Her father must have since updated her mother about "the irresponsible occurrence of Thursday night", which was what Vanessa had officially dubbed Lia's party. Lia's alarm had been set for nine a.m. so she could get a few hours of work in before heading to school for the start of fourth period around noon. At about 11:30, after Lia had carefully applied makeup to her lip to minimize the appearance of damage, her mother called. Lia sat through the anticipated tongue-lashing like the good daughter she usually was.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Vanessa asked her daughter, mostly concerned with Lia's physical and emotional well-being. She was still plenty steamed about the whole thing after Lin had updated her. As her mother, she still had to give the expected lecture.

"Yes, Mom," she groaned, then realized she sounded like a petulant child. After her talk with Lin earlier that morning, she felt like he was at least starting to see her in more of an adult light. If she was going to convince her mother of that, her first step was probably to stop whining.

Lia cleared her throat. "I mean yes," she said more maturely. "My lip's covered with makeup and no one at school would even know about the party."

"But you did just break up with your boyfriend of three years," Vanessa pointed out as Lin opened the hotel door for her. After freshening up, she was in her professional dress and cardigan, ready to face the day.

Lia had already psyched herself up for the day and didn't need the reminder. But again, she was shooting for maturity. "I know," she conceded quietly. "I'm just...I guess I'm a little relieved? I don't know what that means."

"Oh, sweetheart," Vanessa cooed as they began walking down the hall to the elevator. "I wish I could be there with you. I'm so sorry you're going through this without me."

"I'll be fine, Mom," Lia assured her, then picked up her backpack. "I gotta go. Good luck."

They hung up and Lia let out a deep breath. She checked her phone one more time to see if Ayden had texted her. He hadn't. She must've checked her phone at least a dozen times already. Wasn't that sort of pathetic? They'd mutually broken up and now she was hoping he'd text and say he was sorry?

Lia tucked her phone in her back pocket and left the still trashed apartment. Her father had thankfully told Ayden not to come over that morning, knowing that was the last thing she needed. The cleaning crew would be there that afternoon and then life would be back to semi-normal.

At least Ayden's friends had had the decency not to post any photos of the party. The last thing she needed was a social media frenzy on top of all the drama. She caught the A train as part of her normal school commute. A bus ride later, she was climbing the steps to Hunter College High School.

Her mom had called in her late absence, so she checked in at the front office and got a pass to fourth period. As she sunk into her seat, somewhat relieved to get to focus on something other than Ayden, she heard a "pssst" sound from the next row over.

Lia discreetly looked over her shoulder and saw Miko, one of her classmates, leaning over. She mouthed, "Where were you?"

Lia mouthed back, "Long story."

"Miss Miranda," her calculus teacher called her out. Lia's face began to redden in embarrassment as she turned to the front. "Care to share your solution for number seven on last night's homework?"

She cleared her throat and began to quickly shuffle through her well-organized backpack. Within moments, she'd pulled out her color-coded red folder and notebook. Lia found number seven and sat up straight. "What is the square root of pi over r squared?"

The class chuckled and Mr. Moore looked annoyed. "This isn't Jeopardy, Lia."

Lia hated being called out in the first place, and now he was embarrassing her. Once again, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.

She cleared her throat again. "The square root of pi over r squared," she said more confidently.

"Correct," he told her, uncovering the solution on the LCD projector. Mr. Moore droned on as Lia tried to steady herself and focus. As she fished out a pencil, she noticed her hand was shaking. She glanced around nervously, wondering if anyone had noticed.

If they had, no one seemed to let on. Lia took a deep cleansing breath like she'd practiced many times with her therapist. But Lia was starting to wonder - what if the cleansing breaths stopped working?

The rest of class, fortunately, sped by and soon enough the bell signaled she could head off to lunch. As she packed up her things, Miko stayed behind.

"So, spill! You weren't here all morning," She asked Lia as the two walked out the classroom and towards the cafeteria. Lia had known Miko since sophomore year when Lia decided to join the school newspaper. Lia considered her to be more of an 'at-school' friend: grew to have during the day, but wouldn't amount to anything lifelong. Lia also really loved the fact that she hated musicals.

