Breaking Boundaries / Sweet Pea \

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"I sat alone, in bed till the morning, I'm crying, "They're coming for me." And I tried to hold these secrets inside me, my mind's like a deadly disease. I'm bigger than my body, I'm colder than this home, I'm meaner than my demons, I'm bigger than these bones"

Sweet Pea had driven Lola back home on his bike before anyone could ask questions. She wasn't able to face the Serpents yet. She didn't know what they were thinking. Maybe they thought Penny was lying, or maybe they thought Lola was helping the Snake Charmer all this time. Either way, she was in no state to cope with being bombarded by questions.

Lola had objected many times to being brought home. She would have rathered staying in Sweet Pea's trailer with him. How could she face her dad, knowing the truth? Would he even be there? So many questions were racing through her mind and she could feel her brain pounding against her skull.

The more she thought about it, the more she realised Penny was right. Aside from knowing her real name, the similarities between the two were becoming more and more obvious.

Lola's dad had black hair and brown eyes, which was the complete opposite of her blonde hair and blue eyes. Penny, however, had the very same blonde hair and blue eyes. They were even around the same height.

As Sweet Pea drove off, he left Lola shaking on her doorstep. How was she going to talk to her dad? Could she even look him in the eye? Eventually, she shook the doubts out of her head,  breathing deeply. She could do this.

Slowly placing her hand on the door handle, Lola opened the door. Stepping inside, she could see her dad standing by the couch. She was slightly surprised that her dad was actually here. She knew he wasn't with Penny, for obvious reasons, but she hasn't seen him in the house in so long.

"Hey kid. Where were you?" her dad asked, not looking up to notice the salty tears on her cheeks. Lola's breathing was shaky once again as she thought about what she was going to say.

After noticing she hadn't said anything, Lola's dad looked up to see his daughter crying. His eyebrows furrowed in concern as he took a step towards her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, softly, raising a hand towards her cheek. His caring facade filled Lola with an unexpected anger. She slapped his hands away, glaring daggers at him.

"Don't" she spat, backing away from the man in front of her. Her dad looked back at her in confusion, not understanding the sudden change in his daughter's mood.

Lola was now filled with confidence due to her new-found rage. Fire burned in her piercing blue eyes, now a shade darker than usual. "By the way, mom says hi" Lola taunted, knowing this would get the man's attention. Her dad's eyes widened in realisation.

He began to shake his head and backed away from the girl, sitting down on the couch with his head in his hands. "What? Didn't think I'd find out?" Lola pressed, wanting her dad to feel even a fraction of the pain he had caused her. "Lola, I'm sorry" her dad mumbled, unable to look her in the eye.

This made Lola even more angry, if that was possible. Was that all he could say? He didn't even give her an explanation. "That's all you have to say? You're not gonna telk me this is all some sick joke? That my whole life, I really wasn't being lied to?" Lola yelled, taking a massive step towards her dad. He didn't flinch at her sudden outburst, but it did cause him to look up, making eye contact for the first time.

"Penny, she's your mother" Lola's dad breathed out. Lola shook her head at him, clearly not satisfied. "No shit, sherlock" she mumbled, mostly to herself. Her dad glared at her slightly, but continued his story.

"Let me finish. Your mother wasn't always a bad person" he choked out. Lola frowned as she sensed the pain behind her father's eyes. "I, I loved her. More than anything. And she loved you" he continued, looking over to where Lola stood.

All of Lola's anger faded away with that single look from her father. It was replaced with sympathy, now realising he had suffered much more over the years than she had these last few weeks. She looked at him with sad eyes and slowly made her way to sit next to him.

"This place, the Southside, it's toxic. Eventually, it destroys everyone, and it destroyed her" her dad explained, placing a comforting hand on his daughter's knee.

Lola looked down at the ground, knowing her father was right. As much as she loved this place, it was toxic. She had thought the exact thing the night she had fought with Jughead after the drag race.

"When I found out about the drugs, I kicked her out. I couldn't have her caught up in stuff like that if I wanted to keep you safe, and I knew she wasn't going to give it up" Lola's dad said once more, bringing her back to reality.

Lola had begun crying once again, but this time it was out of sadness rather than rage. She could've grown up as one big happy family, but nothing can ever remain whole in this place. The Southside had to rip it apart.

"I thought she was gone, she hadn't shown up in over a decade. But then she came back. She needed help, with drugs" Lola's dad looked at her, red rings now circling his eyes.

"I didn't want to, I promise you that. She threatened me, said she'd tell you the truth and get you to help her." He was stuttering now, clearly on edge. Lola squeezed his hand for reassurance, letting him know she understood.

"That's why I pulled you out of the Serpents, so she couldn't find you. And I started helping her" Lola's dad finished. Lola's eyes widened in shock. She had been pulled out of the Serpents a few years ago, which meant her dad had been doing this since then.

"You were helping her all this time?" Lola asked in disbelief. She was stunned but no longer angry. She now understood everything: why her dad pulled her out; why he never told her about her mother; why he didn't tell her why he was dealing drugs.

"I'm sorry, kid. I thought I was protecting you. Clearly I wasn't. When you found out, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell you. I couldn't break your heart like that. Little did I know it would mean breaking my own" he explained, staring blankly into the distance.

Lola was silent, taking in all the information she had just received. She wasn't angry or upset. In fact, she didn't feel anything. All she knew was that Penny was not her mother, maybe by blood but not really. And Blake Carter, the Grimm Reaper, was and forever would be her dad. That was all the reassurance she needed in her life.

Looking over at her dad and seeing the heartbreak in his eyes, Lola pulled him in for a hug. They stayed there like that for a long time. Lola knew she would soon have to face Jughead and the other Serpents, but this hug was all she cared about in that moment.

Before she pulled away, Lola heard the clock on the wall begin to ding. It was midnight. "Merry Christmas dad" Lola mumbled into her dad's now tear-stained shirt, hugging him tighter. A single tear rolled down her dad's cheek as he answered. "Merry Christmas kid."

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A/n Sorry it's another short filler chapter but it was needed to clear the air

The next one will be kind of a filler too but it'll be a happier one because of Christmas

Ily all <3