by Geri Watson
After rubbing a hand over his face, Tristan looked back over the counter and noticed Star had disappeared. "Incoming," he breathed to Zack to halt the conversation. Zack stiffened slightly and nodded.
Star snuck up behind Tristan and wrapped her arms around his waist before setting her chin on his shoulder. "How's it coming along guys?"
Tristan kissed her cheek since it was so close. "Good. Where did Alex go?"
"Said he needed to make a phone call, so he went outside," Star answered.
Tristan had been getting along with Alex well. Surprisingly, he had a lot in common with the Aussie. Alyssa, Emily, and Alex had arrived a few hours ago, and the girls had cornered Star and dragged her off into her room. Poor Alex was left by himself, but he had looked a little relieved to be free of Alyssa. It amused Tristan. If he were dating Alyssa, he'd probably want a break every once in a while, too. The three of them had sat down at the table off the kitchen and let Zack do rune readings on them.
His reading had been a simple layout since that was all Zack knew how to do. The past was symbolized by the Raido rune which apparently signified a journey often involving communication, union, and re-union, which he thought was fitting because of the reincarnation. The present was the Dagaz rune which symbolized a complete transformation of attitude and self-change, which was also pretty appropriate considering the changes he'd gone through lately. The future runes were what worried him. They were; the Othila rune, which symbolized a journey ending in separation, the Isa rune, which expressed a significant change that was about to occur and that it may be required of him to sacrifice some long-cherished desire, and finally as if the other two weren't bad enough, the Haglaz rune, which symbolized that the significant change that was about to happen he would have no control over.
Tristan wasn't going to lie to himself, that reading had unnerved him. Considering that everything else he had been skeptical of had come to light as reality lately, he wasn't sure how much credit to give the rune reading. Alex said they were usually fairly accurate and Zack had the right meanings attached to the runes. The girls had come back into the room by the time they'd been discussing them, and Zack had grabbed the runes and shoved them back into the pouch before Star could see them. Before she'd reached the table, Tristan shot Zack a look to silence any ideas he might have of telling Star what had been foretold. Zack had gotten up and headed into the kitchen with Alex to get drinks then.
"Tristan," Star's voice sounded softly in his ear.
"Hm?" he responded distantly, still caught up in his thoughts.
"I'm glad you and Alex are okay with each other." She squeezed his waist. He noticed Zack smirk as he listened to her statement.
"Why is that?" he asked, tilting his face so he could look at her.
"I just am." She looked away from him, not meeting his gaze.
"Star?" He turned her face back to his gently. "Is Emily giving you a hard time?" She didn't answer and closed her eyes, turning her face away from him again. He sighed as Zack cleared his throat.
"I think the burgers are done," he interrupted their conversation.
"I'll take them," Star volunteered, holding out her hands for the plate and effectively ending his inquiry in one fell swoop. Tristan gave Zack a disparaging look before he followed Star out of the kitchen with the plate he had set up and chips.
Alex reentered the apartment as they were setting the table and went to Alyssa's side. He whispered something into her ear that made her smile and take his hand in hers. In the back of his mind Tristan wished he and Star's relationship was that simple. He wondered if she would have fallen for him had it not been for their past together. His eyes met Star's across the table as they set out the plates and silverware and she smiled softly at him. Tristan thought back to the reading again and hoped he wasn't going to lose her. If he did, he wasn't sure what he would do, it would be like losing half of himself now.
They all sat down together and talked about random things as they ate. Zack regaled them with his fantastic stories, and Alex filled them with tales of the outback, purposely embellishing to the point of shocking Alyssa and ended with laughter among them. Alyssa and Emily shared sorority mishaps with them from socials they'd attended, and Star told them about what it was like when she and Zack were still working in the video store.
If someone had been watching them from outside the window, it would appear that they were all the best of friends. He'd been watching Emily throughout the meal though. Quite a few times he'd noticed a look on her face that would have mirrored the looks between him and his father last night as she looked at Star. He was going to have to talk to her about that. As they finished up and were clearing the table, however, Emily came to him.
"Can I talk to you?" she voiced gently as she touched his shoulder. Tristan looked over at Star who nodded and took the plates from his hand and to the kitchen.
He walked into the other room with Emily. She took his hand and pulled him into the hallway off Star's room abruptly. When she stopped walking, he almost ran into her. "Whoa! What's the problem?"
"You're my problem." Emily shook her head and cast her eyes downward. "You've always been my problem."
Tristan realized she was still holding his hand and pulled it back. "What are you talking about, Em?"
"You shouldn't be with her. She's bad for you...she's not even our type, Tristan." Her jewel eyes locked on his.
"Excuse me?" He scratched the back of his head, looking at her confused. "I didn't realize we had a type."
