Fragile, Part 1

Lola just sat there frozen for a second. In mere seconds, she'd gone from her usual sunshine demeanor to looking like the wind had been absolutely knocked out of her.

Frankie eyed her worriedly. "Lo...?"

But Lola just quickly sat back on the bed, not making eye contact. "Um. What... so... uh, how did you and Esme become a thing?"

"Lola, shouldn't we talk about—" Frankie started. She stopped mid-sentence, reading the look on Lola's face. She wasn't ready to talk. "Okay," Frankie gave in. She pulled Lola close and sighed. "Well, it all started after..." And Frankie told the whole story from the very beginning, not even realizing when Lola fell asleep.

...When Miles woke up the next morning, Hope was already wide awake, sitting up in her crib and happily playing with her toys.

"Hey, you slept through the night!" Miles beamed. He picked her up and lifted her up high in the air, making her giggle— it was her new favorite thing.

"Bahh buhh!" Hope gurgled happily.

Miles grinned and cracked the door open. "Let's go get your mom," he said. He paused as they walked by Hunter's room. The door was closed, meaning his brother probably didn't want to be bothered. So naturally, Miles saw it as an invitation to do just that. "Actually, let's see what your Uncle Hunter has been up to..." he whispered to Hope.

The second Miles opened the door, he knew exactly what Hunter had been up to. The setup was all too familiar to him: dim lights, the fan blasting, head buried under pillows, a trash bag on the floor, and a pile of Gatorade bottles on the nightstand. He grinned to himself, relishing in this moment of pride. He'd been waiting for this day... his brother's first hangover.

Hunter was still knocked out. Miles stood over him and waved Hope in front of his face. "Huuuunter," he said. "Huuuunter. Wake up."

Hunter slowly opened his eyes, then immediately bolted upright, caught off guard by the sight of a baby being shoved in his face. "Gah! What are you doing?! Get out."

Hope whimpered at the harshness of Hunter's voice. "Well now, no need to be rude," Miles said to him. "I just thought I'd be the first to commemorate the occasion—" He pulled out his cell and quickly snapped a picture. "Oh, how the tables have turned..."

Hunter rolled his eyes and reached for a Gatorade. "So I drank a little too much. So what?"

Miles grinned. "I'm just offended I wasn't invited to witness it." He yanked the covers off Hunter and plopped Hope into his arms. "Come on. I'll make you my hangover cure. Works much faster than Gatorade."

"Fine," Hunter mumbled as Hope reached for his nose.

Miles led his brother into the kitchen and got to work. They were the only ones up. "So," Miles cleared his throat, stirring ingredients into a mug. "Why'd you get drunk anyhow? I've never even seen you take a sip of beer."

Hunter shrugged, Hope in his lap still determined to get his nose. "I don't know. I just wanted to try it. And Frankie talked me into it."

"Ah. That explains," Miles said. He pushed the steaming mug towards him.

Hope reached for the mug just as Hunter was about to take a sip. "Hope. Quit—" But it was too late. She'd already knocked it over, spilling it all over the counter. She squealed happily, like she'd just done a neat trick she was proud of.

"...whoops," Miles said. He took Hope into his arms and tossed Hunter a roll of paper towels. Hope was definitely fond of getting into mischief lately— Miles knew that was his genetics to blame. He glanced back at his brother. "So um, that's it? You just wanted to try it?"

"Yes," Hunter said, grumpier now that his tank top was soaked with whatever this "miracle" cure was. "Why are you so pressed over it? It's not like I'm out here doing horse tranquilizers or—" He paused suddenly, maybe remembering who he was talking to and the weight of certain topics here.

Miles just stared down at the floor. "You know I'm all for some good old teenage rebellion," he smiled. "As long as that's... all it is."

"What do you mean?"

Miles raised his brow. "Like, it's for actual fun... and not as a way to try and get over a certain someone."

"Who?" Hunter said. He paused, meeting Miles' expression. "Esme? No, I... I'm over that. Really. I haven't thought about her in weeks."

Miles couldn't tell if Hunter meant it or not, but shrugged and gave in. "Alright," he said. He cleared his throat. "Next time, drink more water. And stop when you start to feel buzzed. There's no need to black out to have a good time."

Hunter laughed under his breath. "Yeah alright, Ward Cleaver." Miles grinned.

