by Geri Watson
"What did she say?" she asked out of curiosity.
He laughed softly. "She told me to go win the war."
"Do you think we'll win our war?"
Tristan breathed out a rush of air. "I don't know, Star. I sure hope so."
CHAPTER 26
Tristan was warm all over. That was the first thing he noticed before he opened his eyes to the offending sunlight peeking out from underneath the shade of the window above the couch. Star was curled up on top of him with her face nuzzled into his neck. Her breathing was still even, but when he went to move she muttered something incoherently, and her grip tightened on his shoulder. As much as he didn't want to disturb her, he was starting to cramp up, and it was unavoidable.
Slowly he backed up against the arm of the couch until Star slid down his chest enough that he could get his arms underneath her. Once he was standing up, he realized the trickier part was going to be putting her back down. Star looked so peaceful sleeping in his arms. He knelt and tried to lay her back down on the couch, but her arms tightened around his neck. He lifted his hand to loosen them, and she started talking.
"Don't leave me," she pleaded.
His hand froze. He wasn't sure if Star was still asleep or not. Her face wasn't relaxed as it had been a minute ago, she looked stressed. Deciding that since she didn't say anything more, she must still be asleep, Tristan attempted to duck his head out from underneath her arms instead. As soon as their contact was broken and he looked down at her again, he noticed she was crying. His chest tightened. Why was she crying in her sleep? He got down on his knees in front of her. Maybe if he said something, it would calm her down.
"I'm here," he whispered into her ear.
"NO!" she bolted up suddenly, making his heart race.
Star was shaking and disoriented. It took her a minute before she finally focused on Tristan still kneeling in front of her. Then she blinked and said nothing. He was completely freaked out by the whole thing.
"What just happened?" he asked, concerned.
Her hand raised up to her face, and she wiped away her tears. "Nothing. It's fine."
"Star, that was anything but nothing." He searched her face for an answer.
"It was only a nightmare, nothing to worry about." Her eyes met his, and although Tristan thought she wasn't telling him the whole truth, he nodded.
"I'm sorry, I think when I moved you it caused it," he apologized and sat down next to her. "What happened in the nightmare?"
She looked away from him.
"Tell me." He took one of her hands in his.
Star sucked in a shaky breath and without looking back at Tristan she answered. "You died."
He looked down confused. Did she have a nightmare or a blackout? He didn't recall any flashbacks where he was the one who died. Did that mean them being together caused new flashbacks? That was a scary thought. They already had enough problems with the past lives they knew about now without adding new ones into the mix.
"I died?" Tristan repeated.
Star's hands went to his face, and she kissed him, there was a longing in it that terrified him. He went to pull away, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and continued kissing him more. This wasn't good; Star was trying to distract him. Now he knew for sure she was hiding something from him. Entwining his fingers with hers in both hands he managed to finally pull back, and she pouted at the abrupt cessation of her efforts.
"You're not telling me something." He narrowed his eyes.
She stood up, leaving him on the couch. "I told you, it was just a nightmare." Her eyes were glassy. Tristan didn't believe that for a minute and stayed silent.
"I'm hungry. Let's go see what there is to eat." Star's eyes drifted toward the direction of the kitchen. Clearly, she wasn't going to fess up to what she knew. That was frustrating. Then again, he hadn't told her what had happened when he'd seen her die in his flashbacks either.
"Fine." He stood up and walked past her. "I'll make breakfast."
Tristan went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. After taking a mental inventory of its contents, he went to the pantry and started collecting things to make a breakfast casserole for everyone. As he cracked the eggs into the bowl Star handed him, he noticed she was staying awfully close. In fact, he kept bumping into her unintentionally as he tried mixing everything.
They didn't say anything except for when he asked where something was and she either told him or procured it for him. He put the casserole in the oven and turned around to face her. Star looked him in the eyes briefly and then looked away and got herself a glass of orange juice out of the fridge. She poured a glass for him, and he took it and sat down at the table.
Star stayed over by the counter and leaned against it with her elbows, facing Tristan. Their eyes met, and he stared into her hazel depths and listened to the clock tick the seconds away behind him. He wished she'd tell him what she'd seen. Weren't they past keeping things from one another now? After a few more minutes Tristan could hear someone coming down the stairs, and Zack appeared from around the corner.
"Did you sleep down here?" he asked, looking over at Star.
"Yes," she answered.
He looked over and Tristan and raised an eyebrow. "Are you cooking?"
"Yes." He slid his hand over the condensation of his glass before taking a drink.
"Smells good." Zack walked over to the stove and inhaled deeply. "Did you make coffee too?"
"No," Tristan answered.
