They never did know what they did to each other...

Zack: 15

Maddie: 18

Zack's POV:

"And done with this stupid math homework!" I sigh happily in relief. I stretch my arms behind my back to emit a crack sound from what I think is my elbows. I stand up from my chair and take a look at my page that, for once, has tons of writing on it. I take a peek at the clock sitting on my bedside table. 10:06pm eh? Not bad. I look at Cody sleeping soundly in his bed. Maybe I should be going to bed too. I feel really tired. Before I can move, my stomach growls ever so lightly.

Well, I guess I can go down to the candy counter to grab a snack and see Maddie too! I bet she's bored right now, waiting for someone to come down and save her from boredom!

Grinning, I quickly turn off my lamp and wander in the dark towards the bedroom door. I grab the handle and quietly tiptoe out the suite door. I don't want to wake up Cody because he's been working hard for exams. Yeah, I can be caring sometimes!

I make my way downstairs in the elevator.

DING!

As soon as the doors slide open, my eyes wander over to Maddie at the counter. She's got her head down and is flipping through a magazine. She looks really bored and the lobby is extremely empty, except Skippy at the front desk.

I make my way over to Maddie and I can feel my smile growing. She never fails to make me smile. She's wonderful. She doesn't see me though so I stand there quietly. She seems to be really interested in that magazine. A suddenly evil idea gets in my head and I can't dismiss it. I suck in a breath and slam both my hands down on the counter in front of her. "HEY MADDIE!"

"AHHH!" She shrieks and drops her magazine while spilling the pile of free mints in a dish at the front of the counter. I listen to the mints rolling all over the floor and my grin is not shrinking whatsoever. I succeeded! She sucks in a breath to regain herself and glares at me.

"Not funny Zack!" She gasps. "You almost made me have an asthma attack!" Oh, maybe that wasn't as funny as I thought.

"Sorry Maddie," I apologize. "You just were in the perfect position is all." I feel kind of bad now. She seems to not be angry with me and focuses her attention back to her magazine. She holds it up to me and points at a pair of sunglasses on the page. "Aren't these cute?"

I study the photo closely. They're white, they're tinted and there's an orange flower on the right eye piece. They look nice I guess? I'm no fashion expert! I nod in agreement. "Yeah, they're nice."

She smiles at me and places the magazine next to her face. "Do you think they would look good on me?" I compare both her face and the sunglasses. Anything would look good on her, seriously!

I give her a sweet smile and reply with full honesty. "Anything would look good on you." I see her blush for a second before smiling sweetly at me. "You're so sweet." She closes the magazine and then studies me closely. Her eyes widen all of the sudden and I wonder why. Do I have something in my teeth? Is my hair messed up?

I look down and realize that I forgot to put on a shirt before I came down here! Oh geez! I silently pray that I'm not in my boxers... I look down quickly and breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness! That could have been bad!

I look at Maddie's face and she's staring at me with the same wide eyes. Her cheeks are turning a slight shade of pink and I can't help but follow suit. I spit out the most pathetic silence breaker in the world. "A-Anyway, could I have a snack? It's getting late." God, I sound so dumb.

She snaps out of her trance or whatever was going on and nods. "S-Sure, what do you need?"

I look around at the back of the candy counter and search for something that makes my mouth water. Okay, all of them do. Let me just pick one randomly I guess. "A 3 Musketeers please."

She hands me the chocolate bar and shakes her head when I try to hand her my money. "I'll pay for it."

Mr. Moseby pops out of nowhere and walks by. "Ugh Zack, put a shirt on. Maddie is not interested." He sips his coffee and heads over to the night-watchman's desk to wake up Skippy who is snoring at his post.

Maddie turns around and faces her back to me. What's going on with her anyway? I mean, I have been working out to help get in better shape. That's the only reason. It's not like I've been trying to impress Maddie... okay, maybe that's part of the reason. But is it working? Is it actually working? That's impossible. After all, I'm younger than her. Too young to date her apparently.

"You okay Maddie?" I ask her. She responds without turning around. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I study her closely. Why is she acting so weird? "You sure?" I question her. "You don't seem fine..." I walk behind the counter and stand next to her. Was it something I said? I lightly tap her on the shoulder and she jumps at my sudden contact. "What's the matter? Was it something I said...?" I try to take a peek at her face but I can't see it.

"No it's not what you said, don't worry about it," she tells me with certainty in her voice. I sigh and look at her in the eyes. Her eyes meet mine. "Well then what's the problem? I can't leave you like this. Tell me what's wrong. You can trust me." I tell her with a hint of worry in my voice. I can't help it. I can't stand seeing her stressed out or sad.

"I just have a lot on my mind, that's all," she explains. "But you seemed fine before I came down..." I think in my mind. Wait a minute. She was fine before I came down right? She's been weird every since she saw me shirtless. That can't be it. But I have no other leads. Plus, teasing her never fails to put a smile on her face. I might as well play with my fantasy.

"You were fine until some extremely hot guy came downstairs shirtless," I tease. Her expression makes me want to continue. She's so adorable when she's being teased. "Now you're not fine. It's making you go crazy because you want this guy so much now." As soon as I finish speaking, her eyes go wide with surprise. I can't tell if it's because of how what I just said is crazy or if maybe it's because I figured out her thoughts? Who knows.

"No, that's not it Zack," she states with a sudden hint of firmness in her voice.

