Stevie felt nervous as she walked down the steps to the bunker, fidgeting with the wrapped package she had in her hands. She was fighting the urge to turn around and run away, which was increasing with every step she took. She had just paused on the third to last step, contemplating her choice, when she realized that she had already knocked on the door of the house, been told Lindsey was in the bunker, and that they would call him to let him know she was on her way down. Oh. She was stuck. Stevie hated being stuck. Taking a deep breath and walking down the last few steps with as much confidence as she could muster, she looked to see if the red recording light was on before knocking.

The knocks came out more hesitantly than she intended, and she really hoped he would not pick up on that. Hearing the door click open, she was met by the sight of the birthday boy. Standing before her in jeans, a black t-shirt and flip-flops, she couldn't help but grin at his predictable wardrobe, not that you are any better yourself, what with your 'uniform' you wear every day.

Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she noticed he had a bemused look on his face, waiting for her to say something.

Smiling at him, she held out her arms for a hug saying, "Happy Birthday, Lindsey!" He quickly hugged her back, still puzzled at her appearance at his door, but nonetheless happy she was there. He had just found 'his spot', the crook of her neck, when he mumbled a "thank you" in response. Stevie held back a laugh at that, some things never changed.

Lindsey pulled back and held her at arms length, smiling at how relaxed she seemed; the break had clearly served her well. Clearing his throat, he ushered her inside the studio, leading them both to the couch. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I know it's my birthday and all but you usually just call".

Stevie felt herself becoming shy all of the sudden, reaching for the package, she handed it to him, "Lindsey, you know how I have my Malibu house now. Well suddenly I have been forced to go through tons of stuff that I have...you wouldn't believe how much junk I had just sitting around the big house", she said rolling her eyes at herself and causing him to chuckle. "Well I found this, and I wanted to give it to you because it means something to both of us, but I really wanted you to have it, you know? I mean I debated whether I should keep it or not because it really is something special but I just figured you might like to have it because it has a lot to do with you. I also wanted to give you something other than a scarf, that you will never wear anyways", she finished this statement by mockingly rolling her eyes at him, then continued, "anyways, this you might actually enjoy. And I wanted to give it to you in person, on your birthday, so here I am", she finished with a deep breath and a shy smile.

Though he often found her Gypsy introductions to be too long and often untrue, Lindsey was always enchanted by Stevie's nervous ramblings, it showed a vulnerable side to her that he was not able to see that often. Realizing that he was grinning at her like an idiot, he cleared his throat, again, and grabbed her hand to kiss it, saying, "thank you, sweetie, I really appreciate that",

His words caused her to blush, and they both were smiling at each other warmly. However, the moment lasted a beat too long, beginning to make both of them feel uncomfortable. Awkwardly laughing, Stevie was the first to speak, "come on Lindsey open it!"

She grew anxious as he unwrapped the package, waiting to see what the reaction would be. Lindsey looked down at the worn in, plaid binding in his hands, quickly realizing it was a photo album. From the looks of the faded colors of the plaid design, and some of the pages sticking out from the album, he gathered it had to be an old one too. I wonder what could be in here? I certainly hope it isn't a bunch of Stevie's selfies. Well, maybe certain kind of selfies...now stop it Lindsey. Still what could this be? She has obviously had this for a long time and it has to do with me? Why didn't I have it in the first place?

Lindsey looked at Stevie quizzically, receiving an encouraging smile from her to go ahead and look through it. On the back of the cover, in handwritten script he saw, Lindsey's Birthday, October 3, 1979, and his curiosity was piqued. Flipping to the first page of photos he was struck by the good condition they were in. Crystal clear images of a life he used to live stared back at him, compelling him to go back in time.

Stevie watched him intently, enjoying the excuse to blatantly stare at him for a minute. She took in the wonder on his face as he flipped through the pages, he is usually so reserved around me, and I forgot just how boyish and adorable he can be when he is caught up in something. A gasp from Lindsey brought her out of her thoughts, noticing him tracing his fingers lightly around a particular photograph that seemed to be having an emotional affect on him.

Lindsey couldn't believe the image before his eyes, a photograph of him and his two brothers, Greg and Jeff, standing together, arms around each other and laughing at a shared joke between them. The moment was one of those wonderfully candid snapshots, presenting a more accurate portrait of the people pictured than any posed shot ever could. Lindsey could feel himself becoming emotional; oh my god, this photo is incredible. A picture with all three of us in these years was so rare. I can't believe this. I still miss Greg so much.

