Dalliance | Paul Lahote

━ EIGHT: POINT OF NO RETURN

━━━━━━ ✧ ━━━━━━

EVANGELINE WAS somewhat proud of herself, for initiating a conversation with Paul and managing to seem normal through it.

Leah had helped, talking to her before the bonfire, her quiet confidence instilling itself onto Evangeline, and she felt calmer knowing her friend was there to support her.

She hadn't accounted for Paul interacting with Oliver, however, and Evangeline wasn't going to deny how emotional she became at seeing him make a plate for Oliver, her little boy smiling up at him. They looked alike, when side by side, but only if you knew what you were looking for. Some of Oliver's features, like the color of eyes and his lips, were purely her, but she could see how their noses were the same, their eye shapes practically a copy and paste, and Evangeline had little doubt that as Oliver grew, he'd start looking even more like Paul.

She could see that Leah noticed it as well. She was sitting with her brother while Evangeline talked to Emily, her cousin's pregnancy making her have a great deal to discuss with Evangeline, but Leah caught her eye and raised a brow, glancing at where the father and son were.

She'd later tell Evangeline it was a good thing most of the guys were clueless to anything that didn't smack them right in their faces, since the two of them next to each other made it look like someone had cloned Paul and changed his eye color.

Evangeline hoped that was somewhat of an exaggeration, she didn't want anyone even thinking about that possibility before she could fess up herself.

Another thing Evangeline was proud of, was deciding as to whether they'd be moving or not. Sue, Leah's mother, had told her about an opening in Forks Hospital, and if she got the job, Evangeline would be moving back to her home town. She liked Seattle, but seeing how happy Oliver was, and how going back would also mean things would be harder concerning Paul if he decided to be involved, Evangeline thought it was for the best.

Concerning telling Paul the truth, Leah decided for her the best course of action was to rip it like a band-aid, and that the longer she took, the more she'd start making excuses to not do it. Evangeline didn't like to admit Leah was right in this matter, but she knew it was the truth. She was already scared, and the more she got to know Paul and saw how decent of a person he was, such a contrast to the boy she once knew, the worse she felt, and the harder it got to break it to him.

So, a date had been set.

Emily, who admitted to Evangeline at the bonfire that Leah had told her(and much to Evangeline's despair, confirmed how Oliver was a spitting image of Paul), was going to host a dinner at her place, much like the one Evangeline had gone to a few weeks back, but this time, adult's only. Sue was set to babysit Claire, and Oliver could join in. It would be a normal affair, with a lot of people to make Evangeline feel calmer, and after the meal, she could take Paul outside for a walk and tell him.