Fish Out of Water

by Alethea Kontis

  Tetra, still in half-sleep, simply obeyed. She pulled her good knee to her chest on the window seat, then used it to leverage the rest of herself up and onto the windowsill. Justin helped her carefully shift the boot outside before scooping her up and carrying her to the van. The passenger door was already open wide.

  She didn’t care what he said. This was definitely a dream. And she never wanted to wake up.

  But there was still a tall, blonde Goth Beauty cover model to be explained before this dream could continue. Tetra considered how to broach the subject without being a clingy girlfriend. Not that she even was Justin’s girlfriend, or his anything at all.

  God, even this train of thought wasn’t going well.

  “So,” she started.

  Thankfully, Justin went ahead and took the ball from there. “How much did you see?”

  “I saw the kiss.” Not that she wanted to talk about that any further.

  “Then you didn’t see me throw her off the stage?”

  All at once, the butterflies in her stomach woke up and had a party. “You did what?”

  “Look, I don’t know how Juliette ended up in Ft. Lauderdale, and I don’t care. That girl is the physical embodiment of all the horrible things I’ve put behind me. She is the definition of my old life. When I told you I didn’t want to blow my last shot, I meant it.” He reached over to the passenger’s seat and took her hand in his. “The shit hit the fan, Tetra.”

  “And you came here.”

  “I ran here,” Justin clarified. “You said you would be the one I could run to when I needed to run. And I needed to run.”

  If Tetra’s heart grew any larger, she was sure it would explode right inside her chest. “I guess I never thought you would take that literally,” she said, and then laughed. “Ironic, isn’t it, that you’ve run to a girl who can’t walk at all?”

  “You have me,” Justin said. “I’ll carry you.”

  Did she? Did she have him, really? Even if it was true for only this night, this second, Tetra loved him for saying so. “Thank you.”

  He squeezed her hand once more and quickly kissed her fingers before relinquishing it. Tetra’s hand felt incredibly light without the pressure of his touch, and she missed it. She missed him, even though he was right next to her in the driver’s seat. But tomorrow he would be back on tour—if he hadn’t given up and ditched the band completely—and after that he’d return to California and his mom.

  There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but this moment was like a butterfly: fragile and beautiful and poised to be whisked away by the slightest breeze. She took a mental picture of him beside her, surrounded by the empty water bottles and gum wrappers and stray cords: the flotsam of a crew who lives on the road. The street lights shone down upon him as he passed each one, illuminating the mesmerizing whorls of tattoos on his tanned forearms and the satisfied grin on his face. He glanced at her again, and when the light passed, his gray eyes flashed silver.

  So many things yet to ask…but he looked so peaceful, so relaxed, that Tetra stayed silent.

  Justin drove until he found a side street with beach access and parked the van. Tetra opened the door with every intention of hopping down and getting as far as she could on her own, but Justin was there in a flash to scoop her up in his incredibly strong arms and carry her down the boardwalk to the sand.

  Tetra had wrapped her arms around his neck in surprise when he’d lifted her out of the van, and she left them there. She forced herself to relax more and more with every step. It was a strange thing to trust another person enough to be carried in their arms. Before now, the only time she’d ever been carried was by her parents, as a little girl. This was very, very different.

  This was the thing they wrote romance novels about.

  The wind whipped her hair about them both as he carried her over the sand. She turned her head out of the wind and into his skin. He smelled of sweat and salt and citrus…and something that made her heart beat incredibly fast. As close as they were, she wondered if he could tell.

  Before they reached the water, he set her down. The lights from the street had been erased by the trees and dunes and dark bathhouses around them, revealing a myriad of stars in the cloudless night sky.

  “Take a breath,” he said. “Make a wish…”

  “…count to three,” she finished. Of course he would quote one of her favorite movies. Tetra put all her weight on her good leg and, as instructed, took a deep, cleansing breath of ocean air and held it.

  She wished for him to stay.

