Lana takes a deep breath and knocks on the door to her parents' apartment. Her fifteen-year-old sister Olivia opens the door.

"Lana!" she squeals, wrapping her big sister in a hug.

"How are you, Liv?" Lana asks.

"I'm pretty good. I miss you, though," Olivia admits.

"I miss you too."

"How's the tour?"

"It's different. I'll tell you all about it later," Lana promises. "How's Dad?"

"It's getting worse," Olivia admits. Lana sighs. About two years ago, their father had developed a drinking problem, and he refused to admit it. Though their mom begged him to go to therapy, he wouldn't. He was very violent when he was drunk, and had been known to hit his family members, especially Lana's mom. "I think he's sober now, but only because Mom hid his beers two days ago. He's in withdrawal, though."

Lana groans. "Well, can I see Mom at least?"

"Oh, yeah! Of course!" Olivia smiles. "Mom! Lana's home!"

"Oh! Lana, come here, sweetie! How are you? How's the tour? Have you made any new friends? What's your favorite place that you've been so far?" Lana's mom questions.

Lana laughs. "Okay, it's going pretty well, I guess that I'm friends with the cast, yeah, and I loved London."

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Lana's mom tells her. Lana thanks her.

"Your dad is in our room, laying down. If you want to go see him, you can."

"Okay. I guess I'll go say hi," Lana replies, taking a deep breath. She walks down the hall and knocks on the door to her parents' room. "Daddy?"

No response.

The door creaks as Lana slowly pushes it open. "Daddy, it's me. Lana."

"Go away," he mutters. Lana feels like she's been stabbed. She remembers all of the good times that they had when she was little, but it seems like they've all been thrown out the window.

Lana is six. She is at the swimming pool, and has taken off her floaties for the first time. Her dad stands close by, while she tries to stay afloat in the water. She remembers the motions that he taught her, of the freestyle stroke, but is having a hard time controlling her kicks, arms, and breathing all at the same time. Suddenly, her body is submerged under water. She tries to go back up to the surface, but the water seems to be pulling her down. Really, she is only a few inches under the surface, but to her, it seems like ten feet. Suddenly, without him missing a beat, she feels her dad's strong arms around her, pulling her out of the water. She spits water out of her nose, and gasps for air.

"Daddy, that was scary!" she squeals, with tears forming under her pink goggles.

"Shh, I know pumpkin. It's okay. You can take a break, alright?"

"Okay. Can we go play in the fountains again?"

"Anything for you, sweetie."

Lana sighs. "I love you, Dad."

At that, she leaves the room, and closes the door behind her. "I almost like him better drunk," she thinks, but then shakes the thought out of her head, knowing that it isn't true. Both of the states are terrible.

"I told you it was bad," Olivia whispers to Lana, when she is back in the kitchen with her mom and sister.

"He still won't get help?"

"Nope. I wish I could convince him," Lana's mom replies. "How about you two girls go catch up? Dinner will be ready in half an hour or so."

"Alright," Lana smiles, and they both go to Olivia's room, and sit cross-legged on her bed. "So, tell me all about life."

"It's pretty good. A lot of homework."

Lana laughs. "How are all of your friends?"

"They're good. I haven't gotten to talk to some of them much lately, though."

"What? Why?" Lana asks, concerned.

"Oh, it's no big deal. They just... well, some of them got boyfriends and so they would rather spend time with them."

"Oh, Liv. I'm so sorry. Trust me, boyfriends aren't as cool as they seem."

"I wish they could know that," Olivia rolls her eyes. "So, tell me about the tour! I want to hear all about it!" she perks up.

"Oh! Well, I love getting to travel and perform! At first, I didn't get along too well with some of them, to be honest, but now I'm making friends. Now that they're getting rid of James, it should be all good."

"WAIT!" Olivia stops her. "JAMES?!"

"Yeah, he sort of got an ensemble spot... I'm not really sure how that happened, considering that he had no prior experience, but he wasn't learning his stuff right, and he was being a creep, so Pippa is firing him."

"Oh, sis. I'm so sorry."

When she had been struggling with her relationship, she had turned to Olivia, as a shoulder to cry on. The two were very close, because the age difference was so far between the two of them. If it were close, then they would've grown up fighting, but since it isn't, they never really fought as kids, and certainly don't now, either.

"Well, are there any other hot guys on tour?" Olivia asks, raising her eyebrows. Lana blushes.

"Oh, no," she replies, too quickly.

"Are you sure, because you're blushing," Olivia teases.

"Yeah. There's just this one guy... he's crew, so you wouldn't see him onstage, who's kinda hot," Lana makes up a lie on the spot, because she isn't quite ready to tell her family about Jessa yet. She's not sure how they would take that news. "He has a wife, so it totally doesn't matter."

"That sucks," Olivia comments. Lana smiles, and assures her sister that it's no big deal.

The two of them talk and laugh for a while longer. Lana loves hearing about what has been going on in her little sister's life, since it has been almost eight months since they saw each other. Soon, their mom calls them for dinner. Lana's dad is sitting in the kitchen, silently and stone-faced. Lana figures that it is best that way, but it still makes her sad to see him like that.

It's a delicious, home-cooked meal. Lana has been craving one of those for quite some time now, since she has been eating at a lot of restaurants on tour. Nothing seems to beat her mom's cooking. After dinner, which is lasagna- a family tradition, they make ice cream sundaes for dessert.

While they're sitting at the table, eating, Lana's mom begins to speak.

"Olivia, I know that you opened your presents this morning, but I have one more for you. I wanted to save it for when Lana was here, because it pertains to her as well."

Lana's mom slides a large envelope across the table, and Olivia grins. "Mom, you didn't have to do that! You already got me too much!"

"Open it!" Lana squeals. Olivia laughs, and opens the envelope, as Lana watches over her shoulder.

"We are going to Disney World!" Olivia squeals.

"Let Lana look at the dates on the trip," their mom speaks up. Lana takes the paper, and a smile grows on her face.

"You're going to be there for a week of our run in Orlando!"

"We are coming to see the show, too," Lana's mom tells the girls.

"Are you serious? I get to see Hamilton?" Olivia screams. Lana laughs.

"Wow, if I would have known it would've been that big of a hit, I would've hooked you up with tickets a long time ago," Lana teases.

"She listened to the soundtrack for the first time after you left, and it's sort of been all that we have heard around this house ever since," Lana's mom explains. They all laugh.

Lana spends a few more hours with her family, before it becomes late.

"I think I'm going to go home. If I wait around much longer, then going into the city might not be the greatest idea," Lana laughs.

"Oh, of course! Do you need a ride home?" Lana's mom asks.

"No, I think I'm good. Thanks though."

Lana's mom gives her a hug.

"It was great to see you, Lana," she smiles.

"I love you, momma."

"Love you too."

Lana pulls away, and goes to give Olivia a hug.

"I'll text you, alright?" Lana tells her little sister.

"Alright," she sighs. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too, but I'll see you again before you know it. Maybe some day between stops I can drop by and say hi, alright?"

"Okay. I love you, Lana."

"Love you too," she smiles. "Bye Liv."

"Bye."

"Bye Mom! Bye Daddy!" Lana calls into the kitchen, where her dad is still sitting, stoically. There is no response from him, but Lana's mom wishes her goodbye, and with one final glance back at her family, she is out the door, and catches a taxi back to her apartment.

~~~~~~~~

i'm being so inconsistent it's so bad haha i'm sorry guys

*cough* laziness *cough*