Just Breathe

Chapter Twelve

Lia couldn't believe it was already a quarter after one in the morning. Ayden had left only fifteen minutes ago. Even as they were breaking up, Lia still couldn't deny the comfort being in his presence brought her. She knew it was the right decision, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

She changed into a pair of pjs before leaving her room to find her dad sprawled out on the couch with Brooklyn Nine-Nine on a low volume. Her eyes gazed over the mess that was still their apartment - aside from the couch which her dad had obviously cleared off. She smiled at the bowl that was set on the counter with a bag of frozen peas placed in it. "Why are you still awake?"

Lin looked up at his daughter, "Walking in on fifty drunk college kids and your daughter bleeding in the middle of the night is a really easy way to get a burst of energy,"

"And you're out here instead of your bed because?"

"Thought you might want some company," Lia held the bag of veggies against her lip, the coldness instantly bringing a wave of relief to the teenager as she sat down on the couch.

"Wanna talk about it?" Lin asked.

"Not really," Lia replied.

"Okay," Lin dropped the subject. By the way Ayden had rushed past him without muttering a single word, he reasoned what had happened between his daughter and her boyfriend. He knew Ayden was her first love, and the thought of Lia in any pain crushed him. "Want to guess the number of beer bottles I found in the twins' room?"

Lia cringed, "None?"

"Six," Lin couldn't help but chuckle as his daughter let out a loud groan, "But good call on locking all the other doors,"

"I didn't think anyone would go into a kids' room!" Lia exclaimed, "And this whole place is such a wreck!"

Lin wrapped his arm around Lia, "I'll call for a cleaning company to come by tomorrow - well today. It'll be good as new; probably even cleaner than we could do,"

Lia's eyes lit up, "You're not gonna make me clean this whole thing up by myself?"

Lin shook his head, "College kids are gross. This place needs to be deep cleaned and disinfected,"

"Well, I'll totally pay for it when the bill comes in," Lia insisted.

"Another good call," Lin flashed Lia a smile.

"And your Tony..." Lia looked up to see the shards of metals still on the counter, grimacing, "Dad, I'm so sorry,"

Lin shrugged it off, "You know how many performers get wasted on award show nights and decimate and decapitate their awards? There's someone who can either fix it or get me a new one,"

She had known she had won in the 'mostly cool dad department' but even Lia was shocked at how calm Lin was acting, "And I'll pay for that too?" She offered still not sure where this conversation was headed.

"Keep it up and I can also come up with a list of personal favors," Lin said as Lia rolled her eyes.

"Did you drink?"

"Not really," Lia admitted as she burrowed herself under a throw blanket, "I had a few sips, but was too anxious all night that something was going to happen and more people just kept showing up,"

Lin smirked. Only his kid could throw a college party at seventeen and spend the entire night worrying something was going to go wrong, "God, my kid is such a nerd,"

Lia playfully hit her father, much to his amusement, "Why are you even home? Mom said you guys landed hours ago,"

He shook his head, "Mom landed hours ago. I had to take a later flight and it kept getting delayed. I'm leaving in the morning."