  “There are skies like this in Kansas,” she said as she exhaled. “Out in the fields where there are no lights, the stars look like sparkling salt crystals spilled on a black silk tablecloth. When you look up, you feel like you could fall into them forever. I don’t miss much from Kansas, but I never realized how much I missed that.”

  She looked down from the stars and fell into Justin’s eyes instead. As much as she wanted this fairy tale dream to last, she felt duty bound to protect her heart. She had lost so much in the last year; losing Justin on top of that was going to be like one more funeral.

  “Can we sit?” she asked and Justin obligingly helped lower her to the sand before plopping down beside her. A whole expanse of beach to the right and left and an entire ocean before them, and he sat so close that their sides touched.

  “I Googled you.” The breeze caught her words and carried them away so quickly she wasn’t sure he’d heard them. Then she felt him tense a little. “Sorry.”

  “I wish I could shield you from all that,” he answered. “But I can’t pretend that version of Justin didn’t exist. All those pictures and articles will forever be my punishment for the life I led then. Every relationship I have from here on out will be tainted because of it. Every friend I make will have to be okay with the person I was, and the person I’ve become. I suspect that means I won’t have many true friends.”

  “I’m pretty sure you have Kara and Liam,” Tetra said playfully, and then nudged him with her body. “And you’re not getting rid of me anytime soon.”

  “You’re just saying that because you can’t walk away. Literally.” He took her hand again; this time he didn’t let go. Tetra felt the calluses on his fingertips and the soft skin between his fingers as he folded hers into his. She leaned into him and put her head on his shoulder.

  They sat there for a very long time, accompanied by only the stars and the waves and each other.

  “I want this,” he said softly.

  “I want this too,” she admitted. “But we…” Reluctantly, she lifted her head. In a few months, she would go back to school and have to deal with all the relative minutia of being the New Girl. In a few days, he would go back to California and that would be that. She tried to think of the best way to put all that into words without spoiling the magic. “I have my dad. And you have your mom.”

  He turned to face her, his gray eyes still bright against the shadows. “I’ve spent the last couple of weeks having the rug constantly yanked out from under me. Despite that, I’ve pulled off a decent performance every time.”

  “You have,” she said. “More than decent. Sometimes outstanding.”

  “Sometimes?” he asked. When she smiled at the jest, his serious face softened a bit. “So if I told you that I was going to figure it out, would you trust me?”

  Figure what out? Not that it mattered. “Yes,” she said automatically.

  He kissed her so quickly that she was caught by surprise. The kiss itself was gentle and brief. Her first real kiss. It hadn’t even occurred to her to wish for that! A dream come true, and over far too soon.

  When he pulled away, he didn’t go far. “Thank you.”

  Her tingling lips felt him say the words. The waves sounded like a crowd cheering. Her heart hammered inside her chest.

  The second time, she kissed him, or maybe they met halfway—either way, for the first time in a very long time, Tetra felt no sadness or pain. Every nerve
in her body hummed. She touched his cheek with her free hand, let her fingers slide into that gorgeous, thick mane of dark hair. He did the same, not letting their entwined hands between them break apart for even a second.

  Feeling far braver than she had any right to be, Tetra parted her lips. He did the same. Then she dared to slip her tongue against his. Justin followed suit. Tetra realized then that he was letting her take the lead, kissing her only as deeply as she felt comfortable. The overwhelming kindness in that simple gesture was almost enough to break her. The sheer intensity of the emotions building up inside Tetra made her gasp.

  Justin pulled back. “Are you okay?”

  Tetra looked at the sand, the waves, the stars, anything but him. “Would it freak you out if I suddenly burst into tears?” she asked.

  “That depends,” he said. “Good tears, or bad tears?”

  “The good kind.” She blinked at the stars in an effort to get her feelings under control before she embarrassed herself. “Very, very good. Maybe too good.”

