The living situation on this show has confused me yet again Starr and her family are living with Dorian and Langston currently, right? That's where I have her right now. I know in the third chapter, I made it sound like Starr was living somewhere other than with Langston, but, uh, that was a mistake, let's all pretend it didn't happen

Chapter 5

Starr's cell phone buzzed with the alert of a new text message, and with an exasperated groan, Starr glanced at the screen; from Langston, big surprise. She read the message, alerting her yet again to Cole's offer to escort her to prom, and groaned; she didn't know who was more persistent, her ex or her best friend.

"You okay?"

Starr glanced over at Schuyler in the kitchen and forced a smile that didn't convince him for a second.

"Yeah; why?

"You just seem a little edgy today- why?"

Starr hesitated for a moment, having a feeling she wouldn't like his reaction to this, but continued after a moment.

"I'm nervous about prom," she told him, sighing. "And everybody is talking about it lately, today in particular, so it's on my mind. If I could just skip it, I would, but Langston would freak."

"Even if she wouldn't, you shouldn't skip it," Schuyler said instantly, something that looked way too much like guilt flashing in his eyes. "I will admit that prom is rarely what people make it out to be, but it's still an important experience. For better or worse you remember it forever, and you'd regret it if you didn't go. Why don't you want to?" he questioned, his head bowing slightly, sounding as if he already knew the answer.

"Not because of you, Schuyler," she said instantly, knowing him all too well; she wanted to stop that line of thinking before it went too far. "So please, don't be all 'Oh, no, she should have a normal high school boyfriend she can go to dances with, I'm robbing her of a normal life', blah blah blah, okay? I'm not letting you push me away again, I am holding on for dear life, so don't even bother with that, over prom, of all issues. Got it?"

"Got it," he replied softly, forcing those kinds of thoughts from his mind. As he reminded himself on a regular basis, if he had any ounce of respect for Starr, he should certainly respect the fact that she had chosen him. "Then what is the reason?"

"Cole," she admitted, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I would have no problem just going solo and hanging with Langston and Markko, but I don't think he's going to let that happen without a fight. Our big shining moment as a couple occurred at prom, and I think he's expecting it to happen again and for us to get back together there; unfortunately, that fantasy," she stressed the word, glancing at him to make sure he got it.

Schuyler smiled and nodded; he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the only one Starr wanted. They had to fight too hard to be together, and with Hope being alive and Cole getting better, there was no reason for her to still be fighting if he wasn't.

"is only being fueled on by Langston. She keeps pushing Cole on me like crazy, and going on and on about how we belong together and it's gonna happen eventually so I should just stop fighting, and it drives me insane. Oh, by the way, as she's told me a thousand times, it turns out I've just become infatuated with you to deal with my pining for Cole, try not to be too heartbroken over that fact," Starr deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

Schuyler laughed; though he'd yet to succeed in erasing his doubts about whether or not he was good for Starr, he had at least gotten to the point where he'd realized the idea of Starr still wanting Cole was funny.

"I know she's just trying to help, but it's made things much worse for me, and I think he's just gonna bug me all night. To be honest, I wish we lived in some perfect universe where I could just go with you," she sighed. Schuyler smiled sadly; so did he.

"Hey, I am going to be there, at least, as a chaperone," he offered, shrugging.

"Really?" Starr asked in surprise.

"I didn't think they'd want me there after last time either," he said, accurately guessing what she was thinking, as usual. "But nobody else wanted the job; apparently, having me there is just another form of punishment."

"I'm sorry," Starr said sheepishly, knowing he was only receiving punishment because of her.

"Don't be," he assured her warmly. "Anyway, I just brought it up because if Cole does try to bother you, I'll step in, believe me."

"Mr. J," she gasped, feigning shock. "Are you saying you'd abuse your chaperoning powers?" He just winked and she giggled.

"You know, Starr…" Schuyler began slowly a moment later as he considered something, hating what he was about to say. "Maybe you should go with a date."

"What?" Her eyes were wide, startled. "You want me to go with some other guy?" she asked in alarm.

"No!" Schuyler replied instantly, his voice firm. "No, no, hell no I don't want you to. I cannot begin to tell you how much I don't want you to." She grinned, relieved. "I just think it might be…smart," he sighed. "It would take attention and suspicion off of us, and it might convince Cole to stay away."

