Disclaimer: I do not own the Suite Life.

In Each Other's Arms

Cody Martin was awakened by the sound of his parents fighting, again. This was the third time this week that their fights had woken him up, and each time the fighting was worse. By now Cody had gotten used to is parents fights and was almost able to block it out and go back to sleep, until he heard his and Zack's names come up.

"Why are you blaming this on me?" he heard his dad yell. "I told you when we got married that I would have to stay out late with my band and you were fine with it then. But suddenly Zack and Cody turn eight and it's not OK anymore?"

"Exactly Kurt, the boys need a father who they can look up to, someone who can be a good role model for them. Not someone who sleeps all day and stay out all night partying!"

So that was it. The reason his parents were screaming at each other was because of him and his brother. Cody couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought that his parents had loved him but apparently it was all a lie. That thought made Cody want to cry, but he couldn't. Zack would never let him live it down. However, Cody doubted Zack was awake, he could sleep through anything. But just in case Cody listened for any sign that Zack wasn't asleep. He wasn't snoring, like he usually did, but he wasn't making any other noises.

Cody figured Zack was still asleep and was about to give in and cry when he heard his brother whisper, "Cody, you awake?"

"How could I not be, Mom and Dad aren't exactly keeping their voices down," Cody whispered back.

"I know this is the worst fight they've had."

The boys grew quiet as they heard their mother yell a few choice swearwords, many of them their mom had made them swear to never repeat.

"Zack, I… I'm worried." Cody said trying even harder to hold back his tears.

He heard his brother get out of bed and make his way carefully across the room. Whether Zack could hear the emotion behind Cody's voice or if he could just sense his brother's pain through their twin telepathy Cody didn't know or care. He was just grateful that Zack was coming to comfort him.

When Zack reached Cody's bed he crawled under the covers and snuggled up to his little brother.

"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about Cody. Mom and Dad obviously loved each other once or they never would've gotten married."

"But so much has changed since then," Cody replied. "Dad's band actually has fans, Mom's band fell apart and …" Cody paused for a split second not knowing if he could continue.

"And we were born," Zack supplied showing Cody that Zack had been awake earlier.

The boys lapsed into silence thinking about what they could have done, and what they could still do to keep their family together. But their thoughts were shattered when they heard their mother say the words they had been dreading.

"I'm sorry Kurt," she said, "but I can't do this anymore. Tomorrow morning I'm taking the boys and going home to mother."

Cody let an audible sob escape his lips. He didn't care anymore if Zack saw him crying, didn't care that Zack would never let him live this down. Cody just needed to cry. His world was spinning wildly out of control. He needed something, anything that could bring his world back to normal, or as normal as possible. Cody wished he hadn't lost his blankie in the last move; he was in need of it now more than ever.

"Here Cody take my blankie," said Zack, "I know how much you miss yours."

"You still have your blankie?" Cody asked incredulously, not noticing the tears about to spill over Zack's eyes.

"Well yeah. Our grandma gave us those blankies, and now that she's gone I feel like I can't throw it away."

The boys once again grew quiet and were glad to notice that their parents had stopped fighting. Cody noticed that Zack was starting to nod off but Cody had to ask him a question that had been in the back of his mind ever since their parents had started fighting.

Before Zack could fall asleep Cody whispered, "Do you think that Mom and Dad are going to split us up, like on The Parent Trap?"

Zack thought about the question for a while searching for the right answer. Truth be told he wasn't sure what would happen to them, but finally he answered. "No they won't because I won't ever let them split us up."

Zack's statement made Cody brake out in a fresh round of tears, his whole body shaking with sobs. He tried to stem the flow of tears with Zack's blankie but it wasn't enough so Cody did the only thing he could think of. He turned to his brother and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Cody buried his face into Zack's shoulder and let all of his emotions go. Zack pulled his little brother closer to him and finally succumbed to his emotions. The two brothers held onto each other and cried until there were no tears left. Eventually they managed to fall back asleep, still wrapped in each other's arms.