  “Then cry all you want,” said Justin. “Bawl it all out. No judgment. I’ll give you my shirt to use as a handkerchief.”

  “Excellent. I’m collecting your shirts to sell on eBay when you’re super famous. Oh, Justin.” She hiccuped. Her little joke had stopped the sob, but it didn’t stop the tears from escaping. “I don’t know if I deserve to be this happy.”

  “I know I don’t.”

  Something in his voice made her turn to him.

  He had tears in his eyes as well.

  Tetra leaned in and kissed them away. He kissed hers away too, tracing the salty trails with his tongue. When their lips met again, they did so with a passion that felt like they’d been kissing for months, not minutes.

  And then he said the four worst words in the English language.

  “I have to go.”

  Still a little speechless, Tetra nodded. If the rest of 10mm Conspiracy woke to find themselves abandoned in Ft. Lauderdale…or worse, if Dad happened to wake and find her gone…

  “Come to the show in Naples,” he said.

  “Justin, I can’t go to a concert like this.” She waved her hand over the giant black cast now covered in beach sand.

  “I’ll make sure you have a place to sit,” he said. “Bring your dad. Bring Lupe. Bring the whole island if you want…just please say you’ll come see the show.”

  Tetra wasn’t sure if her ankle would hold out, or if her dad would even say yes, but she would like to see Kara and Liam—and yes, even crazy, sabotagey Xander—again. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll try.”

  This time, he kissed his thank you.

  Any other worries Tetra might have had simply melted away.

  16

  Justin pulled the van back into the hotel parking lot sometime around dawn. He reattached the trailer and headed to the band’s room. With luck, they had all slept through his absence, none the wiser.

  Xander met him on the other side of the door. He offered Justin the cell phone in his outstretched hand. “Donny wants to talk to you.”

  Justin bit his tongue and shook his head. It seemed his luck had run out. Then again…no time like the present to confront the bull head on. Justin took the phone. “Hey, Uncle Donny,” he said chipperly. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, yourself,” Donny said, matching Justin’s tone. “I hear you went for a drive.”

  “Yes, I did,” he said for Xander’s benefit, so that this conversation didn’t have to be repeated later. “I drove back to Mimosa Key.”

  The answer surprised everyone in the room, but Donny didn’t seem fazed. “Did you forget something?”

  “I needed something,” Justin clarified. “I had an unexpected visit from someone in my past last night”—Xander’s feigned look of innocence convinced no one—“and it brought back a lot of bad memories.”

  “And you needed…?” Donny prompted.

  “I needed a meeting.”

  “I wasn’t aware you’d joined a group in your short time here.”

  “I didn’t,” said Justin. “But Tetra Scott offered to be my sponsor of sorts while I was on this tour.”

  “The girl with the ankle?”

  “Yes, sir. We’ve been talking every night. I’ve been having quite the streak of bad luck on this trip, and it’s taken a toll. Tetra’s helped me keep my spirits up. She’s really been great.”

  Upon hearing this, Xander crossed his arms over his chest sternly. Kara did the same, only she moved to stand beside Justin in a show of support. Justin patted her shoulder in gratitude.

  “That’s quite a drive,” said Donny. “You couldn’t have said what you needed to say over the phone?”

  “I appreciated having the time alone to clear my head,” said Justin. “And I wanted to make sure there was no misunderstanding.”

  “Am I to take it that you and Tetra have an understanding?”

  “Yes, sir,” said Justin. “I believe we do.”

  Kara’s beaming smile told Justin exactly what she thought of that. Liam clapped him on the back. Xander’s scowl deepened.

  “Is that wise?” Donny asked. “What with the two of you on opposite coasts, that’s going to be a difficult thing to pursue.”

  Justin grinned. “A wise uncle told me once that the most amazing women are the most difficult.”

  Donny laughed. “That does sound pretty wise.”

