Ego {Completed}

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

When Shawn woke up the next morning, he noticed that he was in the bed alone. His first thought was that Beyoncé might be sick, so he immediately jumped up to check on her. He was about to make his way to the bathroom, but then he saw the pillows and blankets on the floor. At first he was confused, but once he noticed that she was asleep in the pile of blankets, he felt terrible. He knew that she must not have felt comfortable laying next to him, but he wished that she would have asked him to move instead.
"Bey," he softly called her name as he gently shook her.
After a few seconds of shaking her awake, she started to groan and frown.
"Mmh...ow..." she moaned softly before she fully opened her eyes. Shawn moved his hand to her back and gently rubbed it.

"Bey, you slept on the floor?" He continued to speak softly.
Finally, she slowly blinked her eyes open. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just couldn't sleep..."
He sighed and held a worried look on his face. "I understand. But you should have woken me up, I would have slept on the floor if you were uncomfortable."
She shrugged. "I didn't want to wake you."
He didn't press the issue anymore. It didn't matter at this point anyway. "Is your back sore?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
She sighed heavily, but answered "I'm fine..."
He shook his head. "Come here," he held out his arms to her.
Slowly, and with much groaning, she sat up and reached back for his hands. He took them and helped her get back to the bed before laying her down again.
"If there ever is a next time, wake me up. I don't mind losing a few minutes of sleep, as long as you're okay. You're five months pregnant, you don't need to be sleeping on the floor." His tone was mildly scolding, but she could tell that he was only saying it because he cared. She could feel the wall that she'd built up around her heart slowly come down.

It was still pretty early, too early to wake anyone else up, so Shawn sat on the very edge of the bed and turned the TV on low volume while she laid down under the covers. About ten minutes into the show he was watching, Beyoncé's curiosity got the best of her.
"Shawn?" She called out to him.
"Hm?"
She paused for a moment before asking. "What was James talking about last night about a Naomi, and something about her wanting your money?"
Now, Shawn turned his whole body towards hers. "Remember that ex I told you about? I told you that the reason we didn't work out is because we had different dreams." She nodded, and he continued. "That was Naomi. We dated for a little while, and I really liked her. Even loved her. But, her only interest was in my inheritance." He paused and she waited for him to go on. "My father was a business man. He owned the bookstore I work in, and a chain of several others across the country. When he died, he gave us each a share in his company, and he also left the management part of the companies to me, because he knew I was interested in writing. When Naomi found out about that, she tried to trick me into marrying her. At first she would just throw little hints here and there, but then one day she told me she was pregnant." Beyoncé raised her brow. "She wasn't though. She lied about it, and she only said it to try and make me marry her. But she did also try to get pregnant. She literally saved all the condoms and tried to impregnate herself. And once I found out, I was upset and hurt. And the worst part is, I was actually considering marrying her. Because I loved her, not because I thought she was pregnant."

"And now, James thinks I'm doing the same thing?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I broke up with Naomi a couple years ago, and since then, I haven't been in a serious relationship until we-" he stopped himself before saying it. "I mean, you know, before we started hooking up."
Her gaze glanced down momentarily before she looked over at the clock. "It's almost 9:00, we should get breakfast started."

He helped her out of bed again, and together they made their way into the kitchen.
"Your family eats breakfast, right?" She asked. She knows not everyone is a breakfast person, but she herself was starving.
Shawn chuckled lightly. "Yeah. And they're not picky."
"So, pancakes, bacon, and eggs is okay?"
He smiled. "That's perfect."
"Can you get the eggs and bacon? I'll start on the pancakes."
He nodded and made his way to the fridge. He pulled out the food and set it on the counter, and when he turned around, he saw Beyoncé crouched on the floor still.
"Hey, you okay?"
She looked up at him with a frown on her face, but she nodded. "Yeah," she handed him the pan, which he placed on the stove, and then she asked him to help her stand up.
She groaned loudly again as she stood, and her next instinct was to lean against Shawn's body for support. He sighed and rubbed her back as he held her in an embrace. "You really shouldn't have slept on the floor."
"I know..." she didn't argue.