Chasing the Clouds || H.S. [ONGOING]

Eighty-One

"Dancin' around the lies we tell.
Dancin' around big eyes as well.
Even the comatose, they don't dance and tell.
We live in cities you'll never see on-screen.
Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run things.
Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams.
And you know, we're on each other's team."

Song: Team — Lorde

++++++

𝓝𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏

Andie and her father finished eating in silence and when she tried to get up to leave after she was done, he told her to sit back down.

"Listen to me..." Her father began and she let out a scoff.

"I understand you hold resentment toward me for not being there during your childhood. I can't fault you for that. I deserve it, most of the time. But I also deserve some respect. I'm here. And I'm not forced to be. I want you here, Andria. I want to be your father. I want us to co-exist together. And I hope you know that."

"Contrary to what you must believe, you're not a burden on my life. I'm proud of the person you are. You're smart, caring and funny. And I have every faith in this world that you're going to be successful in life," he continued.

"And I know I can't take much credit for that, besides genetics. But I want to be there for you in any way I can from here on out. I want to be someone you can come to if you need help. And even if you don't. You just need to let me," her father spoke sincerely.

It was the most she'd ever heard him speak to her consecutively and it completely perplexed her. She'd never heard him speak so candidly. She was sure she'd never heard him compliment her so much in all of her life. It was weird and she didn't know how to feel about it. He was ultimately a stranger to her.

But would it be so bad to open up and allow some sort of relationship to start between the two of them? Their father/daughter bond seemed to be non-existent. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to actually have one.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, she quietly said, "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod, finally looking up at him.

"That means a lot to me, Andria," he said, sending her a soft smile.

"You're not like, dying or something are you?"

"What? No," he said with a chuckle.

"Okay," she said, smirking at him.

He smiled and rolled his eyes at her. She had to laugh because it was the first time she ever saw him do something so flippant like rolling his eyes.