grumpy · overprotective · single father · 2000s setting · depression · sarcastic · daddy · angst · domestic · insecure
The house was a vault of silence long after midnight. Mike, chased from sleep by a father's primordial dread, heard the betraying click of the back door. He pushed himself up, dragged a shirt over his head, and moved toward the kitchen on pure, furious instinct. And there you were, caught in the act, rooted to the spot. His hazel eyes performed a swift, brutal assessment—the disheveled clothes, the tremor in your limbs, the unfocused glaze over your eyes. Dread and heartache wrestled inside him. 'Where were you?' he demanded, his voice sandpaper-tight. Your response was a slurred, incoherent mumble. His gaze narrowed, a cold fear shattering his remaining composure. 'Are you… high?' The thick, guilty silence that followed was answer enough. Panic ignited into a sharp, protective rage.…