Meeting the Neighbors

Tristan gave Julie a weak smile as she wrapped her arms about his neck, hoping that she would throw off his daughter. Putting his hands about her waist, he shook his head. "I'd love to, but- I'm not feeling too well today. May have eaten something bad." He definitely looked the part, and hoped that his increasingly drawn expression could be attributed to some bad food poisoning. "Would you mind if Erik-"

He had really no time to ask if Erik could attend the dinner while he took a nap, realizing that an object was coming his way, and fast. Spinning Julie out of the path of fire, he took the full brunt of the blow, the pink object bouncing off his head. He groaned, looking to the chair, noticing that it was Eliza's. Dora the Explorer, was it? He looked to Estrella with his one good eye, rubbing at his head. Now, he knew that she was fully aware of who he was. He probably deserved it- hell, he did deserve it- but he wasn't about to say anything. He decided that it would be smartest to keep an eye on her, as she was standing around a lot of miscellaneous objects that she would most definitely chuck his way. The big man didn't say anything, just waited for things to unfold. He had known something like this would be coming one day, but not so soon. Eventually, he would have had to tell Julie everything anyways. He just didn't want her to leave him because of it.
 
Lily was pushing Eliza on the swing and watching her friend with the neighbor boy. She knew something was not right, but knew that if she pushed, it would not be a good decision. She kept pushing the girl, and then looked over to Luke, hoping to make eye contact and convey that something was not right.

Suddenly, the neighbor came out from the back door and so many things happened at once. Julie crossed the yard and embraced the giant of a man -- who to Lily shared a resemblence to Estrella's grandfather in height. She was smiling at the couple, since it was quite obvious they were an item to her, and suddenly Estrella was throwing a pink chair at the man.

"Merlin's beard! What was that for? Who is he and why did you do that?" she yelled at Estrella as she moved to grab the kids and usher them towards the patio by Luke. She had only seen Estrella so mad one other time, and that was when she moved out of their dorm, and even then she didn't throw things at people's heads.
 
Julie was staring into Tristan's face, not totally buying that he did not feel well, but then she could see that something was definatly wrong. Suddenly, Ethan picked her up and spun her around, just in time to avoid her being hit by one of Eliza's chairs. Still in Ethan's arms, she looked up at him and then over to her cousin's daughter. "Estrella! What was that for? Why are you throwing things at Ethan?" she demanded, yelling across the yard at her. She was furious at the manners that the girl was demonstrating at the moment.
 
Luke laughed as he realized that the little neighbor boy, whom he had seen before, was probably not outside with any type of permission. He seemed to be a wild one- in any case, he was the perfect playmate with Eliza. When they had visited over Easter Alex had gotten on quite well with the both of them. Taking the burgers and brats he flipped them on the grill absentmindedly, figuring he might as well spend his time learning to grill now. After doing this he put the cover over them, sitting back and watching the kids play.

He noticed that Estrella looked a little out of it- like she was going to be sick. He looked over to Lily, and receiving her look he knew he wasn't the only one feeling that way. He was about to say something when a very large man stepped out onto the lawn. Figuring that this was Julie's neighbor out looking for his kid, he had to chuckle a bit.

The nineteen year old was not chuckling for long, however, when his cousin- looking as peeved off as he had ever seen her- grabbed an object from a playset, for Pete's sake- and chucked it at the neighbor. "Stray- what in the heck are you doing?" he exclaimed, chiming in with everyone else involved. What in the world had gotten into her? Was she possessed?
 
Estrella was beyond self control at the moment. She couldn't bring herself to respond to Lily or Luke. She knew that she as doing everyone a great disservice by displaying herself in such a manner, but she just didn't care. Her teeth clenched, she glanced at Julie. Realizing that she too, had been deluded, she bellowed, her voice nearing a screech, "Ethan? ETHAN?!?!" Chucking a tennis ball at him, she seethed, "Is THAT what he told you his name was?" Vile cursewords littered her breath, her glare containing no small measure of intensity.
 
