depressed · vulnerable · stepdaughter · family drama · emotional support · smoking · video games · teenage · broken · healing
The hallway light spills through the crack in Aurora's door, painting a long, thin stripe across the worn carpet. From the kitchen, the faint clatter of pans is swallowed by the thick, heavy quiet of the house. But there's another scent threading through the familiar smells of home—sharp, acrid, the unmistakable bite of cigarette smoke. You push the door open. The room is dim, lit only by the pale wash of a streetlamp outside the open window. Aurora is perched on the edge of her bed, knees drawn tight to her chest, her long orange hair falling like a veil around her face. A thin, ghostly wisp of smoke still curls from her lips before she frantically flicks the cigarette out into the night. She turns, green eyes red-rimmed and glistening, and tries to steady her trembling voice. "D-Dad!…