backlogged dreams & day old teas

XXVI - eleanor

Taylor frowned, the name familiar yet the face of Eleanor a blur to her.

"Eleanor..." she trailed off.

"You know, my best friend I fell out of contact with over time. The one from college."

"Oh! Her boyfriend was..." Taylor snapped her fingers, trying to come up with the name. "Jake! Right?"

"Ex boyfriend now, actually." Joe said.

"Oh. Well tell me everything, darling."

"Well, she's pregnant."

"Wow. Why is it an emergency though?"

"Jake, he didn't want her to keep the baby so he," Joe sighed. "He left her and they broke up. Since they've been dating for a while, they lived together and now they're fighting over the rights for it."

"Oh gosh! That's terrible," Taylor said sympathetically. "Are we supposed to offer her our place to stay at or..." she trailed off.

"Oh no no. She went back to her parents' place, but she's worried they might not accept her pregnancy and all. She hasn't told them yet."

"I see." Taylor nodded. "God, I feel terrible for her. To imagine you leaving me when we found out I was pregnant, I just— I can't. She just called you for emotional support then, huh?"

"Yeah. I was apparently the closest to a friend she has, because Jake and her have been together for so long, he's like her best friend, boyfriend and everything in one."

"Sounds familiar to me," Taylor replied, pecking his lips shortly.

"As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me," Joe wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I wouldn't say no when she called me, since we were so close once. She would do it for me too, if I ever found myself in that situation. Somehow."

"You would have to be a seahorse." Taylor joked, lightening up the mood.

"Anyways, I just went to a cafe with her and we talked a little about it, that's all."

Taylor nodded. "You're literally the best. You're so caring and attentive to Willow and I, you're helping your old best friend out when she's pregnant, and I just don't know what I did to deserve you, love." she rubbed his knuckles with her thumb as she spoke.

"Learned it all from you," he winked at her slyly.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you guys? Why did you guys lose contact with each other?"

"It was just distance once we left college, and we moved on to new friend groups and we were both so busy with our careers. It was great catching up with her though. The last time I saw her was probably, like two or three years ago."

"You've told me about her but I've never personally met her. Is there any chance we can invite her over anytime soon?"

"Of course, I'll give you her contact in case you'd like to arrange anything among yourselves then. I told her about you this morning and she was really excited to meet you."

"Who wouldn't be," Taylor scoffed jokingly. "Also, I really need some more friends over here. You're getting so boring."

————

"Hey! Come on in!" Taylor welcomed Eleanor into the house. "Joe's out right now, he's just gone to the grocery store, but you'll get to see him soon."

"Thanks so much for letting me come round here," Eleanor said gratefully. "Joe has said so many good things about you I just had to see for myself in person."