Just Breathe

Chapter Four

Lia had this senior year thing down. At eight o'clock she shut her laptop, done with her final assignment for the day. Her parents had been worried about the amount of AP classes she was taking but they had to admit they were impressed with the results. She was only a few weeks into the semester, but was pulling all A's as usual and was still holding her spot in the top ten percent of her class. Surely MIT would take notice.

They were down to the last week of filming season one of HDM in Wales. Tomorrow, she would visit her dad one last time on set. The twins loved the hot air balloon and Lia had to admit it was pretty damn cool. One thing she was ready to be done with was her dad's mustache. He'd grown it to play Lee Scoresby and she and Vanessa both thought it looked ridiculous.

She couldn't wait to be back in New York and, most importantly, see Ayden. They'd been together coming up on three years and they were pretty serious. They had gotten a bit physically intimate but had never gone all the way. She was paranoid that one of her parents would walk in or they would be interrupted some way. Now that he was in college it would be easier, but Lia still didn't feel quite ready. Ayden never pressured her but she could sense he was ready for them to move their relationship to the next level. Lia knew he wasn't a virgin. He could surely get laid at college. Lia worried that he viewed her as immature and babyish since she was still in high school and they'd never slept together.

She'd been gone for months and knew many things could change in an instant. They'd kept in touch but Lia wondered if things would feel different when she got back. Had anyone at Columbia caught his attention? Would they pick back up where they'd left off? Would he expect sex since they'd been apart and they missed each other?

And most importantly, how would she know if she was ready?

—-

The next morning they were up early to join Lin on set. When they arrived a couple of the kids were running around being ridiculous. They saw Lin and immediately ran to him. Dafne embraced him and joked around with Lin about something that had apparently happened yesterday. Lia felt a twinge of jealousy. Dafne had been spending more time with her father than she had lately. Her dad was a big kid himself so she shouldn't be surprised he was so playful and close to all the kid actors but it still hurt a bit.

"Dafne! Lewin!" The studio teacher called to them from a trailer. Thank goodness. It was time for them to do school work. They both hugged him before running off for their lessons.

"Ugghhh..." Lia mumbled under her breath.

Lin adjusted Seb in his arms. "You okay?" He asked his oldest.

"Fine," she said shortly. "Can we go see the balloon?"

"Bawwoooon!!" Seb exclaimed excitedly. Lin could sense his daughter was peeved but he wasn't sure why. They'd just arrived and everyone seemed in good spirits.

"Sure, c'mon," he gestured with a nod of the head towards the large building that held the green screen and hot air balloon. Sebastian began to squirm with excitement so Lin set him down so he could run ahead with his twin sister.

Lin hung back as Vanessa began to chase the kids. "Are you alright?" He asked again.

"Fine," she told him again shortly, her arms crossed. Though he'd only known his daughter for three years, he could read her moods and body language. She was definitely not fine.

"You sure?" He asked gently.

"I'm fine..." she told him. "Just ready to be home."

They came to a stop outside the building and turned to face each other. He nodded in agreement. "Yeah. If I don't get a decent bagel soon I might lose my mind."