Hold On To Me

Chapter 2

It was still early when Shawn woke up the next morning. He tried to go back to sleep but he felt like his mind couldn't rest anymore. After getting up from the bed without waking up his wife, he decided to do something that he used to do every day. He quickly dressed in some basketball shorts, a shirt, put his sneakers on and then went downstairs.

"Oh hey... good morning." Shawn said surprised when he saw his mother-in-law in the living room.

"Good morning. I hope you don't mind. I used the extra key to get in."

"No, it's okay. What are you doing here though? It's not even 7."

"I just thought that you could use some help." Tina said smiling a little. She was in the middle of cleaning and Shawn knew that if she had known that he'd be up that early, breakfast would have been ready as well.

"If you want, I can fix you something to eat. I thought you and Bey would sleep a little longer."

"It's okay. I wanted to go out for a run before eating anything and Bey is still sleeping, so there is no rush." He said trying to smile, because he knew his mother-in-law too well.

"Fine. How is my daughter doing?"

"It's hard. She needs time." He sighed.

"And how are you doing?" Tina asked. This was the first time someone asked him how he was doing. The whole family was very concern about Beyoncé, just like he was. How he was doing wasn't important right now... Beyoncé was.

"I'm good."

"Shawn, it's okay. It was your baby as well."

"I'm okay, really. I'm sad over what happened, but I didn't have the same connection that Bey already had with the baby."

"He was your baby too and I understand what you mean, but I am sure that you had your own connection with the baby."

"I need to go now. I will be back in a bit." Shawn said playing off all the emotions that he was feeling in that moment.

As soon as Shawn stepped outside and started to run, he felt free. The cold breeze and the fact that he was the only person at the park near his home made him feel at peace, at least in that very moment.

Running in the morning was something he had been doing for years. It was the way he met his wife. Every time Shawn went out for a run, he would see her. He had no idea who she was, but he liked to see her run in front of him. He never stared for too long or made it too obvious, he just glanced at her, enjoying the way her body moved. He never told her that, but sometimes he went out just to see her.

He found himself smiling, thinking about the day when Bey just turned around and told him that he should stop stalking her and run in another park. Shawn just laughed at her and said that maybe she was the one who was stalking him. After a few weeks, they started to run together and with time, they became friends, then their friendship became love and with love came marriage. Even after they got married, they continued to go out for a run at least two times every week.

Today he ran for even longer than he usually did. His lungs hurt and he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling in his heart.

"Hey." Shawn said forcing a smile when he entered the kitchen. Bey was sitting near the table, listening to whatever it was that her mother was saying or pretending to.

"How did you sleep?" He asked kissing the top of her head. She jumped a little when she felt his lips on her head. She was then forced to stop staring at the wall in front of her and look at her husband.