A/N: Cody and Bailey's breakup has apparently affected me in a strange way. Hence, this bizarre little story. Hope you like, and please don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and am making no profit from the writing of this story.
Bailey brushed back her hair, smoothed her skirt, and straightened her number tag ("18") before she felt ready to go into the Neptune Room. She wondered once again how on earth her roommate had talked her into filling out a dating questionnaire for the ship's annual singles cruise- it had only been three weeks since her breakup with Cody, and being on a date with a perfect stranger was the last thing she wanted to do right now. She wished London had come with her, if just for support, but of course London had already found her perfect match: herself. Heck, at this point she'd even be happy to have Zack or Woody for backup, just so she didn't have to enter the elegant, lavishly-decorated restaurant all alone.
She walked through the glass double doors and looked around for her table. The restaurant was already filled with couples, each wearing their numbered name tags to identify their questionnaire match mate. The atmosphere was romantic; soft music, dim lighting, candles on each table seeming to give every smiling couple a warm glow...
It had been thirty seconds since she'd entered the Neptune Room, and Bailey had never felt so cold, lonely, or out of place- and she'd been feeling those things a lot in the past three weeks.
If she was still dating Cody, he'd take her by the hand and make her smile until she felt like she belonged here, with all these happy lovers. He'd compliment her new dress in that sweet, awkward way of his that always made her giggle uncontrollably. Maybe, if they were in the mood, they'd skip the stuffy dinner altogether and slip out to the Sky Deck to cuddle under the stars- at least until Moseby or Kirby happened by and reprimanded them for breaking curfew... again.
Of course, if she was still dating Cody, she wouldn't be here on singles night, squinting in the dimness to find a blind date she knew only as "number 18". She walked down the aisle, scanning the tables for her partner.
Turning the corner, she suddenly found herself face to face with Cody himself.
Bailey wanted to die of embarrassment. Blood rushed to her face and pounded in her brain as she fervently wished for the floor to open up and swallow her. Was there anything more pathetic than running into your ex on singles night? Especially when he looked this good?
She cleared her throat. "Cody." Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that that was literally the first time she'd spoken to him since their breakup in Paris. Be cool! She encouraged herself mentally. Be calm, aloof. You're angry at him, remember?
The look of surprise faded from his face and he gave her a half-smile. "Bailey." he acknowledged awkwardly.
She held her chin high. "Excuse me, Cody." she said loftily. "I'm supposed to meet someone and you're-" In my way, was on the tip of her tongue, but he cut her off before she could finish.
"Your date, evidently." Cody said.
It took Bailey a minute to process what was happening. Incredible but true, the tag fixed to the lapel of Cody's jacket identified him as number 18. Her stomach clenched up. What was the protocol for this situation? What in the world was she supposed to do? "I can't believe this."
Cody shook his head with a snort. "Me neither. A blind date. What a stupid idea." He seemed to be talking more to himself than her.
She felt stung by the remark, despite the fact that she'd just been thinking the same thing. "Well, some people like to get out there and try new things. Meet new people." she said icily, as if he'd been calling her stupid instead of the whole concept. She glanced around, checking out the other guys in a way she knew would make him uncomfortable.
"Yes, I know you're a fan of meeting new people." Cody said deliberately, obviously referring to her (completely innocent!) acquaintance with a Parisian boy named Jean Luc, which had been one of the main causes of their breakup.
Bailey ignored his tone- at this point, arguing about Jean Luc would be useless. "I wonder if it's too late to get another partner." she looked her ex in the eye and went straight for the low blow. "I was expecting someone taller."
She barely had time to register the indignant look on Cody's face when Miss Tutweiller approached them. Bailey smiled uncomfortably at her- it was always weird seeing the teachers at non-school related functions on the ship, particularly a singles night, but Miss Tutweiller (who had a long history of romantic misfortune) had been very sympathetic and helpful during her worst hours after the breakup with Cody.
