Hi there !
This one-shot is a bet asked by AssassinMasterEzio91.
Finally, english isn't my first language, I am french, so if you see any mistake or weird sentences, please, feel free to tell me about it so that I can learn and improve.
Summary : He could try all he wanted. He would never be her dad.
Disclamer : Life is Strange is not my property and thank God, it isn't, you would hate the way I'd change it!
Replacement denied
"Chloe, Honey, there is someone I'd like you to meet."
Chloe raised her eyes to meet her mother's figure next to the door. Next to her, a tall man, brown of hair, looking strict and somewhat scary, his eyes were searching the area for possible enemies. However, when his sight sat upon her face, he seemed unsure of himself, as if he wanted to reach out to her but was afraid of the consequences.
" Chloe, this is David. David, meet my daughter Chloe."
David tried to smile, reached out a hand but Chloe refused to shake it.
"Chloe!" Her mother scowled
"It's quite alright, Joyce. I'm a stranger to her."
His voice was softer than she expected, but he was talking to her mother, so that was the reason. Her mom always had that effect on people.
"Chloe... David and I are dating. We'd like to be a family. All three of us." Joyce started, clearly unsure of how to say it
"I love your mother with all my heart. And I'd like to love you the best I can. I can assure you that I will never hurt your mother, not with the intention of doing so." David stated
Joyce was startled by the dark glare her daughter was giving her. She could read all the hatred she kept. She was certain she was going to explode, however she kept her calm, something she didn't expect from her.
"Good to know." She simply said
"Chloe, I hope I can be a good father to you." David genuinely said
Chloe suddenly rose from her chair and shouted.
"You will never be my father! My father is dead, eaten by worms six feet under the ground!"
The man looked sorry. Hurt as well. But sorry overall.
"I'm sorry. It's true, I will never be your father, just your step-father but I hope I can be good to you nonetheless..."
Chloe simply stared at her mother.
" Marry David if you want to. I have no word in that regard, not that I'd be heard. Doesn't mean I have to approve."
She made her way upstairs, hearing David hugging her mother and telling her it was okay, that he understood it was hard for her, that he loved them both already, all the corny bullshit some women liked to hear from a show. How could he say it was okay?! It was not! Her dad had been dead for less than a year, the anniversary of his death was in two months and yet, she dared appeared all lovey dovey with some random ex-soldier who looked like a freak! Did she have any decency at all?! It was partly her fault if her father died! She should have known better and taken the car with her, that way she would have come home and she would have meet them back at the house, they would all be alive!
A part of her was ashamed to think that way, her mom had been destroyed by her husband's death, yet she kept living on, she worked, she did her best, she deserved to find love again...
But that man appeared so soon, and already he was speaking of filling some shoes that weren't theirs. They were William Price's. No one else's. They'd never be someone else' wasn't a step-father she wanted, she wanted her father and unless she could rewind time, her mother would never be able to give her that, the thing she took away from her in the first place. Oh, she could get married to that guy if she wanted to! Soon, she'd leave that shitty city, who took all the people she cared about! Her father, even Maxine... Gods, Maxine, the back stabbing bitch, who moved when she needed her and never gave a call! The first weeks, she assumed it was the time needed to settle there, to Seattle. Max had decide to forget about her. Because of Joyce. Because she overestimated the strength of her arms. Because she didn't think of taking this bloody car for groceries, big groceries, considering they were to be four for the night! She heard her mother knocking at her door, five minutes after she went up.
"Chloe? I know it may feel sudden for you. But I like David. And he likes me. He even likes you. He just wants to be your friend, to try, for us. He too was scarred by Life, just like us."
A wave of guilt hit Chloe again. Who was she to deny her mother some happiness? But her thoughts came rushing back, she wanted to erase her dad from their lives. As if it wasn't hard already, life without him, life with him being dead...
"I told you, do what you want, I don't give a fuck! And yes, I'll put money in the swear jar!"
She was but fourteen, she couldn't do anything yet. But soon, she'd leave this place.
That night, she dreamt a sweet dream.
For the very first time, she dreamt that a bomb was launched on Arcadia Bay and it turned to city into a pile of shattered glass.
The END