Emily's face twisted in frustration. "Come on; you know what I'm talking about. Star would never fit in with the socialite network. I'm sure she was a blast with your parents yesterday. I think she was fidgety and knew she was more out of place than she'd ever been in her life. Did she even speak the entire time you were there?"
Tristan's temper was starting to flare up as she went on. "You don't know what you're talking about, Emily. It's none of your business."
"I'm right then, aren't I? I can tell by how tense you just got. I wouldn't have to put on an act for you if we were together. It would be natural." she stepped closer. "We were doing so well before Christmas, Tristan. We had fun, didn't we?" As Emily went on, she backed him closer to the wall. He was trying desperately to wrap his head around what was going on right now.
"I know you. You know me. We're supposed to be together, not you and her." Emily's face was inches from his now. Before he could react, she'd crushed her lips against his and pressed herself against him. Tristan's eyes widened in shock, and he pushed her off of him.
"Emily!" he wiped at his mouth. "What the hell!?"
"I love you," she pouted, looking wounded by his reaction.
"Well, I don't!" he looked down the hall. "God! What were you thinking?"
Emily tried to stammer out an answer, but Tristan stopped her before she could continue by placing his hands on her shoulders firmly. "Look. I love Star. I'll always love her. Maybe if I'd never met her you and I could have had a chance, but that's not how things worked out."
Her eyes brimmed over, and her lip trembled as she turned, pulling away from his touch. Sniffing, she walked down the hall and grabbed her coat from the peg by the door. She glanced back, and Tristan saw that her mascara was running as she wiped at her face, then she walked out the door and slammed it behind her dramatically.
"Party's over," he mumbled quietly as he walked back toward the kitchen to help out the others.
Alex arched an eyebrow when Tristan approached the table. "She make a move on you, mate?"
He sighed. "Yeah...I mean...what? How did you know that?" he looked up confused.
"You're practically oozing hostility, and the way she left doesn't leave much else to guess." Alex shook his head. "I told Alyssa bringing her with us was a bad idea, but she wouldn't listen to me. Sorry."
"Not like you knew it was going to happen," Tristan grumbled as he sat back down after seeing there was nothing left to clean up.
"The stu
bborn ones seem to flock to you, huh?" Alex smirked.
Tristan set his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. "It would appear so."
Alex patted him on the back. "Cheer up. She'll forgive ya."
"Doubtful. Emily never was one to take rejection well." He lifted his head and leaned back in the chair. "I don't know what possessed her to do something like that. I'm lucky Star didn't see it."
"See what?" Alyssa asked as she joined them, sitting on Alex's lap.
Alex ran his fingers through her hair and rested his head on his other hand. "Remember when I told you Emily was only going to cause trouble?"
Alyssa's eyes widened, and she looked around, noticing Emily had disappeared. "Oh no. What happened?" she cringed.
Tristan tilted the chair back, looking into the kitchen and saw Star doing the dishes with Zack. He figured it was safe to relay the story, with the water running in there they shouldn't be able to hear him. Setting the chair back on all of its legs, he leaned toward the other two. "First, she insulted Star, which ticked me off to start with, I might add, and then before I knew what was happening, she cornered me and kissed me! And then she dared to tell me she loved me!" he snorted at the end to make a point of how ridiculous it was.
Alyssa's mouth opened slightly in shock. "She did that?"
"I told you," Alex singsonged.
"Shush, you," Alyssa covered his mouth. Alex smirked and moved her hand.
"Yes, she did that. In all the time I've known her, she's never done anything that brazen." Tristan grabbed his drink and finished it off. "And now she's mad because she didn't get what she wanted." he took the bottle and aimed for the recycling bin before tossing it and making it in. "Which means she's going to make my life hell now."
"You don't know that," Alyssa frowned.
"I know Emily. She doesn't drop things," he grimaced. "You should know that as well as I do."
She looked at Alex and then back at Tristan. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "Maybe we should go too."
"Don't leave because of me." Tristan's forehead furrowed. "Then I'll feel bad."
"No, it's not you. It's getting late anyway, and we have to be up for class early tomorrow," Alyssa explained. She leaned in and gave Tristan a tight hug. "I'll talk to her," she whispered. He looked up as she stood and nodded.
"Thanks for the entertainment," Alex said with a lopsided smile as he stuck his hand out.
Tristan shook it and laughed weakly. "Anytime, Alex."
He stayed in his seat as he watched them go into the kitchen to say their goodbyes. Yawning, he rubbed his eyes and rested his head in his hands again. What a night. Star came out of the kitchen and sat down next to him after walking Alex and Alyssa to the door. When she didn't say anything, Tristan turned his head a little to peek out at her.
"Headache?" she asked.
