by Geri Watson
Tristan stuck out his hand, hoping Zack would accept it. "Nice to meet you, Zack, heard some good things about you."
Zack raised an eyebrow at Star and shook Tristan's hand. "Well, I've heard things about you and noticed things because of you, myself."
The handshake hurt. Did he have to squeeze that tight? Tristan rubbed his hand a little after he let go and saw a grin spread across Zack's face as a result. Tensing his jaw, Tristan went over to the couch and sat down next to Star.
Zack went back into the kitchen and Tristan could hear him chopping something up. He turned to Star and gave her a wary look. She looked at him sympathetically. "Try for me?" she whispered so Zack wouldn't hear. Tristan sighed and got up then walked into the kitchen to stand near Zack.
"Need any help?"
Zack hacked a tomato in half. "Nope."
Well, here goes nothing. "Look, Zack...I don't know what you think about me..." he paused when Zack pointed the knife in his direction.
"Listen to me, Tristan. Star's been through a lot. She doesn't need to be sucked into some trivial relationship and then tossed to the side," he went back to chopping and shook his head a little. "She deserves a guy who's going to treat her the way she deserves to be treated, and to be honest she really should be focusing on her studies and not dating anyway. She can't afford to lose her scholarship when she's this close to graduating next year."
"I'm not trying to get in the way of anything," Tristan blinked. "I agree with you that she deserves to be treated with respect...she's incredible."
Zack snorted and didn't bother looking up. "And how would you know that? You only met her the other day."
"I just know. I also know Star's bent out of shape because you're mad at her. You should give her a break," Tristan shot back evenly, leaning against the wall of the kitchen.
After throwing the tomatoes in with the sauce and stirring, Zack turned toward him and took a step. "Tell me why she's covering for you and I will."
"What?" Tristan asked, confused.
"What is she hiding? She's obviously lying for you about something. Tell me what it is, and I'll let up on Star." Zack's eyes bored into Tristan's.
"It's complicated," he responded, not knowing what else to say.
Zack turned away from him and went back to cooking. "See? That's exactly what she's saying. Something fishy is going on between you two, and I don't like it."
"Is this about Alex?" Tristan asked.
"Wait a minute...you know she has a boyfriend, and yet you're still pursuing her?" Zack asked incredulously. "That takes some coconuts man."
Tristan scratched his head. "Well, I told you it was complicated."
Zack poured the sauce into a bowl and assembled the rest of the entree. "Obviously."
Star walked in, and the two of them didn't say anything more to each other as she got plates and silverware then left again.
As he walked by Tristan with the completed entree, Zack paused. "I'm only saying this once...don't hurt her." He gave Tristan a look that would melt glass.
Tristan let out a deep sigh and followed behind him to the table.
It was quiet while they ate, and it wasn't a comfortable silence. Every once in a while, Tristan would look up and catch Zack glaring at him. He also noticed that Star looked more miserable the longer they didn't talk. Abruptly, he got up and went to the stereo and turned it on, then returned to his seat.
Looking over, he saw that both sets of eyes were on him. Star's expression seemed relieved, and Zack was looking at him oddly. He ate another forkful of food, wiped his mouth and looked back over at Zack, who was still staring at him. Star had gone back to eating.
"What, Zack?" Tristan asked, slightly irritated.
Zack chewed slowly before responding. "Why did you turn the stereo on?"
Tristan nodded toward Star. "Because silence scares her, and since you don't feel like being civil, I figured music was the next best thing."
"Tristan..." Star started saying, but looking over at Zack she decided not to finish her sentence and mumbled a soft thanks instead, looking down at her plate.
A stunned expression crossed Zack's features, and he looked over at Star. "Silence scares you?"
She nodded silently, and Zack's eyes shifted back over toward Tristan. "And how do you know that and I didn't?"
Realizing that he'd slipped up, Tristan twitched. It had been an automatic response for him to make Star more comfortable by turning on the stereo. How was I supposed to know that he never found that out about her? He's supposed to be her best friend. Tristan looked over at Star and swallowed.
Her eyes met his, and she shrugged, probably guessing what he was thinking. How was he supposed to respond to a question like that? It wasn't like he had a logical reason for knowing something that she apparently hid from everyone else. He also knew that he couldn't ignore Zack's question either. Tristan cleared his throat.
"I wouldn't know," he met Zack's eyes. "As you said, I just met her."
Zack squinted in return.
Star stood up and broke the tension between them. "Okay, I've had about enough of the animosity for one night between you two." Zack looked over at her like a kicked puppy, and Tristan frowned. Great. Now she was upset with him, too. He looked up to search her eyes and saw the pain in them.
Immediately Tristan felt guilty for reacting to Zack the way he had. Star had asked him to try, and he honestly felt like he had. There was only so much a person could take with that much hostility directed toward them. Surely she had to understand that. If he had backed down, Zack never would have respected him. In fact, Tristan was pretty sure that Zack would have kept it up until he had cracked under pressure anyway.