Glancing between Estrella and Ethan, Julie was not sure what to think. "What are you talking about? Who do you think this is?" She then turned to Ethan, and looked at him with a questioning expression. "Ethan, do you have any idea what she is talking about? Why does she think your name is something else?" She looked between the two of them again, ducking a tennis ball in the process, then yelled out, "SOMEONE BETTER START TALKING! NOW!" Her face was becoming red -- and not from the sun that was beating down on them still from the late afternoon sky.
 
Tristan's brow broke out in a sweat as he looked between the two women and the dumbfounded spectators. A low moan broke past his lips as Estrella chucked a sort of green ball at him. Catching it, he held it up for a moment and then dropped it to the ground. He had never seen Julie this angry before- heck, never had wanted to- but under the circumstances he couldn't blame her. His gaze hard, he glanced back to his daughter. "Settle down, 'strella," he intoned, the command in his voice bearing such a severity that he had not used in well over a year. Well, the cat was out of the bag now. Julie would know that this was more than just coincidence and bad misunderstanding. He could only lie for so long. He had thought about holding up his ruse but he figured that it was no use.
 
Her teeth remaining clenched, Estrella could feel a vein throbbing in her temple. Her voice containing a rather deadly dose of poison- for it was no small hint, oh no- she spat, "My my, there's a lot he hasn't told you, isn't there?" The girl was so angry she thought she just might cry. "No, I don't believe I'll settle down, Daddy Dearest. In fact, I think I'm just getting started." After grabbing another one of the chairs and chucking it, she whipped out her wand, closing the distance between them and trying to figure out what curse would be best to use.
 
Julie shook off Ethan's arm and took a step back from the man. She was confused and a bit frightened. How does Ethan know Estrella? She was frustrated that no one was talking to her. Then Estrella spoke again. "Daddy? You are her FATHER?!?!?!" She walked back another few steps away from him. Looking over her shoulder, she spoke to Luke and Lily. "Take the kids inside please."

"Who the hell are you? If you are not Ethan who are you?" Julie was feeling betrayed and extremely angry. She was hurt by the man who had promised never to hurt her, who had told her that he loved her. Not knowing what to do, she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for an answer. Then Estrella pulled out a stick and started pointing it at "Ethan" and it dawned on her -- if this man was a wizard and she was his daughter, that meant that she was a witch and this school she was at was probably some kind of magic thing. She would have to ask Estrella more about that later on, but for now she wanted answers -- and she didn't care who gave them to her.
 
Lily watched the scene unfolding before her, shielding the children as much as she could. When Julie asked her and Luke to take them inside, she took their hands and headed them to the patio door. "Luke, take the food off the grill. Let's go feed the kids while they, um, work this out." She then headed the kids inside and got them settled at the table, dishing out some of the salads and fruit that were ready to go for dinner. She was keeping an eye out the glass doors to be sure no one was being killed at the moment.
 
Tristan frowned as Estrella tossed yet another chair at him, this time evading it fully. He looked to Julie, his gaze almost pleading. "I couldn't tell-" he started, cut off as his eye caught the thing that was in his daughter's hand. Most surely, she wouldn't use it? Deciding that he was not going to take time to speculate the matter, for one, as she could cause real damage and for two, the American Ministry would most likely be on his tail, he pulled his own willow wand out of his pocket, waving it. "Expelliarmus!" he intoned, driving it away from her hand with little effort. Before she could pick it up again, he used the summoning charm to bring it back his way, grasping it in his hand. Now, she would be hard pressed to get at it. She may have the potential to be angry but in this case, he was bigger, more mature in a sense and in all things had many more years of experience as a magic user.

With a sharp breath he turned to Julie. "I'm who she says I am." Sighing, he continued, "But I promise, I can explain." While they had been set in stone before his eyes softened a bit, begging her to understand. He had torn apart so many of his relationships that it would be devastating to do it again. Although, after what she had just learned promises probably wouldn't go a long way with her.
 
((Oops.))
 
