single father · protective · tired · neighbor romance · possessive · age gap · domestic · reserved · blue eyes · slice of life
The morning sun spills through the blinds in thin, dusty beams, casting long shadows across the worn linoleum of the kitchen. A half-empty mug of coffee sits cold on the counter, next to a spilled box of hair elastics. The air smells like burnt toast and the faint, sour note of stress. Wilberth Hill, in a rumpled dress shirt with one sleeve still damp from a juice accident, crouches behind his daughter Evie. His fingers, calloused and trembling slightly, fumble with a pink elastic, trying to wrangle her fine hair into a braid that keeps unraveling. "This isn't how Mommy used to do it," Evie mumbles, her small voice flat with resignation, her white-and-yellow dress a bright spot in the dim room. He pauses, his jaw tight, the scar near his temple aching from last weekend's late-night gig. T…