Chapter Twenty, Debts
Posted by DiF on Monday, February 13, 2012
Title: Love Runs Deeper: Chapter Twenty, Debts
Rating: R [language, sexual situations, alcohol]
Summary: Lindsey gets Lily to tell him more about her past and then attempts to fix things; Mick acts as Lily's bodyguard; Lindsey gets into trouble while Lily's away
Returning to the condo after sunset, with bags of new clothing and their bellies full from dinner, Lindsey led Lily to her room. His eyes flicked to Stevie and Chris, who sat on the sofa, glasses of booze in their hands. He did not greet the women at all, though Lily smiled slightly at them. Instead, Lindsey set the shopping bags on her bed and motioned to her to close the door.
“Linds?”
“We should go through your old clothes and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit,” he stated. “And I’m guessing that will take some… modeling.”
Her eyes went to his, “You’re just trying to see me in my undies.”
“Uh… um… no,” he responded. “I just thought…”
Lily stepped forward and touched his cheek, brushing her lips across his, “I’m teasing, Lindsey. I’ll model all the old stuff and all the new stuff for you.”
“Oh…”
“Even the lingerie,” she winked, turning towards the bags.
Watching her unpack their purchases, Lindsey thought about their day. It had begun so nicely, with the chance at sex, but quickly exploded when Mick interrupted. Things recovered, but what he thought would be a nice stop at a garden went horribly awry. Lily has seemed to push it all aside but… now that they were not actively avoiding it, it returned to haunt Lindsey.
“Lil?” he spoke up, drawing her attention away from removing clothes from the dresser.
“Yes?”
“How many more men are there like that one in the park?”
She sighed, “Linds, we don’t need to—”
“I think we do,” he interrupted, sitting on the bed.
Lily joined him, though sat far away enough that they did not touch, “There’s… something like a dozen.”
Lindsey shifted closer, grabbing her hand, “And your mother…owes them all something?”
She nodded, “A lot of something…”
He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm, “I’ll give you the money then and we’ll end this. Or fuck, I’ll go with you to meet them and I’ll bea—”
“No, you will do nothing of the sort. I won’t take your money and I won’t take you to them,” she responded.
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t need to be involved in this.”
“Lily…”
“My mother was an addict who never should have had a child. And now that she cannot pay her debts, to her pimps or her dealers, they come to me. I think… I think if I didn’t look a lot like her, I might have been able to escape,” she stated. “I’ve wanted to skip town so many times, but if I were to leave she would…”
“Lil, I’ve taken care of your mother’s expenses. You don’t have to worry about her care.”
“It’s not just the expense of her care, Linds… I need to make sure that she’s okay.”
“She abandoned you, Lil. Why do you—”
“She is all I have, Lindsey. I have to take care of her.”
He leaned over and kissed her temple, “No, my sweet, she is not all you have. You have me now.”
Lily closed her eyes, “Which is why I can’t let you get involved in my mess, Lindsey, especially since you’re… famous.”
“I’m not famous,” he smirked.
Her eyes opened, meeting his, “If you get involved and it breaks to the press… it would kill your career.”
“I don’t give a fuck about my career. I care about you,” Lindsey declared. “Let me get rid of these assholes.”
“Lindsey—”
“No, Lily. You listen to me. I have more money than I know what to do with right now, than I even have time to spend. Let me give you however much you need and you can pay everyone off and we can just focus on our new life,” Lindsey declared strongly. “I am in the unique position to help you out of this, Lily. Let me.”
“Lindsey, I can’t do tha—”
“Yes, you can. Don’t you want to stop looking over your shoulder wherever you go? Let me protect you, Lily.”
She sighed, looking away briefly, “It’s a lot of money, Lindsey. I would never be able to pay it back…”
He turned her face back to his, “You don’t have to. I want to do this for you. I love you.”
“It’s not fair…”
“No, baby, what they’re doing to you is not fair. Your mother’s debts are not yours. But we will pay them off and then they can leave you the fuck alone,” Lindsey declared strongly.
“What if they don’t?”
“We will stop them.”
She sighed, “Lindsey, I don’t like thi—”
“I know, but this is how we end it.”
“Linds…”
“How much?”
