A/N: Welcome to my story. I'm doing something a little stupid here and not finishing it completely before I post it (I'm about four chapters in) but I couldn't wait to share it with you! Stay tuned for lots of craziness and don't forget to keep me motivated with reviews! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters and am not making any profit from the writing of this story.

The Key To My Heart... I Mean, My Cabin.

Bailey couldn't believe what was happening. Here they were, at their anniversary dinner, under the stars in the most romantic city on the planet... fighting like cats and dogs. Tears stung her eyes. How could such a little misunderstanding have spiraled so far out of control?

Bitterly, she forced the words out of her lips. "Then I guess it's over."

Cody's face took on the stricken expression of someone who'd just been punched in the gut. "Fine."

"Fine!" Unable to look at him for another second, Bailey turned on her heel, running to the elevator where she could break down in peace. She never noticed the metallic clink as something dropped out of the pocket of her wrap.

Cody didn't follow her.

Later, she would be relieved that there was no one else around to see what a mess she was, but as the elevator doors closed behind her, all she could think about was what had just happened... the terrible mistake she'd made, the horrible things Cody had said to her... she'd never had one person hurt her so much.

By the time the elevator reached the bottom, the raw shock had worn off. Bailey buried her mouth in one hand, sobbing like a child, as she stepped into the bustling Paris street. A few passers-by gave her curious or concerned looks, but no one said anything.

All Bailey wanted to do was get back to the ship, lock herself in her cabin with the lights off, get into her warm, comfortable bed, and cry until she was all cried out. She stopped at a street sign and it took her a moment to read it, squinting through the tears she couldn't seem to suppress. Finally, she just took off in the direction she thought she remembered coming from.

Normally she prided herself on her ability to navigate new cities, but tonight everywhere she turned seemed unfamiliar and unwelcoming. She took a few wrong turns, beginning to wonder if she was somehow going in circles... the frustration of being lost only made her more upset, until she wanted to lie down on one of the wrought-iron benches that lined the street and just fall asleep forever. Just then she passed a large crowd of people congregated in a park across the street.

"Hey! Bailey!"

Bailey recognized the voice and sniffled, wiping her eyes on the back of her wrist and glancing around for the source of the call. At the center of the crowd was Marcus, wearing a loud red costume and standing with a smaller boy who was wearing the same thing.

"Bailey!" he called. "We're about to give an encore! Come on over here!"

Bailey mustered a watery smile for the people who had turned to see who the infamous Lil' Lil' was talking to, and waved him off, shaking her head. She hoped the distance was enough that he wouldn't notice she was crying. She couldn't even trust herself to speak aloud to turn down the invitation. Ducking her head, she continued on her way.

Marcus turned to his smaller counterpart and excused himself before jumping off the stage and pushing his way through the noisy crowd. Crossing the street, he caught up to Bailey, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, startled, although she should have been perfectly able to hear him coming. "Whoa. Bailey. What's up?" he said, concerned. "Aren't you supposed to be on a da-" He stopped short as she turned around, giving him a clear view of her tearstained face.

"Cody broke up with me." she whispered.

Marcus just stared at her for a few seconds, unable to believe what he was hearing. Cody, break up with Bailey? Everyone knew the boy was head-over-heels for her... had he entered some kind of alternate universe?

But the heartbreak written on her face was definitely real, and Marcus did the only thing he could think of: he pulled her into a hug. For some reason he was startled when she buried her face in his shoulder and hugged him back- he and Bailey were friends, sure, but they had never been this close. Her body shook with sobs and he rubbed her back gently. "Hey now... Everything's going to be all right..."

"No it won't." Bailey croaked back, not releasing him. He held onto her until her cries began to slow down. "I'm s-sorry, Marcus. You're supposed to be d-doing a show." she hiccupped. She brushed at the wet stain on his shoulder with her fingers. "And I ruined your sh-shirt!"

"Nah, forget it." Marcus said, waving a careless hand at the people in the park. "They came to see the little Lil' Lil' anyway. Anyone who can't tell the difference between me and him doesn't deserve to hear the real thing anyway." They separated, but he kept one arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Where are you headed, Bailey?"

Bailey sniffled. "Back to the ship. If I can find it."

"Mind if I come with?" Marcus asked, slowly turning her in the right direction. They began to walk.

"You don't have to take care of me, Marcus." Bailey said quietly. "You should enjoy the rest of the night. I'll be fine."

"No, I was getting tired anyway."

He was lying, and they both knew it, but Bailey was too grateful for his assistance to call him out. "Thank you, Marcus."

With his help, they were back on the ship in less than ten minutes. Bailey didn't know how she could have gotten so disoriented that close to port, but she had bigger things on her mind. Like getting into bed and never coming out.

Marcus insisted on walking her to her cabin, even as she insisted, "I've got it from here, really." They stopped at her door and Bailey fumbled through the pockets of her wrap, searching for her cabin key. Not finding it, she opened her clutch, pawing through it with a growing sense of urgency. "I can't find my key."

Marcus watched as she began removing items from her purse. "Want me to hold something?"

"Thanks." Bailey draped her wrap over his arm first, then began to pile the contents of her purse into his hands: cell phone, wallet, passport, lipstick, chapstick, cover-up, tissues, tampons, gum, sunglasses, tourist brochures, nail scissors, band-aids, a packet of saltines, a paperback copy of Cyrano de Bergerac...

Marcus was mystified, staring at the assortment of objects in his hands. "Why do you carry this all around?"

"Because I need it." Bailey returned absently, continuing to dig.

"How does it even all fit?" he asked, looking at the tiny size of the clutch.