"True," she admittedly quietly, dropping her eyes to the floor as she licked her lips. "But I don't know, I just…feel weird about being there with some other guy, especially in front of you. I mean, if the situations were reversed, even if it was fake, it would kill me to see you with some other girl. And besides, if this is supposed to be some big rite of passage that I'll remember forever, I don't know if I want to remember that I was there with some fake date, using some poor guy all the while wishing I could just make out with the chaperone in a broom closet. Oh, God, I'm not even going to be able to just hang around you like at the last dance, am I?" she realized before groaning loudly, burying her head in her hands. "God, I'm an idiot; I wish I had never kissed you."

"Uh, can't say I wish the same."

"No, I didn't mean it like that," she laughed, quickly walking over and kissing him to prove her point. "Of course I don't wish I hadn't kissed you, considering your cowardly self wasn't ever going to make a move," she teased, nudging his shoulder with her own. "I just kind of wish I hadn't kissed you in the middle of the school while VP Dickinson and every other member of the student body was just feet away; not one of my brighter moments. At least then I could actually talk to you at this stupid dance without you, like, getting arrested."

"I still think it was a fair trade off," he murmured, running his hand through her hair before capturing her lips once more. Starr sank into his kiss, her knees feeling like jelly.

"Well, you've convinced me," Starr said in a dazed tone with a slight giggle as they parted, before growing serious.

"I'll go, but I'm not going to go with a date," she decided. Schuyler couldn't control the twinge of relief he felt, despite it being his own idea. "It wouldn't be fair to whoever I would go with, and I just wouldn't have any fun."

"You sure? I don't want you to think that you-"

"My decision has nothing to do with you," she cut him off. "I seriously don't care about being alone at the dance; knowing I'm not going to be alone after it is more than enough for me, that's all I want, end of story. I l…"

Starr quickly caught herself and swallowed roughly, unable to believe how close she'd come to blurting out those three words; that was like, the fifth time she'd done that in a few days. It shouldn't really be surprising, she felt that way around him all the time, but the thought of saying it when she had no idea how he would react freaked her out.

"I'll have more fun without a date," she quickly saved herself, changing the subject in a hurry. "Now," she began leadingly. "I think I might be having a change of heart over the trade off being worth it, I think I need more convincing, if you're up for it."

Schuyler grinned suggestively, grasping her hips and pulling her body tight to his as he kissed her sensually, pressing her against the counter, and Starr emitted a quiet moan of pleasure, fisting the back of his shirt and pulling her self somehow even closer to him, before he pulled back for the briefest of moments to speak.

"It'd be my pleasure."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, Starr! You look so beautiful!"

Starr smiled as she descended the stairs at Dorian's a few days later, on the night of prom, having just finished her hair and make-up.

"Thanks, mom," Starr said, smiling warmly as she saw her mother's watery eyes.

Dorian and Blair gushed over the girls for several minutes, the teen girls exchanging amused looks as they were forced to pose for what seemed like an endless amount of pictures, before they were finally ushered out the door and to the limo, tossing their bags for the sleepover they were attending after the dance in the back.

"See, this is going to be so much fun, Starr! Aren't you glad you agreed to come?" Langston gushed on, oblivious to her friend's lack of enthusiasm. "You would have regretted it so much if you didn't come. I'm so glad you got so into it- I never expected you to want to leave early! I still don't see why you wouldn't go with Cole, though," she sighed. "I mean, just look at how the last prom turned out. You guys are obviously meant for each other, everyone can see it! Just think, wouldn't it be romantic if you worked things out at prom?"

As Langston continued to ramble on about Starr and Cole and the magic of prom or something, Starr tuned her out; she used to feel guilty about ignoring her best friend, but she'd quickly realized it was the only possible way to preserve her own sanity when Langston went into one of her rambling sessions about Cole.

She was given a break when they picked Markko up and the boy took over Langston's attention, allowing her to spend the rest of the limo ride in peace. They arrived at school a few minutes later, and Starr quickly ran through her plan once more in her mind before speaking.

"Ready, Starr?" Langston chirped up, quickly doing a scan of the crowd for Cole.

"Yeah!" Starr chirped, pretending to be eager to get inside. She grabbed her clutch, digging inside for a moment, and then feigned surprise. "Oh, no."

"What?" Langston instantly asked with a furrowed brow. Starr gave an exaggerated sigh of disappointment.

"Shoot; Langston, I'm so sorry- I was in such a rush to get going that I forgot my ticket! I'm just going to head back to the house real quick and grab it."

"Oh, well, we'll go with y-"

"NO!" Starr shouted before quickly catching herself. "I mean, there's really no point in that. Go say hi to everyone, I'll be back before you know it."

