Lee had figured that the whole situation with the wedding picture would have been more uncomfortable for Tarin. But based on how he was questioning it…maybe not?

But as he continued speaking,a slight blush covered her cheeks. ”I didn't think it would upset you,” Lee told him. ”But I thought if it was getting weird and uncommon for me, it must have been for you too.

“Though,” Lee's voice trailed off as her eyes dropped, the crease between her brows growing deeper. He wanted her to tell him things, to tell him everything, not leaving things out because she was worried how he would react. This would be one of those things, right?

Lee took a breath before starting to speak again. ”It feel very weird to call him ‘my Tarin’.” As she finished speaking, Lee reached out a hand to grab his as she looked up at him.

”It’s weird and uncomfortable…but it’s going to be.” Tarin said, looking steadily back at Lee, ”I see these things and hear the things you talk about and I realize that I missed out on a lot of things.” he said, ”I can’t change any of it now, but it is a bit hard to know that I probably could have reached out to my family at some point and everything would have been okay….” He was supposed to be trying to share more, wasn’t he? Tarin hoped it made sense.

”It’s not uncomfortable for me that you had this whole, extraordinary life before I ever even existed in this universe.” Tarin added, had he put a little bit of extra emphasis on the word “extraordinary?” Maybe he had.

Lee said one more thing, and as he took her hand and entwined their fingers Tarin frowned slightly down at her.

”I won’t do it anymore then. It just seemed easier to say than, ‘The Tarin who originated on this side of the rift’ when I’m trying to distinguish between the two of us.“

Lee nodded as she listened to Tarin explain what was so weird about everything. And it did make sense. Even only counting up until when the Rift closed, that had been almost a decade since she had taken Josh's number and dialed, forcing that first contact. She honestly wasn't sure whether he ever would have in this own.

”If there's anything that you ever want my to tell you, let me know,” she whispered.

Then Tarin went on about how her having a whole life before he had even crossed over to this world wasn't uncomfortable. ”I know. It just…feels different, when talking about him than Blaine…

“And thank you,” Lee whispered when he said that he wouldn't call Kevin's father ‘her Tarin‘ anymore. Then she squeezed his hand and have him a smile. ”Because I'm pretty sure that you're my Tarin…”

Tarin shook his head when Lee said she’d tell him anything he wanted to know. There was a point where curiosity got morbid and he and Lee had agreed that these people were unlikely to know a thing about him. It was just asking for trouble to know too much. ”No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” he said.

It made sense that it was different, and potentially difficult for Lee to talk about the other Tarin. ”That’s totally fair.” he said.

Lee was appreciative that he’d agreed to change his verbiage when referring to the other Tarin and then she said that she thought that he was her Tarin.

”Yeah?” he said grinning back.

Lee nodded when Tarin said that he didn't want to be told anything. That was very fair, it was a very strange situation. And despite how similar things were, they were complete strangers to each other. And the similarities would probably be just enough to make it that much more weird.

And Tarin seemed to understand that it was sometimes weirder and more difficult to talk about Kevin's father with him than it was about Blaine.

The grin that Tarin gave her when she said that he was her Tarin made Lee smile even wider. ”Well yeah…” she replied with a shrug. ”I mean, at this point, how could I not think that? I mean, unless you don't want me to think of you like that?”

”No, I like it…” Tarin said, still holding Lee’s hand as they sat there on the couch together. It made sense, after all, but ”I just never really thought about it that way before.”

Well, it seemed like they’d hashed out all of the serious stuff for the evening, and that was all perfectly good with Tarin. Their conversations turned dark all too often and while this one had gotten a little weird, they were both still smiling and that was something.

”Did you want to play more, or should we risk major disappointment and turn the game on to see what’s happening?” Tarin had a feeling he knew what Lee’s answer was going to be since she was still pretty emphatic that baseball was not her thing. That was fine though, Tarin really had been enjoying listening to her playing

It made sense that Tarin hadn’t thought that way about it before. He was from her world, was her ex-husband, was the father of her child. It did make sense in that respect to call him ‘her Tarin’.

”It was a little weird even before us,” Lee said softly with a slight shrug. ”Understandable, but weird. I mean, he really hadn't been ‘my Tarin’ in over a decade. Not since he refused to leave the city with me, and then actually signed the divorce papers…”

Yeah…because it hadn't been weird and awkward enough already.

”I can play some more,” Lee said. ”Save any disappointment for just numbers on your phone rather than having to watch it?”

That said, Lee got her guitar settled on her lap again, then looked over at Tarin. ”Since you don’t give me any requests, what kind of music do you like?”

Tarin felt his brows raise as Lee explained that the other Tarin hadn’t been hers in over a decade.

Tarin did not press for more details, there was apparently a limit to his curiosity when it came to the Tarin from this side of the rift. Obviously this Tarin had no idea about what had gotten things to that point with the two of them, and he wouldn’t ever say it out loud…but anyone who would choose a place over Lee was a fool.

Lee elected to play some more, as Tarin assumed she would, so he settled in to listen some more…and ask him what kind of music he liked. Apparently he should have been making requests.

