two

Luke stands in the downstairs bathroom with Marshall. He helps the 5-year-old brush his curls back, making sure they stay out of his face for school.

Marshall smiles up at his father, "Why don't you have curls?"

His father shrugs, "Neither of my parents had curls, or grandparents, or more."

The kindergartner stands up straighter and fixes his polo shirt. "I like my curls but they're messy."

"I don't think they're messy." Luke can hear his husband coming down the steps, all of them planning on leaving their house around the same time. "Babe, when are you gonna take Marsh for a haircut?"

"I don't know," he responds shortly, walking past the two and into their kitchen.

"Well, since your father is apparently too busy, I'll find a time to take you." Luke hopes Matt can hear his passive aggression from the kitchen. He hopes he's speaking just loud enough that his partner can hear him.

Marshall nods and turns around, following his paternal father into the kitchen.

Luke stays in the bathroom, staring at himself in the clear mirror. He can't look away as he looks at the utter mess he has become. He looks tired—emotionally and physically. The bags under his eyes are growing puffier and darker, his skin looks dry with no sign of color.

Luke straightens himself out and practices a smile in the mirror.

He turns off the bathroom light and heads to sit with his family at their breakfast table. His son and husband already have their scrambled eggs on their plates, cutting it with the edge of their forks and taking a few bites in silence.

Luke follows their actions, sitting across from his husband. "How was your trip, Honey? You came home pretty late."

"Fine," Matty responded, looking down at his phone.

"How'd the case go?"

"We won, as usual." Matt always had a solid confidence, something that Luke loved about him. These days, though, it seemed more cocky than confident. It was more bothersome than beautiful.

"That's nice," Luke spoke as if he were walked on the egg shells he broke this morning. "Marshall and I hung out with the group on Saturday."

Matty nodded, his unkept curls falling in-front of his dark eyes. He scrolled through his email, looking up when Luke didn't continue to talk. "What?"

"You were gone for almost a week, can you pay attention to your son, please?" Luke wanted Matty's attention on himself, but he'd rather his son grow up loved.

"I am!" Matt leant back, reaching over and squeezing at his son's cheeks, "Marsh and I already made plans to hang out this weekend."

"Is that so?" Luke clenches his jaw and tries to steady his breath. "Great, awesome. We need to get going, though." He stands up, placing his half-filled plate into the sink for the maid to deal with later on.

Marshall doesn't leave without Matty's leaving a kiss on his son's forehead.

Their son gets in the back seat of Luke's Land Rover, waiting for Luke to buckle him into his carseat.

Luke got into the front seat, backing out of their driveway and heading out of their neighborhood. He didn't say much until they got on the main road, closer to the charter school Marshall was going to.

Luke wanted Marshall at a private school a few miles north of their house, but Matt refused. He was convinced Marshall would do better with all of his friends at an arty school provided by the city.

It was just another thing that didn't go Luke's way.

"So, you're gonna be good today? Really confident, yeah? Don't let Valerie or anyone push you around."

"Val isn't mean, she's just strong." Marshall looks out the window, sipping on his cup of water. His blue eyes are fascinated with everything, constantly taking in everything about him.

"That's very nice," he compliments, hoping his son never loses that side of him. "Is her hair still neon green?"

Marshall nods, his father watching him in the rearview mirror. "She says her daddy is going to do blue at the top next and green on the ends."

"That's going to be cool." Luke pulls up to the school, getting in the line with every other parent.

"What're you gonna do today?" His son asks.

Luke smiles, loving his kid more and more every day. "I'm not sure yet, Sweetie."

"You should come to school with me."

Luke laughs, "Yeah? You think so?" He gets to the drop off section. He puts his car into park and gets out, unbuckling his son and helping him out.

"I love you," his son tells him as he leans up for a kiss.

Luke squeezes him in a hug before letting him run off. He gets back in his car, getting out of everyone's way.

He stays nearby, watching his son get into the school. Luke can feel tears welling up in his eyes and he doesn't know why. He's just not happy anymore.

He loves his son and his son loves him. He's just not sure that's enough anymore.

In truth, Marshall was conceived in hopes that Matt and Luke's marriage would fix itself. It did for a while. The two realized how purely fragile life is and how much they depend on each other.

But, it didn't last long. Matty loves Marshall and Luke loves Marshall. Marshall loves his parents but his parents don't love each other.

Luke and Matty care about each other, but they're both certain they're not in love.

Luke parks in a space on the far end, curling up his feet to his chest and silently crying in his car. He can remember doing the same thing as a teenager when everything got to be too much for his brain.

He'd curl up and cry where no one could hear him.

Some things haven't changed since then: He's still with Matty and Ashton still comes up to his car, knocking on the glass window.

After all these years of Ashton finding Luke crying in his car, the knocking on the window still startles the blonde.

Luke unlocks the door, letting Ashton hop into the passenger seat.

His best friend doesn't say anything, just slides his arms around Luke's body and rests his head in the crook of his warm neck. "I've got you now."

"How did you find me?"

"You're the only parent at this school driving a car worth more than $80,000, Luke. You stand out." Ashton rubs his hands up and down Luke's back, lifting up one of his hands to wipe tears from his eyes.

"Did you walk over?"

"Bea and I are only two blocks away, it was a nice day out anyways."

Ashton and Luke were opposites, but they have remained friends since the ninth grade. Ashton had no morals, he didn't care too much for structure. Ashton let everything float while Luke didn't Luke needed structure, he cared too much.

"Do you wanna come over? I'll make you gluten-free cupcakes."

Luke sat up, wiping away his tears and laughing. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Luke wouldn't be alive without Ashton.