She broke eye contact briefly, “Seventeen thousand six hundred and forty dollars.”
“Holy fuck,” he muttered.
“And that’s just to the dealers and pimps.”
“Who else do you owe money?”
Lily looked away again, “A few of the secondhand stores… loaned me clothes and things to get by…”
“Okay. So we’ll go by all of them and pay them for their kindness as well,” Lindsey declared. “What else?”
“Lindsey, you can’t just go and throw money at all my problems.”
“No? So far nothing you have told me has anything to do with anything but money,” he pointed out. “I’ll pay off your debts and we’ll leave all that worry behind us.”
Sighing again, her eyes returned to his, “Thank you. I will make this up to you.”
He leaned over and kissed her softly, “There is nothing you need to do, Lil. This is a gift, not a loan.”
“But still…”
He kissed her again, “Tomorrow we will go take care of all of this.”
Lily shook her head, “You can’t go with me, Linds. You have an album to record.”
“They will be fine without me for a day.”
“You have already missed out and the album seems to finally be moving along…”
“I can miss a few hours.”
“What if someone recognizes you?”
“I hardly think Fleetwood Mac is the music of drug dealers and pimps.”
She blinked, “I’m not letting you go with me, Linds. If I’m going to do this, you cannot go with me.”
“You can’t go alone. I am not letting something happen like last time.”
“Fine. I’ll take someone with me. But not you.”
“Why not?”
She wiggled her fingers in his, “Because there is a very good chance you would get upset and super protective and things would get out of hand. If I go in alone, with the money, it will all be over.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“I’ll take someone with me. But not you,” Lily repeated.
“Then who?”
She thought for a moment, “Mick. I’ll take Mick.”
With envelopes full of money shoved into a large purse and Lindsey’s car packed full of all her old clothing, the designer garments Lindsey purchased more than two months ago, Lily waited in the lounge for Mick’s arrival. Lindsey took it upon himself to convince Mick to be her bodyguard, having agreed to remain at the studio if the drummer attended her. Mick’s imposing height would likely help Lily more than Lindsey wanted to admit. At least she would not be alone.
Entering the lounge, Mick greeted Stevie’s friends before making his way over to Lily, “‘Ello, beautiful.”
Her golden eyes lifted, meeting his, “Hey, Mick.”
“Lindsey is going to stay here and work on some tracks. So it is my pleasure to escort you on your errands today,” he grinned, offering his hand.
She slipped her hand into his, letting him help her up, “Lucky me.”
He winked, “Shall we, angel?”
Hand in hers, Mick trailed the young blond from the lounge. They passed the studio where Lindsey worked on a song with Stevie. Lily glanced through the window, but did not wave as she did not want to distract him. Instead, she dug the keys out of her purse, leading Mick out of the building.
Once they were settled in the car, Mick lit up a cigarette, “So what kind of errands are we going on, love?”
“We are going to go… repay some debts,” she responded.
“I haven’t brought the checkbook with me, Lil.”
“Not your debts… mine,” Lily stated.
“Oh?” he flicked his cigarette ashes out the window.
“But first we are going to get rid of some clothes.”
“How come?”
She glanced sideways at him, “Too small.”
Mick smirked, taking a drag on his cigarette, “You do seem a bit more… voluptuous. Lindsey is a lucky man.”
“Not nearly as lucky as he makes me,” she replied.
Until they reached the first of a series of thrift shops, Lily deflected as many of Mick’s come ons as possible. She had certainly expected him to be flirty, but had not thought he would be so assertive. He lightened up once she repeatedly brushed him off, but more so once she parked and they headed into the secondhand shop.
Though she brought along extra money to just pay off the shops, she hoped they would take some of her clothes instead. Each of the five shops that were still in business happily accepted the designer garments in place of cash for all of Lily’s debts. She also learned that a number of the smaller places she owed something to had closed up shop, no one knowing how to track down their owners.
After stopping for lunch, Lily slipped back into the car, behind the wheel, “Um, so… you know…”
“Yes, love?” Mick lit up another cigarette.
“The rest of today… we will be going into some rather… disreputable places. I know that Lindsey asked you to come along with me to protect me…”
“What debts are we paying off?”
