Emilia woke up in the night, forgetting her current state. She moved to rub at her eye and instead got a punch in the face from her cast. She groaned and turned over, realizing she was in pain. Her mother had ushered her off to bed quickly last night, leaving a dose of painkiller on her bedside table. Apparently it had worn off.

Wincing, she sat up in bed and let out a breath, trying to center herself amidst the pain. She carefully wandered out to the kitchen where she hoped her mom had left out her medication.

She clumsily knocked a bottle off the counter and saw something move in the living room. She gasped as the figure sat up on the couch. It was Lin.

"Lin?" She asked cautiously.

He stood up groggily, looking towards the kitchen. "Emilia? Is that you?"

"Uh-huh," she said. Lin wandered over, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light she turned on.

"What are you doing up?" He asked her.

"My head and arm really hurt," he saw her struggling to open her medication with her cast on.

"Here," he held out his hand. Lia sat on a bar stool, glad to have an adult to help her. Lin found a glass and filled it with water. The teenager took it gratefully, chugging the whole glass down.

"Why are you still here?" She asked him, surprised to find him on her couch at 3 a.m.

"Well we didn't get here until late and Washington Heights is quite a trip," he explained. "Your mom let me crash."

She nodded, wondering if they were trying to shield her from something. He wasn't sleeping in her mother's room, but maybe that was on purpose. They didn't want her to think they were sleeping together. Lia played along, thrilled that Lin was still here.

Lia yawned, though she wanted to stay up and hang out with Lin. "You better get back to bed, kid," he told her. "No school tomorrow I assume?"

"No I'm going," she told him as she stood up. "I have a history test tomorrow. If you miss he makes you do an essay test instead."

Lin winced, but was concerned she was planning on going to school tomorrow. Hopefully V would shoot that down. Lia said good night and her father watched her go. He longed to tuck her in, but that wouldn't be appropriate. Did parents tuck their teenagers in? Lia seemed like the kind of kid who would still like that.

Unable to go back to sleep, Lin fished out his phone to check his Twitter feed. He sighed when he saw it had been posted that he'd been in a wreck with an "unidentified minor". There was a picture of his Escalade and police. Damn vultures.

There was talk about who the young girl could be. A niece? A sex slave? Lin rolled his eyes, hoping it would blow over soon.

Lin settled back into the couch, managing to get a couple more hours of shut eye. He wasn't surprised to hear Vanessa's heels on the kitchen floor at 6 a.m.  He groggily sat up, reaching for his hair band.

"Morning," she told him distantly. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please," he told her as he rose. Vanessa tried not to look at him. She'd forgotten how adorable he looked when he was waking up. He'd always liked to cuddle in the mornings, holding her in his arms.

Lin put his shoulder-length hair back into a messy bun, wandering to the bathroom. When he opened the door after he found Lia waiting.

"Sorry," he told her.  Lin studied her. She looked like hell. Lia quickly darted around him into the bathroom. He furrowed his eyebrows as he walked back to the kitchen.

"You're not letting her go to school today are you?" He asked as she spooned the instant coffee into three mugs. She let her drink coffee?

She sighed as she pulled out the sugar. "Lin, I don't like it but trust me, it's not worth the arguing. She hates missing school. She'll be a gremlin."

"Yeah, but she was in a car accident yesterday," he reminded her, as if she could forget.

Vanessa gave him a look. "I'm well aware, thank you.  Now would you stay out of it?"

"She's my kid too," he reminded her and she glared at him. It still didn't seem right that he should have any say in how she raised Emilia. He'd known her for two weeks. She'd known Emilia her whole life and knew her moods and quirks. Trying to get her to stay home was a battle she wasn't willing to wage.

"Fine," she said pointedly. "You wanna try?"

Lia walked out yawning and went straight for her coffee. "Morning," she told them. "Sleep well?"

Vanessa saw her give her a knowing look and eyeballed her a warning glare. Nothing like that had happened.

"Lin has something to tell you," she announced, calling him out. She blew on her coffee as she waited for him.

Lin furrowed his eyebrows at Vanessa and cleared his throat. She thought she was gonna one up him? He smirked. "Your mom and I thought you should take the day off school and hang out with me for the day. So I can keep an eye on your concussion."