She handed him the last item- a screwdriver- and turned the clutch upside-down, revealing it to be empty. "Could anything else go wrong?" she said miserably. Then she remembered something. "Oh, wait!" She knocked on the door. "London? London, are you home? Please be home!"

There was no answer.

Marcus spoke up reluctantly. "Bailey, I think earlier London said she was going to spend the rest of the week with her father..."

Bailey gasped. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot! Mr. Tipton's got a château a few hours outside of Paris and London is staying with him until the boat leaves! That's not until next week! What am I going to do?"

Marcus began to cram Bailey's things back into her purse. "Calm down, Bailey, it's not so bad. You can hang out in my room for a bit until we figure something out."

"B-but..." Bailey was on the verge of tears again. Was getting in bed for a good cry after such a horrible day too much to ask? "But my toothbrush is in there! I need that!" she cried with heartbreaking sincerity, turning to Marcus with a miserable, pleading look on her face. "Can you break it down?"

"Ah..." he realized she was upset, but wasn't she was being a little ridiculous? "Well, I could do that, but instead, how about if I let you into my room, and you can relax while I go find Mr. Moseby and ask if he can get you a spare key?" he suggested rationally. Seeing that she was about to protest, he continued, "-And if he, by chance, doesn't have one- which I'm sure he will, I will stop by the gift shop on my way back and pick you up a toothbrush."

Bailey took a deep breath, calming slightly. "Okay." she acquiesced.

He led her to the boys' cabins, quickly finding his own key and letting her into his and Zack's cabin. The room was actually fairly clean for once, Marcus thought, dropping Bailey's purse and wrap on his bed. That was good, at least. "So, make yourself at home." he told his friend. "I'm not sure when Zack will be back... Come to think about it, I haven't seen him in a while. I hope he's okay... Okay? Bailey?" The girl had sunk onto his roommate's bed and begun sobbing once more. "Bailey? What's wrong now?"

She wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "Sorry... it's just, thinking about Zack makes me think about C-... C-C-..." She couldn't even manage to get out the other twin's name, burying her face in her hands.

Marcus rolled his eyes heavenward. He felt bad for her, he did. She was obviously hurting, and he hated seeing the normally perky, confident girl this unhappy. But how was he supposed to know how to comfort a crying girl? Wasn't this what they had girlfriends, and Ben and Jerry, and the Lifetime channel for? He sat down next to her. "Come on, Bails-"

"Cody used to call me 'Bails'..." she wailed, inconsolable.

"Okay, okay!" He gave her an awkward pat on the back. "Look, everything will be better in the morning." he promised soothingly. "I'll go get the key from Moseby, you can go back to your room and get a good night's sleep, and you'll feel much better, okay? It's going to be fine, Bailey. Trust me on this."

Bailey nodded but continued to weep into her fingers. "Th-thanks, Marcus. You're so great..." she forced out.

Marcus gave her back one final rub and stood up. "You're great too, Bailey. Now you just relax, okay? I'll be back real soon." He barely waited for her confirmation before slipping out the door, slightly ashamed that he was so relieved to have a reprieve from her misery. "Whew."

It took him a while to find Mr. Moseby, who was still in disguise after accidentally ruining the Tour de France and being set upon by a mob of angry Parisians. Finally, he spotted the ship's manager and explained Bailey's situation. Mr. Moseby, too, was shocked to hear about the breakup, and he quickly peeled off his false mustache and agreed to help.

"Of course we keep spare keys to all the student cabins," he told Marcus as they walked together to the front desk. Unlocking a cabinet behind the desk, he opened it to reveal several rows of keys... however, the hook with Bailey and London's cabin number on it was empty. Moseby's eyes widened in realization. "We keep spare keys to all the student cabins... except when one of the keys belonged to a student who was bribed to leave the ship." He rubbed his head with one hand. "I'm afraid Bailey's key was the spare key for her cabin. London's old roommate never returned her key when she left."

Marcus had never met London's original roommate, but he knew the story well enough: London had not wanted to share a room, so she secretly bribed the girl with expensive jewelry to get her to leave... only to be stuck with Bailey when the teachers discovered she was actually a girl and not a boy like they'd thought. "Well that was inconsiderate of her." Marcus deadpanned. "Maybe you could call London and ask her to send Bailey the key."

"Oh no," Moseby protested. "I can't disturb London when she's finally having some family time with her father. She's waited so long for this vacation... And if I disturb Mr. Tipton..." he shuddered. "Best case scenario: I lose my job."

"I'd hate to hear the worst case scenario." Marcus commented.

"So would I..." Mr. Moseby frowned, thinking. "Well, I guess all that's left to do is wait until London returns and then have a copy of her key made. In the meantime, I'm sure Bailey can find a friend to stay with. Perhaps Addison."

Marcus sighed wearily. "Perhaps." he said dryly, knowing full well that when he had to break the news to Bailey, he would also have to offer that she stay with him and Zack. Although Moseby would doubtless disapprove of a co-ed rooming situation, Marcus knew that he, Zack, Woody, and London were Bailey's only close friends on the ship, and with London gone and Woody's cabin not suitable for obvious reasons, he and Zack were all she had. "Well, thanks for your help, Mr. Moseby. I'll explain the situation to her. I'm sure she'll be able to find somewhere to crash for a few days." He sighed again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy a toothbrush."

After a quick stop at the gift shop, Marcus entered his room slowly, dreading the weepy state he was sure he'd find Bailey in. Instead, he found her curled up on Zack's bed, obviously having cried herself to sleep. Not wanting to wake her, he set her toothbrush on the nightstand beside her and grabbed a spare blanket from the closet, draping it over the sleeping girl. Then he turned off the overhead light and switched on his small desk lamp, sitting in his chair and picking up the novel he'd been reading.

It was going to be a long couple of days.