Lily glanced at him sideways, “My mother was a whore and a drug addict.”
The cigarette tumbled out of his mouth and into his lap, causing him to curse and quickly slap it. He picked up the cigarette and tossed it out the window before looking at her. His mouth moved but he did not actually speak.
“She’s in a nursing home now, not any more functional than a young child,” she explained. “But they… still want to be paid for… all the things she didn’t pay for.”
“Lily, we should go to the authorities.”
Lily sighed, “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Lily, it is stupid to pay off the fucking pricks. We are going to the authorities,” he declared, covering her hand on the gear shift. “We are going to turn those plonkers in.”
“But—”
“Not another bloody argument, woman,” Mick stated. “And that is how we will make those buggers pay… for everything they did to your mother… for everything they did to you.”
Eyes opening, Lindsey stretched slightly and suddenly realized he was naked. He sat up quickly, looking around the studio for some explanation to his nudity. His blue eyes first landed on a cluster of empty beer bottles, spying his pants a second later. Struggling to his feet, feeling his head spin, Lindsey gathered up his clothing from around the studio and dressed.
“What the fuck happened in here?” he muttered to himself, holding his head with both hands, hoping to stabilize himself.
The door opened and in stepped Stevie, bottle of vodka in her hand, “Welcome back, sunshine.”
“Stevie…”
She handed him the bottle, “Have another round. Then we can…”
He refused the bottle, “Stevie, what do you mean?”
“Have another round,” she smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Or maybe more than just another…”
“Stevie, what are you talking about?”
“Actually,” Stevie set the bottle of booze on top of the amp, “why don’t we go back to the condo where we’ll be more comfortable.”
Lindsey stared at her without blinking.
“Lily must not be that special if you—”
“What happened?”
She placed both hands on his chest and stretched up to kiss him, “You know very well what happened, Lindsey. And it was so amazing.”
He glared at her, stepping abruptly away, “No. It did not.”
“God, I miss fu—”
“It did not happen,” Lindsey turned and snatched up his guitar.
Glaring at her once more, he headed out of the soundbooth. The spin of his head indicated he had likely not been passed out for long, which meant there was a chance Lily was not yet back. There was definitely a chance to save things before they exploded.
Lindsey leaned into the lounge, his eyes looking around the room.
“Hey, Chris,” he waved the woman over.
Drink in hand, the older woman headed over, “Yes, Linds?”
“Have you seen Lily?”
Chris shook her head, “She and Mick haven’t returned yet. Did you and Stevie finish the song?”
He stared at her for a moment, before glancing at Stevie’s friends, “Can I talk to you somewhere else?”
“Uh, sure,” she followed him out of the lounge and into one of the empty sound booths. “What is on your mind, Lindsey?”
“Well,” he set his guitar down, leaning it against the wall, “I think I had sex with Stevie.”
Her eyes widened slightly and she choked on her drink, “What?”
“I mean, I don’t know… but… I woke up naked on the floor in the studio — the very one I was working in with her,” he stated softly.
“You don’t actually… know?”
Lindsey shook his head, “I remember going over the harmony with Stevie. And getting frustrated with her so I grabbed a beer. And I know I drank more than… three. I vaguely remember some kissing but… oh, fuck, Chris. What have I done? If Lily finds out… What am I going to do?”
“Talk to Stevie about it.”
“I can’t. I mean… I just can’t.”
“Why not?” she glanced out the open door into the hallway.
“I just can’t,” he shook his head and started to pass. “How could I be so stupid? I love Lily. I can wait for her to be ready for us to… you know. What the fuck is my problem?”
“Wait, the two of you haven’t…?”
“No,” Lindsey glanced at her. “We haven’t.”
“Because of what happened with that guy…?”
He stopped and faced her, “You know about that?”
Chris nodded, “Lily told me.”
“Oh.”
“It makes sense why she would be hesitant with sex then. And then add in her grandfather...”
“She told you about him too?”
She nodded again.
“I see,” he began to pace again. “Oh fuck, what do I do?”
“You better figure it out quick, Linds.”
Lindsey stopped again, “Why?”
“Because,” she pointed down the hall, “she and Mick just got back.”
