Collapse ➳ T. Posey [3.2]

➳ 21

"I can't have that."

Paisley frowned, looking over at Cara, who passed the bottle of champagne over to the next person, Shelley. They were all sitting in the hotel room that Cara had booked for the days leading towards her wedding, and with two days to go, Paisley had started to notice some things about her friends. The champagne, for example, wasn't the first she'd declined. There had been the wine yesterday, and the shots the day before; all of which were swapped for water, though the others seemed not to have noticed. But, this was Paisley, after all. She and Cara had grown up attached to each other's hips; there wasn't a single thing that they didn't notice about each other.

And that's how Paisley realised that Cara was pregnant.

Aurora was with them now, though, so Cara had a plausible excuse to decline the champagne outright. She didn't want to drink in front of her daughter, and nobody could blame her. Rory was in the stage of copying everything Cara did, so drinking the champagne would've surely caused a tantrum when Rory was declined some herself.

Cara lifted her eyes to Paisley, as if sensing her gaze, and mirrored the blonde's frown. Paisley's eyes flickered down to her best friend's stomach, then towards Rory. Cara followed Paisley's gaze to the toddler sitting next to Holland, and her eyes widened just a fraction as they returned to Paisley.

"How did you know?" She blurted, immediately covering her mouth once the words were out, as if hoping to push them back in. The conversation died, and the champagne bottle was discarded as everyone turned their attention to Cara and Paisley.

"Know what?" Arden frowned, glancing between the two.

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Moony prompted, keeping her gaze fixed on her sister.

"I wasn't— I was hoping to wait until after the wedding," Cara sighed, "But— uhm, I'm— I'm pregnant. Again. I'm pregnant."

The announcement was met with squeals and tears, on Holland's part. The girls gushed over Cara, asking when she found out, and if Dylan knew (he didn't, yet)— but all Paisley could think of in that moment was how far ahead of her Cara was. She had a daughter, another baby on the way, and she was due to be married in two days. All Paisley had achieved in the last few years was multiple broken hearts. She was happy for her best friend, of course— Cara was her, platonic, other half— her soulmate, or so Cara always said—, and she was immensely grateful for Dylan, because he was the reason she was as happy as she was. Paisley just... she wanted someone like that, too. Not Dylan, of course— she wasn't Thea, but someone.

Paisley couldn't help but picture Tyler when she thought about her own happiness; her own lobster.

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two days before the #carylan wedding yay