A/N: This is the first story I've posted on this site, however it is not the first fanfiction I have written. Some things you should know about my writing style: I tend to write dialogue in somewhat of a script format and the words in parentheses add some direction (as I literally try to picure the scene in my head and what I believe the actor/actress would do with a particular line).
About the story: I just got the idea for this in my head and had to write it down. I am dying to see "TM" interact with everyone back in Llanview now, but I actually really can't wait to see him interact with Starr, especially if he thinks he is/is actually Todd. I don't know why but I just can't wait to see it play out after so many years, and I just love the scenes they had years ago. And for him to now see that she's an adult and has a daughter of her own...I just really want to see that unfold. So this will be multi-chapter, but I can't promise frequent updates as I just write when I get ideas. I mean I have some fresh ones now, but I really have to work it all out in my head before I put it on here. Anyway, enough of my rambling, please enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think! I love specific reviews by the way, telling me exactly what you liked/didn't like, ideas for the story, etc.
Chapter One
A Walk in the Park...
Starr and James are walking through the park laughing and enjoying each other's company as Starr is testing out her new phone's camera. She turns the phone towards James and sees the side of his face on the screen.
Starr- (laughing) Smile, you're on candid camera.
James turns to face the camera and smiles at the comment, while he waves once at the camera.
James- (to the camera) You like your new toy, Twinkle? I would've thought Hope would have this reaction to it.
Starr- (smiling) Hey, I'm happy. You should take advantage of it.
James- (sarcastic) Why, because you're usually so miserable?
Starr- (also sarcastic) Of course. Everybody knows to steer clear of me until I have my first cup of coffee. And around Christmas; watch out for the big bad Grinch.
James- I thought it was Scrooge.
Starr- Whichever you prefer.
Starr stops recording, as she and James share a quick kiss. They stop to sit down on a bench and snuggle together. Even though it's a warm spring day, there's still something so special about warmth from another body. The feeling she gets when his arms are around her, makes getting a little sweaty from the sun's heat worth it.
Starr- Thank you for helping me pick out a new phone. I just needed a change, and thought it was the perfect thing to update.
James- It wasn't enough to send Deanna packing; you still had to get a new phone out of the deal.
Starr- (overdramatic) Well I was just devastated when I saw her coming on to you. I just couldn't bear to see it.
James- You knew she never had a chance, so the argument's invalid.
Starr- Perhaps, but (in a sing-song) I still wanted the phone.
James- And the truth comes out.
Starr- Well it's pretty; I got a pink case for it and everything.
James- Since when did you get so girly?
Starr- Well since I am a GIRL, I think being GIRLY is to be expected.
James- No, I know, but you're a girl who grew up wanting to work with reptiles. You're not the typical girl. I love that about you.
Starr- Thank you. I guess it's just one of my many charming qualities.
James gives her a loving look, sort of hypnotized by her.
James- I'll say.
Starr returns the look, as the lean in for another kiss. They separate and look at each other for another moment. They then look away and towards the park, as Starr once again focuses on her phone. She lifts it up, as if ready to record another video, and James notices.
James- (Quietly, so no one will hear) It's one thing to put ME on video, but you can't just record random people walking through the park.
Starr- Oh no? Watch me...I'm not some crazy stalker, I'm just having a little fun.
James- Well if playing with a cell phone is your idea of fun, be my guest.
Starr- Well thanks for the permission, DAD.
James- (putting his hand on his chest) OUCH.
Starr- Truth hurts, doesn't it?
James- I guess so.
Starr presses the record button and the phone begins to record the scene. She waves the phone around, trying to get video of everything. After a moment, something on the screen catches her attention. At that moment, the camera was pointed towards a man across the park. He bumped into another man, and didn't even stop. His head popped up for a moment, perhaps to quickly apologize, but Starr didn't notice his lips move. It was when she saw his face that she stopped leaning on the bench and sat straight up, her lips separating and mouth now hanging open a bit, as her eyes shifted from the screen of her phone, to the scene it was currently recording. James was confused by her quick movement, and followed her motion. As she saw the man walk away, she quickly stopped recording, and slowly put the arm holding the phone down on her lap. She stared off, frozen and in shock. James looked at her and grabbed her free hand, and she distractedly turned her head and looked towards him, but still never looking straight at him. It was as if the bushes behind him were keeping her attention, but that was not the case.
