5.

Julian's POV

As fascinating as Julian found it to watch Mike struggle relentlessly with the pull-start of his push mower – letting out a few slack-jawed curses muttered between his pinched lips with sweat bubbling on the perk of his upper lip that was anxiously threatening to jump off – Julian knew he had to intervene before Mike hurt himself. His foot was wedged slightly under the metal rim of the mower's shell while he yanked repeatedly at the cord. Not to mention the small engine was being flooded from his countless and fruitless attempts at being a repairman. Mike, as handy as he could be with a hammer and a saw, was not skilled whatsoever when it came to anything with an engine and four wheels.

The second that Julian saw Mike's arm tense and his lips pull back to bare his teeth, Julian called out his name to stop him before he did something incredibly stupid. Mike snapped out of his momentary rage, cocking his head up to Julian as he crossed over the small patch of lawn that shared the space between them. When Mike caught a glance of Julian, he looked embarrassed at his previous behaviour. He let go of the cord in his hand to swipe the boiling sweat from his face, and also to casually hide the fact that he had lost his temper by shielding the redness on his cheeks.

"I don't know how attached you are to your toes, but if you keep that up they won't be attached to you much longer," Julian said. He laughed a little as he stepped up beside Mike to examine the non-functioning lawnmower. The mower had seen better days before they had even acquired it, but now it seemed the day had come where it had finally seen enough and decided to kick the bucket.

Mike, however, was determined to make the lawnmower work whether he knew how to or not, which up until that point had involved tugging at the cord and cursing the mower's nonexistent mother instead of taking a closer look as to why the engine wasn't turning over. Despite how devilishly handsome he was, Mike was often so absent-minded that his body seemed to take control when logic would have reasoned through the situation.

"I almost had it," Mike grumbled, reaching down to the pull-cord once more but Julian intercepted his hand before he could touch it again.

"Almost would be the keyword we are looking for," Julian softly said. He wasn't underestimating Mike's abilities, but he knew this time there wasn't much hope left for the lawnmower. "I know you liked this mower, but can't we spend money for once where it counts?"

"My dad used to fix everything. He would be ashamed of me if he knew how little I can fix these days," Mike complained, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And you think we have two-hundred dollars to afford a new lawnmower? The parts are only fifty bucks at the hardware store."

Julian, still trying to communicate that his needs also were involved in the situation (being that he needed his soon-to-be husband not to be so stubborn all the time), gently clasped his fingers around Mike's hand and brought it up to kiss his thumb.

"Mike, I love you. But I need you to hear me out: A new lawnmower is worth the expense," Julian reasoned. "If it makes you feel any better, we can make this an early wedding present from me to you."

Mike crumbled under Julian's words, placing his hands on either side of his fiancé's face. He brought Julian's face down to his so that they were nose-to-nose, staring into one another's eyes. Smiles erupted soon after and Mike finally nodded, giving into Julian.

"You're lucky you are so cute," Mike said, rubbing his nose softly against Julian's.

"I'd like to think I'm strikingly handsome," Julian feigned. He brought his hand up to ruffle Mike's hair before the two of them stood up together.

Mike wrapped his arms around Julian, bringing him in so that he could nuzzle his nose into his fiancé's neck. Julian melted into Mike's arms because, to him, they were the safest place that he could be. The two, falling deeper in love with one another, had no idea just how much the world would try to tear them apart. In that moment, there was only the future of them with their daughter, Tristan, and the wedding to come.

Mike happily mowed the lawn with the new mower they had purchased while Julian tended to his vegetable garden that had presumably been ransacked, once again, by the raccoons. If Julian had been home earlier in the day then maybe he could have talked to Tristan about what happened. Since he didn't come in until early afternoon, Julian felt that it was best to wait until dinner time to talk to Tristan about what was going on lately. This was the first of many things that had gone wrong on Tristan's behalf, and Julian was getting tired of not understanding why Tristan would say and do some of the things that she had been lately.

What puzzled Julian the most was why Tristan had suddenly taken a disliking to her other dad, Mike. She refused to even look at him some days, let alone speak to him. It took weeks for Julian to convince Tristan to tell Mike about her break-up with her girlfriend, Twila.

