by Geri Watson
Star leaned against the oak desk, and Tristan sat in one of the armchairs. "It's his parents showing off. You didn't interrupt anything important to us," she shrugged.
"Star!" Tristan gasped. "That's horrible!"
An amused smile crossed her features. "It's true, and you know it."
"Still, you didn't have to lay it all out there like that," he swatted at her.
She shrugged innocently in return. It's not like it mattered to her. She was glad Dr. Walker gave them an excuse to make themselves scarce for a little while. Not to mention that she wanted to know what the professor had come up with. All of these weeks of him grilling them and the past life regression therapy had to have amounted to something worthwhile at least. The only reason they'd missed the appointment was that Tristan's mother had Star held captive and his father had taken Tristan golfing against his will to "talk." He still had yet to mention what their little chat had been about. Star wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"So what kind of conclusion did you come to?" Tristan asked.
"You kissing Star set everything off balance." He shook his head. "Sorry, Tristan. I know that's not what you wanted to hear."
"What do you mean it set everything off balance?" Star wondered out loud as she rubbed Tristan's shoulder.
"In each of your past lives, you both felt a strong connection to one another, but you weren't aware of your other lives together. This time, all of your past lives returned to your memories," the professor explained as he started to pace. "That I've never encountered before."
"Well, what does that mean for us?" Tristan's forehead creased. "Are we in danger or not? What about my nightmares?"
"I don't understand your nightmares, Tristan. I told you that before. They don't make sense." Dr. Walker stopped walking and faced him directly. "I think they're some displaced fear set off by something you heard or saw. That's all I could come up with."
"So we're safe?" Star asked, a hint of relief in her voice.
"As far as I can tell, Tristan saved you in 1957. He succeeded in what you were constantly sent back for because of the failures to save you before." Dr. Walker started motioning with his hands. "Which means in this lifetime"-He clasped his hands together and looked at them both with sincerity-"You were never supposed to meet each other."
"But we did...so what's that mean?" Star's confusion returned. "Fate is going to separate us because we weren't ever supposed to be together again?" Her heart started racing slightly.
"I don't know what it means, Star. Somehow Tristan's soul recognized yours again, and when he kissed you, your soul responded. It may very well mean that you two get your happily ever after. I have no way of telling for sure. Your case is unique." He scratched his head.
"So I can stop being paranoid?" Tristan spoke up quietly.
"I think so." Dr. Walker smiled, leaning against the desk.
"Oh, thank God," Tristan broke down.
Star wiped at her eyes, the emotion getting to her. "I'm not going to die?"
The professor shook his head, and she walked over to him and hugged him tightly. She was sure her mascara was running, but she didn't care. She and Tristan were going to get their happy ending. That was the best engagement present that they could have asked for. Dr. Walker hugged her in return and patted her back. Then she returned her attention to Tristan who had stood up and watched as he uncharacteristically threw himself into Dr. Walker's arms, hugging him fiercely.
"Thank you so much," he breathed into his shoulder.
"If you kids need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. Alright?" the professor smiled warmly. "You should get back to your party. I've held you up enough for the night."
"We will." Star smiled, trying to compose herself and wiped her eyes gingerly so as not to mess up her make-up any more than she already had.
"Goodnight," Tristan sniffed.
Once Dr. Walker had walked out of the study, Tristan took Star's face in his hands and kissed her senseless. She backed against the desk to prevent her already shaky legs from giving out on her. They'd have to put up with the party for the rest of the night. Tristan would have to behave around his father, and Star would have to be passed around to the essential guests like a party favor until Tristan's parents were satisfied she'd made proper rounds, but that didn't seem so overbearing anymore.
Arthur knocked on the study door. "You two little sneaks! Can't avoid the vultures all night you know," he smiled mischievously. "Nice try though."
Star grabbed Tristan's hand, and he wiped at her eyes, fixing what smears of make-up she had missed. "We're coming, Art," he answered for her.
"Ready for high society, love?" he smirked.
"I thought you said I had more class than any of them." She stuck her nose in the air.
Tristan laughed heartily. "That's the spirit."
CHAPTER 40
This trip was what they needed to get away from it all. No drama, no parents, no pesky older bother trying to cram wedding plans down their throats. Just Tristan and Star out in the mountains somewhere sharing a sleeping bag. As far as Tristan was concerned, it couldn't happen soon enough. He'd packed up the car with all of the supplies they'd be needing and was heading back to the apartment to pick Star up and whisk her away. He knew she'd been looking forward to this as much as he was.
Sure, Zack had tried to weasel his way into coming with them. He'd pulled Zack aside and told him as much as he loved him as a brother and all, this trip was private and he'd take good care of her. Besides, Tristan told him, he needed someone to look after Scout for him, and who better to ask? Zack had begrudgingly obliged but made him promise that they'd take him the next time they went camping.