Vanessa nearly spit out her coffee. "What?"

"Really?!" She instantly perked up. Vanessa glared at Lin and he just smiled widely. Vanessa didn't protest, letting him win this one. He was thrown off when Lia lunged at him, hugging him tightly.

"Ooof," he said, but hugged her back. "Okay get dressed."

Emilia scurried off like a small child. Lin turned to his ex, biting his lip.

"You're an ass," she told him, putting down her mug. She grabbed her work bag and keys off the counter. "Call me, okay?

Lin grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

____

Emilia couldn't believe how amazing the past few days had been. At times, she thought she was living in a dream by how much time she was spending with Lin. If she would have been told only a few weeks after seeing him in Hamilton for the first time that she would be in sweats watching 'The Sound Of Music' with him, she would have thought the person was delirious. But her first day out of the hospital had been just that. They had spent the entire day at his apartment, which Lia was convinced was the most luxurious apartment in the city. They'd had a movie marathon and she thought she might overdose off of ice cream. She also couldn't believe that she was seeing an actual Tony Award in real life, just sitting on his mantle as if it was just a science fair trophy.

The next few days had gone by uneventful. She had returned to school and although she had been given a few days to prepare for her written exam, she still had to suffer through another pop quiz. She had received her test back with a giant C on it. She had spent the next days sulking about it and driving herself near insanity with studying and, to her dismay, tutoring sessions. Her feelings of disappointment had dissipated though when Lin surprised her on the teacher work day with a trip to the theatre before that night's show. 

Emilia didn't think her day could continue to get better. Thoughts of a missed test were the last thing on her mind as she was heading to the Richard Rodgers Theatre getting ready to watch rehearsals.

After Vanessa had left their apartment that morning, Lin had called for a driver to take him and Lia to Washington Heights so that he could get a change of clothes. It was the first time Lia had visited, and it was a contrast from her own apartment, just across the city. It wasn't flashy or extravagant, but there was no denying its luxury. She thought there was a high possibility of her fainting when she saw Lin's Tony award in real life.

Lia thought that was an even stronger possibility when Lin told her they were going to go to the theatre before tonight's show. The same driver was bringing them to the theatre, another luxury Lia couldn't get over.

"You excited?"

The look on Lia's face was pretty much what Lin had expected. Even just being in the car on the way to the theatre was enough to make Lia's eyes look like a kid in a candy store.

"Of course I am!" she exclaimed, "And I'll be able to get the most amazing pictures with this which I still can't believe you bought!" Lia held her hand up, the newest iPhone in her palm.

"Well, your other phone is smashed to pieces," Lin smiled, happy that he could start bringing his daughter joy, whether she knew his actual intentions or not. When they left his apartment and Lia made a passing comment about not having her phone, Lin knew that was something he could fix. He thought about asking Vanessa first, but why wouldn't she agree with Lia having a phone? This was one of the first decisions he could make as a father.

"And it was three models under this one! Thanks again." The smile on Lia's face continued to be worth it.

"You're welcome." Lin grinned, scrolling through his emails on his phone to see if there was anything he needed to reply to, "And your head's not bothering you, right? Or your arm?"

Lia chuckled, "For the tenth time, I'm fine! You sound like my mom," Lia looked up from her phone, giving Lin a teasing grin.

Although he knew Lia was being sarcastic, it still made Lin feel good to hear the comparison to her mother. He couldn't deny the feelings he had for the young girl had changed over the past twenty-four hours: going from the daughter of an ex-girlfriend to his daughter. He wanted to ensure that she was okay.

"I'm much cooler than that," Lin replied with a wink which elicited more laughter from Lia, "Just make sure to tell me if that changes, alright? And you have to take your dose of meds at," He looked at the one of the many texts he had received from Vanessa that morning, "Noon, so you can take them once we get to the theatre."

Lia nodded and went back to looking at her phone. Lin continued to smile to himself as he went to check his emails on his phone. He was doing pretty damn good at this fatherhood thing.

The car arrived at the theatre and was able to drive to the back to avoid the paparazzi that were out front. Lin wasn't used to that part of fame and was definitely not going to subject his daughter to it.

