When Virgil came home from the last day of eighth grade sobbing, his father wasn't quite sure what to do. A million possible causes rushed through Patton's head as he rushed over to help. Was he hurt? Had something gone horrible wrong at school that he hadn't heard about?

It wasn't until he found out that the boy's boyfriend had broken up with him that he realized what was wrong. His son was going through his first major heartbreak.

He felt sympathy tug harshly at his heart as he wrapped his arms around the fourteen-year-old, knowing the only true cure to heartbreak was time. The only way the pain would go away would be with time and patience with himself. Once Virgil could move on, the pain would stop; well, no pain ever truly stops, but it would become an afterthought.

Patton knew this, but he couldn't bring himself to tell his son that all he could do was wait until he was over him. He'd been dating the boy since he reached middle school and had gone to every school dance with him despite his social anxiety. This was a huge deal to him and he knew that. As his father, he was expected to comfort him and make him feel better, to take away the pain. He couldn't remove the pain of a heartbreak, but he could at least provide a temporary distraction.

"Hey, shh, you're alright, Virge," he whispered as his son's sobs slowly softened to sniffles. He pulled back from the embrace to look at his face. "Hey, why don't we bake brownies? And we can put ice cream all over them! AND we can put candy on the ice cream!"

"Really?" the darkly dressed teenager mumbled, reaching up to wipe his tear stained cheeks.

He nodded and beckoned him to follow him to the kitchen. "I know a breakup is hard, Virge," he said sadly as he got out the ingredients. "I can't fix it, but I can at least do all I can to make you feel a little better. The best way I know how to do that is by having way too much sugar!"

Virgil made a halfhearted smile; that was a start.

Patton got to work on the brownies despite his son pointing out that they're ruin their appetite for dinner. "Sometimes you just gotta have a little fun, and besides! It's summer vacation!!" he said. He did a little dance of excitement. "I'm gonna be taking the next couple weeks off, so we're gonna start this vacation off with a bang!"

About half an hour later, the two of them were sitting in front of the TV watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire together. Each had a bowl with brownies at the bottom, a scoop of ice cream, and then some candy bites sprinkled over it to top it all off.

"Hey Dad..." Virgil spoke up halfway through the movie. The man turned toward him expectantly. "Did... Did I do something wrong? I mean... why did he break up with me?"

"Aw kiddo, you didn't do anything wrong," he reassured him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I don't know why he broke up with you, but I do know he's a fool for doing so. He's missing out on one of the coolest, most talented kids ever. I know it's hard right now, and it's going to take some time, but you shouldn't stress over someone like him. Someone better for you will come along. You'll find your prince charming, I promise."

Virgil smiled sadly at him and hugged him back. "Thanks Dad."