It had been three days since Lola had left the Hollingsworth house with a messy bun atop her head, Miles's shirt on her back, and a half-broken phone. Having Miles's shirt in her possession was nice of course, and she couldn't deny that she'd probably sniffed the scent out of it, but the whole phone thing was less than desirable for Lola. The screen was glitchy, the audio was garbled, and Lola was dying inside. She lived her life on her phone. Not being able to stare at her screen and see what's happening online was breaking her into a million pieces. But... maybe even worse than that, she hadn't heard from Miles. Not even a word. Radio. Freaking. Silence.

She told herself it didn't mean anything. Miles was busy. Or maybe he was overwhelmed. Or grounded, even. She hadn't heard from Frankie or Hunter either, so maybe the entire Hollingsworth house had gone electronic-free after Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth heard about how wild things had gotten. It was unlikely, considering Frankie and Hunter were 18 and Miles was moved out of the house. They weren't exactly prime grounding material. But Lola was searching, reaching for some sort of reason. Any reason to make it so that the reality wasn't Miles avoiding her.

Lola didn't realize how bad things had gotten for her emotional state until her father had walked in on her crying in the shower, though. He walked in to grab something and heard Lola's muffled sobs through the shower curtain.

"Lollipop? Are you okay?" He called out, taking Lola by surprise and causing her to pop her head from behind the curtain and look out to make sure she wasn't getting murdered. His face fell as soon as their eyes met. He saw Lola's puffy red eyes and he knew. Lola's father was a total softy and completely lost his mind whenever he saw the people he loved hurt. When Lola was little, she knew him as a strong, sort of stoic figure. But as her mother faded from their lives and eventually left, Lola's father got softer and softer. More and more vulnerable and scared. The last thing Lola wanted was to reopen his emotional wounds by revealing that she was in pain.

"I'm fine." She called out, sniffing and wiping her tears away, letting the cool water flow on her face to attempt to clear up the obvious cry-face. But he knew. And Lola couldn't really lie to him. "Just... don't worry. Shampoo in my eyes." Lola lied through her teeth. And he could tell.

He stood there, not leaving, just looking at Lola's sad face. "When you're done, get dressed and I'll fix you some hot cocoa. We can talk." Lola's father said, and it was as if the water temperature in the shower had warmed up a few degrees. But it was just the warmth radiating from Lola's chest. She was so lucky to have her father who loved her. Who needed Miles Hollingsworth? She had her father. And her friends. And a future. A future that didn't have to include Miles. She wasn't going to be that girl again and again and again. At some point, character development had to kick in.

"Okay." Lola said. Her voice was weak and a little weepy. "Love you, dad." She said, her voice wavering. The door shut behind her father, leaving Lola all alone once again. She turned the water as hot as it would go, something she only did when she really needed some comfort, and lost herself in the steamy water for a few minutes more.

After her shower, Lola wrapped herself in her fluffiest towel and dried her body and hair. She then switched to the fluffiest robe possible, a purple one with little aqua bunnies on it. It was something she'd gotten years ago, but her affinity for it hadn't changed one bit. Some things never changed, and Lola's love for all things fluffy and cute definitely fit that.

Once she was robed and comfy, she made her way to the living room where her father awaited with two steamy cups of hot cocoa. He didn't skimp or make the powdered stuff. No, he took the time that Lola was in the shower to make his famous gourmet cocoa. Lola had no idea what was in the stuff, but it was like crack to her. Year round, she could never get enough. Which was why her father had made it for her. He always made it for her when she was stressed or in pain or anything of that sort.

"So, what's his name?" Her father begun speaking in his heavily accented voice. "The boy who broke your heart, I mean."

Lola sighed. He knew. Of course he knew. Her father was the guy who knew her best. The guy who never let her down. Even through everything.

"His name is Miles. And... I think I messed it all up." Lola admitted.

She went on to tell her father everything. Omitting the fact that Miles was Frankie's brother, and the whole getting blackout drunk sitch... But other than that, she left no details out. She even accidentally gabbed about the fact that they'd had sex a few times, which... didn't exactly make her father happy, but he didn't lose his mind. He must've gotten the vibe that this wasn't the time for a premarital sex lecture, which... Thank God, because Lola was so not in the mood to ever hear anything like that, especially from her ultra-traditional father.

"It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong, Lollipop." He said, and Lola cringed at the childish nickname. "And if he doesn't fall in love with you for exactly who you are... Then he doesn't deserve you. You are so bright and sweet and smart, Lola. You always have the best intentions, and you always put everyone else first. I love you. And whoever this Miles kid is... He'd be crazy not to. And if he hurts you..." Her father trailed off before putting down his hot cocoa and raising a fist playfully. "I'll show 'em who's boss." He winked, and Lola let out a giggle.

Lola opened her mouth to speak, but her voice was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. Well, the demented, skewed sound of her ringtone through the waterlogged speakers. A call was coming through. Miles. It was as if fate was telling her that everything was going to be okay. She held the phone up, showing the screen to her father, who smiled back in support before waving his hand to tell Lola to take the call.

Holding her phone to her ear, Lola made an attempt to answer the call. However, her messed up phone wasn't allowing the signals to come through properly, so all she could hear was a screwy version of Miles's voice telling her he wanted to see her. Or... sneeze her? The signal was really crappy. She hung up the call and sent a text to Miles asking him when and where he wanted to meet.

She took one last sip of her hot cocoa and thanked her father profusely. "You're the best." She said. "I love you so much, Dad."