Blackfoot Forest somewhere inside, I hope you still see me just the way I was before I walked away

What he expected was not something so easy to imagine, but what he received was something vastly different. There he stood, frozen in place and struggling to find his words, whilst her body shook and tears began to stain her face—tears that swelled within his own eyes, threatening to spill over. But he held his back and, instead, reached out to her again, nudging her cheek with his nose and hoping to stop her tears. What he’d done wrong—oh, how the list went on—he could not place in that exact moment, but he wanted to do right by her; he wanted to do as a father should, pushing aside his rising insecurities and focusing solely on his daughter.

For a moment his mouth opened, several words lingering on the tip of his tongue, only for it to shut shortly after with nothing having been said. There was so much to say, so much that he wanted her to know, but he couldn’t find it within himself to speak. His voice was gone and he made no moves to locate it, instead taking the time to tilt his head downwards and press his forehead to hers, hoping to, in some way, comfort her.