"Yes it is," I playfully tease back.

"You wish," she spits at me. Is that denial I hear in her voice!? I must be dreaming. Calm down Zack. Don't look too deep into things.

"I don't wish, I know," I comment with a smirk still on my face.

She gives me one of her infamous 'scoffing faces' and walks over towards one of the couches. I follow her and she scowls before flopping on the couch. I sit down close to her and laugh playfully in her face. "Stop looking at me!" I cry out in a playful tone of voice.

Maddie slides away from me on the couch and I mimic her every move with a grin that I'm trying to bite back. "Zack!" She exclaims out in laughter and mini frustration. She tries to get up but I grab her arm and gently pull her back down. She seems to lose her balance or something while trying to get away and falls onto the couch. I lose my balance too and guess where I land? Yep, right on top of her. I cringe on the inside while I wait for her to scream my ear off.

But she doesn't. She just stares at me right in the eyes. Right now, I don't know if I should move or wait for her to make a move? What do I do!?

I can see her cheeks getting pinker and I start to feel hot. We totally look like we're about to do something dirty. I just know it. I can feel her chest moving pretty fast and I start to panic. I don't want her to have an asthma attack or anything!

"I-I'm sorry Maddie!" I manage to spit out. I start to squirm and realize that I should just get off of her before I manage to send her to the hospital. I sit up but she still stays in the same position as she was in earlier. "I-I'm fine."

She slowly sits up and I bite my lip awkwardly. Now what? Should I just go to bed now? Wait, what time is it now? She stares at me with pink cheeks and then looks down so I can't look her in the eyes. "I-I better go back to the counter."

I let out a yawn and nod as if I'm agreeing with her. "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired myself." We both stand up at the same time and manage to bump noses. Maddie almost falls backwards so I reach out and catch her in my arms. My eyes open wide in amazement. What the heck is happening? Is God out there or something? I've never had this many 'tender' moments with Maddie before. Why tonight of all days? Well, one thing's for sure, I'm not complaining one bit!

I help her regain her balance and her cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so clumsy. I don't know what's wrong with me." She lets out the most cutest little nervous chuckle. She turns to go head back to her station but something happens.

I feel a rush of energy travelling through my body. I feel confident. I feel like I have to do this. Without thinking much further, I grasp the back of her head and plant my lips on hers. At first, I feel her whole body tense up so I just hold my lips still.

I'm freaking out and shaking like crazy right now. I'm kissing Maddie! I'm actually kissing Maddie! What on Earth is happening tonight? I have the best luck or something! Since when would she ever let me kiss her!?

She's not responding so I get a little bit worried. I tear my lips off of hers, much to my dismay. They're so soft and warm, just like I thought they'd be. I have to kiss her again. I'd be stupid to not.

I open my eyes and stare at her face. My eyes make their way to her cheeks which are the deepest shade of red I've ever seen on her. I've literally never seen her so red before. Though, I bet my face is just as red too. I have so many questions to ask her!

I open my mouth to speak but no words are coming out. Come on Zack! Say something!

"I..." she tries to speak but can't seem to form a sentence. Is she really freaking out that badly because of me? This must be a dream or something. Maddie doesn't want me. She's told me a million times.

We literally stand there in silence for easily two minutes. It's the most strangest thing I've ever encountered with her. It's starting to feel less awkward as I begin to piece things together in my mind. She definitely finds me attractive in some way. There's no doubt about that. But why is she so nervous about it? At the end of the day, it's just me. She can just say "oh you look nice! Not so weak anymore, are we?" and then that be it. What's the big deal? I tell her she looks beautiful everyday.

"Maddie," I say, slowly building courage to speak. She eyes me and manages to spit out a simple, "yeah?"

I swallow hard before asking the question that I've been dying to know the answer to. "Did you like my kiss?" With those words she stutters. "W-Well, I-I-I-" She stops halfway and tries to find words. I stay patiently until she finds the lost words. "I-It just caught me off guard," she simply states. I feel a little bit saddened to know that that's the real reason she's freaking out so bad. Did I maybe scare her?

"I didn't mean to scare you," I reply, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. She shakes her head and holds out her arm. "No no! You didn't scare me! I was just a little-" she pauses to think again before finishing. "taken aback. Yeah, that's all." She sort of sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than me.

She leaves me to go stand behind the candy counter. I follow her and sigh to myself. I better apologize before I make things awkward with her. Why did I be so stupid and attack her lips like a crazy monster? She's so gentle and so soft. I shouldn't have been so selfish. "I'm really sorry Maddie. I shouldn't have done that..."

She surprises me with the words that come out of her mouth next. "Don't apologize Zack." She stops and takes a deep breath. She lowers her voice so low and mutters out something that I can't make out.

"What?" I ask her. She squeezes her eyes shut and turns her back towards me. "I-It was nice okay?"

A smile pops up instantly on my face with her words. Wait, what? Does she mean that!?

She turns around to face me. "B-But nothing is going on between us, alright?" She eyes me and I can tell she's being serious. I lightly smirk and lean in to give her another quick kiss. When I pull away, she hisses at me. "Zack!" Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink again after having been calm for a while. I simply smirk. "Goodnight Sweet Thang." I turn to head back toward the elevator.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day, that's for sure.

Author's Note: Chapter 2 will be the same scene, just in Maddie's POV. I think we all want to know what she's thinking, don't we?