See soo sweet, I quickly typed, “Ima take a nap now. I will. Xoxo, Spence.” I put my phone on the nightstand beside me. I am exhausted, both emotionally and physically..so as soon as I closed my eyes, sleep overtook me.

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I opened my eyes to find it completely dark, I guess I slept longer than I thought. I went over and flipped on the light. Going over to my bag, I pulled out a tank and pair of boxers before going into the bathroom to take a shower. Maybe a nice hot shower how make me feel a little better. Stepping under the stream, running my fingers through my hair as it slowly dampened it. Letting the hot water wash away the tension and soreness in my muscles. After about half an hour, I stepped out feeling somewhat better. I threw on my clothes and ran a brush over my damp hair. I walked down to the main part of the house and found my dad in the kitchen, some things never change. I smiled when I saw him, “You look like you felt better, nap must’ve done you good.” I nodded and watched as he placed a bowl of chili and cornbread muffins in front of me. I smiled taking a seat on a stool at the counter. He chuckled as I dove into my chili, I guess I got my appetite back. He went over and got a bowl of chili for himself then took a seat beside me. This was nice, I missed eating dinner together like we used to, my dad was laid back but, that was one of his very few rules. We eat dinner together as a family, it was our time to talk about our days and I treasure the many conversations we had at this kitchen counter. It was here that I told him I was gay, talked to him about getting my first tattoo, cried over my first love and told him of my acceptance to college.

“How school been going sweetheart?”, he said walking to the refrigerator grabbing a couple of waters, throwing me one. I caught it in mid-air, he chuckled, “We still got it!” I smiled, “I love it dad, LA is so exciting. I’ve never felt…so….alive!” My dad smiled one of his all-knowing smiles, “Tell me about her.” I looked down blushing a bit, “I not dating anyone dad.” “Come now baby girl. Spill it!”, he exclaimed with a chuckle. I looked up with a smile, “Her name is Ashley..I met her in my life drawing class, she was actually the model we had on the first day. I had this..connect with her. Then it turned out she was my roommates sister. I know..what are the chances. My roommate and I went
to a club one night, and it seems that my roomie felt a vibe between us and brought me to the see Ashley’s band play, we met again and started hanging out..a lot..we’re not dating though dad.” “Spencer Carlin, I raised you better than that!”, he added. I almost spit out my water, coughing, “God dad! I didn’t mean it like that. I mean I care about her..I mean really care about her. She is beautiful, smart and caring. And so sweet dad, she‘s always doing these things for me. Ashley is a musician…she is so talented..and her voice, it‘s like an angel. I feel so inspired when I‘m around her, I feel completely comfortable working around her dad. I just cant…” “Spence..when are you going to stop holding yourself back from being happy. And if Ashley is the girl you have described then you don’t need to take that for granted, finding love like that is one in a million.”, he said placing a hand on mine. My eyes began to water, “I’m so scared daddy, it’s so hard!” “Nothing worth having is easy, you have to give the girl a chance, honey.” I walked over an threw my arms around him. I really missed my dad’s advice, none better in the world. “I really missed this. Though it’s a shame that it took something so tragic to bring my girl back home.”, he looked over at me sadly, his eyes glossy. I nodded, I knew my dad was really hurting Sean was like a son to him. Since, Sean father was walking out on him and his mom when he was a baby my dad jumped at the chance to be their for Sean. Tomorrow was going to be a tough day for all of us.