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She's sure of it, she's aware. Or at least fairly certain.
She's vaguely accepting of the idea that he has a wife that is sitting in the audience no less. But it sounds so ridiculous. Lindsey Buckingham, the man she sacrificed so much for, married? Married to someone else no less. Sounds absurd in her brain. Just like how she knows it would sound absurd to a twenty five year old Stevie if she could tell her. She'd no doubt laugh at the idea.
As she currently stands on this stage, she feels like that version of herself isn't any different of who she is now. She doesn't feel any weight added to her shoulders thanks to her age. She's still standing on ten inch heels, rocking an attire that is something she'd wear twenty years ago as well. When she looks over to her right she still sees him standing there in an old faded button-down shirt, beard overgrown and curly like his hair.
The look in his eyes as they meet hers is the same. The way her head rests against his shoulder as they sing in unison is so familiar, like no time has passed whatsoever. The warmth of his arm around her, the smile they share....it's like a framed picture of who they used to be.
A part of them will forever be stuck in that era, in this very position and at this proximity. And every time they get on stage, they get to enter the picture, relive the moment. Be shamelessly and happily in love again.
Until they are both reminded that life can't be freezeframed and rewinded. Until they become painfully aware of the changes in themselves their surroundings. Until they both come to terms with the fact that they are no loner each other's and will probably never be.
Because his wife is in the very audience they're performing for. So are his kids. And that reminder nearly knock the air out of her as it crashes her back into the present reality. The guilt, anger and overpowering sadness hit her full force and her voice cracks. She doesn't know if he notices or not, but she carries on like the entire turmoil isn't wrecking her like a hurricane.
He's got a family, he's got so many other framed pictures, so much else to live for. She, on the other hand, is stuck reliving that one picture, the only one that deserved to be framed and hung on the walls of her heart. The same way his name is tattooed into them.
The same way she's stuck in every fiber of his being, coursing through his veins, clouding his mind, closing up his lungs. The way his heart shattered when her voice cracked. He noticed, of course he noticed. He always does.
But then the reminder hits him too. Like the sound of an alarm clock blaring you out of a beautiful dream. The dream that was his shared life with Stevie a couple decades ago. The dream that was his reality and he let slip through his fingers like sand.