"I'll make some then," Zack offered and collected the sugar, creamer, filter and coffee grounds. After he'd hit the start button on the coffee maker, he turned and leaned his back against the counter. He looked between the two of them, maybe sensing the tension.
"Wow, did you two get into a fight or something?" Zack rubbed the back of his neck. "You're sure quiet this morning."
"No," they both answered and looked back at each other. Tristan sighed. This was ridiculous.
Zack got a cup of coffee and sat beside him at the kitchen table. He looked over at Star oddly, seeing that she hadn't moved any closer to
Tristan. "Something's going on between you two."
"What are we going to do today?" Tristan changed the subject.
"We should take you to D.C.," Zack suggested. "It's beautiful in the snow as long as you can get past the psycho drivers on the roads."
"Do you have a car here?" Tristan asked. "I'd love to go and see D.C. I hear the museums are pretty phenomenal."
"Don't need a car. We always take the metro into the city," Zack answered.
"Oh. I see." Tristan looked over at Star. "Wanna go?"
"Sure. As long as we don't spend all day at the Air and Space Museum again," she answered.
"You kids are going to the Air and Space Museum?" Captain Levine questioned, walking into the room. "That's the best one out there." He nodded toward Tristan. He saw Star roll her eyes behind her father’s back and shake her head.
"It still would be if Zack and I didn't go there for field trips almost every year while we were in school. That museum is almost as bad as all the battlefields and falling down buildings you always dragged us to," Star complained.
Her father grunted in response to her argument and poured himself some coffee. "You don't appreciate history."
"We'll try to take Tristan everywhere we can," Zack assured Captain Levine. "It's a lot to take in for one day though. We might have to go back tomorrow," he said, looking back again.
Tristan shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
"What smells so good?" Kathy asked as she walked in and headed for the stove.
Tristan stood up and walked over to her. "A casserole." He looked at the time above the stove. "And it should be almost ready."
"You made breakfast?" Star's mother asked astonished, looking Tristan over.
He smiled. "Well yeah, you made everything else since I've been here, I thought you deserved a break."
"Aren't you so sweet!" she gushed. Behind him, Tristan he
ard Zack audibly gag as Kathy embraced Tristan and kissed him on the cheek.
When he'd walked over to the stove, Star had moved and sat down next to Zack at the table. Tristan idly wondered if she was going to keep moving when he did. Kathy got plates and silverware out and set them on the counter and Zack set the table. Tristan pulled the casserole out and placed it on the trivet at the center of the table. When Zack saw the dish, Tristan could've sworn he saw him drool.
"The kids are going into the city," Captain Levine told his wife.
Kathy smiled. "It should look beautiful in the snow right now."
"That's what I said," Zack piped up between mouthfuls. "Did you put mushrooms in this?"
"Yeah," Tristan answered.
"Man, this is good." He swallowed a sip of orange juice and dug back in.
Tristan laughed. "I'm glad you approve, Zack."
He looked over at Star and reached under the table to set his hand on her knee. She looked up and over at him, then held his hand under the table, and a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. Tristan felt relieved and was finally able to eat. Her mother complimented him on his cooking ability, and Captain Levine got seconds after he had cleaned his plate. Overall Tristan felt better after he was full and everyone was clearing the table.
After excusing himself, he went into the spare bedroom and got himself ready for the day ahead. The shower and shave felt good, but he was starting to miss his morning running routine. Tomorrow, he promised himself; he'd find a way to run. He was excited about the idea of seeing Washington D.C. with Star and Zack. At least it would give them something to do other than sit around and stare at each other. There was a knock, and Star walked into the room before he could answer.
"Um. Hey," she said, rubbing her forearm. She'd showered and changed into a fuzzy looking black sweater and jeans that she'd gotten the day before. Her hair was pulled up, but already she had tendrils that had fallen out and framed her face.
"Hi," he responded as he pulled on his sweatshirt.
"Sorry about before." Star looked down at her feet and kicked something he couldn't see.
"Why do I feel like we're always apologizing to each other?" Tristan sat at the foot of the bed.
She chewed her lip. "Because we are."
"Come here." He patted the spot next to him. She sat next to him, and he bumped her with his shoulder.
"You can tell me anything."
"I know that already." She looked up then and into his eyes. "I didn't want to share what I saw."
"If it was only a nightmare, why would it matter what you saw?" he asked, honestly curious.
Star's eyes searched his. "It wouldn't."
"So it wasn't a nightmare?" Tristan frowned.
She broke eye contact and turned away. "No. I don't think so."
"You're not going to tell me." It was a statement, not a question.
