by Geri Watson
Zack seemed thrown off by her subject switch, but he sat down heavily on the couch, content to watch the movie with them.
Holding his arms out, Tristan welcomed Star onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He breathed her in as they sat there in front of the fire. She was warm and laying her head on his shoulder, he could smell her plumeria perfume, and her hand was soft against his. This was contentment personified for sure.
During the movie, Zack and Star would relay stories about her father doing things much like Clark Griswold and the three of them would fall into fits of laughter.
After the movie was over Zack stood up and stretched, then leaned down and picked up the book.
Star nudged Tristan. The two of them exchanged an intense look, and he got that she wanted him to tell Zack now.
"Um, Zack?" Tristan asked as he was walking out of the room.
"Yeah?" Zack turned around and scratched the back of his head, yawning.
Tristan looked back at Star, who nodded.
Zack looked at him expectantly.
"What do you think of the book so far?" Tristan started.
"Oh. It's great. I almost finished with it, believe it or not," Zack laughed.
"Do you believe it?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.
"Well, the evidence is right here"-Zack held the book up-"and Dr. Walker doesn't lie...so yeah, I guess I do."
"That's good," Tristan smiled.
"Why?" Zack looked at him funny.
"Because that's the secret Tristan and I have been hiding from you," Star blurted out quickly.
CHAPTER 25
Star watched as Zack's eyes widened. Then he chuckled and pointed at her. "Nice try Star, you almost had me."
Tristan gave Star a look that said "I told you so." She nudged him hard in the side with her elbow. Tristan winced, and he shot her a dirty look in response.
"I'm serious, Zack. That's why I was fainting," she tried to explain.
Zack leaned on the doorframe. "You expect me to believe that you and Tristan are reincarnated soulmates?"
She could tell by the expression on his face that Zack wasn't buying it. Not sure what to say next, she stayed silent for a minute.
"We've been together at least once a century since the 1700's," Tristan spoke up finally.
"Did someone spike your eggnog?" Zack asked, raising his eyebrows. "You two sound like total looney tunes right now."
"I know it sounds crazy." Star shook her head. "But, Zack, that's our secret. That's what I was covering up before."
She hated to admit it, but Tristan was right. This all sounded ludicrous when you said it out loud.
"How else would you like to explain how I know things about her that you don't, considering how long you've known her?" Tristan chimed in.
Zack shrugged. "I figured she shared things she never told me. Now I don't know why she'd do that, but that was the excuse I came up with."
Tristan raised an eyebrow. "I could tell you every birthmark and freckle on her body."
In response, Zack snorted. "That's because you slept with her."
"No, he didn't," Star piped up and met Zack's eyes. "You assumed he did."
She had figured as much. She guessed she could have flat out denied it. When it came to Zack if he believed something it was hard to convince him otherwise, so she'd let it go. He'd already made up his mind about Tristan before he'd even met him and she knew it.
"Fine then...prove it." Zack jutted out his jaw and crossed his arms.
"Okay," Tristan said slowly. Star watched as he looked her over and sighed then looked back over at Zack.
"She's got a birthmark under her hairline, which you can't see unless she makes an effort to show you. It's this big and this wide"-Tristan held up his hands and used them for measurements-"She got it in 1778 when I saved her after she got knocked out by a musket to the back of the head." He nodded toward her. "Go ahead and look. It's there."
With doubt covering his face, Zack approached Star, and she leaned over her knees and let her hair fall in front of her. She felt Zack's hands at her neck and squirmed from the light feeling.
"See?" Zack scoffed. "There's nothing...okay that's not funny." She felt his hands leave her neck and watched his socks as he backed away from her.
"Told you," Star said, flipping her hair back and rubbing her neck where it still tickled.
"And you didn't show him that before?" Zack asked her.
"No," she said seriously. "We're not lying."
She saw Zack swallow. His expression changed several times, and he opened his mouth to say something and changed his mind. Then he shook his head. "That's nuts."
"I thought you said you believed in it?" Tristan reminded him.
"I know that's what I said. In theory, it's a cool idea, but in reality, and having my best friend be someone experiencing it...I don't know." If Star didn't know better, she'd swear Zack was looking right through her.
Star got up and walked over to Zack and went to wrap her arms around his waist. He flinched when she touched him. She looked up at him surprised. He'd never done that before as long as she'd known him.
"Sorry, I'm a little freaked out right now. I feel like I don't know you anymore," Zack apologized and cringed at his behavior.
"I didn't know how to tell you," Star said, looking up at Zack. At least he was taking this better than she thought he would. If the tables were turned, she wasn't sure what he would have had to pull off to get her to believe it.