James- (concerned) You okay, Twinkle?
Starr was shaken from her trance at the sound of his voice. She finally looked at him, but seemed confused and a bit dazed.
Starr- (unconvincingly and quietly) Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine.
James- You're crazy if you think I'm gonna believe that.
James puts his hand on her face to catch her attention, and she REALLY looks at him for the first time, as tears form in her eyes.
James- Tell me what just happened. Did you see something that upset you?
Starr- No.
James- Okay, then WHAT?
Starr- ...SomeONE.
James moves the hand that was on her cheek down to place on the other side of Starr's empty hand.
James- What are you talking about?
Starr- ...Someone. I-I saw someone.
James- Who, Starr? Who did you see?
Starr's eyes are water balloons about to burst at this point.
Starr- ...My dad.
POP! A balloon bursts. A single tear escapes her right eye, and James quickly wipes it away, and then puts that hand back onto hers.
James- (comforting) What? Why would that upset you?
Starr- Not-not my dad
James looks confused, but Starr is so struck that she barely even notices, yet she still finishes her thought.
Starr- ...My old dad.
James- You gotta help me out here, Twinkle. I'm lost.
Starr- (upset and angry) His FACE! He had his face!
James- Who had whose face?
Starr points her arm out to where she saw the man walk by.
Starr- The man that was walking over there.
Starr looks back at James, and he is still very confused. He turns back to where she's pointing and then back to her. Starr is frustrated that he doesn't know what she means. So she gets an idea of how to prove it to him. She drops her arm back on her lap and frees her other hand from his, which was wrapped around it. Both hands grasp her phone.
Starr- (desperately) Look.
Starr plays back the video she just recorded. She managed to get a zoomed in view of the man's face and showed that part of the video to James and then paused it. She frantically points to the screen.
Starr- Him.
She looks up at James, assuming he now understands what she was trying to tell him. He squints while looking at the image, clearly still not getting the point. Starr is frustrated again because he simply cannot understand. She points at the screen again.
Starr- That man...
By now, Starr has calmed down a bit, and is now breathing a bit slower.
Starr- (quietly and in shock)...He looks just like my dad.
James looks back at Starr, puzzled, and then back at the screen. He squints to see some sort of resemblance, to makes sense of what she's telling him, but he just cannot grasp what's going on with her.
James- Starr, I've met your dad, this isn't him. He looks nothing like your dad.
Starr- Not the dad you've met...I mean yes, the dad you've met, but not the face you've seen.
James- What?
Starr finally realizes why James doesn't understand, and turns to look at him.
Starr- ...Oh my God, you-you don't know what happened to my dad, do you? I never told you about his accident.
James- Um, no, but I'm on the edge of my seat here.
Starr- Okay, um, about eight years ago we thought my dad was gone, and then this new guy Walker Laurence came around and my mom fell in love with him and married him.
James- Okay, I'm following.
Starr- Alright, so, the whole time my mom was with this guy, I hated him and wanted him gone, so my mom could be free to be with my dad when he finally came back to us. I refused to believe he was really gone, and could just leave us for good. I was right, because he did come back to us. He already had come back to us.
James- Now you're losing me again.
Starr- Walker Laurence was my dad. He finally confessed to me and proved to me that he was my dad. While he was gone he had an accident and had to have plastic surgeries. He ended up looking like the Todd Manning you've met.
James- Are you serious?
Starr- (dismissively) Yeah, but-
Starr focuses her attention back to the phone's screen, with the image of the man still paused in the video.