Lin set Emilia up in his dressing room before he had to run off to a quick production meeting. Emilia was on cloud nine. She was in total fangirl mode as she looked around the room and saw the various pieces of memorabilia. She also took notice of the photos he had hung up.

There were photos that were more recent of his family and what Lia presumed was the opening night of Hamilton. There were pictures from when he was younger and various performances he had been in. The photos that Lia noticed the most weren't up were any with a significant other. She had already had her suspicions that he was into her mom, and this only confirmed it. Not only had he stayed the night, but this was the second time, that she knew, that he had dropped his schedule for their family. Lia knew a guy wouldn't just do that for a friend.

After some configuration to not have her blob of a blue cast in half the photo, Lia took a selfie in the dressing room with a nearby charciature of Garfield dressed as Hamilton and sent it to her mom. She assumed that her mom hadn't mentioned the budding relationship to her yet because she was worried how she would feel. Even if her mom had gone on dates throughout the years, Lia had never met any of them. Maybe this would signal to her that she more than approved of their relationship? If there was anyone that she would approve of her mom dating, it was Lin.

Shortly after, a worker told Lia she was allowed to go out to the theater before rehearsals started. If Lia thought seeing Hamilton the first time was amazing, there was something special about seeing it in a more carefree way, as the cast was in regular clothes and joking in between songs as they weren't performing the full acts. The most surreal part for Emilia was watching the man who had gotten her medicine in the middle of the night now on stage performing the same songs she listened to on loop. She was inches from falling off her chair by how far forward she was leaning. The lighting effects of the theater bothered her head a bit, but she didn't care. She was loving every moment, and had to remind herself to stay calm when Lin called her up on stage to meet some of the cast members.

"This is my...friend's daughter, Emilia," he introduced her. "I went to high school with her mom."

The cast was super friendly and welcoming and took lots of selfies with the gushing teenager. Daveed even humored her with rapping out Cabinet Battle #1 while Lin filmed her proudly. The kid knew the words to all the songs, apparently. Everything except, she said, after Phillip died because it was too sad.

Her meds were beginning to wear off, however, and Lin thought he detected a slight wince in her face. He realized he's forgotten to remind her to take her meds at noon. V would kill him.

The cast wrapped up for the morning to take a lunch break around 1:00. Lin took Lia up to his dressing room and fished a bottled water out of his mini fridge. She found her meds in her purse and took it.

"How are you feeling?" He sat on the edge of the chair arm, studying her closely.

"I'm fine," she lied. Her arm was killing her but she didn't want to ruin her day with Lin. He'd take her home if he knew she was in pain and she certainly didn't want to do that. Not when he'd promised her lunch at John's of Bleeker's, one of her favorite pizza joints.

"Look at me," he commanded her gently and she did. It seemed like something a parent would say to his kid and she liked it.

Lin studied her eyes closely to make sure they weren't dilated. She seemed okay and thought once again how much her eyes resembled his own.

"Looks okay," he told her. "Ready for some pizza?"

She agreed readily and they headed for the subway. As they sat in a booth thirty minutes later, Lia's phone began to get all kinds of notifications. She opened Instagram to find pictures of herself and Lin, taken not an hour ago outside the theatre. Kids from school were sending her all kinds of messages, from fangirling to accusations she was a call girl.

Before Lin noticed, she tucked her phone away but her heart pounded. She didn't want to ruin lunch being a baby. It wasn't the first time she'd been trolled on social media.

When the pizza came, Lin had barely taken a bite when the phone rang. It was Vanessa. He answered immediately.

"What the hell is going on?!" She demanded.

"Huh?"

"Emilia is all over social media," she explained. "What the hell is happening? You're supposed to be taking care of her and now she's a pariah of the internet!"

Lin dropped his pizza and pulled out his phone. He'd been ignoring it to spend time with his daughter. His heart dropped when he saw major online news tabloids showing them together. It disgusted him that people were suggesting she was a hooker. She was fourteen.

Vanessa paced her office, unsure what to do. Her legal mind was already churning. She could sue for defamation. Demand the photos be rescinded. But mostly her motherly instincts took over. She needed to shield her child from this.

Nothing good ever came from being close to Lin-Manuel Miranda.