On one hand, Bailey didn't know what she would have done without London and Miss Tutweiller. On the other hand, her teacher's pathetic social life was a little scary to Bailey. Miss Tutweiller was beautiful, kind, and intelligent, but also sarcastic and neurotic, much like Bailey herself. In the light of her recent heartbreak, she couldn't help but wonder- could she ever end up like the unlucky Queen Tut?
"Hi Bailey. Cody." Miss Tutweiller said as she reached her students. A surprised look crossed her face upon seeing their matching numbers, and she turned toward Bailey. "Don't you take him back, Bailey. No matter how he begs!"
Bailey flushed bright red. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man with a number matching Miss Tutweiller's enter, spot his unlucky match mate... and decide to leave. She might have spoken up if she hadn't been so hot with humiliation at the moment. She laughed off Tutweiller's hapless remark as best she could before turning the older woman in the wrong direction. "Thanks for the advice. You know, I think I saw your date over there, Miss T." she said. No point in getting the woman's hopes up when her mystery date would only crush them.
Miss Tutweiller hurried off, leaving Bailey and Cody once more in a dreadful silence.
"I'm not going to beg you to take me back." Cody said finally.
"Good, because I wouldn't." Bailey shot back. "Not if you were the last man on earth."
"Oh, that's original." Cody said drolly. "Creative, Bails."
Bailey shook her head in disgust. "This is the worst date I've ever been on." she sneered at him.
"More like a hideous farce of a date." Cody agreed with annoyance.
It was terrible, but Bailey was actually glad he sounded so miserable. Without ever consciously realizing it she spat out the reason she was really bothered by seeing him here. "Well that's what you get for trying to date so soon after our breakup!" she said hotly, even while realizing the blatant illogic in her reasoning.
"Look who's talking!" Cody scowled back, folding his arms. "Hello, Pot? It's Kettle. You're black."
A few weeks ago Bailey would have laughed at his wittiness, but now his snarky replies only irritated her. "What?" she scoffed.
"I know you barely passed Home Ec, Bails, but I know you know what pots and kettles are." Cody returned. He knew how to hit her where it hurt: her grades.
"Maybe the reason I did so badly in Home Ec was because I had a lousy teacher!" Bailey hissed. She felt eyes on her and suddenly realized that the other couples were watching them fight. She yanked roughly on Cody's arm, pulling them both out of the aisle and into seated positions at an empty table.
"Maybe the reason you did so badly in Home Ec was because you didn't trust me." Cody said quietly, venomously, and suddenly they were back having the same fight they'd had in Paris.
If she was being honest with herself, her trust issues had been the reason she'd nearly failed Cody's class. Watching the other girls hit on him had sent her into such a jealous rage she could barely see straight, let alone make a proper soufflé. And if she had only trusted Cody not to cheat on her, she wouldn't have sought Jean Luc for comfort and ended up wrecking their relationship.
But she wasn't being honest with herself. "Maybe the reason I didn't trust you because you were always messing around with other girls." she said in a dangerously low voice.
Cody didn't even flinch. "That's a lie, and you know it." The light from the candle at the center of the table danced across his serious features, and Bailey found she couldn't tear her eyes away from his face. He was staring back at her just as intently.
At that moment they were interrupted by the arrival of the waiter. "Hello Sir, Miss. I'll be your waiter for the evening. Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"No." Bailey said.
"That's right." Cody agreed. "We're not doing this." When the waiter gave him a dubious look, Cody ripped off his name tag and tossed it onto the floor. "Now, do you mind?"
The waiter left, muttering something about the manager, and Bailey knew it was time to wrap up this horrible evening. "Cody-"
"I never messed around on you, Bailey. Ever."
She stood up to leave, willing herself to ignore his earnest expression. "I know, Cody. But what does it matter anyway? I'm leaving."
Cody stood as well. "So am I."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Without even looking at each other, the pair stalked out the restaurant's one exit. By the time they reached the deck, Bailey had never been so ready for them to part ways. "Well, I'd love to say I had fun, but-"
"You think this was any more fun for me?" Cody cut her off. "I wouldn't have been here in the first place if Woody hadn't forced me to fill out one of those stupid questionnaires."
