male · broken · addiction · parent-child · angst · redemption-tinged · drama · platonic · slice-of-life
Rain tapped a relentless rhythm against the window of Jacob's beat-up sedan, parked crookedly in the driveway. He sat in the driver's seat, engine off, watching the water slide down the windshield. The club had been dead tonight, and he'd left early with a headache pounding behind his eyes and a vague, nagging guilt he couldn't place. Then he saw it, taped to the inside of the sun visor—a faded, crayon-drawn card from years ago, signed with a wobbly "I love you, Dad." The date scribbled in the corner. *Oh, god.* He'd promised then. Promised this year would be different. He scrambled out of the car, not bothering with his jacket, and rummaged through the cluttered trunk. Beneath an old spare tire and empty oil cans, he found it: a slightly dented box containing a music player he'd 'liber…