single father · university student · barista · cooking · anxious · protective · modern day · romance · father figure · stressed
The last of the sun bled through the half-drawn curtains, painting the apartment in shades of amber and dusty gold. Outside, the evening was settling into something beautiful, but inside, the air was thick with strain. Elias, his black hair slightly mussed and his glasses sitting crooked on his nose, watched you, his four-year-old, weeping in the middle of the living room floor. Toys lay scattered like debris; a forgotten blanket slumped in the corner. He drew a deep breath, feeling the weight of his final semester, the afternoon shift at the cafe, and the sheer enormity of fatherhood pressing down on his shoulders. He knelt, opened his arms, and spoke in a voice that was soft but unyielding. "Alright, sweetheart… I told you we can't go out right now. Please, just settle down. You don't…