Lynelle stared at the blonde woman who had just knocked on her door. She had never seen the woman before but she had a friendly smile.

"Lynelle?" Renee asked.
"Who's asking?" Lynelle asked.
"My name is Renee Young. I'm Roman's ex girlfriend," Renee said.
"Is he okay?" Lynelle asked.
"The fact that you're worrying about him tells me all I need to know," Renee smiled even wider. "Can I come in? I have some things I need to explain to you about everything that has happened."

Lynelle stepped aside and held out her hand. Renee entered the house and followed the black haired woman into the living room where they sat down in an arm chair each. Renee cleared her throat. It was best to just dive straight in.

"It's correct that Roman is a registered sex offender but it's nothing like you might think," Renee said.
"I've tried calling and texting but he's ghosting me," Lynelle said.
"He's scared," Renee said. "He's scared of losing you. He's scared you won't believe him. And that's why I forced him to give me your address because I'm entangled in this whole mess."

Renee moved closer to the edge of her seat. She took a deep breath and let everything out.

"We started dating when we were 17. We also started having sex right from the get-go. Horny teenagers and all that jazz. My parents couldn't stand the thought of us being together but I was rebellious so they couldn't stop me. Or so I thought," Renee sighed. "He turned 18 four months before me. Guess what my parents did the moment he was 18 and I was still underage."
"Oh my fucking god," Lynelle said.
"Yup, they reported him. And he got a record. He's a registered sex offender because of me. Because we loved each other and he happened to be the first one to turn 18. One day we could legally have sex with each other because we were both underage. Next day we couldn't," Renee said.

Tears started running down Lynelle's face. She buried her head in her hands and felt two gentle hands grab her wrists. Renee gently moved Lynelle's hands away from her face. Lynelle looked at the blonde woman who was down on one knee in front of her in an effort to comfort her.

"He did nothing wrong. All he did was love me, and I loved him," Renee said.
"No offence but your parents suck," Lynelle said.
"I know," Renee laughed. "I broke contact with them the moment I moved out. I haven't spoken with them in two decades. Neither has my sister. And my sister is where Becky comes in. They used to be friends. Becky was jealous because she wanted Roman back in those days. She's two years younger than him so that would have looked even worse on paper."

Lynelle let out a chuckle and Renee smiled at her.

"Becky is the type of person to hold a grudge which you just learned," Renee said.
"That bitch did it openly in front of everyone," Lynelle said.
"She did that on purpose. She wanted to make sure he got his heart broken. She feels entitled to ruining people's lives. But once again I got your back," Renee said.

Renee took out her phone. She opened a video and added it to a text to be sent before handing the phone to Lynelle.

"Send this to yourself. It's a recording of me explaining what I just told you. Who I am and what happened between me and Roman. Send it to everyone who needs to know the truth. And if any of them have any follow up questions, feel free to give them my number. I don't care how many times I have to explain it," Renee said.
"Why are you doing this for me?" Lynelle asked.
"Because Roman deserves his happy ending, and you're it," Renee said.

Lynelle smiled at Renee and sent the video to herself. She handed the phone back to Renee and watched the recording Renee had made on her own phone to make sure everything was the way it should be. Then she rounded up all her friends that were at the party in a group message and sent it to them all. She muted her phone since she couldn't deal with all the answer that would come in that moment.

"What do I do now?" Lynelle asked.
"That's up to you," Renee said. "But if I was you, I would go see my man."