Turning to look at Stevie sitting next to him, he was seemingly at a loss for words. He held his hand out for her, motioning for her to come closer. He sneaked his arm around her shoulder, holding her tightly as he kissed her head and nuzzled her hair, whispering, "Stevie, just for this photograph alone, I can't even tell you, this is the most incredible gift. My god I thought I had seen all the pictures of the three of us. Thank you", he punctuated his gratitude with another head kiss. Lindsey drew back, but Stevie felt the need to maintain physical contact, moving her hand to his back and tracing soft circles through his t-shirt.

As he resumed turning the pages, he began to notice blank spaces between pictures where it was obvious a photograph had previously been in place. Becoming curious he asked Stevie if she knew anything about it.

The question prompted a gigantic eye roll from Stevie, "Oh, well those pictures had her in them"; she looked at Lindsey pointedly to make sure he knew what she meant. He looked puzzled, but then caught on, realizing the identity of her to be his ex-girlfriend Carol Ann Harris. Once he acknowledged to Stevie that he knew of whom she was speaking, she continued, "I figured you wouldn't want to see those, so I just took them and threw them out to make it easier for you". The dismissive tone in her voice along with the satisfied smile she exhibited would have caused Lindsey to do a spit take had he been drinking something. People have always assumed I was the jealous one in this relationship. If they only knew how possessive she could be...we're about equal on this one, Nicks.

Swallowing back the last of his laughter, he turned to her and said, "thank you. This is definitely a more enjoyable experience because of that." He chuckled a little bit, realizing when he said it that it was probably true.

Stevie moved her hand to his leg, smiling conspiratorially at him, "you are so welcome". Not that I didn't enjoy every second of tearing those photos out. That relationship was a joke; Lindsey could never replace me. Every time she turned her back we were having the most mind blowing, incredible sex...god it was so passionate. Oh my god that one time in London when we-...

"Stevie? Stevie? Are you ok?" Lindsey asked worriedly.

"Hmm?" she purred, biting her lip while her hand moved dangerously up his thigh.

Lindsey noted that she was still in a trance like state and grabbed her hand, giving it a little shake. It seemed to bring her back to the moment as she looked around and realized where she was.

"Where were you just now?"

"Where was I?" she pointed at herself and he nodded for her answer, "Oh! I was fantasi-, umm dreami- no I was thinking about something that happened", and she recovered, quickly glancing at him before saying, "something you don't know about".

Lindsey was even more confused, his face contorted in such a way that Stevie had to bite back laughter, "something I don't know about?"

Shaking her head, she responded, "Yep. You don't know what I was thinking about...nope". Shit. He is so going to catch on if I don't find something to distract him. Distraction. What can I use as a distraction? Ok. Oh! We have half the photo album to go through. Thank god. Scanning over the pictures to find one that would be interesting, she let out a combination squeal/laugh that she hoped would be intriguing enough, and pointed to a picture, "Oh! Lindsey look at this! This is absolutely hilarious...the faces Richard and Mick are making here are priceless...too bad he didn't have this for his blog." The attempt at distraction proved to be successful, Lindsey getting a kick out of the photo. Whew! Crisis officially averted, for now anyways.

They continued to look at the album together, pausing a couple of times to reminisce about the people and memories in the photographs. It seemed to be a rare moment of peace for the Fleetwood Mac family. Everyone was relaxed, happy and having a good time. Tusk was about to come out, but for now they had no recording, touring or promoting to do, allowing some of the ever-present tension to dissipate.

Flipping a page, their eyes both came to rest on the same photo, both mesmerized at the sight of a picture of their younger selves. They were the only ones in this photo, and they were happy. Stevie's hair was long and curly, she was wearing a white flowing dress; Lindsey was wearing a blue, button down shirt that was exposed at the chest area. One of Stevie's hands was wrapped around his waist, the other gently touching his chest. Lindsey had his hand on her shoulder, tangled in her hair. She was leaning into him and his face was inches away from being buried in her hair. The smiles on both their faces were contagious, and although this was a period of heavy drug use for the band, this moment seemed like a genuine display of fondness between them.

