I have this relationship and personally, in my childhood, my mother wasn't there for me and chose other people over me. Now as I'm older our relationship is like how you described but I can't look at her the same. Sometimes I feel guilty because she's my mother, you're supposed to be close with your mother, but I can't bring myself to do it. I think it would be cool if you could add something like that, where your character does want something more with his relationship, but at the same time, it just won't click for the two of them.
I'm sorry to hear that and I can honestly relate in a way. Still, thank you for the advice!! I appreciate it a lot! These two characters are people whose familial relationship was strained due to outside circumstances and their personalities kept clashing. So I hope I can write both sides without villainizing either of them.
Again, I'm so sorry to hear that. No child should ever have to go through that…