Crossing Lines

TWENTY-EIGHT | I LOVE YOU

News of Ray getting arrested didn't surprise Lauren, It wouldn't be the first time he's been in lockup, what did surprise her was why he was arrested. Murder? The man she married wouldn't do that but then again the man she married wouldn't drunkenly force himself on her or have an affair with his brother's wife.

"Do you want to go see him?" Shawn wasn't sure what to do or what to say to help Lauren. She probably didn't even want him to help her being that it wasn't Lauren who called him, it was RJ. Raymond JR called Shawn scared and confused because his mommy was cooped up in her bedroom crying. It wouldn't be the first time RJ heard his mother's cries but after seeing how happy she was lately her crying became uncommon and RJ begged Shawn to come fix it , even though the boy didn't have to beg because Shawn was already in the car when he heard the words 'Shawn mommy won't stop crying'

"What?"

"Do you want to go see Ray? Would that help you feel better?" Shawn didn't know what to do.

Did he stay and wipe the tears falling on her beautiful cheeks? or did he back off and let her handle this dysfunctional mess with the man she was supposed to be divorcing? After watching Lauren cry sipping on wine as she looked at a family photo of her, Ray and their boy's Shawn could only assume that down at the police station supporting her husband was what she wanted.

"No." Lauren shook her head blinking away her tears. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know Lauren yesterday you hated the man and now you're crying over him."

Lauren shook her Shawn didn't get it, he didn't understand. The man Lauren married and the man who walked away from the car accident without a scratch wasn't the same man and with a tall glass of wine Lauren sat in the bed they once shared and grieved for the man Ray once was. This didn't mean she wanted to see him or had forgiven him for what he has done.

"Shawn, He's the father of my children I'm ju-"

"You want to be there for him. I get it," Shawn cut her off . He didn't want to feel like he was holding Lauren back from where she felt she needed to be. Since the day Shawn and Lauren decided they wanted to be together Shawn felt confident about what they were and where they stood and now he was unsure. Standing on unsteady ground and he didn't like the feeling.

How? How could a man who was now in jail for murder make Shawn feel so insecure? "You and Ray have been together a long time you loved him more than you loved anyone-.you know what I'll just go."

The saddened look on Lauren's face was quickly taken over by confusion as her heart pumped rapidly in her chest panicking after seeing how quick Shawn moved from sitting on the corner of her bed to putting his shoes on. 'I'll just go' sounded a lot like 'I'm walking out and never coming back' to her.

"I don't want to see him Shawn. He killed his lover's twin sister. If anything this confirms that me leaving him is the right thing to do-"

"So why-"

"Why am I crying?" Lauren asked placing her glass of wine and the picture down on her night stand then she ran the palms of her hands over her damp face. "This just another thing I have to explain to my boys. I have to tell them that their father has officially gone over the deep end. I don't want Ray. Yes at a point I loved him. I loved who he was before our lives turned into the mess it is but Shawn it doesn't mean I want to see him and it damn sure doesn't mean that I want you to go. I never want you to go"

Shawn remained silent taking in what Lauren just said. He felt foolish for assuming her crying after hearing about Ray meant she wanted to go back to that. "So i'll stay." He kicked off his shoes once again and climbed into bed and held Lauren like he had already done plenty of times. They both got comfortable embracing each other.