Just Breathe

Chapter Twenty Three

A/N: thanks to all our faithful readers!

Although Lia obviously knew Lin was a celebrity, it was different when she saw him in that light. Her family still poked fun at the fact that she had once ventured off one afternoon to find Lin, convinced he could help her get a better grade in history. It had been years since he had gone from being 'Lin-Manuel Miranda' to just her goofy dad.  Having Lin as a dad beat any celebrity status, by far. Seeing him at the top of the podium, though receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was, admittedly, pretty freaking amazing.

After an array of photos and the line of fans her dad had spent time thanking them for showing up for the ceremony, the family was whisked away for the rest of the events. The family went out for lunch after Lin finished his obligations, and then headed off to a private party in his honor.  Lia rolled her eyes at the idea that a party including at least 300 people would be considered private, but she figured that's just how Hollywood is.

It was rare that she got to experience the celebrity part of her dad's job, often being left out of the perks of the limelight for the trade off of privacy and normalcy back in the Heights. She was thankful for the anonymity she mostly received and was able to separate between the two parts of her life. That didn't mean that she didn't love when she got to indulge in the perks. When Chance the Rapper showed up and said hi to Lia - by name -  her jaw physically dropped.

With the twins and her younger cousins back at the hotel with a sitter, the eldest teens and adults felt like they could relax a bit. As much as she wanted to cringe from her chair as she watched her parents, both clearly on the other side of a few cocktails, laughing endlessly as they screamed out the lyrics to a Naughty by Nature song in the middle of the dance floor, she couldn't. Her family had been through their fair share of shit the last few weeks, and it was nice to see them so carefree and happy.

Lia pulled her phone out of her clutch for the hundredth time that day. She scrolled past the social media notifications that had been blowing up her phone since that afternoon and went into her messages. Aside from several texts from classmates telling her that they had seen her on tv, there wasn't a text from the person she actually wanted to see one from.

"I don't get why you don't just text him?" Hunter pulled her out of her thoughts as she returned to their table, two drinks in tow, "You look way too hot right now to be moping about some guy in New York,"

Lia didn't even try to deny what she was looking for on her phone as she accepted the drink, "Because if he really wants to talk to me, he'll text me,"

Hunter gave Lia a side eye as she sat down, "Seriously, Lia?"

"What?"

"You're acting like this guy is your boyfriend!" Hunter pushed her brunette locks over her shoulder, "I think your problem is that you dated Ayden for so long and never got to have just fun dating or even a friendship with a guy."

"That's not true!" Lia balked defensively, stuffing her phone back into her clutch, "He is the one who wanted my number and he is the one who agreed to go out," If she was being honest, she knew she was being slightly dramatic, but rejection stung. "I didn't go to therapy looking for a boyfriend, but I also don't want to play childish games either,"

"So not texting someone that you want to talk to to prove a point is the mature thing to do?"

Lia glared at her cousin, who sat next to her with a self-satisfied look. She hated that she knew her cousin was partially right, however, there was no way in hell she was admitting that. She also didn't want to keep talking about Justin and ruining her mood at her dad's party. This trip was about him. She took a sip of her drink and, almost simultaneously, began coughing as she swallowed the unexpected drink.