Lately it seemed as though even Julian was left wondering what was going on with Tristan, as she didn't feel as though she could talk to him. He tried his best to communicate with her but even he had trouble with that some days.

When Tristan arrived home that day from school, Julian expected, more so hoped, that she would talk to him about what happened with the garbage bags and the garden. Surely she had an explanation for the chaos that had ensued the night previous.

Instead, when Tristan parked in the driveway, she sat out in the car for a long while. Julian thought about going to ask her if she was okay, but realized he shouldn't. He knew he needed to give her the space she was clearly indicating that she wanted.

Finally, after almost half an hour of sitting in the driveway, Tristan bolted from the car, up the front porch steps, and into the house before Julian was able to catch her to ask her about what happened.

Compelled to do his fatherly duty, Julian entered the house through the back porch and into the kitchen. He listened carefully for the sound of Tristan's door slamming, but today it never came. Usually this was proceeded by overtly loud and profane music with no particular rhythm, but a similar theme. Julian tried to reason with Mike that it was just a phase, but it was beginning to seem like it was never going to end.

Today, however, was different.

It was quiet. So quiet that Julian questioned if Tristan actually went upstairs, checking the living-room to be sure. She wasn't downstairs. Julian perched himself at the bottom of the staircase, calling out for Tristan a few times with no response. After the third time, Julian made his way upstairs to be sure Tristan was okay.

He came to the top of the stairs and took a hard right, heading down the hallway towards Tristan's room. Her door was adorned with stickers and posters of bands that she once used to like, the same bands her dads listened to. It used to be a family tradition to go to concerts together to see the classic acts. But things changed when Mike changed positions at the hospital.

Tristan tried to convince Mike that his long hours in the Emergency Room may have been saving lives, but it was killing his relationship with his daughter. Tristan had been acting differently for a few awhile now, long before Twila broke-up with her. Mike had become a symbol of resentment for Tristan.

Trying not to let the past creep in where the present was clearly the issue, Julian knocked lightly on Tristan's door. He waited patiently for a response that never came. Finally, he opened the door a crack so that his voice could carry inside the room.

"Can I come in?" Julian asked, opening the door a little more so that he could gently slide himself inside.

The room was what you would expect of a teenager, but not so much what Julian expected of Tristan. Clothes were strewn about, there were papers all over her desk, books stacked on top of those. Julian didn't want to acknowledge that her room smelled faintly of cigarette smoke. He tried to tell himself that this was a phase and that she was simply working things out for herself, but knowing that she was potentially hurting herself by doing harmful things made him worry even more.

Julian met Tristan's eyes from her bed as she sat on top of her blankets with her laptop in front of her. She had been focused on what she was doing, quickly closing the lid of her laptop. Julian frowned as he crossed the room to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Julian asked. He hoped she would be honest.

Instead, Tristan shook her head while sliding the laptop further away from Julian. He could have questioned her about her sudden secrecy, figuring that it wasn't worth pushing the limits she had set.

"How was your second day?" Julian changed the subject, hoping to at least get his daughter to relax around him. Tristan was tense as she shifted around on her bed.

"It was boring," Tristan replied. Her words were clipped short. "Nothing too exciting happened."

Julian pointed at the laptop. "Are you working on something for school?"

"Yeah."

"Like what? Maybe I can help you with it?"

Tristan wasn't budging. "I'm good."

"Are you sure you are okay, Tristan?" Julian persisted.

Tristan nodded. "Peachy."

There wasn't any point trying to push Tristan into talking when she clearly had her walls up around her. Julian reached out to squeeze Tristan's knee lightly, as if to say he understood in some way or another. She didn't respond in any way to his touch, instead she turned away and began thumbing through a book nearby.

Julian took his leave, but not without looking over his shoulder at his nearly eighteen year old daughter. How quickly time had passed since she was nothing more than a few weeks old when Julian met her. He had been in her life from that day on, his love for her unconditional and unwavering.

Yet, Julian couldn't help but see that she seemed distant now. The girl that he loved more than anyone else, even more than he loved Mike, was pulling away from him. He tried to tell himself it wouldn't last forever, that she would come back to them when she was ready. But how soon would that be when it seemed like their time together was running out?