After parking the car, Tristan bounded up the staircase to the apartment and let himself in. He was pounced by a waiting Scout and walked down the hall toward Star's room, whistling to himself as he slid his fingertips along the wall.
Star turned around at the sound of his whistling, and Tristan pulled her toward him and kissed her enthusiastically, smiling into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with one of her own before pecking him softly on the lips and glancing down at her bag. "Do you think we forgot anything?"
"Hon, the way you've been planning this, I'd be stunned if you didn't bring too much," he laughed.
She shoved him playfully. "Shut up. I was excited, sue me."
"I can think of a lot of things I'd like to do to you, but none of those would be suing you," he smirked.
Star laughed, a beautiful tinkling sound to his ears. "You're horrible."
Tristan reached down and grabbed her bag before she could get to it and took her hand, kissing the back of it. "You love me anyway."
"I know," she sighed. "I must be crazy."
Tristan shook his head, and they went to say their goodbyes to Zack, who was in the other room.
"Don't you two get into any trouble out there." He thumped Tristan on the shoulder.
"You know she's safe with me," he replied, kissing the top of her head.
"I'll miss you." Zack pouted and pulled Star in for a hug. "I tried to come along, but Tristan told me no."
Star laughed. "I don't think there's enough room in the sleeping bag for three."
"Well, it would spice things up if there was." He raised an eyebrow.
"Next time. And you'll have your own sleeping bag," Tristan countered.
Zack stuck his tongue out at him. "Be gone with you both then! Have fun!"
Once they'd loaded up the car and headed out on the road, they rolled the windows down to enjoy the spring air. Tristan watched out of the corner of his eye as the wind caught Star's hair in the breeze and it blew behind her. She looked so happy and peaceful. It made Tristan feel good to think that he had a part in her happiness. Things were finally looking up for the two of them. It was about time. All that worrying he'd been doing had been over nothing. This was going to be a good trip.
They'd been on the road for a little while, an
d Star had opened up a bag of trail mix that they were sharing with one another. Her ring kept catching the sun's reflection, and she was continually trying to find a place to put her hand to resist the glare. She settled on having it rest on Tristan's thigh. He wasn't complaining, felt right as far as he was concerned. She'd gotten quiet all of a sudden, though. That usually meant something was on her mind. A minute later she confirmed his thoughts.
"You know...you never explained yourself after the party." she glanced at him sideways.
"Explained what?" Tristan asked, keeping his eyes on the road in front of him.
"About you and Emily," she paused.
"Oh," he mouthed silently. "Yeah, about that..."
"I'm listening." Star crossed her arms.
Tristan shrugged and gave her a quick glance before turning back to the road. "Emily's mom and my mom are best friends. So Emily's mom was constantly trying to get the two of us together. Clearly, that was something that Emily wanted. But I swear Star, nothing ever happened between her and me."
"Never?" Star asked, her voice a little higher than usual.
Tristan shook his head. "Even when I spent all of that time with her when you and I weren't talking, nothing happened. She and I haven't ever been anything more than good friends."
Star remained quiet for a few more minutes, and Tristan wondered if she was satisfied with that answer. He honestly never had any feelings for Emily. In high school, she was prissy and mean. She'd been one of the head cheerleaders and had an attitude like she walked on water. It had annoyed him. Still, her parents had pushed them together. They'd gone to proms and homecomings. He'd suffered through it. At least he'd had someone to go with, even if he would have been happier at home studying.
"Are your parents going to invite her to the wedding?" Star asked quietly.
"Would you rather she not be there?" Tristan's eyebrow raised.
"I don't know," he heard her mumble. "Would that upset you?"
"Well..." he started. "I mean, Emily's been my only friend for so long, Star...I..."
"Feel like it wouldn't be right without her there?" she attempted to finish for him.
"I was going to say it would be rude not to invite her." He glanced sideways at her. "You're not...jealous of her. Are you?"
"No." Star folded her hands together in her lap and looked down at them. "She makes me uncomfortable."
"How so?" his forehead creased.
"Like ever since that dinner party Emily looks at me like she wants to kill me, she trips me in class, makes snide remarks. I swear I didn't do anything to her, so I don't know what I did to make her hate me so much all of a sudden," her explanation tumbled out.
Tristan cringed. "Yeah...well, something happened at that dinner party that set her off, but it wasn't you."
"What?" Star asked, shock lacing her voice.
"You're not going to like it." He tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"Tell me." She rested her hand on his thigh again.
He swallowed. This wasn't exactly something that he wanted to tell Star while he was trying to concentrate on driving. She was going to freak out. He knew that. There was no avoiding it. But now he'd opened his big mouth, and she wouldn't drop it, even if he tried to get her to. Letting out a long gush of air he streamed out the words. "She-backed-me-into-a-corner-and-kissed-me."