Luke's jaw dropped as he heard the last of the exchange, narrowing his eyes at the large man. Only too glad to get inside where hopefully, it was safe, he could only comply with Lily's request. Scrambling to grab the food, some of which had become more than well done in his negligence, he soon found himself inside the kitchen, his brow furrowed in confusion. What in the world was Estrella's dad doing here? And why with his cousin? He figured that he was going to find out by the end of tonight. Cutting up some hamburger and brats into little pieces, he asked the kids meekly, "What do you two want?"
 
Erik was quite unable what to make of the situation, wishing that everyone would stop yelling so he and Eliza could go play. He was about to tell them so when the Lily girl dragged them inside, and without hesitation he let her dish up some food. "Julie mad," he said quite pointedly, and thought about it for a moment when the older boy asked him what he wanted. "Booger," he declared, obviously ordering a burger. The little boy knew that what he was saying was gross, and he could only grin at those around him. He snickered at Eliza, believing very much that he was being funny.
 
Julie was furious. "HOW can you be her FATHER? Her father was a creep that got her mother killed and then dumped Estrella off with family." She was confused, and a flurry of other emotions all at once. Then a thought dawned on her. "Tristan," she whispered, the name finally coming out from the depths of her memory. With that name came the memory of her cousin's funeral, the heartbreaking time after when the family was recovering from the loss, and the many trips to visit Carl and the family over the years -- and seeing her cousin in Estrella. Tears began to well in her eyes and she felt the sting of betrayal. Shaking her head, she looked at Ethan/Tristan, her eyes showing the hurt she was feeling. "I - I don't know if I want to know. I cannot - How? I just don't get how you could LIE to me like this!" Julie did not move, though she wanted to run away, only to make sure that Estrella was safe.
 
Tristan swallowed hard as he looked back to Julie, attempting to keep his composure. As Estrella had said nothing, he listened to her for a moment. Oh, how nasty family gossip can get, he thought to himself. It only took her a few moments for her to realize what he was saying was true. Something of him was in his daughter, if not much. She had to at least recognize that. He nodded as she said his name.

"Whether I'm a creep or not," he started quietly, "Is up for the individual to decide. I'm not very proud of the things I did when I was young. Hell, I'm still not proud of things I do these days." He sighed, trying to keep some semblance of calm.

"I couldn't tell you," he continued, not wanting to hurt her even further. "I was going to tell you at first- but I got so caught up into things, I just couldn't." He stared down at Julie, hoping to Merlin that she would be able to understand. "You've been nothing but good to me- and I know I deserve this, and hell, much more- and I didn't want to see you hurt. Didn't want to lose you." Just like the rest of them, he thought to himself.

"And Estrella-" he added, frowning just a bit, "I know that I have a lot of explaining to do."
 
Estrella's eyes widened as her wand flew out of her hand, her father wasting no time in securing it for herself. Her immediate thought was to charge him and get it back, but some sense of rationality remained. He was bigger, stronger, and much more experienced when it came to magic. Quite literally, he could hold it over her head and she wouldn't be able to get at it. She took to sulking, hissing curses under her breath. She was satisfied with the fact that Julie was able to grill into him for now. She would have her turn later.

The man before her, whom she had thought she had made peace with, had reignited a long forgotten anger. He had blatantly ignored her letters, refused to tell her where he was- and then she had to find out that he was living next to her cousin? Possibly having relations with her? This was too much. Absolutely livid, she glared back at him with his last remark. Damn straight, she thought to herself, although she held that in. She had a feeling that even if he spilled his guts out there would be a lot of things that he was still keeping secret.
 
Eliza gave one last glance at her mother before being ushered inside by Lily and Luke. "Why Momma so mad? What did Ethan do?" she asked as she sat down at the table. Soon she was distracted by the food at the table. "I wanna brat! With yellow and red and pickles!"
 
Julie turned a bit more red. "HOW do you think that you were going it get away with this? What kind of GAME are you playing? Did you move in next door to me to just mess around with the family some more? Have you not caused us enough pain? YOU are the reason that Lorilei is dead. YOU are the reason that this girl does not live with her family any longer and is off at some wierd school. YOU are the cause of so much PAIN! You say you didn't want to hurt me, but then you tell me nothing but LIES!!" She glared as she walked over to Estrella, putting her arm around her shoulders. "Are you okay?"
 