Star shook her head, still looking toward the door. He heard her sniff and she wiped at her face before turning back to him. "After I get some answers I'll tell you."
He looked down and clasped his hands together. "Must be pretty bad then."
"It doesn't make sense," she said distantly.
Tristan was bothered by her lack of details. It became another reason he wished winter break was over, and they were already back in Seattle. All roads lead to Dr. Walker, he thought to himself. This professor better have some stellar answers for them. Otherwise, Tristan got the feeling that he and Star were in for a world of heartache.
Zack knocked on the doorframe and walked in. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah." Star stood up and grabbed his hand.
The three of them headed out into the cold with Tristan not having any more answers than when their conversation started.
-
"Riding the Metro was... different," Tristan chose his words carefully as they walked.
They'd been dropped off by Star's father at the closest station, which wasn't so bad. Their trip had started off at the location near George Mason University, and they'd taken the Orange Line, then they had transferred to the Blue Line that stopped at the Smithsonian. The people were rude, and it was overly crowded. Tristan thought it was amazing that more people didn't get pushed onto the tracks and hit. He'd wanted to throw some people on them himself, and it took a lot to get him riled up.
Zack laughed. "Sorry, Tristan. We should have warned you."
"I'm not sure a warning would have helped," Star added sympathetically with a kiss on his cheek.
"People are so rude here. I thought it was New York that the people liked to yell at you?" he tried to explain.
"Oh no. D.C. people can be vulgar," Zack explained. "They're stressed out and like to take it out on innocent people. It's a favorite pastime."
"Sounds delightful," Tristan mumbled.
"Well, where do you want to go?" Star asked. "There's Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Zoo, the National Gallery of Art... which is my favorite...the Air and Space Museum Dad mentioned..." she rolled her eyes. "The Holocaust Museum and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."
"Sheesh Star, do you keep a map in your head of D.C. or what?" Zack coughed out.
"Uh, all of them?" Tristan answered. "I mean we don't have to spend a ton of time at any of them if you don't want to."
"Let's get to it then," Zack said. "We'll take you further into the city tomorrow, like toward the White House, but we can catch up with anything we don't get to today too."
"Sounds good to me," Tristan said as they walked up the steps of the Museum of Natural History and were greeted by the visual of a massive elephant.
CHAPTER 27
Tristan amazed her. Even though Star could tell he was still uncomfortable around Zack, he was cracking jokes and making simple conversation like he'd known him longer. The three of them had wandered around the Natural History Museum for a few hours before Tristan felt like he'd seen enough. What he hadn't been prepared for were Star and Zack snapping pictures of him with their camera phones as he took everything in. More than a few times she had taken a picture of Tristan only to see him notice her holding her phone up a second later and go chasing after her to delete it. Zack had snapped a few of her and Tristan together that had come out nicely. Star was looking forward to uploading them when they got home.
Now they were at the National Gallery of Art and Star felt more serene. She slowly walked to each exhibit and took in the art as she had many times before. It felt different sharing it all with Tristan this time. Stopping in front of Jackson Pollock's "Lavender Mist", she noted Pollock's own handprints near the top of the canvas.
"You ever wonder what they thought when they created these?" Tristan whispered into her ear, leaning close.
Star smiled and whispered back into his ear. "Sometimes I believe they weren't thinking at all. Maybe the artwork creates itself only using the artists as pawns."
Tristan raised his eyebrows at her statement and looked back at the painting. She could see him concentrating as he took in the image as a whole and then he turned back to her. "Touché."
Star laughed lightly and took his hand, walking toward the next exhibit.
Zack was ahead of them with his head tilted to the side and a bewildered expression on his face, staring at a modern abstract painting. As they approached, Zack straightened out and scratched his head.
"I know you love this place and all Star, but it confuses me."
Tristan tilted his head as Zack had a moment before, examining the painting. "Well, I think it's supposed to be an interpretation of love."
"Now how do you know that?" Zack crossed his arms.
Star started laughing. "Because it's called 'Love,' Zack, Tristan read the plaque."
"Oh, right. I knew that." Zack tried to shrug it off and walked away from them.
As soon as he wasn't looking, Tristan started cracking up. "That was entirely too easy."
"He doesn't get it. Zack i
s a hands-on person. If he has to interpret things himself instead of base it on science and fact, he's stumped," Star tried to explain.
"Sounds like my brother," Tristan huffed.
"You mean Art doesn't get...well...art?" she asked, laughing a bit at the concept.
Tristan shook his head as they stopped at the next painting. "Not at all. I mean the basic ones that are self-explanatory he gets. It's ones like even the Mona Lisa he can't wrap his mind around." He mimicked