Rating: R [language, sexual situations, alcohol]
Summary: Lindsey gets Lily to tell him more about her past and then attempts to fix things; Mick acts as Lily's bodyguard; Lindsey gets into trouble while Lily's away
Returning to the condo after sunset, with bags of new clothing and their bellies full from dinner, Lindsey led Lily to her room. His eyes flicked to Stevie and Chris, who sat on the sofa, glasses of booze in their hands. He did not greet the women at all, though Lily smiled slightly at them. Instead, Lindsey set the shopping bags on her bed and motioned to her to close the door.
“Linds?”
“We should go through your old clothes and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit,” he stated. “And I’m guessing that will take some… modeling.”
Her eyes went to his, “You’re just trying to see me in my undies.”
“Uh… um… no,” he responded. “I just thought…”
Lily stepped forward and touched his cheek, brushing her lips across his, “I’m teasing, Lindsey. I’ll model all the old stuff and all the new stuff for you.”
“Oh…”
“Even the lingerie,” she winked, turning towards the bags.
Watching her unpack their purchases, Lindsey thought about their day. It had begun so nicely, with the chance at sex, but quickly exploded when Mick interrupted. Things recovered, but what he thought would be a nice stop at a garden went horribly awry. Lily has seemed to push it all aside but… now that they were not actively avoiding it, it returned to haunt Lindsey.
“Lil?” he spoke up, drawing her attention away from removing clothes from the dresser.
“Yes?”
“How many more men are there like that one in the park?”
She sighed, “Linds, we don’t need to—”
“I think we do,” he interrupted, sitting on the bed.
Lily joined him, though sat far away enough that they did not touch, “There’s… something like a dozen.”
Lindsey shifted closer, grabbing her hand, “And your mother…owes them all something?”
She nodded, “A lot of something…”
He lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm, “I’ll give you the money then and we’ll end this. Or fuck, I’ll go with you to meet them and I’ll bea—”
“No, you will do nothing of the sort. I won’t take your money and I won’t take you to them,” she responded.
“Why not?”
“Because you don’t need to be involved in this.”
“Lily…”
“My mother was an addict who never should have had a child. And now that she cannot pay her debts, to her pimps or her dealers, they come to me. I think… I think if I didn’t look a lot like her, I might have been able to escape,” she stated. “I’ve wanted to skip town so many times, but if I were to leave she would…”
“Lil, I’ve taken care of your mother’s expenses. You don’t have to worry about her care.”
“It’s not just the expense of her care, Linds… I need to make sure that she’s okay.”
“She abandoned you, Lil. Why do you—”
“She is all I have, Lindsey. I have to take care of her.”
He leaned over and kissed her temple, “No, my sweet, she is not all you have. You have me now.”
Lily closed her eyes, “Which is why I can’t let you get involved in my mess, Lindsey, especially since you’re… famous.”
“I’m not famous,” he smirked.
Her eyes opened, meeting his, “If you get involved and it breaks to the press… it would kill your career.”
“I don’t give a fuck about my career. I care about you,” Lindsey declared. “Let me get rid of these assholes.”
“Lindsey—”
“No, Lily. You listen to me. I have more money than I know what to do with right now, than I even have time to spend. Let me give you however much you need and you can pay everyone off and we can just focus on our new life,” Lindsey declared strongly. “I am in the unique position to help you out of this, Lily. Let me.”
“Lindsey, I can’t do tha—”
“Yes, you can. Don’t you want to stop looking over your shoulder wherever you go? Let me protect you, Lily.”
She sighed, looking away briefly, “It’s a lot of money, Lindsey. I would never be able to pay it back…”
He turned her face back to his, “You don’t have to. I want to do this for you. I love you.”
“It’s not fair…”
“No, baby, what they’re doing to you is not fair. Your mother’s debts are not yours. But we will pay them off and then they can leave you the fuck alone,” Lindsey declared strongly.
“What if they don’t?”
“We will stop them.”
She sighed, “Lindsey, I don’t like thi—”
“I know, but this is how we end it.”
“Linds…”
“How much?”
She broke eye contact briefly, “Seventeen thousand six hundred and forty dollars.”
