Star-Crossed Memories

by Geri Watson

  Zack held up the package he'd just finished up and looked it over. Star held in another laugh. His wrapping skills were severely lacking, but at least he was trying. A few years ago he just handed people their gifts in the shopping bags in which they were purchased. His tongue stuck out in concentration as he tried to wrap the next package. She shook her head and kept working on arranging the tissue paper for the bag she was setting up.

  "Who's that one for?" she heard him ask.

  "What?" Star asked, distracted.

  "The box on your nightstand. It doesn't have a tag on it," Zack frowned.

  "Oh, it came earlier this week for me. It didn't have a return address on the box," Star explained as she wrote out a nametag.

  She saw him reach over and take the box from the nightstand. Once in his hands, Zack shook it, but it didn't make any noise. He frowned and turned the box over in his hands. Star reached over and snatched it away from him, then set it down next to her. He looked at her oddly and tried to reach across her lap to grab it again. She shoved him off her lap. "Zack!" she complained.

  "Oh come on, Star! You're not even a little bit curious who it's from?" he said, examining the paper the box was wrapped in. "I would have opened it already."

  She lunged at him and grabbed the box out of his hands, then held it out of his reach. "Well it's not yours, it's mine. And I'm waiting."

  Zack rolled his eyes at her. "You always have to play by the rules."

  "Yeah, and it's a good thing I do too, or you and I would be in trouble because of your antics all the time," she smirked in his direction.

  "I guess you have a point there." He scratched his head. Distracted, he abandoned his half-wrapped gift and grabbed the book off her nightstand. She returned to wrapping her last gift and ignored him.

  "Star? Did you finish this already?" he asked, sounding surprised.

  "Mhm," she replied, not needing to look up to know it was the reincarnation book he was talking about.

  It took her three nights, but she had finished it. It would have been less, but she had two blackouts as a result of thinking about Tristan. The book left her with a lot of questions that she wanted answered. When she got back to campus, she was going to talk to Dr. Walker and get them. Her mind was already set on that.

  When Star had finished the book last night, she had considered calling Tristan. She even had her finger over his number in her cell phone but had chickened out at the last minute. Her crying fits had returned, and she was a little upset about it. Star wasn't used to not being able to control her emotions.

  "Wow. Must've been pretty good then," Zack guessed. "Can I borrow it now?"

  "Sure." She looked up at him and nodded in approval.

  Setting the book down at his side, Zack went back to wrapping his gift and started humming along with the song on the stereo. Star grabbed a handful of gifts and left the room with them. Being careful not to lose her balance, she walked downstairs and set the parcels under the 7-foot tree bursting with ornaments.

  The house was so cozy with all of the decorations, and the entire bottom floor felt warm because of the fire that had been burning in the fireplace most of the night. She thought about how many great family Christmas' this house had seen and smiled to herself.

  Ever since she was a kid, she'd felt like there was something magic about Christmas. The decorations, the snow, the music, being with everyone that she loved. That was pure magic. She stood by the tree looking at all of the ornaments and the twinkling lights. A few minutes later Zack set his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug.

  "Merry Christmas, Star."

  She laughed. "Not yet it isn't."

  He didn't say anything, and she watched as he pointed toward the clock in the corner. Sure enough, it was midnight.

  "Ah. So it is." Star turned and faced him. "Merry Christmas, Zack."

  He set down the last of his gifts under the tree, then bent down and kissed her on the cheek softly.

  "And with that, I'm going to bed. Gotta be up early to see what Santa brought me. You know how good I've been this year." he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

  She chuckled. "See you in the morning then."

  As he was walking out of the room, he tossed her something. Star scrambled to catch it before it fell to the ground and looked up at him oddly.

  "It's not cheating now. You can open it," Zack called as he went up the stairs.

  Star looked at the box in her hands. Well, he was right. It wasn't cheating if she opened it now. But she still didn't know who had sent it. Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to find out who it was from, she tore the paper off the box and opened it. Inside was a letter and an envelope. She carefully unfolded the letter and moved closer to the tree to make out the writing.

  Star,

  I know that I said I wouldn't contact you again. But the longer I go without doing that, the more lost I am. I don't know if you feel the same way I do about that, but in case you do, I got you this. It's a star. I know that may seem entirely cheesy, but hear me out. I figure this way if we both know where the star is, even if we're not together, we can find each other. That way we don't have to feel so lost. In the envelope are the coordinates of where the star is and a map of the night sky so you can locate it more efficiently. They asked me to name it when I bought it. I called it the Tristan Star. I know, that's lame, so sue me. It just felt appropriate. So go outside and make a wish on it, I know I will be.

  Merry Christmas.

