Starr curled her feet underneath her on the window seat in the sun room. She tossed the phone back and forth in her hands – she just wasn't sure how this phone call would go. Her mother had been happy to hear her voice. She could tell that Blair had so much else going on that she really didn't understand most of what Starr had told her past that Starr and Hope were safe and that Marty was a psycho bitch. Now Starr wanted a chance to catch up with her best friend.
"Hello?"
"Langston, Hi!"
"Ohmigosh, Starr! I haven't heard from you in ages. Are you so famous now that your people won't let you call your old friends?" Langston finally paused to take a breath.
"Um, well, I wasn't allowed to call, but it's not because I'm so famous." Starr took a breath. "My 'bodyguard' and his parents wouldn't allow me to use the phone."
Langston started laughing, "Why would Cole and his parents not let you use the phone? Cole was keeping you otherwise occupied?"
"His father is a terrorist who has brainwashed Cole into doing his bidding. Marty is just crazy. And I can guarantee that it's been a long time since Cole kept me 'occupied' willingly!" Starr saw a shadow flicker in the hallway and winced. She and Hope were sharing a wing of the incredibly large Buchanon mansion with Brody. She really didn't want Brody to hear about things between her and Cole like that.
Langston paused, "Well, I'm sure the two of you will straighten it out."
"That's it, Lang, this time we won't."
"You thought that when he went to prison, but then he swept you off to romantic Ireland."
"It wasn't romantic; his family literally held me hostage and then kidnapped Kelly."
"His family was, but I'm sure Cole wasn't involved!" Langston couldn't imagine her friend doing anything like that under normal circumstances.
"He was dealing drugs and helping his father at every moment! I really think we were completely wrong when we made excuses for Cole's tantrums."
Langston wasn't sure what had happened to her best friends. "But you know how much he loves you and Hope."
"I heard him talking to Patrick. Patrick sent him to Llanview to have me the same way my Father had Marty! Yes, I mean that in the worst possible interpretation. He made a really obscene remark to Brody when he and I were trying to rescue Kelly. Lastly, but certainly not least, when he drove over the cliff, he thought he was taking my daughter with him. So yeah, I really don't think one can say that Cole loved Hope and me." Starr was aware that she shouldn't be speaking so sarcastically to Langston, but all her anger at Cole just spilled out.
"What happened when Cole went over the cliff?" Langston said in a small voice.
"The car bounced off some rocks and exploded," Starr said quietly, not wanting Hope to ask questions.
"Oh! You should come here. Markko and I can help you with Hope while you grieve," Langston's voice caught when she heard the news, and then she quickly tried to help her best friend.
"Lang," Starr paused to consider her words, "I feel truly free for the first time in I don't know how long. Kelly has asked me to stay here, and I accepted. I just want to have fun with Hope and explore all London has to offer." Starr didn't mention that it was her feeling for someone that might have been more of a draw than the city.
"How can you want to have fun when the love of your life is dead?" Langston couldn't imagine how upset she would be if something happened to Markko.
"Because I realized that Cole was never the love of my life. We had sex, and I got knocked up so we had to believe we were "Star-crossed Lovers" rather than another statistic." Starr wanted Langston to understand everything she had been through in the past few months. "It's been before senior year since we were happy, and then I was still worried that something would set off his temper."
"If you say so. Wait, did you say his father kidnapped Kelly? How did all this happen?" Langston realized there was more to the story than she had first thought.
"It pretty much starts when Cole and I left your apartment in LA." Starr started to tell her all that had happened in the past six months.
"Wow! Wasn't it weird sharing a hotel room with Brody?" Langston had noticed his name came up several times.
Starr made a face. She hadn't mentioned anything about him figuring that her best friend had enough to absorb with the news of Cole's death. Also, she didn't want Langston to think she was using Brody to get over Cole. "Not really. Between Bo, Dorian, and my Dad, he's spent quite a bit of time standing guard over us."
"I guess; how did Hope handle it?"
"She and Brody have quite the friendship. I forgot that he and Jessica had started dating while…." Starr trailed off.
"I forgot about that!" Langston had never thought of how Jessica's friends and family reacted to finding out that Chloe was Hope. She had just been happy for her two best friends.
"He hasn't. She keeps carrying the seal he gave her everywhere. Of course it was the only toy she had in Ireland."
"I thought you had an entire suitcase filled with toys."
"I did, but Patrick destroyed them when we arrived. I begged Cole not to let him, but Cole said that Hope and I needed to learn how spoiled we were."
"No way."
"All except for Fred who was still in my backpack, but when Dad was arrested, Patrick through him into the fireplace saying he and Dad would never be as powerful as him. Cole just stood there strung out and laughing."
"You're kidding," Langston was trying to reconcile her picture of her former roommate and the monster Starr was describing.
"Not hardly. Anyway at the hotel one night, Hope woke up crying and wanting Fred. I went to get her a glass of water and ran into Brody. He asked why I was upset so I told him. The next day, he had a seal, and he said that he was good friends with the seals so that they would always protect us." Starr didn't think Langston was ready to hear how Starr had thanked Brody.
"He was a Navy SEAL, wasn't he?"
"Yeah."
"That's so sweet."
"That's Brody. Gigi keeps teasing him about needing to always be the hero."
"It's his job to save the world?"
"No, he just can't stand by and let someone be mistreated or hurt." Starr noticed Hope had started to leave the room, "Hey, Munchkin, where are you going?"
Hope pointed to the man coming in the doorway, "Mommy, Brody Cookies!"
"I stopped and told the cook that we would come down as soon as I changed. Sorry, I didn't realize you were on the phone!"
"No problem, I was just catching up with Langston. Could you take Hope downstairs, and I'll join you in a couple minutes?"
"You okay?" Brody reached down to squeeze Starr's shoulder.
She shrugged and winked, "I'm good. I'll just be a couple minutes."
"Horsey!" Hope demanded.
"Uh, the horsey's had a long day at work, how about a piggyback ride?"
Hope nodded. Brody knelt down to for her to climb on his back. He had changed into a t-shirt and jeans after work. As he stood, Starr smiled watching his muscles play under the shirt before her eyes dropped to check out fit of his jeans. When she realized what she was doing, her eyes snapped back up to meet his. Brody raised an eyebrow, "We might eat all the cookies if you take too long."
"I'll keep that in mind." Starr laughed with a carelessness that Langston still on the other end of the phone hadn't heard in a long time. "Sorry about that, it's taken Hope about two days to decide that having cookies after work with Brody is set in stone."
"Ahh, it's Hope that wants to spend time with Brody."
"What?"
"I know that tone of voice. It's the one that kept telling me that you and James weren't attracted to each other."
"It's not like that!"
"Hmmm."
"It's not!"
"Okay, well, go eat your milk and cookies. Give me a call back if you decide anything else in the house is yummy to taste."
"Langston!"
"I think we need to talk more about what happened when you were unchaperoned in the hotel room."
"Nothing really happened."
"If nothing happened, 'nothing happened' not 'nothing really happened."
"You know what Langston, I think I am going to go check on my daughter."
"Sure!"
"Goodbye, Langston." Starr shook her head.
"Bye!" Langston laughed back.