He looked over at Tristan, who was leaned back against the couch, carefully watching their exchange. "You sure know how to oversimplify things."
"Excuse me?" Tristan replied, confused.
"When I asked you what she was lying for you about, all you said was 'it's complicated’." he stated.
"Oh...well it is," Tristan chuckled to himself.
Zack snorted. "I don't think it's amusing."
"Lighten up, Zack." Star eyed him until she finally felt his hand at the small of her back holding her. "That's better."
"Great, my best friend and her boyfriend are freak shows, this is fantastic," Zack said dryly.
"Just so we're clear, that would mean you think you're normal in comparison?" Tristan gave his two cents with a short laugh. "That's entertaining."
Star swung around and glared at Tristan, and he looked back at her. "What? It's not like he's normal either."
"The guy has a point," Zack said, then started laughing and progressively got louder until he was holding his stomach. "Man Star, I thought you were pregnant." he let out a deep breath.
Star's eyes went wide and Tristan looked away from her quickly. She smacked Zack. "Thanks a lot for the lack of faith there, buddy."
"Ow!" he closed one eye and rubbed his arm. "You're so violent!"
"Pregnant!? Really?" she scowled at him.
"What? It made sense to me!" Zack defended himself.
Star thought about it for a minute. If she had gotten herself pregnant, she probably would have hidden it from Zack. She definitely would have hidden it from him if Tristan had gotten her pregnant because Zack would have thought they barely knew one another. Being pregnant would also explain her blacking out and not being hungry. And it would have explained her being so bent out of shape when they broke up and why she shut herself off. Damn. As much as she didn't want to give him credit, that was a valid conclusion to come up with for her behavior.
Her eyes went to look over at Tristan, who had composed himself again and was looking back at her. He was smiling with pursed lips, and she could tell he was holding back a laugh. More than likely, he'd run through the scenario and realized it made sense as well. "So how far along are you?" he asked with a smirk.
"Tristan! You're not helping!" she yelled.
"I'm sorry Star...but that's hilarious to me." She saw his shoulders start to shake as he laughed noiselessly again.
She sighed and ran her hand over her face. These two were going to be the death of her. Together they
were going to be worse. She was reasonably sure of that already.
"Well, what does this all mean?" Zack asked, sobering them up again. "You guys both blackout a lot, or what?"
"Yeah. We blacked out earlier, actually," Star said, looking back up at him.
"What? I thought you guys were asleep." Zack looked surprised. "Wow."
"Sometimes we get a warning before it happens, sometimes not," Tristan explained.
"What kind of warning?" Zack asked curiously.
"Headaches," they said in unison.
"Nice stereo effect," Zack replied. "So when you asked for the aspirin earlier..."
"I was trying to get you out of the room so I could talk to Star alone."
"Real nice guys." Zack shook his head slowly. "This is so odd."
Star raised her hand and rubbed Zack's back. If she was honest, him knowing took a significant weight off her shoulders. She'd felt so horrible having to lie to him from the beginning. Now she didn't have to be a liar anymore. Impulsively, she threw her arms back around Zack and hugged him tightly. He looked stunned at first and then she felt his muscles relax as he embraced her warmly in return. She kept her face buried in his chest as relief washed over her.
"So Star and I are going to talk to Dr. Walker when we get back to campus and see what he has to say about everything," she heard Tristan say.
"That sounds like a good idea," Zack responded. "But earlier you guys said you felt for Chris and Lisa. Is Star gonna die?" His voice caught on her name, and she felt his hold on her tighten. She had hoped he'd forgotten about that conversation. No such luck.
"Not if I have anything to do with it," Tristan said quickly.
"You think Dr. Walker can prevent that from happening?" Zack asked, but she could hear the uncertainty in his voice as he rubbed her back now absentmindedly. She didn't care that they were talking like she wasn't in the room. It had been hard for her to look either of them in the eye considering the subject matter at the moment.
"We won't know until we talk to him." She heard Tristan sigh, his frustration evident by the sound of it. She knew the waiting was eating him alive. He wanted answers now, not later.
Sensing they were done talking about her dying, Star lifted her head and let go of Zack. He looked down at her and let go reluctantly as she walked back over to Tristan. As she sat down, Tristan took her hand in his. They shared a look, and she squeezed his hand, trying to convey comfort to him. His gaze afterward was haunting, and she knew he was reliving the blackout and shook her head at him.
"Don't do that."
"I can't help it," he said quietly.
"Well as long as you two don't have any more otherworldly surprises to unleash on my poor brain, I'm going to bed," Zack said tiredly.
