Irresolute (Jerrie)

Part Six

Just a quick heads up, there is a trigger warning on this chapter for mentions of depression and an allusion to some homophobic beliefs.

"What about this one?" Perrie questions hopefully, stepping onto the raised platform and surveying her appearance from the many different angles that the mirrors surrounding her provide.

"Don't you think it's a little too puffy?" Natalie questions tentatively, attempting to show her dislike for the dress without upsetting her best friend, who had been rather irritable since arriving at the shop two hours prior, "If you choose that one, won't all of the guests assume that you're expecting?"

"Are you saying that I look fat?!" Perrie challenges incredulously, whirling around so that she's facing her blonde best friend, striking blue eyes shining with annoyance and a hint of stress.

"You didn't deny that you're pregnant though," Natalie points out, left eyebrow arching in surprise due to Perrie's failure to refute the claim.

"Ugh, don't be annoying Nat," Perrie says with a roll of her eyes, spinning back around and resuming her appraisal of the white dress hugging her body, "You know that if I was pregnant, I would have already called you on the phone absolutely freaking out."

"Didn't one of your friends just post one of those cute pregnancy announcements like the other day?" Natalie inquires, opting to change the subject in the hopes that discussing something other than Perrie's inability to select aesthetically pleasing dresses will lighten the blonde's rather sour mood.

"Yeah, Jesy's due in about seven months, I think," Perrie mumbles, more focused on analyzing how her boobs look in the dress than the direction the conversation has headed.

"God, I feel like we're all too damn young to be having babies now," Natalie muses, "Is she the one that married her high school sweetheart?"

"Yep, that's her," Perrie confirms, grimacing slightly once she realizes that Natalie was right in claiming that the dress made her middle look rather round. The blue-eyed girl then begins to stubbornly pat at the fabric of the dress covering her midsection in the hopes that she can get the dress to deflate slightly.

"Is she your age?" Natalie queries, trying to mask her satisfied smirk once she detects Perrie's growing dislike for the horrid dress she has on.

"She turned twenty-five a couple of months ago," Perrie answers curtly, her shoulders dropping in disappointment due to the fact that she's yet to find the perfect dress, "Remember, her party was the one I told you about where we all got drunk off our asses and trashed our high school's football field?"

"You guys are crazy," Natalie says through a chuckle, remembering how Perrie had rang her the following morning with a massive hangover and little recollection of what had happened the previous night, "I would have never guessed that was her party though because you always make her sound more mature and all."

"She can be sometimes," Perrie elaborates, stepping off of the platform and turning to face her friend, "Jesy decided to settle down rather early in life, so I guess she feels obligated to act like a stiff adult on occasion."

"And now she has a baby on the way," Natalie adds, "This is the dreaded part of life where we watch as one by one, our friends start to turn into boring adults that drive minivans and spend Sunday mornings reading the paper while they help their kids with their homework."

"God, don't remind me," Perrie demands with a grimace, "I don't think Jesy and her husband, Jake, were planning a pregnancy though; I think it was just one of those scenarios that reminds us all that birth control isn't one hundred percent effective. But when I talked to Jesy on the phone about a week ago, she still sounded absolutely thrilled. She's just so fucking smitten with her husband that she saw it as 'another way to bring them even closer together' or some sappy shit like that."