  Love always,

  Tristan

  With her hands shaking, she opened the envelope and looked at the star map and coordinates. Wanting to see where their star was, she grabbed her coat off the hall bench and walked out the front door.

  It had snowed finally, and the yard was covered in white. Everything looked clean and fresh. Her breath billowed out in front of her, and she looked up into the clear night sky. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust so that she could find it. Once she did, she swallowed and thought about Tristan. She wondered if he was looking at it too but figured with the time difference he probably wasn't. Deciding to follow the directions he'd given her, she closed her eyes and made a wish. Not even a second later, her phone rang. When she looked down and saw it was Tristan's number, she looked back up at the star in shock and answered the call.

  "Tristan?"

  "Yeah."

  "How'd you know I was even up?" Star asked, confused.

  "What did you wish?" he asked in response.

  "What? How did you know I opened it?" She looked around, and when she didn't see him, her face fell a little.

  She heard him laugh into the phone. "What did you wish for?"

  "Oh, it doesn't matter. I wished for something impossible," Star admitted as she looked down at the ground and kicked the snow.

  "Tell me," Tristan persisted. "After I went through all that trouble, you might as well humor me."

  "You don't know?" she queried him.

  "You never called," he answered softly.

  "I didn't know what to say," she responded as she felt tears sting her eyes.

  "Anything would have been better than nothing at all," he stammered, hearing her voice waver.

  "I miss you." The tears slid down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Tristan."

  "I'm sorry, too," she heard clearly behind her. Star spun around startled and tripped, falling into his arms and dropping her phone in the process.

  "You really should be more aware of your surroundings." He laughed lightly. "I could've been anyone."

  Star bent down and grabbed her phone, shoved it into her pocket and then hit Tristan in the chest.

  He winced and smirked at her.

  "How are you here?" she asked amazed, not moving her hand from his chest.

  "It's a long story," he answered, wiping her tears away.

  "How long have you been here?" She searched his eyes, glad to be able to see the shade of blue again.

  "In Virginia or at your parents’ house?
" Tristan asked as he pulled her into his arms.

  "Both," she shrugged.

  "Hm... well I finally got a flight and landed about an hour ago. I tried to check into the hotel down the street but they didn't have any rooms, and I walked here from there. I called Zack and asked him to make sure you opened the package I sent at midnight," he explained.

  "But how did you get Zack's number?" Star was so confused. How had he pulled this off? How did he even get her parents address, to begin with? How long had Zack known about this?

  "I'll explain it all later." Tristan tucked a loose strand of hair behind Star's ear.

  "You're really here." Star ran her hands up his arms and over his face as he nodded and smiled enough that his dimples appeared.

  "I won't go anywhere again without you," he said solemnly.

  She sniffed and didn't care that she was crying anymore. The impossible wish she'd asked for had happened and Tristan forgave her. And he was standing there holding her out in the snow in front of her parents’ house. This was more proof to her that Christmas was magic. He pulled her into a kiss that made her forget about the cold around them. Star closed her eyes and got lost in Tristan like she'd wanted to since the night he'd left.

  "Hey Santa, you might want to bring Ms. Claus in here before she becomes a snowman," Zack's voice came from the doorway behind them.

  When she looked over, he pointed up, and Star noticed that it had started snowing again. She grabbed Tristan's hand and pulled him up onto the porch with her. Once there together, Zack smiled.

  "Did that hotel have any rooms?" he asked Tristan.

  "No." Tristan looked down.

  "Figures. That's what you get for being impulsive." Zack looked off the porch. "Where's your bag?"

  "By the garage," Tristan answered.

  Zack hopped off the porch and went to retrieve the bag, leaving the two of them alone on the porch for a minute. This was some alternate universe alright. The two of them getting along? That was a complete change. When had that happened? Zack had been with her all day and night, hadn't he? The way the two of them were talking you would have thought they'd been civil for a while. What the hell was going on? Tristan smiled at her confused look but didn't say anything.

  When Zack jumped back up onto the porch with Tristan's bag, he set it down by the door. "You better stay in the guest room downstairs tonight. If the good Captain finds you up in her room...let's just say you'll be dead for Christmas."

  "Good idea." Tristan squinted. "Not my idea of a Merry Christmas."

  The trio headed inside with Star leading the way. Zack assured Tristan that the bed was comfortable since he'd used this room numerous times before deciding he liked the one upstairs better. He also told Tristan that if he wanted to make a good impression on her father to address him as Sir or Captain Levine. Zack set down Tristan's bag and walked back to the door. After shooting Star an evil smile, he shut the door behind him. She looked up at Tristan, who still held her hand in his. He looked around the room then back at her and half-smiled.

  "Looks like we're alone again."

  "You have a lot of explaining to do." She poked his chest.

  "Why explain myself? It takes away the mystery if you know how I did it, doesn't it?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.