The photo presented such a different contrast from the tumultuous memories they had of themselves from that time, that it rendered the both of them completely speechless.

"Wow", Lindsey broke the silence, tracing the photo with his hands.

"I know", Stevie acknowledged.

"I guess what is so weird about this picture is that I have such a preconceived notion of what our relationship was like at this time. This does not fit that at all, we were arguing all the time and yet here...we look happy." Lindsey continued to stare at the photo, completely bewildered, not noticing that Stevie had turned her saddened gaze on him.

"Well Linds, I guess back then, even though we were arguing all the time, we still knew how to be a part of each others lives and find ways to share moments with one another. I guess somewhere along the way we forgot how to do that, and now we just push each other away." Stevie felt her tears threatening to fall, cursing herself for going to this emotional place.

Looking over at her, Lindsey could practically see the battle waging between Stevie's emotions and her logic, watching her body become rigid as she tried to shut her emotions and him, out. Oh no. I can almost feel her isolating herself from me. Why does this always happen? Quick. This has been a really nice moment and I don't want to go to that place. Not today.

Stevie was looking away from him now; wanting nothing more than to run away, when she felt a pair of arms pulling her into an embrace. Snuggled into Lindsey's chest, she felt his hands lightly massaging her shoulders and playing with her hair, she also felt Lindsey's protective gaze on her and she began to calm down.

Lindsey watched her intently to make sure she was ok. When he was sure she was calm enough to comprehend what he was saying, he began to talk to her in a soothing tone, "Stevie, baby, please let's not go there, huh? Sure, we fuck up a lot but we both know were there for each other when it counts. That's the most important thing."

Looking up at him, she touched his face; " I know it's been crazy between us lately but I can't lose you from my life, Linds. I just can't." The tears started to fall again, as she buried her face in his chest once more.

Lindsey was fighting a mix of emotions currently running through his system, you certainly do a good job at pushing me away for you to be saying you don't want me out of your life. He shook his head, No. Don't go there Buckingham. She is trying really hard and she needs you. Stevie needs you. The words you have always wanted to hear. Look at her; do you really want her out of your life either? Even though he had been the one to ask himself the question, the very thought of it brought tears to his eyes, No, No I don't. I would hate that.

Pulling her up to face him, he managed to give her a weak smile, "hey. I'm not going anywhere ok?" Stevie solemnly nodded her head in response. "Look we have some stuff to work through, that doesn't mean we aren't important to each other. I love you, Stevie."

She reached for his hand and held it in the air, "pinky promise?" she asked with a shy smile.

He smiled warmly at her, grateful that the moment had passed. "Pinky promise, baby", he said huskily, making her blush in the process.

They engaged in the hand signal that had become somewhat of an inside joke to them as the years went by. The irony of them doing something that was meant as child's play, for a relationship that was tension filled most of the time, was not lost on either of them. However, they both figured that this light heartedness was well earned, and went along with it happily.

Settling in to look at the few remaining pages of the photo album, she sat as close to him as possible without being on his lap, and he put his arm around her waist, her hand coming around to hold the one that was rested on her hip. Shaking her head she thought, somehow we always end up in the closest position possible. I swear we don't plan this, it just happens.

The rest of the photos were lovely and finally they came to the last photo in the album, the clichéd birthday picture: a smiling Lindsey seated in front of his cake, about to blow out the candles. Lindsey admired his younger self, "I was pretty handsome huh?" he turned to face Stevie, who nodded warily at him, "too bad I'm just a dirty old man now huh" he remarked in a mock old man voice, causing Stevie to shake her head and giggle playfully at him.

"Well, honey you may be old", Lindsey pretend pouted away from her, "but", she placed her hand on his chin getting him to look at her, "you are still just as handsome and sexy and breathtaking as you were the day this photograph was taken". With that, she reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

This time it was Lindsey's turn to blush, and Stevie smiled in smug satisfaction that she was still able to get that reaction from him. When he came up to face her again, he had taken on a much more thoughtful look, gazing into those brown eyes that he had always been so drawn to, "you are so beautiful", he said, kissing her on the cheek and causing Stevie's heart rate to increase exponentially. Placing his hand on Stevie's cheek, then tangling it in her hair, he brought their foreheads together, gently nudging her nose with his and whispering, "does the birthday boy get a real kiss? Hmm?"