Just then, the front door opened. Mrs. Hollingsworth walked in, dressed in a workout tank top and leggings that were much too tight. Miles had never seen his mother dressed like this in his life. Her boyfriend's influence at work, he supposed. "Oh good, you're finally awake," she said. "Raymond and I just went for a lovely jog on the beach. You really ought to be outside enjoying this weather."

Hope reached out towards her grandma. Miles handed her over to his mom. "I'm waiting for Lola to wake up," he said.

Mrs. H smiled at Hope, gently pinching her little cheeks. "Oh, she and Frankie are out shopping," she said to Miles. "They left over an hour ago." She turned her attention back to the baby, "Goochie goochie goo—"

"What?" Miles said, caught off guard. "She didn't tell me."

"I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"She never goes anywhere without saying goodbye to Hope first," Miles mumbled. "Why wouldn't she tell me?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Geez, man. They went shopping, not off to war."

Miles just shook his head. It wasn't a big deal — he wanted Lola to enjoy herself, have some time to goof off with Frankie. He just couldn't help but feel something was off. "Yeah, alright." He took Hope back into his arms and sank into the couch with her. "Guess we'll find something to do until your mom gets back..." he added to the baby. Hope spit up on his shirt.

...Meanwhile, Lola and Frankie went into the dressing room with a huge stack of shirts, dresses, and pants. Frankie couldn't remember the last time they'd been shopping together for something other than baby clothes. Lola was almost in a shopping frenzy of a sort, grabbing every single thing off the rack that caught her eye in the slightest.

"What do you think of this top?" Lola asked, examining herself in the mirror.

"Um, it's cute, I guess," Frankie shrugged. In reality, she didn't really like the color or shape.

"Hmm," Lola said. She turned sideways, inspecting herself from every angle. "I'm just glad I can wear normal clothes again." She laid her hand across her stomach and frowned, clearly not satisfied. "Not that I'll ever get my pre-Hope body back," she sighed. "But at least I can finally toss those ugly old maternity clothes." She smiled at Frankie, who just looked down at her phone.

Lola's phone vibrated from her bag, but she just kept trying on the clothes. Frankie glanced at the phone. "You're not going to get that?" she asked, seeing her brother's face pop up on the screen. "It's Miles."

"Nah, I'll just text him later."

Frankie raised her eyebrow. "You don't want to make sure it's not something with Hope?"

Lola pulled a fluffy pink sweater over her head. "I think he's capable of changing a couple of diapers while I'm gone," she huffed.

Frankie sighed. "Yeah, I guess, but—"

Lola spun around. "Look, this our chance to have fun. To have some girl time, the way you've been wanting to this whole vacation." She let out a deep breath, then tossed the sweater off, throwing it into the ugly pile. She looked Frankie up and down with her big brown eyes. "I'm just trying to make it like old times. Just like you asked."

Frankie sighed. She knew what Lola was doing — avoiding the elephant in the room. Admittedly, Frankie wasn't used to playing this role in their friendship... normally, she was the mess and Lola was the one who had to play the mom friend and sort out whatever Jonah or Esme or parent crisis Frankie happened to be in the middle of. Frankie tended to deal with her problems by crying or screaming into her pillow. Lola on the other hand, was usually just stubborn as hell. And stubborn was a lot harder to deal with than screaming. "I just..." Frankie sighed. "I think maybe we should talk about—"

"I don't like any of these tops," Lola declared suddenly. "Let's go to the next store. I hear there's a huge sale. Wouldn't wanna miss it!" She skipped out of the dressing room and down the store, hardly even waiting up for Frankie.

Frankie grit her teeth and followed Lola. "Lola, I swear to god..." she grumbled under her breath. Her phone lit up with a text from Miles: you with Lo?

Yeah, Frankie typed back.

Miles texted back almost immediately, Everything ok? Frankie didn't know how to reply to that, so she just didn't.

She ran to catch up to Lola. "Lo," she said, grabbing her shoulder. "Can we stop and get some coffee real quick? I... need a shopping breather."

"But why slow down now? I'm on a roll here!"

Then, Lola walked out the door and set all the alarms off, not realizing she'd been wearing the sweater still.

...Miles and Hunter sat on the living room floor playing with Hope.