"She did what?!?" Star screeched, making Tristan flinch. "You just told me nothing ever happened between you and her!!!"
"And I didn't lie when I said it! When she kissed me I pushed her off and told her I was in love with you!" he yelled back in defense. "I told her nothing was ever going to happen between her and I. That's why she got so mad, and she left. That's it!" He turned his face to gauge her reaction.
Star screamed and tried to push herself farther into her seat. "Oh God! Tristan!"
He looked back at the road to see a white Sedan headed right for them and the brown flash of a deer dashing into the forest on the other side of the road. Tristan swerved, but not soon enough. The two cars collided with each other. He reached out for Star. Everything went black.
-
When Tristan came to, he heard a car horn going off in a steady rhythm and had to push the airbag out of his way. There was something warm running into his eyes, and when he wiped it away, he saw that he was bleeding. That wasn't his primary concern. What he cared about was Star. Looking down and letting out a sigh of relief that his seat belt wasn't jammed, Tristan unbuckled himself and pushed the airbag away more so that he could get to Star. His heart stopped.
She was unconscious. The side airbag hadn't gone off. The Sedan had hit her side of the car. Tristan could see the crunched metal surrounding her lower half. Swallowing, he reached out and took her wrist to feel her pulse. It was weak but still beating. That was one good thing, at least. He heard sirens in the distance and wondered how long he'd been unconscious himself. One thing was clear. He had to get Star out of here.
Tristan felt a pain in his side as he slid his way to her seat across the console, but he ignored it. "Star? Can you hear me?" he called out. Remember your training, remember your training. He repeated to himself to stay calm. You can do this. His hands tried to work her seat belt but found that it jammed. He hit the console, frustrated. "Star, honey?" he tried again. Still nothing. The sirens were getting closer. He heard what sounded like a vehicle skidding to a stop close by.
"Go check the other car! I've got this one!" his ears picked up as he reached out and grabbed Star's hand, squeezing it gently. "Holy crap! Roger, it's Tristan and Star!" Tristan turned his face to see Tony at his side. "What happened, Tristan?"
"I don't know. A deer, I think. " his forehead furrowed and he winced at the pain that it caused. "She's knocked out, Tony. We've got to get her free." He watched as Tony glanced over at Star and back toward him.
"Is the seat belt working?" he asked.
"No. I tried that." Tristan swallowed. "Her pulse is weak, too. Please, Tony. Help her; she's crushed in."
"Tristan. You've got a huge gash on your head. I think it's safe to say you probably have a concussion; your pupils are dilated like saucers. You shouldn't be moving," Tony said firmly as he took Tristan's pulse and checked his other vitals. "And you've got a hunk of metal in your side."
Tristan shoved Tony off of him. "If you won't help her I will." He started to move over closer to Star and Tony's grip on his wrist stopped him.
"Fine. Stay put," Tony warned. He jogged over to the other side of the car and Tristan saw him wince at the sight of something. He heard Tony call to the other guys about disentanglement maneuvers. Tristan knew that was going to take some time. Moving toward her again, against Tony's warning, he shook Star's shoulder. Her breathing seemed to be getting fainter. This was too close to his dream. Against what he wanted, Tristan started to panic slightly.
"Star! Wake up!" he shouted at her. When he edged closer, he saw that her legs were caught up in the metal of the car from where it crunched. Tristan closed his eyes as they started glossing over with more than the liquid from his head wound. "No." he shook his head. Too close to the dream. This isn't happening. I'm not going to lose her.
He saw Roger meet up with Tony as they tried to both clear Star out of the car. They worked for a while, and Tristan didn't move, he remained as close to her as possible. The only thing Tristan was capable of right now was holding her hand, and he knew it. So that was what he did. Then things got worse.
Kevin, who up until this point Tristan had no idea was even on the scene, came over and announced that the driver of the other car didn't make it. Then he tried to say the next part quieter so that Tristan wouldn't hear, but he did.
There was a hole in the gas tank, and the engine was smoking. If they didn't hurry up, they were going to have to abandon Star. Tristan heard Kevin tell them to distract him and get him away from the car so they wouldn't lose them both.
"I'm not leaving her!" he said loud enough for them to hear.
"
Tristan...the car is gonna blow!" Tony tried to reason with him as he kept trying to work the metal away from Star. "Get out of the car!"
"No!" Tristan yelled back. He shook Star again. "Come on baby, wake up! You've gotta wake up!"
"TONY! The engine's on fire! Back off!" Roger yelled. "TRISTAN, GET OUT OF THE DAMN CAR!"
Tristan looked up at the sky. "Please, please. Don't do this to me again. I can't live without her. I'll do anything. You can have anything. Take me if you need to. Just let her live."
"TRISTAN!" Tony pulled him out of the car. "Do you have a death wish?!?!"