Starr- -But before he had those surgeries, THIS (pointing at the screen) is what he looked like.
James- Are you sure? I mean maybe you just think he looks like your dad. It's probably just a little resemblance. It just took you by surprise.
Starr- No-
She had been looking at the image for so long, but now notices something new about it. She doesn't know how she could've missed such a crucial detail.
Starr- (quietly) Oh my God!
Her free hand covers her mouth as she still stares at the phone she is holding in her other hand, and begins to slightly turn her head from side to side, signaling...
Starr- No. No. No.
James- Starr, what is it?
Starr's hand drops from her mouth to speak.
Starr- (frantic) The scar. He has the scar.
James- What scar?
Starr- My dad used to have a scar like that too.
James' head pops up at this to look at Starr and then back at the screen. He sees the scar she's talking about and swallows. Starr's hand covers her mouth again, as she leans her face into his shoulder. Her hand lets go of the phone as it falls on the soft ground. James picks it up and puts his arm around her protectively.
James- Come on, let's go. We're gonna go, ok?
James helps her stand up, and with his arm still wrapped tightly around her shoulders, and her still holding onto him, he leads them to her car. He helps her get into the passenger's side, as he gets into the driver's side. He grabs the keys out of her purse and starts the car.
James- Do you wanna go home or do you just wanna sit here for a little while?
Starr- (sniffling)I wanna go home.
James- You got it.
James grabs her hand as his other begins to steer them out of the parking lot, and towards Starr's house. Once they arrive, James takes Starr's purse and places it on the coat rack next to the front door. Starr distractedly walks into the living room. An idea pops into her head as she heads straight to a photo album under one of the tables. She opens it to a picture of her parents dancing at their wedding; their wedding with the gold balloons, that is. She sits down on the couch and stares at the picture. James sits down next to her and looks at the picture himself. His eyes go wide, in disbelief, and then he squints to make sure he isn't seeing things. He isn't. His mouth hangs open a bit, as Starr's did before.
James- That was your dad?
Starr- Uh-huh.
James- (under his breath)…Oh.
Starr- Uh-huh.
James pulls out Starr's cell phone again, which he had put in his jacket pocket, and goes back to the video Starr had taken. He pauses it on the man's face again and looked between the screen and the photo numerous times. It did look as if it was the same man. Starr had been right. He actually noticed that the photo showed the same side of the man's face, as Starr had gotten on tape. He saw that both men had the scar she had noticed. Now he understood how Starr could be so shaken up. In a sense, she really did see a ghost of her past. Starr had stopped crying on the way home, and now she was just on autopilot. She stared at the photo, trying to make sense of it all. She didn't even notice that James was holding the phone, so she didn't look at the recorded image again. They each sat in peace, unsure of what to think. The solemn couple's silent thoughts were interrupted when they heard the front door, and Blair entered the room, smiling.
Blair- Hey sweetie, James.
They both look up at her, truly at a loss for words, unsure of what to do. James forces a small smirk, but Blair notices the awkwardness and that Starr is upset and her smile fades.
Blair- Okay, what did I just walk into here?
Nothing but silence fills the room as Blair looks from one of them to the other.
Blair- Kids, I'm starting to get worried here. What's going on?
Starr and James share a quick look. Starr is somewhat questioning James as to whether or not she should tell her mother. She already knew Starr was upset about something; she might as well know why. Starr decides she will tell her.
Starr-...Um, mom...
Blair takes a few steps closer to them, and notices the photo album open on Starr's lap, but she keeps her focus on Starr.
Blair- Yeah?
Starr-...Something happened today.
Blair takes those few final steps to Starr and sits down next to her. She tucks a bit of Starr's hair behind her ear, trying to comfort her. She can tell her daughter is shaken up over something.
Blair- What happened sweetie? You can tell me.
Starr looks at Blair, and then turns her head towards the photo once again. Finally she notices the phone in James' hand and her gaze shifts to the haunting image displayed on its screen once again.
A/N: So let me know what you thought!