"You won't believe what I just did." Cody burst into Zack's room without knocking. "I can't even believe it."
Zack didn't look over, but continued lying on his bed, repeatedly throwing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it. "If it's about finally cross-pollinating your weird plants I don't want to hear it."
Even a dig at his dream of creating the ultimate hybrid garden flower couldn't sidetrack Cody tonight. "I kissed Bailey."
Zack sat up suddenly and the tennis ball bounced off his head. "And?"
"And she ran away..." Cody admitted. "But she was really nice about it first."
"Uh-huh..." Zack seemed only vaguely perturbed by that revelation. "Well, sounds like a foot in the door to me, bro. How was it?"
Cody sighed dreamily, sinking onto the other bed. "Amazing. Fantastic. Magical."
"Stop swooning!" Zack said with disgust. "You know, half the time I can't tell if you're my brother or a girl."
"Nope, Zack. Calling me girly is not going to bring me down tonight." Cody returned with a goofy smile.
"How about if I reminded you that your relationship with Bailey is a fake? " Zack said. "Would that bring you down? Or maybe if I pointed out that she'll probably want an explanation for why you kissed her in the first place?"
Cody straightened up. "What am I gonna tell her?"
"How about this: 'Bailey... I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you." He punctuated each sentence with an obnoxious air kiss. "'I love-'"
Cody walked out and shut the door behind him.
Cody sighed as he stared at the faint circles under his eyes in the mirror. He'd gotten next to no sleep last night, tossing and turning as he'd worried about what he was going to say to Bailey, not to mention reliving that kiss over and over... He jumped at the sound of a gentle knock on the door, then quickly got a hold of himself and answered it. "Bailey?"
She was gorgeous as ever, but Cody thought with concern that she looked a bit tired too. "Hey Cody. I was just wondering if you... wanted to get some breakfast?"
Something in her voice made Cody think she was forcing her casual tone. Was she mad at him? "Sounds good." He flipped off the light switch and followed her into the hall. They walked in awkward silence through the corridors for a few minutes before he finally mustered the courage to ask, "Bailey, is everything okay?"
Bailey stopped short. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know..." Cody edged. "You just seem a little tired."
Bailey blushed. "Cody, the truth is..." She stopped, looking around as if to check for witnesses. Despite being in an empty hallway she reached out and opened the door to a nearby linen closet, pulling Cody inside and shutting the door. "The truth is, I've been awake all night, thinking..." she whispered.
Cody gulped, the combination of their close proximity and her breathy words giving him goosebumps. "Thinking about what?" he asked shakily.
"About this." She took his face in her hands and brought his mouth to hers. It took a long moment for Cody to convince himself he wasn't dreaming before he slid his hands to her waist and started returning the kiss with fervor. She tilted her head back and let him deepen the kiss. Both teens were panting when she abruptly pulled away. "I'm so sorry, Cody. I shouldn't have done that. I'm such an idiot!" she cried.
"What? No!" Cody protested, not understanding what had just happened. "Bailey-"
"I was just being stupid, I thought after last night... That kiss was so... but it was..." Bailey buried her face in her hands. "You're still upset over Barbara and instead of being a good friend I'm taking advantage of you in your time of weakness! I'm so sorry!"
Cody's eyes widened. "No Bailey, don't say that! You were... that kiss was...!"
"Cody, please forgive me. I promise I can keep it strictly platonic from now on." Bailey pleaded. She bit her lip and gave him a sheepish half-smile. "I guess you're just a good kisser."
Nooooo... This conversation, which had started off so promising, was now spiraling wildly in the wrong direction. But she looked so earnest and upset and beautiful that he had to say, "There's nothing to forgive." At least she thinks I'm a good kisser, he tried to console himself. Of course, that doesn't really matter since she's never going to speak to me again after this... he sighed. "Actually Bailey, there is something to forgive. But I need you to forgive me."
"What are you talking about, Cody?" She looked confused and worried and just plain adorable.
"You're not the one who should be feeling guilty. I'm the one who's been taking advantage of you." Cody confessed.
"What do you mean?" Bailey said. "We both agreed on the terms of this little plan. I'm the one who took it too far."
