he did.

"Good," Lindsey smiled when she was through, "You're good."
"You sing too...don't you?" She asked.

"I'm not good like you"

"Will you try?" He nodded again. She had this way of getting him to do things and it astounded him. "From the top?"

He played the intro once more and he began to sing. She jumped in on harmony right away and he smiled. His mother stood outside the door, listening, smiling to herself. Her son had a friend and she was encouraging him unlike anyone ever had before.
"Lindsey you're amazing!" Stevie gasped, Lindsey looking down at his lap as he blushed

"I'm serious! You are great!"

"Thanks..."

"What else do I not know about you? You literally saved my life and I feel that I should get to know my knight."
"Nothing" he told her.

"There has to be more. You draw, you play and sing...you're a mystery."

"No"

"I love that about you. You're different, unique...real soulful." she told him and Lindsey blushed even more as she reached out to brush a rogue curl back from his forehead. "Where do you keep your record collection?"
Lindsey showed her over to a small closet, opening the door to reveal it was stuffed full of records, "Here."

"Jesus! All of those are yours?"

"Yeah, I like to listen to music..."

"Me too, but gol-ly!"

"Wanna pick?" he asked, jamming his hands in his pockets.

"Sure! Any preference?"

"Uhh...good, I guess."

Stevie chuckled. "Doesn't seem like that will be a problem."
Pulling out a Beach Boys vinyl she chuckled, "You're a fan?" Seeing that he had several of their albums

"They're good." He said shyly

"Yeah they are!" Stevie took his hand and led him over to the record player
"So do you dance or...?"

"No" he said shyly.

"You don't have to be scared."

"I-I know"
"Open up to me, Lindsey!" Stevie smiled, "I'm not going to hurt you!"
"I know"

"So can we dance? If you don't like it, we can stop. I promise." He nodded and she put her hands on his shoulders. His hands moved tentatively toward her waist and Stevie smiled. "It's okay."
Lindsey settled them lightly on her waist, "I've never danced with anyone before."
"Well there's a first for everything!"

"Please don't laugh at me...." he said softly

"Lindsey, I would never laugh at you..."
"Really?"

"Of course not. And see, you're not even bad at this. You're doing fine. You don't need to worry so much, Lindsey."

"Okay" He still seemed nervous, tense and Stevie noticed right away.

"I'm not going to bite or anything. Relax. I'm your friend, remember?" He nodded again. "That's never going to change, no matter what."
Stevie could tell that Lindsey had no self confidence, questioning everything. She couldn't imagine living in that fear all her life.

"We're going to bring you out of your shell, Buckingham."

"My shell?"

"You are so different." He looked down, feeling like she was judging him. "You're interesting, it's a good thing. You're an artist, a musician, like Dylan."

"Bob Dylan?"

"Yeah. He plays guitar and he's all quiet and mysterious. Just like you. The way you play...sing, wow!" He blushes, still refusing to look at her. She lifts his chin, forcing eye contact in the most gentle way she can. "You deserve to feel good about yourself, Lindsey. You're an incredible person."

"No"

"Yes! Like I said, you're an artist, a musician, you sing so well and you're gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!" she gushed.
"I'm ugly," He said quietly

"Well then I am going to have to make you feel differently!"

"How?"

"I don't know! But I'm going to try!"
"You don't have to"

"I know I don't, but I want to." She smiled at him. "Alright, so let's just dance, okay? I'll shut up."

He smiled a little, enjoying the silence for the moment. He liked being with her and Stevie really liked being with him. He wasn't like anyone she'd ever met before.
Stevie rested her head on his shoulder, Lindsey tending as he had never had a girl this close to him before...

"Are you uncomfortable?" Stevie peered up at him, Lindsey quickly shaking his head.

"This is...n-nice" he said with a small stutter.

"Yeah" Stevie breathed. Her arms draped around his neck and they stood swaying to the music, their bodies inching closer and closer together.
Ruth knocked softly on the bedroom door, "Linds, Dad is home with Greg and Jeff!"
He pulled away, becoming nervous again. "I uh...gotta go."

"Okay. I guess I will see you at school?" she asked.
"Yeah," Lindsey nodded, "wait a second!"

He tire Stevie's picture from his book and have it to her, "Here you go..."
"Are you sure? I mean..."

"Take it...please?" He held it out for her and she took it from his hand.

"Thank you." She smiled and rushed out of his room, Lindsey close behind her.
"Who do we have here?" Lindsey's oldest brother circled Stevie, Jeff coming over to investigate as well

"I'm Stevie!" She held out her hand to him
The boys eyed their prey. "So you're our little brother's girlfriend? I didn't know he had it in him."

"Well, actually--"

"We'll have none of that" Morris said, trying to steer Greg and Jeff away from Stevie.

"S-sorry" Lindsey said softly.
"It was nice to meet you all," Stevie said softly

"May I talk to you in the kitchen, dear?" Ruth asked softly
"Why sure!" Stevie said, looking back over her shoulder as the older boys teased their little brother. She frowned, forcing a smile again when Ruth sat her down at the now cleared table.
"What are your intentions with Lindsey?"

"Just to be his friend..."

"I feel as though you should know of his condition..."
"Condition? What do you mean?"

"I want to be up front and honest with you. You're his first friend and you're a sweet girl."

"Thank you, Mrs Buckingham"
"Back in the forties I was prescribed medication for depression and took them while I was pregnant...when I was six months gone reports began to appear about mothers giving birth to deformed babies while on the medicine...I just knew that something was wrong with him...I'm hire you've noticed by now that he is different than most..."
"He's different but...he's smart, kind. Different isn't a bad thing."

"You don't understand..."

"Explain. I'm not going anywhere." She reached out and touched the woman's hand. Tears formed in Ruth's eyes.
"His brain doesn't let him react to things that he feels. I remember when I took him to the park he wanted to play with the other kids, he was crying because he just couldn't allow himself to play... We tried to get him help but everyone told us to put him in a home-they were scared that he would hurt someone! My Lindsey would never hurt anyone...." Ruth cried, Stevie wrapped her arms around the older woman. "You can't hurt him, Stevie. He's been hurt too many times."
"I wouldn't...I'm his friend but he's mine too. I like who he is. He's an amazing person and it's all because of how you've raised him. It's a credit to you."
"I feel that I've kept him too sheltered- I just wanted to protect him from everything that had the potential to hurt him..."

"I understand, I think you did the right thing. Lindsey would probably be in worse shape if you hadn't protected him."
"Thank you for saying that. I've had this guilt inside of me for years and--"

"You don't have anything to blame yourself for." Stevie told her. "You're a good mom, Mrs Buckingham."

"Please, call me Ruth." she said with a smile, patting the tears from her eyes with a white handkerchief.
"Ruth, none of this is your fault. Those doctors they gave you those pills are at fault. You and Lindsey are completely innocent."

"Sometimes I think Morris blames me...he loves Lindsey...but sometimes he gets upset over his restraints. And Lindsey being the kind soul he is apologizes for everything."
"It's all a learning process. I...I want to help Lindsey come out of his shell a little bit. Making him feel welcome was a task given to me at school but it's much more than that now. I really like your son...as a friend." she corrected.

"And he seems to really like you too."
"Would you trust me to take him out sometime?"

"I would have to talk to Morris about that... he's never been out alone before."

"I understand completely..."
"But I will talk to him and I will let you know. Thank you for taking him under your wing."

"It's no problem at all."
"Bye, sweet girl," Ruth gave her a final hug before showing her out