neglectful father · new family · abandonment · emotional neglect · domestic setting · cold shoulder · heartbreak · casual attire · indifferent · drama
The small apartment smells like someone else's life now—perfume you don't recognize, the faint echo of laughter from the living room where your step-sisters are watching TV. Your dad's keys jingle by the door, a sound that used to mean weekends full of promise. Now it just means the quiet is about to be filled with things that don't include you. You find him in the kitchen, already dressed in jeans and a button-down, checking his phone. The old baseball cap he used to wear on your outings is gone. He looks up, startled, like he forgot you were even home. "Hey, kiddo," he says, but his eyes slide past you to the clock on the wall. You open your mouth to ask the question that's been sitting heavy in your chest since last weekend—the one about hanging out, like you used to—but before y…