"Wait, so he's engaged to someone and didn't even bother to tell you he was dating?" Miles asked, and Lola nodded.

She had her head buried in Miles's chest crying her eyes out for the past forty five minutes, not even having the ability to explain why she was crying. Finally, she caught her breath and caught Miles up. Now, she had to try to put together her thoughts and continue on a conversation with her boyfriend.

"Apparently. She's this woman who has been working at the restaurant for maybe a year. I really don't know her that well. She just kind of popped up one day and hasn't really integrated herself into the family of the restaurant. I guess I know why now. Because she's only here to be mi madrastra."

"Madrastra?" Miles questioned.

"Stepmom." Lola replied. She's trying to swoop in and become my new mom. I mean, it's not like I'm one of those people who thinks my mom is sacred and nobody can replace her... She left us, I'd be more than happy to have some nicer lady who actually cares about me and my dad be around, but... the way this is happening, it's so weird. It's like... Why is he lying to me? Why did he keep this from me?"

Miles pulled Lola onto his lap, facing him so she was straddling his lap. Their faces were only inches apart. "I don't know. And I'm sorry this is happening." He said, his breath brushing up against Lola's lips. It wasn't even sexy. Well... that would be a lie. It was kind of sexy. But the moment, more than anything, just felt intimate. Like they were the only two in the world. Like he couldn't care about anything in the moment more than making Lola feel better and making Lola feel heard. "I just want you to know, though, that your dad isn't representative of all men. I struggled with this for a long time. Convincing myself that not every man had bad intentions and only cared about himself like my dad, or that not every woman was too sucked up in appearances to care about what's best for everyone like my mom. But no matter how much we idolize our parents or see them as these people who define who we are, that's not the truth. Yeah, he's your dad, but he's also just a person. A person who fucks up and a person who makes some not perfect choices that don't define him. Just like you. and me."

Lola felt affection for Miles travel from her chest throughout her whole body, overwhelming her. "So this is what it's gonna be like to date a writer?"

Miles rolled his eyes in the most playful way and pulled Lola in tight. "Yeah, it is. So get used to it."

"You're kind of the best." Lola said, allowing Miles's grip to overtake her body.

"Yeah, yeah." Miles responded, unable to hold back the grin that was playing across his features. "Now tell me, what fun thing do you want to do to get this off your mind? Ice cream? Bowling?"

Lola couldn't help but laugh. "Has Miles Hollingsworth ever even been bowling?" It was absurd to her, the thought of Miles at any point in his life, eating nachos at a bowling alley and wearing shoes that tons of strangers have sweated in.

He shook his head, confirming that no, he had never bowled, which made Lola even more sure that that was what the two of them were going to do. She hadn't been bowling in years, but however horrible she was going to be at bowling, she could almost guarantee that Miles would be ten times worse, and look so much funnier in the process.

"Alright, so we're going bowling. I'm going to go up to Frankie's room and freshen up my makeup, and you are going to search the internet and find the dingiest, grossest bowling alley within a hundred mile radius."

"Frankie isn't home." Miles responded as the two untangled from one another and kissed a few times instinctively, his hands wandering down Lola's back and finding a comfortable spot right above her butt. Lola reached and pushed his hand down, allowing him to grasp at her body through her pants. "Nobody is home, you know..."

Lola pulled Miles up to stand with her. "Okay, new plan. You and I are gonna go into your room, then I'm going to freshen up my makeup in Frankie's room, then we're going bowling."

Without a second thought, Miles scooped Lola up and carried her bridal style to his room. And in this moment, all of the stress about her dad and his lies melted away. Because despite the fact that her dad turned out to be hiding things, Lola was in a healthy relationship with a guy that she loved who loved her too. That wasn't something to sneeze at.