"London made me fill out mine." Bailey said slowly. "You think... they set this up?"
Cody huffed a laugh. "You think they're smart enough to set this up?"
Bailey cracked a smile for the first time that night. "Guess not." Shaking her head fondly at the thought of their dim-witted but well-meaning friends, she turned away from him. Good night, Cody.
"Were you honest?"
Cody's question was so sudden and spontaneous that it stopped Bailey in her tracks. She faced him again. "Excuse me?"
"On the questionnaire." Cody explained. "Did you fill it out honestly, or just make up fake answers, like before?"
Bailey pressed her lips together, not sure if she liked his implication that she'd cheated on the dating questionnaire. In truth, she had been completely honest about what she was looking for in a guy- after all, she was sincerely hoping she would find someone who could make her forget about her broken heart. "I was honest, okay?" she said coolly. "Why does it even matter?" She turned on her heel once more, but was stopped when his hand shot out and grabbed her arm.
She had all but forgotten the way it felt when he touched her. His hands were strong, and always, always warm, and even the simplest contact made her skin tingle... apparently, there were some things their breakup hadn't changed. She closed her eyes, feeling the tears hovering on her lashes and hoping Cody wouldn't see.
"Because I was honest too." he said softly.
Bailey pulled herself together, shaking off his arm and turning around, not realizing just how close he was standing. "So?"
Cody bit his lip- an uncharacteristic gesture for him, Bailey thought. "I was honest too..." he said again, before bringing his hand up to trace the outline of the tag fixed to her dress, the number that had matched his own. "And they paired me up with you."
Even through the silky material of her dress, his touch was enough to make her shiver. How could he still have such power over her, after what he'd done? "What- what are you saying?" she managed to say in a shaky voice. He didn't answer, and she took a few steps back. Once their contact was broken, it was easier to speak. "What, you think it's destiny or something? Please, Cody. I thought you weren't going to beg."
Cody's jaw dropped. "I'm not begging, Bailey." he said harshly. "Obviously you and I are no good for each other. But since you're apparently unable to see it, I'm just pointing out what this means." His voice was raised, the spell was broken, and they were fighting once more.
His calling her "unable" made her see red- she knew what he was really saying. "Since I'm so stupid, you'd better tell me what it means." Bailey said angrily. "That the gods of fate want us to be together?" she mocked.
"No!" Cody shouted back. "That we want to be together!" He looked her in the eyes before continuing in a hard, quiet voice. "We made this happen. Both of us." Shaking his head, he turned from her and walked away.
Bailey was left fuming in silence. How dare he say something like that and then walk away from her? "Cody! You-!" She growled, following after him, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him around.
The longing expression she saw in his face when their eyes met took her breath away, like a sucker punch to the stomach.
And then they were kissing, kissing like they'd never kissed before, like she'd never been kissed by anyone before. She couldn't even say who started it. One second they were two separate entities and the next, they were entwined, wrapped around each other, hands in hair and tongues tangled together.
His arms snaked around her waist, pulling her against his chest until she could feel his heart beating as erratically as her own. It was probably a good thing he was gripping her so tightly- his kisses were so dizzying Bailey wasn't sure she could tell which way was up, let alone stand on her own. Gasping for breath, she kissed him back, completely lost in the moment.
His teeth bit at her lips in desperation, and she responded by pushing him against the railing with her body, as though she were trying to climb inside of him. This wasn't them, this wasn't right. They weren't in love anymore, and this wasn't what they wanted.
Except, as Cody had pointed out, apparently it was.
"Cody!" she gasped against his lips. He shushed her with a bruising kiss, but she had something to say. "Lifeboat."
Cody moaned- there was no other word for it- and reached behind him, fumbling with the zipper of one of the covered lifeboats that hung over the sides of the deck. Together they pushed into the darkness of the lifeboat, still necking feverishly. Despite the chill of the night air, Bailey's skin was so hot she could practically see it radiating heat. She pushed Cody's sport jacket off his shoulders, hearing but not seeing it hit the floor of the boat, feeling his hands slide around to her back, tugging on the sash of her dress, loosening it... Cody took another step forward, and she matched it with a step back, forgetting that there was a bench behind her. She stumbled, lost her balance, and fell, giving her head a good whack on the side of the boat.