The two of them looked back over at him and bid him goodnight. Once he was out of the room, Star leaned in and kissed Tristan. “It’ll be okay."
"I thought that was my line?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"You looked like you needed to hear it." She ran her fingers over the tense lines of his face until they relaxed against the tips and he closed his eyes.
"That was excruciating," he almost whimpered. "I say we don't fess up to anyone else other than Dr. Walker from this point on."
"That sounds like a good plan to me," Star softly responded.
"Are you tired?" he asked with his eyes still closed.
"Exhausted."
He laid down on the couch and collected her in his arms. "Stay with me."
"But my parents..." she trailed off.
"Hm?" he murmured.
Screw it. It wasn't like she and Tristan were getting undressed or anything. Her parents could deal with it.
"Nevermind." She nuzzled under his chin. "I'll stay."
"Good." he yawned. "I don't wanna be alone anymore."
A minute later she heard his deep breathing and knew he'd fallen asleep. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, and for the first time since she'd fallen asleep with him in November, she felt warm and calm. She stared into the fire and thought about the blackouts and what they all meant. In most of the flashbacks she'd had when the two of them were apart, he'd pulled her out of harm’s way or saved her from things that would have surely killed her had he not been there.
She wondered if he'd had the same blackouts or if all of his were terrible. Even if she asked him, Star wasn't confident that he'd tell her the truth if they were all bad for him. He wouldn't want to scare her like that. Forcing her eyes closed, she tried to sleep, listening to the steady rhythm of Tristan's breathing and heart.
April 8, 1933
"Marie! Marie, where are you?" he called out to her.
"I'm in the barn, Richie!" she yelled back.
She heard his fast footsteps against the dirt as he ran from the side of the house toward where she was in the barn, milking their cow.
"Marie!" he squealed as he found her. "Guess what!"
"Hm. I'm not a very good guesser, you’d better tell me," she smiled as she finished up and tickled his stomach.
"Stoooop," he protested, swatting her away and giggling like only a five-year-old can.
"Mama said that you and I can get ice cream!" he remembered what he came in to tell her.
"She did, huh?" Marie humored him.
"Yes!" Richie beamed back up at her. "Wanna go now?" he said bouncing excitedly.
"Let me take this in, and we'll go." She laughed and ruffled his hair.
He scampered behind her as she brought the milk into the house and then she turned around and picked him up. "Ready?"
Richie's eyes twinkled as he looked into hers. "Yeah! Carry me!"
Marie lifted him up onto her shoulders and took the coins from her mother’s hand, thanking her and heading out.
Her life wouldn't be the same without her little brother around. He was like her own personal fan club. In his eyes, she could do no wrong, and she adored him. She also could never say no to him, which tended to make things tricky sometimes. There was always a way to make Richie smile though, and that was what mattered the most to her.
"So what kind of ice cream are you going to get?" she asked him as he reached up, trying to pull the leaves off the tree branches he came close to.
"Chocolate!" he shouted enthusiastically.
"You always get chocolate," she laughed. "I know you love it, but don't you ever think of trying anything else?"
"No!" he protested. "It's my favorite!"
"I see." Marie got quiet again as she walked down the path where the General Store was located not too far off.
"Marie?" she knew that tone, he was thinking.
"Yes?" she asked warmly.
"What's love mean?" She felt his hands on her head and a second later saw his face upside down, trying to look her in the eyes.
She broke into a smile upon seeing his face. "Ah, well, love means that you like something a whole lot. Like you can't live without it."
He fell silent again for the next few minutes, so she guessed he was happy with that answer.
"Marie?"
"Yes?"
"I love you," his small voice whispered directly into her ear.
She felt her heart swell inside her chest. "I love you too, Richie."
When she woke up, it was darker. The fire had burned out, and it was getting colder in the room around them. She turned and settled herself against Tristan's chest and looked down at his face. He opened an eye and yawned.
"How long have you been awake?" he murmured.
"Had a dream about Richie and Marie," she answered him.
"Hm. What happened?" Tristan asked, rubbing his face, then wrapping his arm back around her.
"You asked me what love was and I told you, then you told me you loved me," she summarized.
"That sounds nice." He reached up and ran the back of his hand down her cheek.
"It was nice."
He smiled, but she could tell he was still really tired and wanted to go back to sleep.
"Do you have flashbacks that are nice like that?" Star figured she might as well ask now that she had the chance.
"Yes," he said quietly. "I had one where I asked Sarah to marry me." Hearing that made her feel better and she rested her head back on his chest.