"So he's okay?" I repeated for what seemed like the eighty-ninth time.

The doctor sighed in a way that offended me how annoyed he sounded. "I've told you, Miss Carter, your father has diabetes and is at high risk for heart disease. He needs to learn to control his diet and take care of himself."

I raised my eyebrows at his tone. "Yes," I said, ever-patient, "but if he takes your medication and starts exercising and eating healthy, he'll be okay?"

The doctor pursed his lips, as though he thought I wasn't thinking about this enough. He was my father, of course I was thinking about it! "Yes, he will," he said finally. "And make sure he cuts down on the beer. If this happens again, he might not be so lucky."

I nodded and glanced over at Papa, who still slept peacefully on the bed. Delia sat beside him, her ears cocked towards our conversation, but her eyes trained on his pale face. "I'll leave the prescription with my nurse, and she can go to the pharmacy if you'd like," the doctor, whose name I neglected to learn, said.

I smiled gratefully. "That would be wonderful, thank you, sir."

He nodded stiffly and stood there clutching his clipboard for a moment before he nodded again and strode out of the room. I laughed to myself at his weird behaviour. I sat down in the chair next to Delia and rested my chin in my palm. The doctor had told me that Papa would wake up as soon as the sleeping pills wore off. He wanted him well rested, or something.

"He'll be okay," Delia said softly. She reached out slightly as if to take my hand, but then clenched her hand into a fist and pulled back.

My mouth puckered at her actions. She was never normally like this. My dad must have seriously scared her. "Yeah, he will," I agreed, leaving no room for argument. "I'll stay home for a few days to make sure that he's okay."

"No longer than Wednesday," she said. "You can't miss much more of school."

I frowned. "But this is my dad," I said.

"And I'm here to take care of him, Charlie, you don't need to worry. You need to get your education."

I sort of scooted away from her and her angry face. Her words hurt me slightly. I didn't need to be there for my dad? Did she mean I wasn't welcome? "My dad is more important than uni," I said quietly.

She sighed and looked away. "I know he is, but you heard the doctor. He'll be fine. And I'm here to take care of him."

My fingers clutched the underside of my chair until they turned numb. She wouldn't look at me, so I couldn't see her expression, but her voice was steely and firm. I gulped, feeling my chest constrict. "Do you love him?" I asked hesitantly.

"I do," she said immediately.

I bowed my head. This was so hard for me to grasp. I knew that she cared about Papa, but it was just hard to think about when my mum died only a year and a half ago. It didn't seem right. It didn't seem fair.

But Delia really did seem to love my dad, so I decided that I had to make an effort to try like her.

Mum would have wanted that, right? It was her daily goal to make people happy, and because of that, it was now mine. And I guess if Delia made Papa happy, I could deal, right? Well, I needed to deal - it wasn't even my decision. Mum's mantra echoed in my mind: "if it's somebody you love, there's no limit to how hard you work to make them happy." And that includes myself as well.

Once I came to that conclusion, I felt as if a small weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't used to shying away from people, and it had taken me an extreme effort to keep away from Delia. I wouldn't do that anymore. Because I was one hundred percent sure that Mum would be so happy that this woman was making Papa happy.

"Okay," I said. "I'll only stay until Wednesday. But can you call me every day and tell me how he is?"

She smiled slightly, and I was relieved to finally see her laugh lines. She had worried me with all her stoicism. "Of course, Charlie."

I nodded and grinned. It was okay. Everything would be fine.

"Charlie, you look really tired. Do you want to go home? The doctor said your dad can go home as soon as he wakes up, but if you want, you can go ahead of us."

"I'm not tired. I want to be here when he wakes up."

She shrugged. "Okay, love."

Just then, my phone rang, and I already knew who was calling. My face lit up, because usually I was the one who called, not Ben. "I'm going to take this," I said to Delia, springing up out of my chair and hurrying outside.

In the hall, I leant against the door and pressed answer. "Hey, Lottie," Ben said. Like it always did, my body immediately relaxed at the sound of his voice, and I felt myself unconsciously smile.

"Alright, Ben?" I said, staring at the floor so that I wouldn't hurt myself by grinning too much.

"Yeah, hey, Lottie. I was just wondering, are you gonna be back at uni soon?"

I puzzled over the question. Why did he want to know? Wasn't he still at his parents'? "What is your definition of soon?"

"Like in a couple of hours."

I bit my lip. "Er...if by a couple of hours, you mean a couple of days, then yes."

There was silence over the line, and I thought he'd hung up until he spoke again. "Why the hell would I say hours if I meant days?" he asked in a flat tone.

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see me. "I'll be leaving on Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" he repeated, and it may just have been me, but he sounded slightly anguished. I wondered why. "Charlotte Carter, what is the date today?"

I thought about it for a minute. "The second of November."

"Good girl. Now, that means that tomorrow's date is..."

