My eyes had barely closed all night, my mind was racing. I was excited for the weeks ahead, but I was also terrified for what could happen if we were found out. Obviously my parents would never trust me again, but that was nothing compared to what would happen to Lola. It was too unbearable to think about. I just had to keep telling myself that wouldn’t happen, I wouldn’t let it. And if it did, I would do everything I could to keep Lola safe. When she got here last night she definitely wasn’t herself. She was beyond hyped for the trip, but it seemed forced, even unnatural. There were things in the back of her head that she couldn’t shake. Like what her father would do if he found out. She was down the hall, sleeping in the spare bedroom. I wondered if she had a better nights sleep than I did, or if her head was filled with all the negative outcomes this could lead to, like me. I groaned, throwing back the covers and sitting up. There was no point in laying there, I wasn’t going to get any sleep and that was it. I crept down the stairs in sweats, careful not to wake Lola. I walked past the vast pile of bags by the front door and into the kitchen, putting on the kettle. It was still dark outside, very early morning. I made a coffee and sat to the table in the kitchen, picking up my phone from the sideboard. I scrolled through all of the new messages from Dylan, deleting them unopened. They all followed the same kind of pattern. 'I'm sorry' or 'I miss you'. Yeah, yeah. Same old shit. He was definitely one thing I was looking forward to getting away from. Amongst a lot of other things of course. I checked the time on my phone, as it was in my hand. Just passed 7.AM. I thought about getting Lola up soon, we had to be ready to leave here by 9. I left my phone and coffee on the table and climbed the stairs to the spare bedroom. I opened the door softly, turning on the light. Lola was face down, her arms and legs stretched out across the covers and snoring into her pillow. I tried my best not to laugh. I walked quietly to the side of her bed, shaking her arm gently. She stirred, but didn’t stop snoring. I shook her a little harder.
"Lo, time to get up hun" She stopped snoring, deciding to loudly groan at me instead.
"I'm up" She said sleepily but didn’t move.
"...You sure about that?" I said with a grin.
"mmhmmm"
"Breakfast?" I asked. Her head shot up and she rolled over, finding energy from somewhere.
"Hell yeah" She said enthusiastically, loosing the huskiness in her voice.
"How did I know you'd say that…" I laughed.
"What can i say, you know me" She grinned back at me.
"Sure do. Bacon? Sausages?"
"Give me everything you got"
"Coming right up"
"Thanks Sky"
"Your welcome. You can jump in the shower while I cook it if you want? Fresh towels are in the drawer by the sink" She nodded me, pulling herself up from the bed and stretching her arms out.
"Okay" She yawned. I smiled and backed out of the room, leaving her to it. I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen to start the mammoth breakfast I intended to cook for Lola. The best way to her happiness was through her stomach.

"Mmmmm, that smells so good!" Lola appeared in the kitchen behind me, sliding herself into a chair at the table with a towel round her head.
"Good" I said as I plated it all up. I placed hers in front of her and sat down with my own.
"Thank you" she said as she studied the plate in front of her, deciding what to eat first. As long as I had known her she would always leave the best bits till last.
"Your welcome" I said before shovelling a mushroom into my mouth.
"How much longer do we have?"
"About an hour until the taxi is here, so there's just enough time for me to shower and check everything is locked" When she didn’t answer I looked up from my plate. She had slowed down, pushing things round her plate with a distant expression. I didn’t question her, but she eventually spoke.
"I can't believe we're actually leaving. It hasn’t really sunk in until now" Her voice was quiet but strained, as if she was trying her best to control it. I looked at her with sympathetic eyes. I knew what she was thinking about.
"He won't find out Lo" I said softly, reaching across the table and putting my hand on her arm. She met my gaze and smiled slightly.
"I hope your right" She sighed, placing her hand on mine.
"When am I ever not?" I replied with a grin, raising my eyebrows at her. She nodded sarcastically, flashing me a smile. I dropped my arm and she continued eating.
"Right, you finish all of that, its going to be a long day. I'm gunna go grab a shower" I pulled out my chair, standing up. Lola nodded, flicking her eyes between my barely touched food and her own. She looked up at me with childlike eyes.
"Are you … gunna eat that?" She asked hesitantly. I laughed
"You can have it Lo" She beamed at me, pulling my plate closer to her. Her expression was similar to a child's at Christmas.
"Love you" She chimed. I ruffled her hair as I walked behind her, heading for the shower.

When I came back downstairs, Lola was sat in the same place I had left her. She had my phone in her hand. She was scrolling with a frown.
"Why is this loser still talking to you?" She asked without lifting her eyes from the screen. I shrugged, leaning against the sideboard.
"Beats me" I really didn’t know. Me and Dylan split over a month ago after I walked in on him with another girl. I didn’t understand why he kept blowing up my phone. What did he think it was going to change? Just because he can punch 'I'm sorry' into his keyboard, am I supposed to run back into his arms? No way.
"It's not bothering you is it? Cos if it is I'll sort him out" She looked at me with a threatening expression that made me believe her.
"Chill out Rambo, I'm over it" I joked, smiling at her reassuringly. I could always count on Lola. She shrugged, the grin reappearing on her face.
"The offers there" I stood up straight, about to walk away when my phone rang in Lola's hand. I looked at her with mild panic. She flicked her eyes down to the screen and exhaled, passing it to me. It was only Amber.
"Hey Amber!" I said with a grin
"Hey!" She said enthusiastically.
"What's up dude?"
"I was ringing to check you guys were up, we don’t want to miss the flight" I rolled my eyes and laughed at her attempt to pass that off casually. She really couldn’t bare not being in control of things.
"You just cant help yourself can you?"
"Old habits die hard, I'm trying my best!" She protested, not quite managing to hide her laughter.
"I know, I know"
"How's Lola?" Amber asked, I turned to look at Lo as I spoke.
"Yeah she's fine, she's eaten her own bodyweight in bacon this morning" Lola poked her tongue out at me.
"That's what we like to hear" Amber laughed, I could hear Violet in the background giggling too.
"Where are you guys now?"
"In the taxi, just a bit over an hour away from the airport now"
"Okay, our taxi should be here soon too"
"I'll let you get on then, we will see you soon!" She said excitedly.
"Yeah, text me when you guys get there"
"I will, see ya" Amber assured me before hanging up. I placed my phone down on the kitchen table and turned to Lola.
"Right, the taxi will be here any minute. Let's get going"
"About time!" She shouted excitedly, jumping up from her seat. I went around the house, shutting and locking all the windows and the back door. I double checked our bags for passports and airline tickets, finding them easily. The taxi came very soon afterwards. All the bags were by the door and the driver was ready to go. I double checked I locked the front door, slipping the key in my pocket. I flashed Lola a grin as I picked up my bags and walked the short path to the waiting taxi, expecting her to follow me. I turned to look at her when she didn’t. She stood at the door with her suitcases, the same distant expression tainted her features. Our gazes met. The fear in her eyes was clear. I understood this was a big step for her, she had never gone behind her parents backs before. I walked towards her, taking her hand in mine.
"You have to do this, for you. You can't live in fear forever. Don’t let your Dad's limits become yours" She gave me a small smile, nodding slowly.
"Let's get out of here" I smiled back at her, leading her into the taxi. Our summer started now.

Notes

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