It had been more than a month since Lindsey and Stevie had spent any time at all together. Stevie often went to the studio or was locked away in her music room. It was just as well, because Lindsey occupied his own home studio or shut himself in his study. He would sit at his desk for hours just drinking, smoking joints and staring off into the distance, only getting up to shut the door when Stevie would linger for too long in the hallway.

Stevie finally picked up the demo tape of a song she had been putting off for weeks. She had given it a listen in the studio and became engrossed. Why she hadn't done it until now seemed like fate as she felt her relationship with Lindsey had been deteriorating further. She needed something to focus on now, and the song seemed like the perfect thing. She hadn't been giving her album as much attention as it deserved and she felt so guilty over it- now was as good a time as any to start.

She arrives home in the late afternoon. She feels a lot more energetic and positive, tossing her keys and purse onto the foyer table. She discards her high boots and rubs her sore feet before padding down the hallway, passing Lindsey's studio. The room is wide open and quiet, seemingly empty until she catches a glimpse of a haggard looking Lindsey sat in the corner by the window. She remembers, briefly, how she used to sit in that same huge bay window with a book or her journal with Lindsey sitting close by in comfortable silence. Now their lack of a greeting each day feels like an icy tundra. How she longs for some sort of connection...

Finally making it to her music room, she puts the tape on, finding the notes on her piano by ear. She flicks the tape off only a moment later, leaving the room to grab the lyrics from her purse. She passes his study again and she catches his eye, but he looks away. She frowns, sitting at her piano again and setting the lyrics up behind the lip where sheet music would normally be placed. She finds her notes once more.

In the beginning I believed in love and things
It happened like a hurricane
I could never really tell you what this did to me
I could never make it better for you
Anyway

The thing is
Time was
Part of me used to love you
Part of me still does
This light here
Some become strangers

The door was left open to both rooms and Lindsey could hear her words ever so softly. He hears her pause, playing her notes over and over before beginning again, picking up where she had left off.

Did it have to be so easy to live without it
I was hoping to remember you with just a smile
Now the memory of giving you is giving out
Well, I could say that I knew it all the while

Thing is
Time was
Part of me used to love you
Part of me still does
This light here
Some become strangers

She smiles as she hits just the right keys again, easily finding the chorus. If she doesn't think about the words, she can get through it but she knows the moment she thinks too much, it is all over.

Didn't want to be the one to
Say goodbye
In a stranger's eyes
Look how we've changed

That's it- she begins to cry, a teardrop falling onto her fingers over the keys. She covers the keys and wipes her eyes. Her hands find her tiny bump and she strokes it. There is comfort in this action but also enormous pain. She looks to the door, realizing she had left it open after she went to retrieve her lyric sheet. She sighs, shutting the door to be more alone. She leans against the back of the door, her hands covering her face as she lets herself cry. After several minutes they turn to wails, and she is thankful for the soundproofing. Her legs can no longer hold her, her knees buckle and she ends up on the floor.

The words to the song repeat in her mind, taunting her like a ghost as she finally pulls herself together enough to stand. She would give anything to go to Lindsey for comfort but he is obviously occupied with someone else when he isn't home. She smells an odd, but familiar, scent on him when he gets in most nights and though she hasn't seen or heard from Lydia in weeks, she feels it's mostly likely due to the woman getting what she wanted from her husband.

Lindsey listened intently to her voice, closing his eyes. A tear trickled down his cheek as he heard the words leave her lips.

Didn't want to be the one to
Say goodbye
In a stranger's eyes
Look how we've changed

They have changed, indeed, and so quickly. Six weeks of radio silence was too much to bear. Even their fights were better than this. At least he saw passion there. He had tried so many times to go to her at night when he knew she would be the most open or vulnerable but that only seemed to scare her away. He watches her as much as he can, her carefully draped dresses and layered skirts being as much a comfort as they could be. He inhales her perfume as she passes, imagining what it would be like to get closer, to touch her, feel her. It is eating away at him. He has to think of something before he goes completely insane.

The door to her music room opens again and she exits, wiping her eyes, going to the bathroom. She takes off her makeup and puts on moisturizing cream. She takes her hair down from its updo and shakes it out. Moving toward her bedroom, she changes into a comfortable oversized tee shirt, thick leggings and white bunched socks. Just as she is coming out, she hears a loud crash and the shattering of heavy, ceramic pottery. She sighs, knowing exactly what, or rather who, is responsible for the mess she will have to clean up.

A/N: I used to post every single day, sometimes multiple times a day and I've been really enjoying getting back into that, but if it's too much, please tell me so.