I wondered if he was trying to trick me. "...The third?" I said slowly, expecting some sort of a catch.

He sighed in exasperation. "Come on, Lottie! What happens on the third?" he tried again.

I pouted. "I don't know, Ben! Just tell me!"

"Lottie, tomorrow's your damn birthday!"

I froze.

My birthday?

"Oh," was all I could say.

"Oh," he scoffed.

I couldn't believe I'd forgotten. I usually looked forward to my birthday, because even if Papa was sometimes forgetful, Zach and Ginny usually made it special. I suddenly found it hard to breathe. Ben had remembered my birthday? When had I told him? Like a couple of months ago, probably, and he'd remembered! I pressed my palm against my hot cheek and smiled so hard that I felt my chest tighten.

Then I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Why are you so annoyed?" I perked up. "Aw, Ben, did you want to hang out with me?"

"No," he said quickly, adamantly. I laughed cheerfully, feeling the remaining weight on my shoulders disappear. "I just...I-I...wanted to..."

I decided not to tease him any further. The poor thing sounded so flustered that it made me inwardly squeak. "I guess I'll just stay here. It's not that big of a deal."

"Oh," he said blankly. "What about Ginny?"

"She won't mind. My dad's more important." I wondered why he was pushing this.

He was quiet for a while. "But what about you?"

I made a small noise of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he said cryptically. I frowned, wanting to know what he meant. What was there about me? "Well, er, I guess I'll see you Wednesday, then."

"Yeah," I said, not even attempting to hide how forlorn I was. It was only a few days, but I would miss seeing him like crazy. I already missed him.

"Cheers, Lottie."

"Bye Benny. Take care, alright? Tell Miss Franny and Archer that I send my love."

"Okay, bye."

I hung up and clutched my phone to my chest. Bless him, he was so awkward! It made me want to bury my face in my knees and just squeal. Lord, I loved him so much.

I went back inside the room, and Delia glanced up at me curiously. "Who is it that you talk to that leaves you looking so lovely?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

I smiled weakly and tucked my hair behind my ears. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

She patted the chair next to her, and then started wiggling her eyebrows at me. Back before I met Ben, I would back away and stay quiet, but this time I laughed softly. "It's a boy, isn't it?" she asked knowingly.

I looked away, but grinned and nodded anyway. "It's a very wonderful boy."

She cooed like a bird. "How cute. What's he like? What's his name?"

She seemed eager, her brown eyes alight with mirth and sincerity. I decided that I could talk to her. "His name is Ben," I began shyly. "And he's extremely gruff, but I...I think he's a very, very lovely person."

Delia squeezed my forearm. "It sounds like you really like him."

Like was most definitely the wrong word.

***

"But those are my favourites!" Papa complained.

I tossed the value pack of fried bacon bits into the box for the food bank. "Make carrots your new favourite," I suggested, hopping up onto the counter so that I could read the top shelf.

He chuckled, but I could tell he wasn't a happy camper, what with me emptying the house of all his disgusting junk food. And that came from a girl who lived and breathed sugar.

I pointed accusingly at a pack of sugary doughnuts he'd gotten from the store. "The quality of this is just terrible!" I said. "Why couldn't you have gone to a bakery instead? At least they don't put in all these random chemicals."

"But they're my favourite type of doughnuts!"

I laughed because my dad was acting like a child. "Good. When you share your favourite thing with other people, it makes it ten times better."

Papa looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "How can that be when I'm not getting any of it?"

"Doctor's orders," I said. I grabbed a box of frosting-coated animal crackers and put them in the food bank box too. "Don't worry, I'm leaving all the good stuff - the Cadbury's and the Jaffa cakes and the digestive biscuits."

He squinted his eyes. "Are they the chocolate covered digestives?" I nodded and he beamed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Wonderful. Thank you, poppet!"

"You're welcome, Papa." I jumped off the counter to give him a hug right as the doorbell rang.

"Charlie-" he began.

"I'll get it!" I sang, picking up my skirt and hurrying over to the door.

The person rang insistently, relentlessly for dozens of consecutive rings. I grimaced and slid across the wooden floor to move faster.

"Coming!" I said. "I'm coming!"

I reached the door and yanked it open. "You're a persistent little thing, aren't y-" I stopped short because of the sight that lay before me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

A bouquet of roses hid the person's face until he lowered it and smiled that devastatingly breathtaking smile of his that made my heart go absolutely mad and had my face turning red in milliseconds.

My eyes widened.

Ben stepped forward until we were toe-to-toe and leant down, his nose scrunched up playfully.

"Hey Lottie."

_______________

I have a big favour to ask of you

whenever I use the word "okay" STOP MENTIONING TFIOS. Okay was a word before John Green used it and I'm not trying to make references to it. I keep changing okay to alright so you guys won't reference it lol

I hoped you liked this chapter, despite it's short length and unexciting content :)