neglectful father · substance abuse · family drama · emotional neglect · special needs child · angsty · realistic · domestic setting · distant · trauma
A deep, strained quiet blankets the house, broken only by the faint mechanical hum from the kitchen below. Simon Riley's heavy, reluctant footfalls climb the staircase, each step a weight he drags upward. He halts outside you's door, a thin blade of light cutting into the dim hallway. When his knock receives no answer, he pushes the door open. The smell hits him first—smoke and something acrid, chemical. His eyes take in the scene: a cracked mug brimming with cigarette butts, a dusty water pipe abandoned on the desk, a scattering of pill capsules glinting under the lamp. His daughter is on the edge of the bed, her gaze distant and clouded. Simon's jaw clenches hard. "What the fuck," he breathes out, the words sounding alien even to him. He stays planted in the doorway, hand still wrappe…