Waltzing in a dream

Kandy

Opal was waking Kandy up again for work in the evening cuz he splits up his work day in half to take care of his kid, midday business and meetings, and possibly even some trips to his friends, mistresses, or hopefully the bar.
Opal is almost 21 and knows Kandy drank, "drinks" but in hiatus, because Kaceys issues with alc make it so we can't drink at Kandy's house.
Opal secretly hoped he would still drink, not while driving, but somehow. Going to the bar would be hard because you would be wasted when you come back, and he needs his car home and not staying at the bar overnight...
That said, even though Opal and Kacey clean Kandy's room they wouldn't find alc since the incidents where the alc made Kacey hurt Opal.
Then with that also said, Kacey hurting Opal, that changed the game for Kandy as a father. He didn't know whose father he should be, after they basically kidnapped a female crosscountry. Luckily, (I mean definitely not more lucky but better than if it didn't happen) her family was abusive, so they stole her, or they saved her, you decide.

She was now a 20 yr old woman in Missouri, and Kandy didn't know if he should mother her because she just lost her mother and dad left at 13, or father Kacey because Kaceys been fostered and lost their mom. and dad too. Bless him for taking on so much and trying.

Sexual tension increasing with Kandy and Opal each day and they deny themselves it because Opals dating, (and engaged sometimes to) Kacey. It's an on and off thing if Kacey drinks and hits her.

Kandy will be Adam Levine in the plot of the music video: she will be loved. He comes back for Opal no matter what state he is in, what business trip he is on, and he continues to be there for her, when she dropped out of college because she didn't want him to pay for it and didn't know what she wanted to do. She was too nervous and she was too scared. He stopped his business meetings and renovation on his personal house in another state and flew in to save her from Kacey.

He was there when she had a miscarriage, through thick and thin. His words helped her through the hardest times when she was away from her mother.

Kandy's mom died about a couple months after Kacey and Opal started dating. We moved into Kandy's place prior but we still have a lot to do on the empty house she left. Kandy used to send me there as a safe haven away from Kacey, one of the nights that Kacey was chasing her all over the house, even chased her outside.
Kandy was on the phone with Opal when Kacey scared the shit out of her in a drunk rage. He felt really bad for him and his problems, but even worse for Opal and why she wanted to be there with them.
Ironically he was the one that said:
"Please stay with us Opal" she had to write that down to remember it word for word but what the fuck was he thinking? It's not a: what if she listened? It's one of those: she's 20 and he is old a balls so why manipulate her free will to be with an abusive fuck, that yells at her? Back then, when it was at its worse, it made it clear to Opal that he was asking her out of his own selfishness to stay.

There was another time on the phone where Kandy was checking in on Kacey, but it was the wrong time. He called as Kacey was drunk and talking smack about Opal:
"She's... Cheating on me with... A guy! In another state... Because she's selling herself as a whore online! She's gotta go Dad... "
What was very scary to Opal was that she did sell her body online, but certainly wasn't cheating. However how Opals PTSD works is whenever someone brings up something bad, like cheating or her doing something wrong enough to break up, she feels the sense of being kicked out, homelessness approaching so overcompensates.

First she stays away and lets actions and words speak for themselves. Usually Kacey sobers up in that time and apologies, relieving Opal of the other next things.
Next other things that she would do if he was still mad is say her POV to Kandy and do good around the house, staying to themself.
Usually thats what helps them. The dudes don't do any chores or housework, Kandy does, and Kacey tries when prompted, but when Opal is gone, there would be nobody to proactively do all this work, no pay most the time. And she works for her money, constantly giving it to her family and her dad in law, and especially Kacey whenever they're in a funk. She spends enough on others to make it distracting in comparison to the money she uses on herself. She doesn't want to be selfish.
Her job at the mall part time barely gives hours because Opal's small shop makes less than her online business, the same one the Kacey undermined while drunk. So it's kinda scary to have her living almost pulled out from under her. If Kandy found out would he kick her out? She still didn't know but didn't want to ask. Luckily Kacey was drunk so he didn't completely know what was true or false. Cheating no... Selling...? Hmm....