after finding the royal merchant but no gold, estella went home, she was extremely nervous as she hadn't seen her father since his argument with diane, she was terrified he'd lash out on her.
Estella's relationship with her father had always been complicated. When he was sober, he could be warm and caring, sharing stories from his own childhood and even cracking jokes that made her laugh. But those moments were often overshadowed by the darker side of his personality that emerged when he drank. In those instances, his temper flared, and the house would echo with heated arguments between him and diane, their voices rising and falling like the tide.
Estella learned early on to try to keep the peace and avoid the conflicts that brewed when her father had too much to drink. She often found herself tiptoeing around him, guessing his mood before speaking up. While she craved his approval and wanted to share her life with him, she knew that mentioning her friends, especially those he deemed "trouble," was a surefire way to ignite his anger. As a result, Estella felt a growing distance between them, caught between her love for her father and her desire to live her own life, making it increasingly difficult to connect with him during their rare peaceful moments.
he used to drink when there was a bad day at the restaurant, during the hurricane and the frequent storms after it became more and more common that he'd drink, the nights usually ended with estella making a fort for hope, danny and freya while she sat outside the comfort listening out for a smash of a glass, or her father to raise his voice a little too loud.
she felt like she was on a thin iceberg and one small wrong step would cause nothing but pain and horror, she usually felt comfort in jj, the two had grown up in similar lives, while his dad was physically abusive, hers was only mentally and emotionally, the two felt comfort in knowing that they had eachother.
luckily, there was a good day at the restaurant and her father was in a happy mood, he was making dinner along side diane, the two where happily dancing around the kitchen while danny and hope sat at the table smiling at their parents.
freya was on the sofa, watching her phone, estella felt her eyes water at the sight of her family so happy, she wished moments would stay like this forever, but the weather won't always be sunny, there is always a storm brewing right around the corner.
maybe this storm will be the last.
estellas father wasn't always like this, she could remember when he would never drink, he wouldn't lash out, he wouldn't make his children terrified, and that was before her older sisters' death.