“Holy fuck,” he muttered.
“And that’s just to the dealers and pimps.”
“Who else do you owe money?”
Lily looked away again, “A few of the secondhand stores… loaned me clothes and things to get by…”
“Okay. So we’ll go by all of them and pay them for their kindness as well,” Lindsey declared. “What else?”
“Lindsey, you can’t just go and throw money at all my problems.”
“No? So far nothing you have told me has anything to do with anything but money,” he pointed out. “I’ll pay off your debts and we’ll leave all that worry behind us.”
Sighing again, her eyes returned to his, “Thank you. I will make this up to you.”
He leaned over and kissed her softly, “There is nothing you need to do, Lil. This is a gift, not a loan.”
“But still…”
He kissed her again, “Tomorrow we will go take care of all of this.”
Lily shook her head, “You can’t go with me, Linds. You have an album to record.”
“They will be fine without me for a day.”
“You have already missed out and the album seems to finally be moving along…”
“I can miss a few hours.”
“What if someone recognizes you?”
“I hardly think Fleetwood Mac is the music of drug dealers and pimps.”
She blinked, “I’m not letting you go with me, Linds. If I’m going to do this, you cannot go with me.”
“You can’t go alone. I am not letting something happen like last time.”
“Fine. I’ll take someone with me. But not you.”
“Why not?”
She wiggled her fingers in his, “Because there is a very good chance you would get upset and super protective and things would get out of hand. If I go in alone, with the money, it will all be over.”
“You’re not going alone.”
“I’ll take someone with me. But not you,” Lily repeated.
“Then who?”
She thought for a moment, “Mick. I’ll take Mick.”
With envelopes full of money shoved into a large purse and Lindsey’s car packed full of all her old clothing, the designer garments Lindsey purchased more than two months ago, Lily waited in the lounge for Mick’s arrival. Lindsey took it upon himself to convince Mick to be her bodyguard, having agreed to remain at the studio if the drummer attended her. Mick’s imposing height would likely help Lily more than Lindsey wanted to admit. At least she would not be alone.
Entering the lounge, Mick greeted Stevie’s friends before making his way over to Lily, “‘Ello, beautiful.”
Her golden eyes lifted, meeting his, “Hey, Mick.”
“Lindsey is going to stay here and work on some tracks. So it is my pleasure to escort you on your errands today,” he grinned, offering his hand.
She slipped her hand into his, letting him help her up, “Lucky me.”
He winked, “Shall we, angel?”
Hand in hers, Mick trailed the young blond from the lounge. They passed the studio where Lindsey worked on a song with Stevie. Lily glanced through the window, but did not wave as she did not want to distract him. Instead, she dug the keys out of her purse, leading Mick out of the building.
Once they were settled in the car, Mick lit up a cigarette, “So what kind of errands are we going on, love?”
“We are going to go… repay some debts,” she responded.
“I haven’t brought the checkbook with me, Lil.”
“Not your debts… mine,” Lily stated.
“Oh?” he flicked his cigarette ashes out the window.
“But first we are going to get rid of some clothes.”
“How come?”
She glanced sideways at him, “Too small.”
Mick smirked, taking a drag on his cigarette, “You do seem a bit more… voluptuous. Lindsey is a lucky man.”
“Not nearly as lucky as he makes me,” she replied.
Until they reached the first of a series of thrift shops, Lily deflected as many of Mick’s come ons as possible. She had certainly expected him to be flirty, but had not thought he would be so assertive. He lightened up once she repeatedly brushed him off, but more so once she parked and they headed into the secondhand shop.
Though she brought along extra money to just pay off the shops, she hoped they would take some of her clothes instead. Each of the five shops that were still in business happily accepted the designer garments in place of cash for all of Lily’s debts. She also learned that a number of the smaller places she owed something to had closed up shop, no one knowing how to track down their owners.
After stopping for lunch, Lily slipped back into the car, behind the wheel, “Um, so… you know…”
“Yes, love?” Mick lit up another cigarette.
“The rest of today… we will be going into some rather… disreputable places. I know that Lindsey asked you to come along with me to protect me…”
“What debts are we paying off?”