Thinking for a minute, Tarin just shook his head, ”I never really got into the music scene. I always kind of just listened to whatever was on the radio. I didn’t get to listen to a lot of music when I was a teenager so I guess I missed the window for fanatical band or genre allegiance”

Tarin paused and thought for a minute more, ”I’ve got a mix that I listen to when I run that has a good tempo for pacing. I read somewhere that 120- 130 beats per minute apparently helps you keep pace and it’s worked pretty well. I’ve liked everything you’ve played though, even if I didn’t know it all. ”

Tarin looked surprised about what she was saying about her ex-husband. But they’d talked about htat, hadn’t they? She and the spirit at the Empire State Building had talked about how he hadn’t left, and the spirit had explained his reasons, which she had learned through that link created by his powers, why he couldn’t leave the city.

Though Tarin had been very distracted that day, considering it was the first time since he’d been really conscious after Lee had found him during the merge. And he had been trying to get Lee to stop ‘following’ him, so it made sense that he hadn’t really paid attention or remembered that conversation.

But they had talked about it other times, right?

Not that it really mattered all that much.

Especially not after Tarin revealed that he not only hadn’t listened to much music growing up, but that he simply listened to what was on the radio. And that the music he listened to when he ran had been chosen based on tempo rather than genre. Or even chosen based on the artist or mood the music evoked.

Just tempo.

Lee sat there staring at Tarin for almost a solid minute in shocked surprise, the guitar on her lap almost completely forgotten. ”Ok, that’s something we’re going to have to fix,” Lee told him, her mind already trying to figure out how to introduce him to different genres and periods of music. ”I’m far from a music expert, and you can obviously listen to whatever you want, but it sounds like you need a whole lot more exposure to music to be able to make those decisions.”

The way that Lee stared at him when he answered about the kind of music he liked, Tarin wondered if he had done or said something wrong.

Lee seemed absolutely flabbergasted that he had never really gotten into music and when she said they were going to have to fix that, Tarin just laughed and shook his head.

”You’re clearly more knowledgeable than I am.” Tarin said, ”But sure. I’m always game to learn more.” he added.

”I’m not totally clueless, but everyone I was around as a kid mostly listened to country Wasn’t really my thing.”

When Tarin started laughing, Lee just blinked at him. What she had said wasn't funny, was it? At least she hadn't thought so, music was important. Even if it was just something you listened to in the background, it could change a person's mood, or the atmosphere of a place or event.

At least he was willing to learn, to let Lee expose him purposely to different kinds of music so he could figure out what he liked.

”I’m not totally clueless, but everyone I was around as a kid mostly listened to country Wasn’t really my thing.”

”That’s a start at least,” Lee said, giving Tarin a smile. ”and bonus, I won’t have to learn about or listen to country for this. Though, like most things in life, there are always exceptions.”

That said, Lee looked down at her guitar again, tapping on the wood as she contemplated what to play. Tarin’s mention about having not found his music niche in his teens made Lee think back. What songs had been important for her during the short time she actually went to high school? While Lee could name a lot of songs, there were only a handful that she knew how to play.

And so Lee started strumming on her guitar.

”Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

Well, Lee agreed about country music. Tarin supposed that was a good thing, but had Lee looked a bit offended when he had laughed?

Tarin supposed he’d been a little thoughtless there. Music was clearly important to Lee, she played at least two different instruments and sang, and knew all kinds of different songs from memory. He’d have to do better in the future. ”Sorry, I’ll take things more seriously.” he said.

Lee was thoughtful now, and Tarin didn’t interrupt her as she thought. Then Lee started to play and it was a song that Tarin did actually know. This song, and band, had been wildly popular. Tarin mouthed along with the words he knew as Lee sang and when she finished he smiled.

”Now that one I knew…and it’s a good song.”

” Not everything, I hope,” Lee replied when Tarin said he'd take things more seriously. She really did enjoy the fooling around, and the joking they did together. ”I just didn't think what I said was funny.”

Once she finished playing, Lee looked over at Tarin, her face looking slightly relieved as he spoke. ”Oh thank goodness. You're not a completely hopeless case,” Lee teased, reaching out with her hand to gently push good shoulder as she was sitting just too far away to be able to nudge him with her own. ” I'm not sure what I would have done if you hadn't at least recognized that song.”

”It wasn’t what you said, I just hadn’t ever thought to take music so seriously.” Tarin said, ”But then I realized that I was being pretty thoughtless and that obviously it’s important to you so I was being kind of a jerk…”

As for the song, Lee seemed relieved that Tarin recognized the song and even gave him a little shove when she pointed out that she wouldn’t have known what to do if he hadn’t known it.

”It played a lot on the radio,” he said by way of explanation, ”It still plays a lot on the radio.”

Tarin thought for a moment, ”I was in like…middle school, when it came out. Even the country folks were singing that one.”

That was true. That song had always been played on the radio a fair bit since it had come out. And not that she really listened to the radio much anymore, but the odd time she did, it wasn't uncommon to hear.

Except that it couldn't have come out when Tarin was in middle school. Lee’s head tilted slightly, a frown on her face as she looked at Tarin. ”No,” Lee said slowly, confused, as she looked at Tarin. ”I know for a fact that this song came out in ‘97, because I was in grade 9 and just after it came out the doctors visits started.

“You must be thinking of their earlier songs,” Lee reasoned, the confusion slowly disappearing from her face as she logic’ed her way out. ”Because age-wise, you definitely would have been finished high school by the time they released this song.”