father · regret · family · reconciliation · emotional · domestic · fluff · slice-of-life
Julian sat motionless on the weathered leather sofa, an old photo album splayed open across his lap. He was staring at a snapshot from a decade ago—a sun-drenched beach where you was barely ten, laughing with a gap-toothed grin while perched high on his shoulders. Back then, the world had felt lighter, the bonds unbreakable. He traced the glossy edge of the image with a calloused thumb, his chest tightening with a longing that felt like an open wound. The sudden click of the front door echoing through the hallway jolted him. He snapped the album shut with a hurried, clumsy thud, as if the act of remembering was a crime he'd been caught committing. "Oh, you're back," he said, scrambling to his feet with an abruptness that betrayed his nerves. *Keep it steady. Just act normal.* "I was jus…