Be Without You (Completed)

9

May 2003, Beyoncé's POV

I woke up the next morning in Lyndell's room and checked my phone. 10:00 am. Dammit, I need to get home. I didn't need my mom asking me a ton of questions. It's okay, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Kelly's. That's very believable.

I gently shook Lyndell to wake him up. "Lyndell, wake up."

He opened his eyes and smiled at me, "Morning, Bey."

I returned his smile, "Good morning...look, I have to go."

"Wait up I'll drop you off at home."

I smiled, "Thank you, just drop me off a couple houses down because I plan on telling my mom I slept over Kelly's....wow, this really does feel like high school again."

He chuckled, "Sure thing."

I got dressed and quickly made myself look presentable then we headed to his car. Along the way we made small talk and just enjoyed each other's company.

"Ok, right here is good." I said as he got to the house 3 houses down from mine.

"You sure?"

I nodded, "Thanks again, Lyndell."

He kissed me on the forehead, "No problem."

As I put my hand on the door handle he said, "Bey, wait."

I looked at him, "What's up?"

"You said you're not tied down anywhere right?"

I gave him a confused look and shook my head no.

"Come to California with me."

I gave him a look like he was out of his damn mind, because he was. "What are you talking about?"

"You, me, California, I'm sure its a lot of great hospitals in LA where you can work."

I continued to give him a confused look, "Lyndell...why?"

"Because I love you, Beyoncé."

Oh my goodness, now my head hurts. It's too early for this foolishness.

"Wow...I..." I paused, I didn't want to crush him. "Lyndell," I took his hand in mine. "I love you, but I'm not in love with you. To be honest, I'm still very in love with my ex. And I care about and respect you too much to just make you my rebound."

He looked disappointed but he nodded his head and said, "Thanks for being real with me, Bey. I guess I'll see you around."

I gave him a weak smile. "Good luck with everything in LA. You're gonna be amazing."

I gave him a hug then got out of the car and walked to my parents house. Hopefully everything goes smoothly here because I don't need any more surprises this morning.

Okay Beyoncé, what did you do last night? Oh, the party went late so I just spent the night at Kelly's since she lives on the same street as Lyndell. Perfect.

I used my key to open the door and there at the kitchen table was my mom and Kelly eating pancakes and chatting like they were on The View.

I rubbed my hand over my face. You've got to be kidding me. Kelly and I looked at each other like this:

My mom broke our silence, "Good morning Ms. Beyoncé."

I smiled weakly, I opened my mouth but didn't know what to say.

"'Good morning, mama' would be nice," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Good morning, mama."

"I came over to see how you were doing. We thought you was still sleep upstairs," Kelly said.

I laughed nervously. "Uh....not exactly."

"Well you're already caught in the act right now so you might as well grab some pancakes and tell us what happened," my mom said.

I shrugged, she was right. And she made the best pancakes.

I grabbed a plate of pancakes and the bottle of syrup from the kitchen counter and sat down with them.

"I keep making dumb decisions because I'm upset about Shawn," I said. "I slept with Lyndell last night."

Kelly and my mom's eyes widened.

"Oh it gets better....and then he told me he loved me." My mom's jaw dropped and Kelly started choking on her food.

My mom patted Kelly on the back, "Slow down baby...so Beyoncé what did you tell him?"

"I told him that I care about him too much to make him a rebound and that I'm still in love with Shawn." My mom and Kelly nodded.

For the next few minutes we ate in silence while I was thinking about Lyndell's question last night about whether or not I was going to stay in the Houston area. "I think I need to get away from here," I said.

Kelly gave me a confused look, "Like a vacation?"

I looked down, "One of my professors who has ties at New York Presbyterian told me about a job opening out there, she said I would be great for it and that she'd personally recommend me...I initially didn't even consider it because Shawn lives here but...maybe it'd be a good idea to get away from here, away from him, and just start over....it's a great hospital."

My mom and Kelly went silent until my mom finally spoke up and came over to hug me, "Well you know we'd miss you to pieces, but that sounds like a great opportunity."

Kelly stood up and came over to join our group hug, "I agree, we want what's best for you Beybey. And I'll have so much fun visiting you in New York City!"

I smiled, I felt like I was making a good decision for the first time since Shawn and I broke up. "Thanks guys, I love you so much!"

Present Day

"After that, I contacted my professor, told her that I was interested in the job, and by the next week I was packing up and moving out here. I never saw Lyndell, Idris, or Shawn again. Well, I did see Lyndell on TV sometimes if I watched basketball. Then a couple weeks after I moved out here I found out that I was pregnant with you."

Skai nodded along, as if she was hanging closely to every word that I spoke, "What did you do next?"