#with:scott barnes

[stcygcld]

Ever since her father had come clean to her about what he really did for a living, Jade had started to feel really guilty about how much she had enjoyed the life he had been providing for her. It made sense to her why her mother seemed to resent him so much, and why she had always insisted that Jade never go back to her dad after her death. After that night, she had stopped speaking to her dad and managed to find herself a job at a local autoshop to pay for her expenses. While she lived under his roof, she still kept to herself, unable to forgive her father for choosing a life of crime over her. 

It was a fine afternoon as Jade was working at the autoshop. Teaching her hoow to fix cars was the one good thing her uncle had done, and it seemed to help her out at a time like this. But she had been so busy working on that car that he hadn’t even noticed her father being there. “What... what are you doing here?” Jade questioned the man as she dropped the lug wrench in the toolbox. @imperfectox​​

[stcygcld]

imperfectox​:

“You really know to hit where it hurts, huh?” Scott bitterly chuckled but it truly felt like a stab in the heart. He knew that the pain he left by being absent wasn’t going to be forgiven especially since he didn’t know. He didn’t know what went in her life when he should have. He’s a father. Dads should be there for the family but he chose a life of crime over her. He chose a life a crime than raising his kid. He didn’t really have a choice but now here she is all grown up and he’s still a part of it. She’s begging him to leave and as much as he wanted to he couldn’t. It was all he knew and he stared at his daughter and had no idea what to say. “I figured it’s better you knew than finding it out one day from other people and I don’t blame you for not wanting to live under my roof. I can understand where you’re coming from.” “What I do know, Jade, is that I’m ready to be a dad and I can teach you to protect yourself. Other things.��� As how unbelievable it sounds, Scott knew he could take care of her. He had the money, the resources, and the protection from the family that he didn’t have to worry about her but if she wanted to leave then he wasn’t going to stop her. He tried and he’s giving her options. He just wants her to be happy. “If things go south, I have some money saved up on the side and investments here and there. I’m not going to leave you. I’m not going to disappear but if you don’t want to come along then you don’t have to. I promise to be here and I’ll be here.” “I’m not the greatest dad in the world but I’m trying to at least be a good one for you even with my shortcomings. I hope you can forgive that someday.”

At her father’s bitter chuckle, Jade just shook her head. “I’m just being honest, dad. You weren’t there for any of it, the good, the bad and the worst. Up until now, I used to think it was because mom shut you out. I thought it was her fault that you weren’t a part of my life. And I was awful to her. I said things that I shouldn’t have, thinking that she was the one who drove you away. I put her through so much shit, and she didn’t even bother to tell me once... not even once that it wasn’t her fault. She took it all from me, even when she was dying. She took it all, because she was protecting you. Whether I found out now or some other time from others, it doesn’t matter. I hurt mom, and I can’t tell her how sorry I am, how wrong I was about everything.” The tears she had been holding back finally began to stream as she thought of her mother. “I want to tell her that I was so wrong about everything.” 

When Scott expressed his wishes to be her dad now, Jade could not help but scoff. “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that, dad? I don’t want your money. I don’t... need your money. Mom never did, and neither do I. I have a job now, and I’m saving up. I’ll get my own place soon. I know I haven’t been the best daughter to mom, but the last thing I want for myself is to live off of the money that came from doing crime. I don’t think she would want that for me either.” As she said that, she took a step towards her father. “I love you, dad. I used to worship you. I used to think that you would have been the best dad ever if mom hadn’t left you... that we would have been a happy family, that I wouldn’t have had to suffer with John. I thought mom was the one who ruined it all. But she’s dead, dad. She’s gone... and now that I think of it, I can’t help but wonder. Would you have stepped up if she had ever come back to you? Would you have made these promises if she was still alive? Why did it have to take mom dying for you to want to be my dad?”