His Forever Flame

7. Summer Loving

They ended up spending the whole weekend at the cabin. When they got back to the city, Jay asked Lauren if she wanted to stay with him. Of course, she agreed. Kelly was happy for her. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy, and he knew Jay made her happy.

Lauren had been staying with Jay for about a month and things were amazing. It was almost too good to be true, but she was loving every minute of it. They still saw Kelly a lot and did things with their friends, but they enjoyed spending time as just the two of them catching up on the lost time. It was now the middle of July, and she still had not told him about going home. She had just nineteen days left in Chicago, so she decided she needed to tell him tonight. Kelly had the day off, and she was spending the day with him. She was hoping he could offer her some advice.

Kelly couldn't believe she hadn't already told Jay, but she said every time she tried to bring it up, something would always come up or the subject would get changed. He felt bad for her, but she really had to tell Jay. He knew she was worried, and he understood why, but he thought Jay was really serious about making them work this go around so he knew they'd be ok.

Lauren had text Jay around lunch asking if Kelly could drop her by the station later so she could go home with him. Jay had told her it would be fine. So about six, Kelly took her to the station. Platt buzzed her up. As she got close to the top she noticed how quiet it was. At the top she realized it was because everyone but Jay and Erin were gone. Jay was sitting in his chair, and Erin was sitting on his desk directly in front of him. Neither one had seen her so she quietly backed down some. They appeared to be having a private conversation, and she suddenly felt like she was intruding.

She could barely tell that they were talking about her, but she didn't want to hear it. She text Kelly and asked if he would come back and get her. Kelly said he'd be there in five. Lauren turned and went back down the stairs. As she went by, Platt asked if everything was ok. She also asked where Jay was, but Lauren didn't answer either question as she went out the door.

She wasn't going to cry, at least that's what she told herself. She didn't know the whole story, and she knew she was running like he did, but it stung to see them like that. Kelly didn't ask any questions; he let her sit in silence. Finally, he needed to know where to take her. "Just take me to Jay's."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She knew she could always tell Kelly anything. "It was just him and Erin. They looked like they were having a private conversation. I heard my name, and suddenly I just didn't want to stick around to see what was being said, so I left."

"Lauren," Kelly started but she interrupted. "No, don't say it. I know I shouldn't've left, but I did. We'll talk about it tonight when he decides to come home." Kelly nodded. He knew if he pushed her, she would shut him out. It was better to just let her talk and do things as she wanted in this situation. "Thanks for the ride Kel. I'll let ya know what happens. You'll be up right?"

"No problem, Sis. You know I'm always here for you. And yes, I work tomorrow night so I planned on staying up for a while."

"Ok, I'll call if I need ya." Kelly nodded. As she started to get out he pulled her into a hug. "It'll be okay, Sis. Just talk to him." That was the only advice he could offer her. "I will," she said as she got out to head up to the apartment. She put a pizza in the oven in case Jay was hungry when he got home.

When Jay was ready to leave, he went downstairs to see if Lauren was waiting down there for him. She said she was going to have Kelly drop her off, but he hadn't seen her. Erin went ahead and left, and he stopped to ask Platt if she'd seen Lauren. "Yeah, she came by about an hour ago. I buzzed her up and in less than five minutes she came back downstairs and went out the front door. I asked her if everything was ok, but she didn't answer. She just walked on out the door."