Any other time she would have rolled her eyes at the corny line he just used. Right now though, she was so completely under his spell. Looking at him in the eyes, she nodded lightly, the anticipation suddenly making her incredibly nervous.

Lindsey placed his lips on hers softly, the feeling at once both electrifying and familiar. Her hands had found their way to the back of his head, and they were running through his curls. The kiss was growing into something more passionate as their tongues sought entrance into each other's mouths. It became a dance that expressed all the emotions they could never say: all the need, all the passion, was all being conveyed here.

Breathlessly pulling away, they both smiled at each other, blurting out "I love you" and "that was amazing" simultaneously, both letting out light, shy laughter. Stevie then buried her face in his chest while he did the same in her hair, his hands lightly massaging her back. They stayed in that position, totally content in each other's embrace.

It suddenly dawned on Stevie that they must have been in here awhile, "Lindsey? Honey? Before I say this, you have to trust me that the last thing I want to do is stop this amazing moment we are having but we have been in here for awhile...do you have anywhere you have to be?"

Sighing, Lindsey pulled his phone out of his back pocket and checked the time, rolling his eyes and giving Stevie a look of deep apology. "Believe me, I don't want this moment to end as much as you do. But it's 6:15 and my birthday dinner is supposed to be starting at 6:30. I better get up there."

Taking a deep breath, Stevie kissed him on the cheek, and then sat up from the couch, already mentally distancing herself from the moment they just shared. Walking over to get her purse, she felt Lindsey grab her hand and pull her into his arms yet again, kissing her head, "this photo album, this time with you, is by far one of the best birthday presents I have ever gotten. It was absolutely perfect. Thank you, Stevie". He then enveloped her in what can only be described as the world's biggest bear hug, and Stevie felt her heart swell with pride that she had made his day. After all this time, she still just wanted to take care of him.

Breaking away from their hug, Lindsey offered for her to stay for his birthday festivities, but they both knew she would decline; his two worlds would never be able to coexist.

Grabbing her purse, she realized she had forgotten to give Lindsey his birthday card and left it on his recording console for him to find later.

Walking towards the door, she suddenly whipped around so that her back was facing the door, thereby blocking any exit or entrance from the studio. Stevie found herself overcome with a need so strong she knew it would be hopeless to try to stop it. She put one hand on Lindsey's face, the other she used to stroke his chest, asking in her signature husky voice, "how would Mr. Buckingham like one last goodbye kiss?" Lindsey moaned and mumbled something incoherent before putting his hand on the back of her head and kissing her deeply.

They both responded eagerly to the kiss, so eagerly that they knew they had to pull back before it escalated into something neither of them had the power to stop. Smiling sweetly at each other, Lindsey pulled her in for one last head kiss before they left their little world, and headed back to reality.

The next morning, Lindsey wandered back into his studio for another day's work. Walking into the bunker, he smiled as the memories from yesterday hit him full force. Sitting down at the console, he saw the card Stevie had left for him, instantly recognizing her handwriting. Smiling he opened the envelope and saw it was a humorous, "Ha-ha you are getting older" card, rolling his eyes slightly as he turned the cover and saw a long message from Stevie scribbled on the left side. It read:

Dear Lindsey (Mr. George Burns),

Happy Birthday to my partner in crime!! I'm writing you this card because I know things have been difficult between us this tour...that's the understatement of the year, I know. It breaks my heart a little bit because of how amazing things were between us just two years ago. I know we will always have our complications, but I just want you to know that I love you. I am so thankful you are in my life, and if you ever need me: I. Am. Here. Ok? I have to know that you know that? We've made it too far for it to end so badly and right now. I hope this photo album I gave you reminds you of how much we have overcome. I will love you always Lindsey, know that much. I'm going to go now before you start rolling your eyes at me. But I hope you have the most wonderful birthday. I would sing to you, but it happens to be my harmonizer's birthday and it wouldn't sound nearly as good without him! (That was so corny.) Happy Birthday, Linds.

Love,

Stevie (Gracie)

Stevie's card had completely endeared herself to Lindsey. He smiled at the card, wishing she were here so that he could give her another big hug. Instead, he placed a little kiss on her message, putting the card back in its envelope. He then slipped the card into the photo album. Looking at the album, he smiled, maybe 66 wasn't such a bad age after all.