He didn't blame Zack for protecting Star the way that he was; if anything, it made Tristan feel better to know Star had someone that cared about her so much. What Tristan hated was that he was being made into an enemy and not being given a chance because of Zack's friendship with Alex. There wasn't anything he could do to change that.
Star walked over to Zack and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of his seat. "We need to talk. Grab some plates."
Her tone wasn't something to question. In response, Zack grabbed their plates and followed her into the kitchen. Tristan could hear them arguing, but couldn't make out the words. He heard something about breaking a promise and something about embarrassing her.
Not wanting to eavesdrop, Tristan tried to clean up the rest of the table as much as he could and decided to go out on the balcony. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and made his way outside. Once out there, Tristan looked up at the cloudy sky and crossed his arms. This was more difficult than he thought it was going to be. Zack was way more perceptive than he'd pegged him for, and that would explain why Star was so upset with him being mad at her. It was also glaringly obvious how close she and Zack were based on his protectiveness of her. This was going to be a wild ride.
CHAPTER 11
"Totally humiliating, Zack," Star groused as she piled the leftover food into containers roughly. Zack didn't respond.
"Did I mention you broke your promise to me?" She glared over in his direction before yanking the refrigerator door open and setting the containers inside.
"Only three times since we've been in the kitchen," Zack replied deftly as he rinsed off the dishes in the sink.
Star walked over to the sink and squinted up at him. "I needed you tonight. This was important...and you ruined it," she turned away from him again.
Zack opened his mouth to defend himself, and she held up her hand. "Don't bother. I'm going to go talk to him...and apologize for you," she spat.
Before she walked out of the kitchen, she shook her head at him. "You let me down." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zack wince.
When she had come back out into the dining room to clear the table, she'd noticed that Tristan had gone elsewhere. Leave it to Tristan to give her privacy to fight. Now she wondered where he had gone. Star hoped he hadn't le
ft. His jacket wasn't on his chair like it had been during dinner. She looked out toward the balcony and saw his back to her through the glass. Making her way outside, Star prayed Tristan wasn't frustrated with her for putting him through all of this.
She sighed as she reached Tristan's side and her breath made a small cloud that hung in the air. "Well, that was awkward."
"You could say that," Tristan said tightly.
Star leaned against the balcony wall and faced him. "I don't know what to say. He's never like that."
"Now, I find that hard to believe," Tristan responded with a raised eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure any guy that's ever looked at you twice has been treated like that by him."
"He didn't have to be so damn rude." The wind blew Star's hair, and she brushed it out of her face and pulled it up loosely with a scrunchie she remembered she had in her pocket.
Tristan watched her as she pulled up her hair. "He's protecting you." He leaned over the balcony wall and put his hands together. "I'd probably act the same way if I were him."
"It's still irritating." Star was agitated, and it showed in her voice.
"Did you honestly think he was going to welcome me with open arms, Star? I mean... you aren't exactly single right now," Tristan said as he looked down at the street.
She chewed her lip and shoved her hands in the front of her sweatshirt. "I know."
He laughed shortly. "I know that you know." Still not looking at her, Star watched as he raised his head to look up at the stars and sighed.
Star reached out and slid her fingers around his hand. He looked back at her finally, and she felt her mouth twitch. "I don't know what to do, Tristan. This whole thing is turning everything I know upside down. I don't know if this is right."
Tristan pulled her closer with the hand she was holding and took her other hand. When she looked up at him, his face was achingly close to hers. He looked into her eyes. "Does this feel wrong to you?"
Star shook her head, feeling her body react to being so close to him. Her breathing was coming a little quicker, and she could feel her heart beating in her pulse points. Although her breath was making small clouds in the air, she was warm and felt the energy between them. Of all things, this felt anything but wrong.
She licked her lips, feeling her mouth going dry. There were so many things she wanted to ask Tristan, but she couldn't find the words to express herself. It was frustrating. Usually, she didn't need to think so hard; people told her that she talked too much all of the time.
Then she felt his lips softly on her neck. "How about this?" he murmured against her skin.
"No," she said quietly as his kisses went up to her jawline.
Tristan let go of her hands then and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him and kissed her passionately. Star's breath caught in her throat, and when he grabbed her, she was sure her heart had stopped beating. For a minute she felt weak at the knees and was glad he was holding her so tightly. Star wasn't sure how long they were out there, she wasn't sure she even cared. From the moment his mouth found hers she had been lost, and Tristan had found her over and over again.
When he finally stopped, she was lightheaded. His hand was still against her neck, and he ran his thumb over her skin. "And that?"
Star shook her head weakly. "It's not that simple, Tristan."
"It could be. You don't want to accept it," Tristan answered plainly.
Star moved his hand from her face. "I don't accept change as easily as you do."