"I just needed the time to catch up on some work and application stuff," Lia brushed over the subject. She pulled her phone out of her pocket discreetly to check her home screen again. No new notifications.

"Your parents are gone though, right? Didn't Ayden come over last night ?" Miko asked in a sing-song tone as the two girls entered the cafeteria.

Lia had, obviously, mentioned her boyfriend before, but considering he was now her ex she wasn't as thrilled to chat about him, "He did, but I just wanted to work on my stuff alone. No reason to make him have to go through high school shit twice!" She mustered up a half-smile to go with her half-truth, hoping the conversation could move in a new direction, as she stuffed her phone into her backpack.

"Ugh, tell me about it," Miko said without missing a beat as the two found a table to sit at. "I just finished my Duke application last week, and my parents are driving me insane every day for updates."

Lia simply gave a small smile as she took a bite of her granola bar. Part of her was thankful she didn't have parents who were down her throat about the admissions process, but the other part of her felt so behind. She still had her last SAT test that upcoming weekend.

"Oh!" Miko's voice interrupted her thoughts, "And did you hear Lindsay got into two Ivys? She's the first one in our class to hear back from Harvard and has been bragging about it all day. She even made an instagram post about it, " She critiqued with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Her parents probably bought her way in," Lia said with a shrug of her shoulders. She had had her fair share of disagreements with Lindsay Walker over the years. The two had become fast friends their freshman year, which Lia had ultimately found out was all based on a scheme for Hamilton tickets. Since then, there was a shared animosity between the two teenagers. "Where else did she get in?"

Miko finished off her sandwich before continuing, "So far, just Princeton and MIT,"

Lia's eyes widened slightly, "She got into MIT?" Now, that caught her attention. "I thought they weren't sending letters out until late November." She knew this because she had incessantly timed out when she would get her last SAT results and submit her MIT application prior to the deadline.

"Early decision," Miko replied, "I doubt she goes; she just wants the clout of getting into all the top schools."

Although Lia knew that sounded likely, it didn't mean hearing the girl she hated got into her top choice didn't irritate her any less.

As Miko turned the conversation to the latest episode of Stranger Things she had watched, Lia's mind drifted off. Lately, she was constantly feeling like she was always one step behind everyone else. She had decided she didn't want to go the early decision route because she wanted more time to bring up her SAT and get her first quarter grades in, but was that a mistake? She still hadn't even finished her college tours! Her stomach began to feel uneasy.

"Actually Miko," Lia cut her off, having not paid attention to a single thing her friend had said, "I forgot that I have some things to finish up before AP Lit,"

"We have an assignment due today?" Miko said with an urgent tone as Lia gathered up her things.

She shook her head, "I just didn't get all the reading done," Lia lied through her grin, "I'll see you in class,"

Before she could get a word in, Lia jetted out of the cafeteria and towards the library. She wouldn't screw up her chances with MIT, but was now determined to get some of her applications submitted by the weekend. It would mess up with the study schedule she had planned, but she could work around it. She had nothing but time the next few days with her family gone and her relationship now down the drain. Lia could also use a few of the stimulants, if needed, to stay awake longer than usual without worrying about her parents giving her grief over working too much. It would be a lot to get done, but it would be worth it. It had to be.

——

That weekend went by quicker than Lin or Vanessa had hoped it would. As much as they missed their kids, the couple enjoyed the few days alone. Lin was especially proud to see Vanessa shine at the conference, not that he had any doubt. Her speech had been the hit of the weekend, and he was stoked every time someone referred to him as 'Attorney Nadal's husband'.

The married couple spent their last few hours near the Jersey pier at a local beach. It was nearing the end of October and there weren't many people out there, sans a few stray tourists. The cool breeze and the light sounds of the ocean was the perfect addition to the Sunday afternoon. After a nice brunch at a small diner, Lin and Vanessa had made their way onto the beach, walking hand in hand in the sand.