"You sure?"

"Totally."

"Okay, well, hurry!"

Langston and Markko left to mingle with the other students that had arrived early, and Starr quickly went back home and dashed upstairs to grab the ticket she'd purposely left behind so she'd be covered if Langston mentioned Starr going back home to her mom and Dorian; she was out the door so fast that the two older women barely had time to throw her a bewildered glance and catch her rushed explanation.

Once back in the limo, Starr directed the driver to drop her off a couple of blocks from the Angel Square Motel, and as usual, he did what she what requested, no questions asked- she'd always liked that about him.

As he pulled to a stop, Starr quickly fished her long coat out from under the seats and managed to get most of her dress covered as she slid out of the car, so as to avoid drawing attention to herself. Starr allowed herself a satisfied smile over how well her plan had worked out as she walked to the motel; sneaking around with Schuyler had given her some serious skills.

"Schuyler?" she called as she opened the door, hoping she'd caught him in time.

"Starr?" she heard his surprised voice coming from the back of the room as she shrugged her jacket off, feeling a slight nervous twist in her stomach. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the school?"

"I just wanted to stop by for a minute first, see you in your suit now so everybody in the gym doesn't see my jaw drop like at the spring fling," she called back, her voice playful. "Figured I should let you see the finished product now too."

"Well, I…"

Starr never found out how Schuyler was going to finish that sentence, as he walked into the room at that moment and suddenly froze, his eyes lighting up as he drank in the sight of her. He was silent, appearing dazed, breathless, and Starr averted her eyes bashfully, her heart getting that funny, jumpy feeling it often did around him.

"I'm hoping this is a good silence."

"Better than good," Schuyler finally breathed. "Much, much better than good. You are…wow. Beautiful is such an understatement that it seems insulting. You look amazing, Starr."

Starr felt a furious blush crawl across her cheeks in response to the sincerity of his words and intensity of his gaze.

"Thank you," she replied softly, her face still feeling incredibly hot as she shot him a shy smile. "Not looking too bad yourself; let's just say it was a good thing I came over here first, or else I might have lost self-control and thrown myself at you at the dance."

"And again I have to say that the consequences of that would have been a fair trade," he chuckled, quickly crossing the room to her and embracing her tightly as they kissed. "How did you even get here without Langston or your mom finding out?"

"Oh, I'm super stealthy these days, I think I could, like, pull off a robbery if I needed to. If you're lucky, I just might teach you someday."

"Looking forward to it," he chuckled.

Starr grinned, taking one last look at him and stealing one more kiss, before grabbing her jacket from the back of the couch and shrugging it back on.

"Okay, I know I've been here for like, thirty seconds, but unfortunately, I have to go before Langston starts suspecting something. I'll see you after the dance, though, okay? Meet you here."

"How are you going to…" he trailed off as Starr gave him a pointed look, and he grinned. "Right, you're stealthy. Have fun tonight, okay?"

"Yeah, we'll see," she muttered, walking out the door to pleasant sound of Schuyler's laughter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As it turned out, Starr had been a lot more accurate than Schuyler about what the night was going to be like for her. When she arrived at the dance, Langston had already found Cole and given him a seat right next to the one she'd saved for Starr, and from the instant Starr had sat down, she'd been bombarded with reminders about the last prom.

Not even five minutes had passed without one of them bringing up what a perfect couple Starr and Cole had been, remarking on how well rehab had been going for Cole, 'innocently' suggesting Starr and Cole share a dance for 'old times sake'. Markko at least seemed to be on her side and dragged Langston off to the dance floor, shooting her a sympathetic look.

"So, here we are again, huh?" Cole asked with a slight laugh, gesturing around the room.

"Yep," Starr sighed absently, starting to wish she had gone with Schuyler's idea.

"You sure you don't want to dance?"

"Cole, it's sweet of you to offer, I appreciate it, but I really don't think that would be a good idea."

"What wouldn't? Dancing?" he asked with an amused smile.

"Look, I just don't want to give you the wrong idea, okay?" she said gently, deciding to be completely honest. "I know what you said about not giving up, but you and I are not going to happen, Cole- ever. And I just don't want to do anything that might give you hope."

"I'm gonna have hope anyway, Starr," he informed her. She resisted the urge to groan and slam her head to the table. "I know what you said about is being over, but I know that you and I are meant to be, and that you're going to see that eventually. Not dancing with me isn't going to have any effect on what I feel, so really, you might as well."