"Dammit Star, if you can't see what there is between us"-he grabbed her hand and put it against his chest so she could feel his heartbeat-"If you can't feel it..." he dropped her hand then, exhaling roughly and turned away from her. "I don't know. I can understand being thrown off by all of this, but it's like you want me one minute and then not even a second later you don't."
"I do want you." Star turned him back toward her and looked him in the eyes. "I need time."
Tristan looked her over and must have seen her shivering because he started rubbing her arms. "Think Zack has calmed down enough to let me back in the house?"
Star snorted lightly, still angry at Zack for his behavior tonight. "I think he went into his room."
"Let's get you back in the house then. You're obviously getting cold." Tristan stopped rubbing her arms and took her hand, then opened the door and they went back into the apartment.
Star could hear the television from Zack's room through the closed door. She guessed that she and Tristan could stay in the living room, but she didn't want to upset Zack if he walked in on them. Then she'd have to listen to him throw another hissy fit. Zack had had enough for tonight, Star could tell. Wondering what Tristan would think and hoping he didn't get the wrong idea, she pulled him down the hallway and into her bedroom and shut the door. When she turned around and saw Tristan's face, she laughed. "What?"
"First you tell me you want me, but you need more time, and then a minute later you're pulling me into your bedroom and closing the door?" He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm a little confused."
Star sat down on her bed and pointed the remote from her nightstand toward her TV and turned it on. "Not exactly the kind of activity I had planned for us," she smirked.
Tristan kicked off his shoes and sat down on the bed next to her. "Sorry," he looked over at her with a sheepish grin. "Can't blame a guy for hoping."
Her eyes went a little wide at his statement, and he kissed her shocked face lightly and laughed. "Kidding...at least half kidding for sure."
Star squinted her eyes and shoved him.
For the first few minutes, she and Tristan tried to get comfortable by moving her pillows around. After finally propping them behind their backs and sliding against each other they settled down and found a movie to watch that they both liked. Close to the ending of the film she turned to say something to Tristan and noticed that he had fallen asleep. Biting her lip, Star weighed her options of waking him up or letting him stay.
It was Friday night, and it wasn't like she had any plans for the weekend and Zack didn't wake her up on weekends since he chose those to be the off days for their workouts. She figured of all nights for Tristan to stay; this would be the most convenient. They had turned off the lights early in the movie because they had been causing a glare on the screen. Illuminated by the flashing images, Tristan looked so peaceful sleeping. Star hadn't noticed that he'd moved the pillow he was using under his head or even that he had slid down and turned on his side to face her.
How long had he been asleep? Deciding she didn't have the heart to wake him up, Star got up and walked to her door and locked it so Zack wouldn't walk in unannounced. Before walking back to the bed, she pulled out an afghan that her grandmother had made and brought it back with her. After covering Tristan, Star crawled under the afghan and turned toward him on her left side. She watched the rhythm of his breathing and the relaxed look on his face and fought the urge to run her fingers through his hair.
Star noticed that when she was with Tristan, she always needed to have some physical contact with him. It didn't matter if it was brushing his side or kissing him, any connection was satisfying. It was terrifying to think she felt so much for Tristan knowing in her mind that she'd only met him the other day. It was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Just being in his presence sucked her into an almost alternate reality where only the two of them existed. The problem with that was when the real world broke through that alternate reality; it tended to be pretty harsh in comparison. Star grabbed the remote and flipped the television off.
The lack of light and sound made Tristan open his eyes. When he realized he was under a blanket and that Star was lying next to him, a small smile appeared on his lips. "Didn't feel like waking me up?"
Now that he was awake, Star reached out and ran her fingers through his hair and down his cheek. He leaned into her touch, and she slid closer toward him. "You looked too content for me to wake you up."
Tristan wrapp
ed his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. "Of course I was, I'm with you aren't I?" he voiced huskily.
"True. I didn't want you to leave anyway. I like you being in my bed," Star admitted. Her cheeks felt hot, and she was glad it was dark.
"Oh really?" he asked with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why might that be?"
"Like you said the other day; I sleep on my left side and get a better night's sleep if I fall asleep when someone I love is holding me close."
"Hmm...using the dreaded 'L word' already, Star?" Tristan whispered. "Should be careful with that. Don't want to say things you don't mean."
She leaned in and kissed him to shut him up and wrapped her leg around his under the afghan. He returned the kiss eagerly and held her tighter. His lips left her mouth and went to her neck then slowly traveled back up to her mouth again where their kisses became more urgent. Tristan grabbed the back of her leg and hitched it further up his hip. Her hands pushed up his shirt, and she ran her nails across his back. Star felt her body temperature rise and heard his breathing getting more labored as they continued. If they kept going like this, she wasn't sure when it would stop or if she'd be able to, and she wasn't exactly prepared for that. Resting her hand on his chest, she pulled her mouth away from his and caught her breath.