Pre A/N: You might be wondering why this is being uploaded again... Well, I was moving my sister's story to her account, but I accidentally deleted this one instead. Whoops... Sorry for spamming you those who have me an author alert

A/N: Originally, I had planned to submit this as a one-shot to this year's Christmas/holiday one-shot collection, but as I wrote it, it ended up a lot longer than I planned, so I'm also going to post it on my profile as a multi-chapter fic. It will also be in the collection on Snap's profile as the one-shot version

I've had a lot of fun writing this, it's been a nice break from my usual adventure and comedy stories. I also learned a lot about the characters as I wrote this having to think deeper as I wrote them here than normal. I also learned a few things about myself while writing this too…

Also, some of you might have known that there was a big debate on whether the collection should allow multi-chapter fics, but I want to make it clear that this is meant as no offense to those who set that rule. I'm going to submit it there as a one-shot, but thought it would nice to have this format as well.

And finally, This is a song fic to Justin Bieber's song, "Down to Earth." Yes, a fan of rock and metal music is using a JB song. Who says I can't only like one type of music :) Italics are lyrics, and bold is dates.

December 23 2001

I never thought that it'd be easy,
Cause we're both so distant now,
And the walls are closing in on us and we're wondering how,

A gentle winter's storm was falling upon the quaint city of New Haven, located about 30 miles north of Boston while two 10-year-old twins stood on the deck of their apartment watching the angel's sugar coat the roads below. A cool breeze blew snow off the railings into the younger twin's face, getting some of the freezing water through the cracks in the coat, causing him to dance around anxiously trying to get it out, but to no avail.

"What's wrong Cody?" his older brother asked.

"It's cold," he responded, giving up as much of the snow had melted.

"You know what's worse?"

"What?"

"Having someone pour snow down your shirt."

Before Cody could react to what Zack said, the older twin grabbed a large handful of snow and ran at his brother. Cody tried running to the door to get to the safety of the house and their mom, but Zack was too close and he quickly latched onto his brother with his free arm and poured the snow down Cody's back.

"Boys, time for dinner," Carey called from the kitchen before Cody to could properly retaliate.

"What's for dinner Mom?" Zack asked eagerly as he hung up his coat, careful not to make the tears in it any worse.

"Spaghetti," Carey replied as she brought the pot over to the table and got the toast out of the oven. They had been having that a lot recently as it was something simple to cook, also cheap, and both the twins enjoyed it.

"Okay you two be good," Carey said as she grabbed her car keys and went for the door.

"You're not eating with us again?" Cody asked pleadingly.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to work again tonight."

"That's okay Cody, we can still have fun together and then Dad will get here tomorrow."

Carey bit her lip not wanting to tell her kids about the call she had received that morning. She was hoping she could keep the news from them until they were ready, though in a situation like this, she knew that time would never come. "Dad…won't be coming," she finally announced.

"Huh?" Cody asked, looking up at his mom, sure he had misheard her.

"Dad won't be coming," Carey repeated, seeing her son's pure innocent eyes glance down, a liquid sheen forming around them and bound to break loose at any moment. "There was too much snow for the plane to make it," Carey explained, hoping her son would see the logic in the situation and that would hold his heart together before it fell apart.

"But the snow isn't that bad," Zack said with a shrug of his shoulders looking out as the flakes gently drifted down from the sky. "Especially for something as big as a huge airplane."

Carey sighed not sure of how to respond to something like this. She didn't have the time nor energy to explain to her sons that it wasn't the snow here, but in Chicago, and that just because a plane was big didn't mean snow couldn't stop it.

"So Dad's not coming?" Cody asked breaking Carey out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Carey ran her hand through her son's hair trying to comfort him, but to no avail. "Will you be okay while I go to work?"

"Okay," he said, trying to force a smile despite the sorrow building in him. He knew his mom had to work a lot and that he had to be a big boy without her being home so much. "Don't worry; I'll be fine."

No one has a solid answer,
but just walking in the dark,
And I can see the look on your face,
it just tears me apart.

A couple hours passed and the twins entertained themselves in their small room of the two bedroom apartment. They were playing one of their favorite games, Super Smash Brothers, and Zack was dominating his brother as always. However, after several matches, Zack noticed that he was winning without any effort.

"What's wrong Cody?"

"What do you mean?" the younger twin said as he switched characters, thinking it might give him a better chance against Zack. He was hoping that he could forget about his Dad's broken promise by immersing himself in this video game, but it wasn't working.

"I know my brother, he sucks at this game, but he at least puts up a fight when we play," Zack said with a no-nonsense tone.

"It's Dad," Cody said, resting his controller on his lap and looking down, an aura of tears covered his eyes and threatened to spill forth at the slightest provocation. The boy didn't want to cry in front of his big brother, he wanted to be tough like Zack, to be strong.

He wasn't though.

Zack looked to his twin, the dark sky filtering in through the window along with the multicolored Christmas lights strewn along the skyline. He didn't know what to say at a time like this; helping Cody when he was sad was a mom or a dad's job. He just didn't have a solid answer and that tore him apart.

So we fight, (so we fight)
Through the hurt, (through the hurt)
And we cry and cry and cry and cry,
And we live, (and we live)
And we learn, (and we learn)
And we try and try and try and try!

"Cody," Zack said, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder, wishing he could just take his brother's pain away with a few simple words. The older boy sighed, hoping that those words would come to him, but they didn't, so he just went along with his jumbled up thoughts. "Don't be sad." He knew that was ridicules, he was devastated that his dad wasn't coming to see him, but Cody didn't need to know that.

"Why not?" Cody asked, gently placing his controller on the floor.

"Because Dad wouldn't want you to be sad just because he's not here." That sounded like something his mom would say, right?

However, Cody's expression remained unchanged.

Cody climbed into his bed, curled up in a ball by pulling his legs in and began to cry.

Zack looked on, powerless and defeated. His lip began quivering and soon he felt the tears building in his own eyes that he felt would soon flow like Cody's. He blinked, willing himself not to succumb to the same despair that was overtaking his brother. He needed to be strong for Cody; that was his job as the big brother.

So it's up to you, (oh)
And it's up to me, (yeah)
And we meet in the middle, on our way back down to earth,
Down to earth, down to earth, down to earth

Zack walked over to Cody's bed and got on as well. He wrapped his arms around his brother, telling him he was there for him, even though he didn't have the words for him or any idea of what he should do in a time like this. Cody wrapped his arms around his brother, allowing his tears to run down his cheek and onto Zack's shoulder. The older twin gently patted his brother on the back "It's okay Cody. I won't leave you."

Through the pain and despair he was in, Cody felt a slight comfort that his brother was here for him. It didn't change the fact that his dad was half way across the country or the fact that his mom was always at work or too tired because of work to spend much time with him, but it was something.

Minutes passed, one after another, the twins ignorant to the continuous turning of the hands on the clock. They weren't sure when it happened, but they both found themselves succumbing to the gentleness of sleep, comforted by their brother beside them, knowing that no matter what, that wouldn't change. Their game continued to play in the background, waiting for them to pick up the controllers once again, though that would have to wait for morning.