At this point Estrella had completely forgotten her wand. Feeling no remorse for anything that her cousin said, she glared at her father. Crossing her arms over her front, she stood back as Julie put an arm around her shoulder. She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Can we just go inside? I don't want to be out here anymore." She couldn't bring herself to look at her father, wishing that she could climb into her bed and sleep it all off. Right now, she was close to crying.
 
"I'm not playing any game," Tristan replied, his expression dark and tone deep. He had put aside trying to be smooth, figuring that wasn't going to help him now. The Death Eater in him wanted to Obliviate her so that she would forget all of this, but then another part of him decided that it wouldn't be fair. And besides- the last time he had obliviated someone, he had addled them permanently. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if anything bad happened to her.

"I assure you, Julie- I did not move next to you on purpose. That was part of sheer coincidence. I did not know you were even related to Lorelai's family until Easter." He swallowed hard. "I needed to get away from bad things- very bad. This town seemed like the ideal place." He still had not explained the tattoo on his forearm, had always changed the subject when the woman asked about it.

He looked up, his gaze lilted with sorrow. "I know that I have caused many unnecessary pain over the years- but I never lied with the intent of harming you or your family." In all reality, he was trying to protect them, but he wasn't about to freak her out even more.
 
Julie turned Estrella and headed her towards the patio door. "Yes. Let's go inside. I just cannot handle more of this right now." She was about to cry. The betrayal she was feeling was taking over in her mind and she was about to lose it. As she ushered Estrella inside and shut the patio door, she turned to look at the man she had fallen in love with once more.

The hurt she was feeling was plastered all over her face as she walked to the edge of the patio. Her eyes glimmered in the sun with the tears that were threatening to fall on her cheeks. "I will have Luke bring Erik back to your house later when the kids are done eating and playing. There is no need for them to be hurt in all of this." She took one last look at Ethan, no Tristan, standing out on the grass. She was struggling between the hurt and the love she felt, and was sure that it was evident to anyone looking at her. "He will be home before bedtime." She then turned away from him and headed to the glass door.
 
Estrella could only comply with Julie, making her way through the glass door and into the kitchen. Whereas before she had been hungry for brats, now she was not. Incredibly upset she made her way past everyone, giving an apologetic glance to Lily and Luke and plopping down on the couch in the living room. Putting her head in her hands she felt as if she was going to cry. For some reason, the tears didn't come, however. Sniffling a bit, she realized that she had not gotten her wand back. Well, she would deal with that another day. It wasn't like she was going to be able to use it anyways.
 
Tristan was absolutely dumbstruck as he stood in place, not entirely sure if he should run after Julie or not. He at least did not have to worry about Erik- he didn't need his son involved in this. His expression one of utter melancholy, he took a few long strides, closing some distance between himself and the woman he knew that he loved and cared about.

"This doesn't change my feelings for you," he said, quietly, softly. He knew not to get to close, not wanting her to freak out. Hopefully, some of his charm would work but even he had to acknowledge that it was a rather pathetic attempt. He hoped that she would recognize that he was truly sorry, although he knew very well that he had had to lie. It had been the only way. Now, he needed to figure out how to repair things between them. He couldn't bear to lose someone else.
 
Julie stopped and turned to face Tristan again when he told her that he still cared for her. "Then why all the lies. If you cared for me so much, why did you continue to lie to me? You could have told me the truth when you told me about being a wizard. You have had so many chances. I just don't know if I can give you any more. I-", she sighed before continuing, knowing that her feelings for this man were not going to disappear in the course of 5 minutes. "I just don't know what to think yet." The tears that threatened to spill over for so long began to run down her cheeks. "I was totally honest with you, and yet I feel like I don't even know you at all. Not anymore." She wiped her face with the back of her hand, then turned away from him, but not moving across the patio. She needed to compose herself before she entered and had to face the kids.
 
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