"No... see, the thing is Bailey, I'm not still in love with Barbara. The girl I really like is, well... you." Seeing that she was speechless for the moment, he continued, "When I first heard about Barbara and Bob, I guess I was a little upset, but the reason I said I was dating you is because-" he paused guiltily. "Because I wished it was true. And then you offered to help me make her jealous and I said yes, only not because I care what she thinks. I just wanted to spend time with you."
"So... when you kissed me, you weren't thinking about Barbara." Bailey said in a low voice.
"No." Cody admitted. "I was thinking about how I'm crazy about you."
"You are?" Bailey asked. She didn't really need an answer, she could see it in his face. "Cody, that's sweet. And you're a really good friend, but... I can't believe you lied to me. You should have just told me how you felt."
"I couldn't." Cody said miserably, knowing from the way she'd called him friend that she was about to give him a gentle rejection.
"Look, Cody, I'm sorry. I meant what I said last night, that you're a great guy, and any girl would be lucky to have you, but I don't know if I'm ready for us to be anything more than friends." Bailey was twisting her fingers together anxiously. It was obviously a hard thing for her to say.
Cody couldn't seem to look away from the floor. "So you're saying it's not me, it's you?" he joked weakly.
Bailey folded her arms. "Oh no, it's you too. I can't believe you used me to get me to fall for you when you were supposed to be using me to make Barbara jealous!"
"You're mad because I used you... for the wrong reasons?" Cody asked skeptically, then nodded slowly. "Okay, I guess that's fair. I really am sorry, Bailey. Still friends?"
"The best." Bailey confirmed, pulling him into a hug.
Cody closed his eyes tightly and hugged her back.
"No, Barbara, I'm sorry." Cody put down the towel he was folding and faced his ex-girlfriend as she stood on the Sky Deck, suitcase in hand, ready to deboard.
But Barbara pushed her glasses up on her nose and continued on. "I should have been honest with you about me and Bob from the beginning. It was wrong of me to start dating someone else without properly ending things with you first. You were my first love, Cody, but things change, and people grow apart... I really never meant to hurt you, I promise."
Cody smiled at her. "I know. And I completely understand, really. I'm glad you and Bob are happy, and I'm not upset with you. But I shouldn't have tried to make you jealous. To be honest, that really had nothing to do with you and Bob, it was for my own selfish reasons, and it wasn't fair to you or to Bailey."
Barbara smiled knowingly. "You've got a thing for her, huh?"
"Yeah." Cody admitted, slightly dejectedly.
An announcement came over the speakers. "Attention passengers: Departure in five minutes. All ashore that's going ashore."
"Well, I should go." Barbara said, stepping forward and enfolding Cody in a warm hug. "Thanks for inviting me, Cody. I'll see you next time you're in Boston."
"You bet." Cody replied. "Thanks for coming. Thanks for everything." He watched her walk away with a faint smile on his face before resuming his towel-folding.
"Cody."
The hand Bailey placed on his shoulder nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Oh, hey." He forced a smile onto his face.
"Listen, I overheard you and Barbara talking." Bailey said slowly. "And I thought it was really mature of you to apologize like that."
"Thanks." Cody said dryly, turning back to his towels.
Bailey placed her hands on top of his, causing him to freeze. "I was thinking, maybe you'd like to catch another movie tonight."
Cody couldn't believe his ears. "Yes! I mean, yes... Are you... giving me another chance?"
Bailey tilted her head to the side, pretending to be making a big decision. "Well... if you kissed me again, I might be inclined to say yes."
Overjoyed, Cody leaned in, but no sooner had his lips brushed hers than Mr. Moseby strode by. "No kissing on the job!"
The teens jumped apart. "See you at seven?" Bailey asked, blushing at the awed look in Cody's eyes.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." he breathed.
A/N: I originally wanted to keep the ending the same as the actual episode (i.e. Bailey and Cody end up still just friends) but Cody had to make his confession, and it was just too sad for Bailey to reject him knowing how he feels about her... I had to give them at least an ambiguously happy ending! Anyway, thanks to all my readers! Don't forget to review!