"Cole," she groaned. "We are not meant to be! You and I were high school, puppy dog, first love, never meant to be more than that! We're not right for each other anymore! If you were honest with yourself, you'd see that too."

"Okay, well then, how about you just dance with me one last time as a sort of…farewell to our relationship?" he suggested, still grinning. Starr emitted another sigh, though she couldn't help feel a twinge of amusement mixed in with the irritation.

"You still don't agree with a word I said, do you?"

"Nope."

"Cole, if I dance with you once, will you please just let this go, at least for tonight, and go ask some other girl to dance?"

"Yes!" he said instantly.

"Okay, then."

Starr reluctantly rose to her feet and he did the same; Cole offered his hand, but Starr hooked her arm through his instead as they walked to the dance floor, deciding it looked friendlier. Once they were out on the floor, Cole instantly moved his hands to her waist, but with a stern look, Starr grabbed one of them in her own hand, moving them to the more formal dance position.

"We are dancing as friends."

"Got it, got it."

As he spun her to the rhythm of the song, Starr caught sight of Schuyler over Cole's shoulder, staring at them with a strange look on his face, and Starr couldn't help smiling slightly as it hit her a second later that the look was jealousy. When she'd thought Schuyler was with Stacy, she had constantly felt an uncomfortable surge of jealousy twisting in her stomach just imagining them together; maybe this wasn't great to admit, but since he was always so calm and collected, she couldn't help enjoying seeing the proof that this affected him the same way.

"See, this isn't so bad," Cole said, misinterpreting her smile.

"No," she admitted. "But we're still never gonna happen."

"Never say never, Starr."

As soon as the song ended, Starr reminded Cole of his promise, and to her pleasant surprise, he simply kissed her hand and walked away to find another girl, just as he'd agreed to. His persistence was still kind of irritating, but now that he was clean, at least he wasn't so…angry and insistent upon it.

"Starr!" Langston squealed, suddenly appearing at her side. "Oh my gosh, I just saw you and Cole- what happened?! I have to go to the bathroom, come with me, tell me everything!"

With an exasperated, quiet laugh, Starr just followed as her friend tugged her along. As they neared Schuyler, Starr fell behind a few steps, shooting him a secretive, warm smile that erased all those hints of jealousy from his eyes.

'The punch is spiked," Starr muttered through her teeth as she quickly passed him, looking straight ahead; neither he nor VP Dickinson seemed to have caught on yet.

"Damn," Schuyler muttered, heading off to deal with it. He was seriously the worst chaperone ever. "How did I miss that?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once Cole decided to let her be, which led Langston to do the same, the rest of the dance was actually pretty fun, and Starr had to grudgingly admit to herself Schuyler had been right- she probably would have regretted not coming.

To her surprise, at the end of the night when they were all saying goodbye to Cole, Langston did not push, make any suggestive comments, or come up with an excuse to leave them alone together. Starr knew Langston was only doing all of this because she was so concerned about her happiness, and believed Cole was what she wanted, but it got tiring having to dance around the subject all the time.

She wished she could just tell Langston about Schuyler, but their relationship was just so important to Starr that she really didn't think she could handle it if Langston belittled her feelings yet again, insisted they weren't real and this wouldn't last. Starr wished more than anything that she could just make Langston understand; it got a little sad sometimes, not being able to gush to her friend about her boyfriend like all other teenage girls did.

She and Langston arrived at their friend's house shortly after prom and quickly got changed into their sweats, joining the other girls in the kitchen to gossip over various incidents that had happened at prom (Starr was amused by just how much Schuyler had missed) while Adriana made popcorn and various other typical slumber party treats. Starr waited for a sufficient amount of time to pass, until the party was in full swing and she knew Langston would be too distracted to really miss her, and then quickly grabbed her bag, fishing through it with a frustrated look on her face.

"Shoot," she sighed. "Lang, I have been a total scatterbrain today- I forgot my toothbrush and everything I'm gonna need tonight too."

"Want me to call Dorian, see if she'll have someone run them down?" Langston asked absently, already caught up in telling Jamie about how amazing Markko had been to her all night.

"Nah, I'm just gonna run down to the store and buy a couple things, no reason to bother them. I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay!" Langston replied, barely even waving as Starr left, grinning to herself.

Starr got to Schuyler's quickly, as Adriana lived within walking distance of the ASM, and let herself in.

"Told you I'd get here," she sang out in greeting.

Schuyler came walking out from the bedroom, laughing.

