Disclaimer: I do not own Suite Life.

Missing ch 2

Zack slowly awoke to the daylight coming through a gap in the curtains. Today was a Saturday, thankfully, so he didn't have to worry about school.

He rolled onto his back and stretched, bones popping in the process. He glanced at the other side of the room to find Cody's bed empty, but that wasn't unusual.

Cody.

He had been a little hard on his brother yesterday. He hadn't meant to say those things but the way Cody acted sometimes infuriated him. If he didn't act like such a baby then he wouldn't be treated like that.

He cared about his brother, really he did, but he wished that he wasn't such a dork. He would help him out more but then he would be called a loser for hanging out with him. Zack did have a reputation to uphold, but being around Cody a lot would ruin it. If he was mean to Cody then he was in the clear.

But last night Cody didn't say a word to him. He had completely blocked him out, which had made Zack feel quite guilty. He didn't mean what he had said to Cody, he had just said it because all those people were watching.

He pictured the hurt in Cody's eyes when he said he was embarrassing, the pain in them.

That was enough. He needed to apologise to Cody.

Throwing on some random clothes that he found on his floor, he walked into the living room. He noticed his mom in the kitchen. Cody was nowhere to be seen.

"Mornin' Zack" she said over her shoulder.

"Morning" he mumbled, looking around again," where's Cody?"

She looked over her shoulder again.

"He's not in your room?"

"No, his bed was made."

"I'll try calling him, why don't you go down to the lobby and ask if anyone's seen him? I doubt he'll have gone far."

Zack hurried down there. He hoped someone had seen him. He really needed his brother.

XXX

Cody sat huddled amongst the bin bags, trying to keep warm. He wasn't that far from the hotel, but being tired and overwhelmed by emotion made him sit down and rest.

It was freezing. He hadn't realized how cold it was. He had tried to keep going but didn't have the energy, he was also very cold. He had made sure noone would spot him though. He made sure he was a good 8 or 9 blocks away from the Tipton before settling.

He wondered if they'd noticed he was gone yet. Probably not. Zack would still be asleep and his mom was probably at work or something.

He wondered if he would be missed. At all, by anyone. He highly doubted it. He didn't have many friends. He was a loner. Any friends he used to have were his friends because of Zack. He never hung out with any of them on his own. He now realized why.

Zack had been all he had, but now…

His eyes had begun to water. Thinking about it hurt a lot.

He knew Zack didn't care about him but he really missed his brother.

Now, as he lay in that alleyway he realized how hard it would be to make it on his own. What was he supposed to do? He had nowhere to go and barely enough money to last him a week. Cody didn't like this

He wanted to go home.