"That's it, Hope!" Miles smiled, watching as she crawled over to Hunter. "Grab the toy!"

"Eeee!" Hope squealed happily. Hunter handed the ball to her and she crawled off with it.

"Well, what do you know," Hunter chuckled. "After all these years, we've finally got a dog."

Miles rolled his eyes, but smiled. "A dog would be less slobbery," he said, wiping some drool off Hope's chin. He picked her up and gently set her down on two legs, holding onto her little hands so she could stand up. She could almost stand on her own now. Miles kind of hoped she wouldn't be walking anytime too soon, not ready for her to be a toddler yet. He wanted to just enjoy this baby stage awhile longer.

Hunter watched as his brother played with Hope. He looked serious, like something was weighing on his mind. "Hey, Miles?"

Miles glanced over at him. "Hmm?"

"I...don't think I'm over it."

Miles looked at him in confusion. He set Hope down and pulled her into his lap, turning to give his brother his attention. "What are you talking about?"

"This morning, when you asked me about Esme," Hunter said. "I... I don't think I'm over her."

Miles felt a lump in his throat. "Oh."

Hunter sighed. "I mean, I want to be. I really do." He picked up Hope's ball and tossed it across the room. "But I don't know how I'm ever gonna find another girl who doesn't look at me like I'm some sort of freak." He shrugged. "She and I didn't exactly have a ton in common. I... I don't know if we even really liked each other. But she never made me feel like I was crazy. I don't know where I'm gonna find that again."

Miles just sat for a second, thinking. "You know," he said. "I used to think that too. That nobody would ever really get me. That I didn't deserve to be happy because I had all this... baggage." He squeezed Hope's little hands as she squirmed around in his lap. "But now with Lola, it's better than I ever could have imagined. Because she actually likes me for me... all of me."

"Dada!" Hope babbled.

Miles smiled at her. "Anyway, what I'm saying," he turned back to his brother, "is there's more to a relationship than just putting up with each other. You'll find your own Lola someday."

Hunter shook his head and laughed. "That seems gross."

Miles whacked him on the head playfully. "Emphasis on your own."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

...Frankie slid Lola her hot chocolate and took a seat across from her at the café. "How are you feeling?"

"Like an idiot," Lola said. "I can't believe I just waltzed right out of the store with the tags on. I wasn't trying to shoplift — I didn't even want that sweater. And that mean security guard was so scary when he yelled at me..." She sniffled and took a sip of her drink.

"Hey, it was an accident," Frankie reminded her. She tried to squeeze her hand to reassure her. "No big deal. Mistakes happen, right?"

Lola didn't look at her. "What am I gonna do, Frankie..." She buried her head in her hands and sighed loudly, almost like a loud yelp.

"It's not a big deal. You went back in and paid for it and—"

"Not that," Lola finally looked up and made eye contact. She was crying now, her eyeliner smudged down her cheek. "You know what I'm talking about," she said quietly. "I... I can't do this again. I..." She gave in and just sobbed.

Frankie squeezed her hand tightly. "Hey. Hey. It's okay..."

"But it's not!" Lola insisted, still crying. She stopped to try and catch her breath. "It doesn't make any sense. Miles and I have been careful. Really careful—"

"TMI," Frankie mumbled.

Lola rolled her eyes, then looked down. "My life wasn't supposed to go this way, you know? I was supposed to finish high school and go to university and... I don't know, make something of myself." She sighed. "But then I had a baby and... and everything changed. And I love Hope. I love her more than anything and I don't regret her, but I... I don't even remember why I went through with it, really. I just... saw her on the sonogram and wanted her. And that was it." She glanced back up at Frankie. "But I don't want another baby, not now. I can't do it, Franks. I can't do all this again... oh god, what am I gonna tell Miles?"

Frankie reached into her bag and handed Lola a tissue. "First, you're gonna take a test," she said. "Because maybe... maybe there's nothing to worry about. You said you've been careful, right?"

Lola snatched the tissue out of her hand. "Yeah... but I might have missed a pill once a couple of packs back. I... I don't know..." She sighed.

"Well," Frankie said, getting up from the table, "at least we're not phased buying pregnancy tests anymore. C'mon." She held Lola's hand on the way out the door, silently thanking the universe that there was no possible way for her and Esme to end up in this situation.