A/N: Wrote this ficlet to cheer up my buddy James Doyle. Hopefully it'll put a smile on all of your faces.

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WITH JUST ONE CALL

London threw her purse onto her bed and collapsed on the mattress after it. Bailey was out, no doubt on some lame poor person date with Cody, so she was alone in their quarters. She was alone in here more and more often of late. Normally this would be a good thing. London generally enjoyed having the room to herself, Bailey was so much more bearable when she wasn't talking London's ear off about science or the environment and how London's wardrobe was an affront to both, but tonight she wished Bailey were here to keep her company.

She'd had another very brief call with her father earlier in the afternoon. London had wanted to tell him about all the wonderful places she'd been and sights she'd seen since they'd last spoken, but he'd had no time for anything more than a brief 'hi sweetie, love you, gotta go!' when he'd finally picked up the phone on her sixth attempt. That was how their calls had been going for the last four months and London was starting to feel very alone out here without even her father to talk with.

Cody and Zack had each abandoned her in favor of their romantic pursuits, Bailey was obviously off with Cody, Moseby was busy, and Woody was...Woody. London really had no one around that she could talk to or spend time with. All her friends were back in Boston, New York, or California living the life she wanted to be living as a wealthy socialite.

She reached up and dug into her purse to drag out her phone. She scrolled through her contacts looking for anyone she could talk to. She knew the majority of her friends in the city were busy with various events, having spoken with them earlier in the week, but she still hoped to find one person who wasn't otherwise occupied. She kept scrolling, and wow did she have a lot of contacts, she couldn't even remember putting half of them in there but there they were. Scroll, scroll, scroll. No, no, no. Busy, busy, busy...bingo!

There was a name she hadn't seen in a while.

Maddie.

There was a time when London wouldn't have gone more than twenty-four hours without seeing Maddie. They'd been best friends in Boston, and a little more than that in the darkness of London's rooms. Maddie had been at the Boston Tipton performing her duties as the candy counter girl almost as often as London, who lived there, was. But things had definitely changed. If London remembered things correctly she and Maddie hadn't spoken since Maddie had seen she and the twins off in the Tipton lobby. An occasional email had been the most contact they'd had. London having been busy adjusting to life on the ship and Maddie getting used to balancing her college courses with her job.

London hit the call button and listened to the ringing tones. Ring, ring, ring. London sighed, the grating noise setting her on edge. Ring, ring, ring. She pursed her lips and threw an arm over her eyes. Ring, ring, ring. London swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Ring, ring, ring. Beep. London closed her phone. Even Maddie was too busy to take her call.

London let the hand holding the phone flop listlessly onto the pillow. Now she was really depressed and completely alone.

Her phone buzzed in her hand, the vibration immediately drawing her attention. Without looking she clicked it open and answered with a hopeful, "Hello?"

"London?" the slightly tinny voice of Maddie Fitzpatrick came through the line, "Hey! What're you doing calling me? I thought you'd be gallivanting in the tropics by now!"

London could hear the smile in Maddie's voice and smiled in return, "The tropics aren't much fun when you're by yourself."

"By yourself? London, you're on a ship full of people!"

"And not a single one do I want to talk to as much as I want to talk to you," London might be couching her loneliness in a Maddie-flattering way, but Maddie heard the underlying tone of sadness.

"London, what's really going on?"

Maddie always had had a way of cutting through to the heart of the issue. She'd been particularly good at seeing right through London, even over the phone and thousands of miles apart Maddie could read her like a book.

"I'm lonely," London confessed quietly, "Everyone on the ship is too busy to spend time with me. And no one is taking my calls today. Not even Daddy."

"Oh, London," Maddie sighed into the phone, "I'm sure it's not that bad. I took your call."

"No," London countered, "You missed my call and had to call back."

She could practically feel Maddie roll her eyes, "The point is that we're talking together now. You're not as alone as you think you are."

London sighed, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh for," Maddie huffed loudly, "Just open your door."

London shot up from her bed and rushed to her door to fling it open.

On the other side Maddie shut her phone, smiled as widely as her mouth would allow, and pulled London into a fierce hug.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here? Why didn't you say anything?" London squeezed Maddie and buried her face against her friend's neck.

Maddie rocked London side to side, managing to move them both deep enough into the room to close the door, "I missed you. Your dad flew me out. And I didn't say anything because if I had I wouldn't have gotten to see that surprised look on your face."

London laughed self deprecatingly and pulled back. Maddie didn't let her get far, putting her hands on either side of London's face and kissing her breathless. When they parted London hummed, "Daddy didn't fly you all the way out here to do that."

Maddie grinned, "He flew me out here to make you happy."

"That's going to take a lot more than one kiss," London whispered.

"Then it's a good thing we've got all week," Maddie kissed London softly once and continued, "and I have a private room."

"Then what are we doing wasting time here?"

London smiled as Maddie grabbed her hand and led her to a week of pure bliss.

THE END

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A/N: Hope this cheered you up JD! The rest of you, please review. Also, I want to remind you all that the Halloween Collection needs more stories and we're accepting submissions. Please contact myself or Lodylodylody if you're interested in participating!