  “Will you be coming to the show in Naples?” Justin asked. “I told Tetra to come too, along with her dad and her friend—the one that was also there at the party. Anyway, I hope you do. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” Mostly, it was a conversation he didn’t feel like having in front of Xander.

  “Looking forward to it,” said Donny. “Take care of yourself, Justin.”

  “Thanks, Uncle D. I will.”

  Justin ended the call and gave Xander back his phone.

  “I said no groupies,” said Xander.

  “Tetra’s more than just a groupie and you know it,” said Kara.

  “Not sure how many groupies I would personally escort to the hospital,” said Liam.

  While Justin appreciated the show of solidarity, he didn’t want to be the guy that broke up one of the hottest indie bands in the country. He held up his hands to Xander in surrender. “You’re absolutely right, and I’m sorry. You said no groupies, and no Goth girls, and Tetra’s a bit of both.”

  “You do have a type,” said Xander.

  “Maybe I do,” said Justin. “And if you were the one responsible for getting Juliette to the bar last night, I want to thank you.”

  “What?” said Kara.

  “Seriously?” asked Xander.

  “Seriously,” said Justin. “All your warnings made me worry that I was going right back down that dark road again by falling for Tetra. But seeing Juliette last night made me realize just how different she and Tetra are.”

  “Like night and day,” said Liam.

  “It also made me realize how different I am,” said Justin. “Positive change is not a thing that someone like me often gets to see in the mirror…or appreciate. So I want to thank you for that.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Xander.

  “And thank you for the opportunity to let me play with you. You have two incredibly amazing and talented people here, Xander, and together you’ve created one hell of a band. I’m jealous and proud, but mostly I’m privileged that I had the chance to be a part of it, however briefly.”

  “But I was a complete bastard to you.”

  Kara and Liam looked genuinely surprised at Xander’s blatant admission of guilt. But then, they hadn’t known Xander as long as Justin had.

  “I deserved every bit of that,” said Justin.

  “Yeah, you did.”

  “And I killed it every time,” he added.

  “Yeah, you did.” With that, Xander’s scowl disappeared and an expression of genuine relief took its place. Xander opened his arms and pulled Justin into a bear hug. “I�
�ve missed you, little brother.”

  “Missed you too, giant ass.”

  Behind him, Justin heard an exasperated sigh, followed by the slamming of a door.

  “We’re both going to have to make it up to Kara for putting her in the middle of this,” said Xander. “I do believe she was about to leave me for you.”

  “She wasn’t the only one,” muttered Liam. “But I’m good without roses. Kara, not so much.”

  “Leave Xander for what?” asked Justin. “10mm Conspiracy is a perfectly amazing band. You’ve got a good thing right here. I’ve got nothing.”

  “Nothing but a huge internet following,” said Xander. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Yeah. Remind me to thank you for that out in the parking lot,” said Justin.

  “Seriously, though, if you don’t start a band or something right away to monopolize on all that popularity, I’ll call Donny back and have you committed.”

  “Really?” asked Justin.

  “Really,” said Liam. “You should probably start thinking up names.”

  “But I don’t have to. Xander already gave me the perfect one.” When they looked at him curiously, Justin smiled. “Fish Out of Water.”

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Tetra, I really don’t know if going to this concert is the best idea,” her father called from his rooms on the other side of the house. “I know you’re young and invincible, but I’m worried about how you’re going to feel.”

  “We’ve already discussed this, Dad,” Tetra yelled back. “If I’m not feeling well, we’ll just come home. And a friend is bringing a wheelchair for me. That’s probably him now. Want me to get it?”

  “No, no, stay where you are. I’ve got it.” Dad sprinted out of his bedroom and across the kitchen to the front door. Tetra motioned for Lupe to push her desk chair closer, so that they could see what was about to happen.

  “Sorry about that,” Dad said as he opened the door. “How can I…”

  For the first time in maybe her whole life—since Kansas, anyway—her dad was actually speechless. Lupe and Tetra dissolved into a fit of giggles.