"I have to give it to you, you really are the queen of stealth," he remarked, walking over and wrapping her in his arms. Starr grinned, cuddling into his embrace. "So, how was it?"

"Not that bad, actually," she admitted. "Once Cole backed off, I actually had fun. How about you?"

"You know, not as horrible as I was expecting; things were surprisingly calm."

"Oh, Schuy," she laughed. "I hate to break this to you, but you only think that because you're kind of the worst chaperone ever and didn't catch half of what happened. On your watch, the punch got spiked, Lisa and Jessica got into a bloody catfight in the hall, and I think a baby might have been conceived in the gym supply closet- and those are just the first things coming to mind."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I obviously missed the class VP Dickinson offers on how to see out of the back of your head," Schuyler muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. Starr giggled.

"Nobody can be good at everything," she offered consolingly, patting him on the back. He chuckled.

"So, where were you coming from anyway?" he asked curiously, taking in her attire.

"Ah, post prom sleepover," she admitted, plucking at the sweats. "I know, not quite as grand an entrance." Schuyler shook his head, smiling.

"You look just as beautiful now as you did then." Starr blushed happily. "So, are you glad you went?"

"Yes, I have to admit, I am- don't rub it in. It still would have been better if I could have danced with you, though," she said, unable to help her slight wistful sigh.

Schuyler was quiet for a moment, as his eyes flickered to the stereo sitting on the dresser, and then he slowly smiled, extending his hand to her.

"May I have this dance?"

"What?" she asked, giggling.

"I'm serious; dance with me," he requested softly. There went that fluttery feeling in her heart.

"I'd love to," she replied seriously, eyes sparkling.

She took his hand and Schuyler pulled her close to him as he reached out and hit play.

"With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride! You're toxic, I'm slipping under!"

As the loud, thumping beats exploded from the speakers, there were a moment of brief, stunned silence from both of them, before Starr suddenly burst into hysterical laughter, her entire body shaking.

"Britney Spears?!"

"Apparently Stacy left her CDs here," he sighed, shaking his head, raising his voice to be heard over the music.

"A likely story!" Starr choked out, taking a short breath before cracking up again. "Oh my God, it's not even the original, it's a techno club remix!" she shrieked, doubling over.

"Imagine listening to this everytime you're in the car with someone," Schuyler said grimly, recalling wanting to stick a fork in his ears anytime he let Stacy control the stereo.

"Schuyler, there's no shame in it- just admit you bought Nonstop Dance Party 3."

Schuyler quickly ejected the CD, carelessly tossing it across the room to the pile of crap he needed to give Stacy sometime and putting in something more appropriate for the moment, but had to wait several minutes for Starr to regain her breath and wipe the tears of laughter from her eyes.

"That was kind of a moment ruiner, huh?"

"No, no!" Starr said quickly, reaching out and flicking off the overheads, leaving them in the dim light coming from the bedroom, before grabbing his hands and putting them back on her waist. "Not at all. Now, time for that dance."

Starr hit play and the soft ballad filled the room; Schuyler smiled warmly, pulling her back into his arms and holding her securely. Starr nestled her head against his chest, a warm feeling of complete peace spreading throughout her as they swayed lightly to the beat.

They danced in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, as Starr felt that overwhelming rush of love for him more than ever and took a deep breath, trying to work up her courage; if she was ever going to say it, this seemed like an ideal moment.

"Starr," Schuyler murmured against her hair a moment later, just as she was about to speak.

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

Schuyler took a deep breath as well now, gently halting their dance and pulling back so he could look her in the eyes, cupping her face in his hands.

"I love you."

Starr instantly felt her heart leap into her throat, and for a moment, she felt almost dizzy with a disbelieving sort of joy, her head spinning.

"I love you too," she said instantly, a wide grin appearing on her face.

His eyes lit up the way she imagined hers must have, and, unable to contain this overwhelming happiness she felt, Starr just pressed her hand to the back of his head and pulled his lips down to hers, kissing him passionately, intensely; she kissed him with everything she had in her, hoping it would express everything that she knew words would fail to. Schuyler crushed her body to his, holding her in that perfect way that made her wish he never had to let go, and Starr felt like she was floating on cloud nine.

Schuyler had been right; she would always remember this night, but not because of the big glitzy prom- because of this, this moment right now, dancing in this little motel room in her sweats with the guy she loved more than she'd ever thought possible, as he said those three words to her. This had to be the very definition of a perfect moment.