  "I'm more interested in how you and Zack are friends now," she responded with an arched eyebrow of her own.

  He sat down on the bed and pulled her into his lap. Once she looked back into his eyes, he ran his fingers through her hair. "I had to admit to someone how much I needed you; I figured he was a good start."

  Star kissed him then; because he'd traveled across the entire United States for her, because he'd admitted to Zack how much he loved her, because he didn't let her run away and came after her when she wanted him to the most, and just because he was there, willing to kiss her back. Their kisses lingered and made up for all the time lost in the past seven weeks. Star felt his hands in her hair, on her neck, sliding across her hips and the small of her back, holding her close against him. He whispered her name, and she sighed in pleasure before pulling herself away. Untangling herself from him, she got off the bed and leaned down to kiss him once more.

  "Sleep. I'll see you in the morning." Star ran her fingers through his hair, and he kissed her palm. Her eyes closed for a second. "I'm not sure how I'm going to explain your presence to my parents."

  "I'll try. Zack said he'd help me out," he replied quietly.

  Shaking her head, she walked to the door. "Merry Christmas, Tristan."

  His answering smile was visible to her, even through the darkness of the room. "Merry Christmas, Star."

  CHAPTER 20

  Tristan woke up feeling like he'd been through the ringer. He had jet lag; he'd barely slept considering it was 6 AM here which was still 3 AM to him, and he'd spent almost two days living out of his bag in various airports getting to Virginia. But he was here, and it was Christmas, and he had Star back. That made it all worth it.

  He pulled himself out of bed and set the room up the way he had found it. Then he went into the bathroom and got himself cleaned up. He shaved and took a hot shower, which he needed badly. Once he was finished, he considered walking out and finding Star but wasn't quite sure how to approach the situation if he saw her parents first. Looking down at his watch he saw that it was still only 6:45, they might not even be up yet. There was a knock at his door, and he opened it to see Zack's grinning face appear.

  "Merry Christmas, buddy."

  "Uh, thanks, Zack, you too." He raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

  "Shh!" Zack put his hand up suddenly and looked like he'd heard something, then shoved his way into the bedroom and shut the door behind him. "Man, that was close." He slapped Tristan on the back. "You're still contraband at the moment. Thought I'd keep you company while she breaks the ice."

  "Did you just call me contraband?" Tristan asked, laughing.

  Zack shook his head. "You don't know the Captain."

  "Is he that bad?" Tristan worried.

  "Depends." Zack shrugged. "It's his favorite holiday. If he thinks you're messing it up, he'll let you know. Don't make any sudden moves and you should be alright."

  Tristan swallowed and looked at him slightly panicked.

  "Man!" Zack roared, holding his stomach and bending over while grabbing Tristan's shoulder. "You should see your face!"

  "You're screwing with me." Tristan relaxed and let out a breath. "That is so not funny."

  "Oh, but yes, it is." He kept laughing and sat on the foot of the bed. "Woo. That was way too easy."

  Tristan shook his head. "You're an ass, Zack."

  "Thanks!" Zack proudly accepted the comment. "Seriously though, her father is a hard sell. He's a highly decorated retired Naval Pilot Captain. Military all the way. He hated my guts at first, and everybody loves me." He looked Tristan over. "So I guess we'll see how you measure up under pressure."

  "Shut up," Tristan responded. Internally he was a little worried though. Most parents liked him, but he'd never dealt with any military family members before.

  "Hey, I'm just tryin' to help you out," Zack retorted.

  "Yeah, why is that anyway? You've been entirely too nice since I called you last night. Star is freaking out that we're not at each other’s throats." he questioned.

  Zack snorted. "Any guy who calls me and sounds as lovesick as you did over her I figure deserves a chance. The only reason I hated you before was out of respect for Alex anyway."

  Tristan looked over at him dubiously.

  "What? It's true! …Well, that and she's been a wreck over you since the two of you met." He pulled at a thread on his sweater.

  "Thank you for helping me out with that gift last night." Tristan leaned against the dresser by the door.

  "Uh huh. Considering the amount of making out that was going on when I walked outside, I'm guessing she liked it." Zack's nose wrinkled. "What was in the box anyway?"

  Tristan looked over at him. "She didn't
tell you?"

  "No. All she said was you were 'sooo romantic’." Zack clasped his hands together and batted his eyes, mocking her.

  Tristan laughed. "I bought her a star."

  "Figures." Zack shook his head. "She's such a sucker for that sappy stuff."

  "Good to know," Tristan mused.

  There was another knock at the door, and Star walked in. She looked surprised to see Zack sitting on the bed, and turned around before she noticed that Tristan was standing by the door. Then she looked between the two of them with a suspicious look on her face. He and Zack both smiled at her. She shook her head.