Sweet Caroline {Ryan Blaney} ✔️

seventeen

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Ryan fidgeted in his seat, glancing around the small coffee shop. His sister was late which wasn't unusual but he found that with every passing minute, his stomach was twisting more and more with the anticipation of whatever it was that she wanted to talk to him about.

He had been dreading this confrontation with his sister. He could probably guess what she wanted to talk to him about. This happened frequently -- he and Stacy would fight, and then Stacy would go off and plead her case to Elle, who in turn would make sure that Ryan was threatened and guilted into apologizing and doing whatever Stacy had originally wanted.

Ryan resented Elle for her hand in trapping him with Stacy. They had always been so close growing up, each other's best friends and yet, Elle still took Stacy's side, always believing that Ryan was the bad guy.

But today? There would be no backing down, no apologies for what he had said to Stacy about not wanting a family with her. Ryan was terrified that this would seal their relationship but he knew that he couldn't let Elle guilt him back into staying with Stacy -- he just couldn't do it. Ryan knew that if he had to choose, he would choose Caroline every single time. He just hoped that it wouldn't come down to that.

"Sorry, I'm late." Elle plopped down in the seat across from him.

Ryan flinched, waiting for whatever tirade that Elle was about to launch into but she stayed silent for a moment, almost as if she was sizing Ryan up.

"Who is Caroline?" She simply asked, her eyes still trained on Ryan as she tried to gauge his response.

Ryan's eyes widened in surprise. That was the last thing that Ryan had expected Elle to say and his stomach flipped with a new wave of anxiety. "How do you --" Ryan started to ask but Elle cut him off.

"Stacy heard you talking to her, Ryan." Elle's voice was sharp. "I'm going to ask again because I refuse to believe that my little brother is cheating on his girlfriend -- on the woman that he should be married to. Ryan, who is Caroline?" Elle emphasized each of the last three words.

Ryan swallowed hard. He knew that he needed to tell her but he didn't trust that she wouldn't just turn around and tell Stacy. "Can you keep a secret, Elle? Because what I'm about to tell you has to stay between us."

Elle blinked a few times, probably surprised by the desperation that had seeped into his voice. The color had drained from her face. "What's going on, Ryan? You're scaring me."

Ryan shook his head, "I need to know that you're not going to turn around and tell Stacy. I need you to be my sister for once, not Stacy's best friend."

Elle's face crumpled a little -- maybe she had realized exactly what she had been doing to Ryan but he doubted that. "Okay." She squeaked, nodding.

"Caroline," Ryan paused. "Caroline is my daughter, Elle."

Elle's eyes widened with surprise, "What?" She fidgeted with the engagement ring on her finger, a tell that she was anxious. "I don't understand, Ryan."

"I had a one night stand on your wedding night." Ryan launched into the story. He had no idea why he was telling her all of this but it felt good to recount the craziness that had happened in the last two weeks. "Caroline's mom left before I woke up and --"