Lily glanced at him sideways, “My mother was a whore and a drug addict.”
The cigarette tumbled out of his mouth and into his lap, causing him to curse and quickly slap it. He picked up the cigarette and tossed it out the window before looking at her. His mouth moved but he did not actually speak.
“She’s in a nursing home now, not any more functional than a young child,” she explained. “But they… still want to be paid for… all the things she didn’t pay for.”
“Lily, we should go to the authorities.”
Lily sighed, “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Lily, it is stupid to pay off the fucking pricks. We are going to the authorities,” he declared, covering her hand on the gear shift. “We are going to turn those plonkers in.”
“But—”
“Not another bloody argument, woman,” Mick stated. “And that is how we will make those buggers pay… for everything they did to your mother… for everything they did to you.”
Eyes opening, Lindsey stretched slightly and suddenly realized he was naked. He sat up quickly, looking around the studio for some explanation to his nudity. His blue eyes first landed on a cluster of empty beer bottles, spying his pants a second later. Struggling to his feet, feeling his head spin, Lindsey gathered up his clothing from around the studio and dressed.
“What the fuck happened in here?” he muttered to himself, holding his head with both hands, hoping to stabilize himself.
The door opened and in stepped Stevie, bottle of vodka in her hand, “Welcome back, sunshine.”
“Stevie…”
She handed him the bottle, “Have another round. Then we can…”
He refused the bottle, “Stevie, what do you mean?”
“Have another round,” she smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Or maybe more than just another…”
“Stevie, what are you talking about?”
“Actually,” Stevie set the bottle of booze on top of the amp, “why don’t we go back to the condo where we’ll be more comfortable.”
Lindsey stared at her without blinking.
“Lily must not be that special if you—”
“What happened?”
She placed both hands on his chest and stretched up to kiss him, “You know very well what happened, Lindsey. And it was so amazing.”
He glared at her, stepping abruptly away, “No. It did not.”
“God, I miss fu—”
“It did not happen,” Lindsey turned and snatched up his guitar.
Glaring at her once more, he headed out of the soundbooth. The spin of his head indicated he had likely not been passed out for long, which meant there was a chance Lily was not yet back. There was definitely a chance to save things before they exploded.
Lindsey leaned into the lounge, his eyes looking around the room.
“Hey, Chris,” he waved the woman over.
Drink in hand, the older woman headed over, “Yes, Linds?”
“Have you seen Lily?”
Chris shook her head, “She and Mick haven’t returned yet. Did you and Stevie finish the song?”
He stared at her for a moment, before glancing at Stevie’s friends, “Can I talk to you somewhere else?”
“Uh, sure,” she followed him out of the lounge and into one of the empty sound booths. “What is on your mind, Lindsey?”
“Well,” he set his guitar down, leaning it against the wall, “I think I had sex with Stevie.”
Her eyes widened slightly and she choked on her drink, “What?”
“I mean, I don’t know… but… I woke up naked on the floor in the studio — the very one I was working in with her,” he stated softly.
“You don’t actually… know?”
Lindsey shook his head, “I remember going over the harmony with Stevie. And getting frustrated with her so I grabbed a beer. And I know I drank more than… three. I vaguely remember some kissing but… oh, fuck, Chris. What have I done? If Lily finds out… What am I going to do?”
“Talk to Stevie about it.”
“I can’t. I mean… I just can’t.”
“Why not?” she glanced out the open door into the hallway.
“I just can’t,” he shook his head and started to pass. “How could I be so stupid? I love Lily. I can wait for her to be ready for us to… you know. What the fuck is my problem?”
“Wait, the two of you haven’t…?”
“No,” Lindsey glanced at her. “We haven’t.”
“Because of what happened with that guy…?”
He stopped and faced her, “You know about that?”
Chris nodded, “Lily told me.”
“Oh.”
“It makes sense why she would be hesitant with sex then. And then add in her grandfather...”
“She told you about him too?”
She nodded again.
“I see,” he began to pace again. “Oh fuck, what do I do?”
“You better figure it out quick, Linds.”
Lindsey stopped again, “Why?”
“Because,” she pointed down the hall, “she and Mick just got back.”
blog comments powered by Disqus