Immediately, Cody was on his knees beside her. "Bailey, are you all right? Where does it hurt?"
Dazed, Bailey sat up. "My head. Ow."
Cody switched on the lamp at the front of the boat, and they could see each other once again. He was a mess, shirt wrinkled, lips swollen, hair sticking up every which way... Bailey could only imagine what she looked like. "Let me see." he whispered, cupping her face with one hand and gently feeling the rising bump on her head with the other. "This is a nasty bump." He pulled back, holding two fingers in front of her face. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two." Bailey said, smiling gently. She grasped his fingers and pulled them out of her face. "It's just a bruise, Cody. I'm fine."
Cody nodded his understanding. "I know. But... I'm so sorry Bails. I didn't mean to push you. That was terrible." Now that the immediate emergency of Bailey's head injury was over, they had reached the awkwardness of addressing what had just happened between them.
"You didn't push me. And it wasn't terrible." Bailey edged. "Besides, the lifeboat was my idea. Stupid, really."
"No, I mean this whole thing." Cody gestured between her and himself. "It was-"
"Hot?" Bailey suggested tentatively.
"Yes." Cody couldn't smother the grin. "But I was going to say, ill-advised. Come on, Bails. We're broken up. All this is just, residual feelings. Lust. We shouldn't be acting like this."
"I know." Bailey said, her face flushing. She couldn't say what had come over her, but she knew it wouldn't be smart to let it control her. However, when he stepped away from her, pulling back the flap for her to climb out of the lifeboat, she couldn't help wishing they could act like this just a little bit longer. "Cody?"
"Yes?"
"On the dating questionnaire, for the ideal date question, did you say making out in a lifeboat?"
Cody smiled. "Nope."
Bailey bit her lip happily. "Oh my gosh, me neither! We have so much in common!"
Cody folded his arms at her antics. "How hard did you hit your head again?"
"Hard enough to get some sense knocked into me." Bailey said. "We're both stubborn, Cody, but we can work that out."
"Are you trying to say the dating questionnaire was right about us?"
"Are you trying to say it wasn't?" Bailey parried.
Cody shook his head. "It matched me up with the person that... that I love." he said finally. "But if you-"
Bailey's heart felt like it was about to burst. "I love you too, Cody." she said, tears shining in her eyes.
And Cody looked so incredibly happy. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze before guiding her out of the boat. "Milady." As always, his touch gave her chills.
Once they were both safely on the deck, she wrapped an arm securely around his waist. "Let's not ever do that again."
"Even the angry kissing thing?" Cody deadpanned.
"The fighting." Bailey corrected him. "Do you think they'll let us back into the Neptune Room?"
"Doubtful." Cody chuckled. "Come on, let's hit the galley. I'll fix us something."
"Oh, the wonders of having a boyfriend who cooks." Bailey sighed, only half-joking, as they wandered hand-in-hand off the deck.
"...I can't wait to tell Miss Tutweiller how you begged." Cody teased, earning a playful elbow in the stomach.
"I did not!"
"Uh huh. Hey, is that a new dress...?"
In his squatting position ducked behind the smoothie bar, Zack Martin pumped his fist triumphantly as Cody and Bailey left the deck together. When he had suggested to a frustrated London and a positively despondent Woody that they convince their miserable roommates to sign up for singles night, he certainly couldn't have anticipated everything going this well...
The real surprise was when he'd hacked in to Moseby's computer to fix their matchmaking results and found that Cody and Bailey had already picked each other on their own... It was almost too easy. Maybe Cody had been right- it had meant something. Well, Zack had expected to see some fireworks when the pair finally came face to face, and he certainly had. It had been touch and go for a while, but everything seemed to work out all right in the end.
Zack stood up, stretching out his cramped limbs, feeling as though he'd done a valuable service to society in general, and his friends in particular. And London and Woody in really particular.
And Cody and Bailey too, he supposed.