"No. I'm worn out." He pulled Star in close to him so that her back was leaning against his chest and she was left lounging across the other chair. "Did you have fun tonight?"
She tilted her head up to look at him. "Yeah, it was alright."
Zack walked by and put his hands on his hips. "Well aren't you two just cozy."
"Aw, feeling left out Zack?" Tristan teased. "I'm sure we could squeeze you in if we tried."
In response, Zack grinned and sat down in another chair then leaned back on Star. "Hey, this is more comfortable then it looks!" He laughed once he got settled.
"I think we did alright for a dinner party on such short notice," Star mused. "What do you guys think?"
"Considering there were no casualties and we didn't burn anything, I agree," Zack replied. "What do you think, Tristan?"
"We survived," he answered. "I say that counts for something."
The three of them relaxed in each other’s arms for a while longer before Tristan started falling asleep and suggested they head to their rooms for the night. After saying goodnight to Zack, they headed back to Star's room and changed. Once he had crawled into bed, Star joined him and snuggled up against his chest. Scout, who had been hiding out in Zack's room most of the night because of the influx of bodies in the apartment, curled up at their feet.
Tristan rested his cheek against Star's hair and ran his hand over her arm in a calming motion until he heard her breathing slow. It made him feel better when he knew she was asleep before he closed his own eyes. As he allowed himself to drift into sleep, Tristan's last thoughts returned to the rune reading, and his dreams wreaked havoc on him as a direct result.
CHAPTER 37
"Are you still waking up screaming every morning?" Dr. Walker asked, sitting on the edge of his desk.
"They seem to have slowed down a little, but yes," Star replied from her seat.
"Did Tristan tell you he's been having nightmares?" the professor asked quizzically.
"He's been having nightmares?" Star leaned forward. "No, he hasn't said anything about that."
"Hmm," Dr. Walker murmured to himself, turning away from her and starting to pace the office slowly.
Star followed him around the room with her eyes silently. Why didn't Tristan say anything? The past few weeks had been as close to normal as they could achieve. They had attended all of their classes, and they'd been studying together. She was acing her Statistics class, her first math class this lifetime, with Tristan's help.
Emily, however, had been a thorn in their sides. She was blatantly ignoring Tristan and continually shooting looks that could melt glass toward Star. She'd tripped walking to her desk in Statistics and had looked back to see Emily sliding her foot back under the desk a second later.
Zack had been referring to Emily as "The Princess" when she came up in conversation amongst the three of them. They were sick of her, but couldn't do anything to make her stop, so they had to endure it. Star wondered what had caused such a dramatic change in Emily overnight, and she suspected the boys knew, but they weren't talking. And now Tristan was hiding nightmares too.
"What are they about?" she asked.
"A car crash," Dr. Walker answered, adjusting his glasses and continuing to wear a trail on the already worn office carpet.
"Like in my flashback?" Star scrunched up her face, confused.
"No," the professor sighed. "Not at all."
"What then?" she probed. "Another lifetime?"
Dr. Walker heaved another heavy sigh and settled back down behind his desk in the leather chair. Once seated, he rubbed his forehead with one hand as he rested his elbow on the mahogany desk. Star started to feel a little uneasy. It appeared something was going on with Tristan that was bigger than the nightmares.
She didn't like all of this secrecy that seemed to be running rampant among the men she knew lately. Hoping to at least get something out of the professor, Star flat out asked what she was thinking.
"Is there something wrong with Tristan, Dr. Walker?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Tristan has been reacting differently than you to the past life regression therapy."
Her eyes widened a bit. "Different as in..."
"I think they're hurting him," Dr. Walker confessed as he looked up to face her.
"Then stop the therapy." Star bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "It's not worth it if it's hurting him."
"That's the entire problem, Star. Tristan doesn't want to stop the therapy. He's determined to find out why he stopped having his flashbacks." his eyes flashed with concern. "That's why I was hoping he'd talked to you about the nightmares."
"You think the nightmares and regression therapy are connected?" she tried to piece things together.
"I don't know what's causing the nightmares. Tristan does not remember anything new with the regressions. It's the same events repeating over and over," Dr. Walker motioned with his hands. "Whereas with you..."
"…I'm remembering more vivid details of the same events over and over," she finished for him.
"Precisely," he tapped the desk to accentuate the word.
This time Star sig
hed. "I don't know if I can get anything out of Tristan that he doesn't want me to know," she admitted honestly.
"It wouldn't hurt to try though, would it?" Dr. Walker peered at her over the rims of his glasses.
Star could try, sure. That didn't guarantee any decent results though. Glancing down at her watch, she realized she better be heading back to the apartment. She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. Before heading out of the office, she threw a glance back at Dr. Walker.
"I'll try," she promised. She heard the professor utter thanks behind her.