"This kid is such a trip," Vanessa commented as she and Lin shared a laugh at the photo that just popped up on her phone. It was from Luz who was baking some sort of dessert with the twins. The picture showed Sebastian was more interested in the batter than the actual baking as he was covered in some sort of goo with a huge smile plastered on his face and a whisk proudly in his hand.

"If Seb looks like that, imagine what Stella looks like," Lin said through his laughter. He knew how rambunctious his daughter could be, especially any time sweets were involved.

Vanessa chuckled in agreement as she sent back a quick text to thank her mother-in-law for the continuous updates and a few emojis. She hated being away from her babies, but knowing they were with their grandparents helped. "Oh man. We're going to need to send your parents on a vacation after all the times they've watched them,"

Lin smiled, "That's not a bad idea. They love it though. My dad's as energetic as the twins are!"

"I can't believe they are actually starting daycare this week." Vanessa ran her fingers through her brunette locks. They had spent weeks searching for a daycare that satisfied all of their requirements, and she was shocked when Lin came home one day with the perfect solution of a daycare that was in Brooklyn. It was run by an older woman who had lived on the same block as them for years. It was small, discreet, and exactly what they had been looking for. "Stella is probably going to march on in, pulling Seb along."

"What was Lia like when she first started school?"

"A wreck," Vanessa answered bluntly to Lin's amusement, "She cried; I cried. I just sat in the parking lot the entire day feeling like the worst mom ever,"

Lin shook his head, his fingers interlocking with his wife's, "Not even close," He knew how emotional his teenager could get; it wasn't a far stretch to imagine her as a high-strung toddler, "And now she's going to be graduating in a few months. The way she handled herself this weekend, for the most part...it kind of scares me," his voice trailed off as Vanessa gave his hand a squeeze.

"Because you realized she's growing up?"

Lin nodded, looking out at the waves. She knew him better than he knew himself at times, "I've only had her for three years and she's going to go off to college. I'm not ready to lose her yet,"

"Lin," Vanessa said pointedly, "Our daughter also thought it was a brilliant idea to make out with some college girl's boyfriend to make her boyfriend jealous. She still has plenty of growing up to do,"

He scrunched up his face, "Lia making out is not an image I really wanted in my head. Ever."

Vanessa gave a hearty laugh, relaxing her head on her husband's bicep, "She's still the same girl who fawned over you in an autograph line. She's getting older but she'll always need us,"

Lin simply laid a kiss on his wife's forehead. Anyone who thought he was the genius of the relationship didn't know shit.

The two walked in tandem for a few strides, a comfortable silence among them.

"I spoke to my agent Friday," Lin broke the silence with the conversation he had been wanting to tell his wife. He knew he didn't want to have it until the conference was finished; the weekend was supposed to be solely focused on Vanessa.

"Oh?"

"Obviously we have the California trip for the Walk of Fame next month and then again in December for Mary Poppins, but besides that I told her unless my appearance is vital no more trips for the rest of the year. And I need at least three weeks notice for any in the future,"

"Babe," Vanessa started, but Lin held up a finger.

"One more thing. Realistically, I know I can't say everything is going to change overnight or that my hours aren't going to be crazy at times. But it shouldn't be all the time and you deserve me to be better."

Vanessa stopped walking to really look at her husband. Even with his shades on, she could still see his eyes earnestly looking at hers. "You know that one of the things I love most about you is your passion for your work, right? How much of yourself you put into everything you do? I don't want you to think I don't want that,"

"I know," Lin said sincerely. He did know that. He knew he was the luckiest partner alive to have a partner as incredible as V. "But I need you to know that I feel the exact same way about you. And my words can't be baseless anymore. You guys mean too much to me."

Vanessa felt a wave of emotion choke her up but instead of crying she leaned up and their lips connected. It was passionate as Lin's hand caressed through her curls, but also brief as they were aware they were still in public. Vanessa bit her lip as she curled into Lin's arm that was draped over her shoulder. "I love you,"

The couple felt more rejuvenated and in love than they had in a while, as they continued their walk alongside the ocean shore. They had a flight to catch that night, but they weren't going to rush anything. After all, they could wait for the sun to go down.