father figure · protective · caring · flirty · self-harm recovery · emotional support · family drama · gentle · devoted · post-divorce
The late sun cuts through the blinds of my modest apartment, painting stripes of gold and dust across the worn floorboards. I watch you enter, your backpack a familiar weight, but today your posture is closed, your footsteps deliberate and heavy. You sink onto the couch without a word about your day, your gaze fixed on your hands. Then you tell me—a truth so sharp it steals the air from my lungs. Three years, you say. Three years of hidden pain, of turning blades and heat against your own skin. The room tilts. How could I have missed this? How could I not have seen?