"So... How was the sex?" Frankie questioned with a grin on her face as she handed over the frozen desserts she had offered to fetch. No subtlety at all... that was the Frankie Hollingsworth way of life.
Lola's cheeks warmed up and turned a shade of pink no blush could ever duplicate. "Uh, what are you talking about?" She tried to play it cool, but she was failing pretty hilariously. "We didn't... I mean, I didn't..." Lola was scrambling to deny, deny, deny, but honestly, if Miles weren't there, or if it weren't Frankie's brother that she had just slept with only about fifteen minutes before, she would have been raving and dishing every last detail. Suddenly, a thought crossed Lola's mind: If she were to date Miles, would she spend the whole time censoring herself around her best friend? And how would she survive that?
Miles snatched the dessert from Frankie's hands and gave her a playful shove. "Shut it, Frankenstein." He said, dismissing the questioning with ease. Lola cupped her hand over her mouth, stifling laughter and shock. She knew how much Frankie despised that nickname. "You know," Miles started. "I never asked how the sex was with Jonah... Oh, wait... There's a reason for that." He smirked, and Frankie responded by simply sticking her tongue out.
"Are you two done bullying one another yet?" Lola interjected.
Frankie exchanged a glance with her brother. "Are we?"
"Well, I'm putting an end to this...weirdo sitch. Whatever it is. Weirdos." Lola said, sliding a spoonful of frozen yogurt into her mouth and grabbing Miles's hand, pulling him toward her. "Miles and I are gonna go talk in his room." She paused and turned to Frankie before she could be interrupted. "Just talk, no innuendo, Franks."
Frankie raised a brow, but shooed the two off. "We didn't have to ditch Frankie. I was just messing with her."Miles said as the two carried their frozen desserts to Miles's room, but Lola just shook her head.
"The reason why we're going back to your room is because we're not done having this conversation." Lola spoke as soon as they were out of Frankie's earshot. "You're not gonna leave London. You can't. It's a huge opportunity for you, in an awesome place. I mean, this is your best chance to become a real writer. You can't just let that opportunity go."
"I don't want it." Miles said, barely letting Lola finish her speech. "I don't want to go back to London. I'm not happy there." He said, approaching the door to his room, opening it, and motioning for Lola to enter before him. It was strange to Lola that even in the middle of a serious discussion, his reflex was still to be a gentleman. "I'm just not happy. And the environment there, the people there... Fellow writers, fellow creators, fellow college students... Everyone is on pills, coke, weed, alcohol..." He listed the substances he couldn't be around on his slightly shaky fingers. All Lola wanted to do was reach over and place a kiss on each of those finger tips, but she wanted to hear the rest, so she stayed silent. "It was... It is triggering as hell. Within my first semester, I relapsed. I went on a three week bender with this guy I met in my Shakespearean Tragedy class. Some of my professors took "two week rehab stint" as an excused absence, but... it still messed up my GPA pretty badly." He paused, burying his pain with a large spoonful of slightly melty dessert. "The special spot I earned is... no longer offered to me. I'd have to pay completely out of pocket if I wanted to go back. Which for obvious reasons, I don't."
Lola was speechless. All of the pressure she'd just placed on Miles's back, all of the pain that he had just expressed... She felt terrible. And she didn't even know where to start with a response.
"Are you okay now?" Lola asked.
"I am." Miles said. "Especially now that I'm back here. With you."
She pulled him closer then climbed onto his lap. "I'm sorry I pushed you without knowing the whole story." She said. "I think London is still an awesome opportunity for you, but I get why you don't want to go back. How about this? Stay here this summer, and if you still don't want to ever step foot in London ever again after, I'll support you with everything I have. I'll be your biggest cheerleader."
"You did look good in that Power Cheer uniform back in the day, you know..." Miles turned the tone of the conversation from serious to flirty so easily.
"Oh, yeah? You mean to tell me you've thought I was cute for four years and you never said a word?" Lola leaned in and pressed her lips against the tip of Miles's nose playfully. The weight from just a few minutes earlier when Miles admitted he'd relapsed on his drug problem was still pressing on her chest, but she was doing her best not to harp on the serious subjects. She didn't want these types of things to define their relationship. The whole pregnancy saga was tumultuous enough for a lifetime. The last thing the two of them needed was more drama.
Miles pressed his lips against the tip of Lola's nose, copying the action she'd just performed, then sighed. "You know, I wish that I'd said something so much earlier. I spent so much time with the wrong people, doing the wrong things, down the wrong path... It feels like I'm finally who I'm supposed to be. With who I'm supposed to be." He paused, looking to Lola with a nervous glance. "Sorry, that was too intense, wasn't it?"
"Not at all." Lola replied at once. "Not at all."