A/N - I made Luke have sort of a "change in plans" due to all the negative feedback from certain reviewers. The story will still go as planned, just Luke will be acting a little differently than I originally intended!

Chapter 3 – Loyalty to Cody: A Second Attempt


After my shower, I impatiently throw myself together. I am rather eager to know what happened between Zack and Cody. I wonder if they made up. I would normally be more excited that I am hanging out with both twins in one night, but I guess I'm just finding Cody the most important part in my life at the moment. I do enjoy kidding around with Zack, but Cody is my priority.

I exit the bathroom to find everyone has left. I guess I'm running late. Eager to know if Cody has gotten back on standing ground with Zack, I burst out the door and run to the game room. Don't worry Cody, I'm coming!


With eyes peeled for Cody, I enter the game room. Unfortunately, he is nowhere to be found. Zack isn't even here either. I hope they show up. I forgot to even check my clock before I left. Maybe I'm just here early? Whatever the case, I might as well just hang around until they show up.

I slowly pace around the game room, giving myself a head start on the locations of every game. I know, it sounds kind of lame, but that's just how bored I am.

"Excuse me mister." A petite voice exclaims, followed by a tap on my lower back. I turn around to find a very young boy looking up at me.

"Hello there. Where are your parents?" I smile back at him. He's a pretty cute kid. He has slightly darker toned, white skin, and fairly short dark hair which is a bit longer in the front.

"They're on the sky deck, but they gave me money to play here for a little while. Do you want to play with me?" He asks in a rather adorable tone.

"Of course I will. My name is Luke. What's your name?" I say in a similar tone that a parent would speak to a child. I'm not really doing anything right now, so why not play with this kid?

"My name is Nathan. You can call me Nate if you want to though." Nate smiles back at me.

"Cool. So, Nate, how about we play some Galaxy Raiders?" I propose to the young boy.

"Alright then! Let's go! I'm going to so kick your butt." Nate yelps as he runs toward the game. It's so cute how little kids just never run out of energy.

The entire time we play, I watch his excited expression. Kids always seem to enjoy the littlest parts of life.

"Awww not fair. And I was so close too." Nate pouts at his fourth time losing.

"Ha ha ha. How old are you, kid?"

"I'm seven and a half." He proclaims with pride. I love how little kids always mention that half. It's as if they are just dying to get older.

"Okay then, Nate. Let's play one more game. Then I have to go." I encourage him. I don't want to be around Nate when Cody arrives, so I can't play for too long.

"Alrighty, but you're going down this time!" He brags at me.

The final time around, I decide to let him win. I'd rather leave him on a good note than a bad one. What does beating a seven year old really accomplish anyway?

"I won! I won! I won!" Nate shouts as he jumps in the air.

"Yup, you sure did. Awesome job little buddy." I complement him.

"We definitely have to hang out again tomorrow." He says with his typical seven year old one-track mind.

"How long are you going to be on the boat for?" I ask him. I want to know what I'm getting myself into by committing myself daily to this boy.

"A whole week. What about you?"

"I'm a student on this boat. I've been here all year long."

"That's so cool!" His eyes glow as he looks up at me.

"If I ever have time to spare, I'll come find you and we'll play in here some more. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"Well I'd better go now. Until next time." I walk away from him. 'What an awesome kid.' I think to myself as I walk toward the front entrance of the game room.


A few minutes later, I walk back to Galaxy Raiders to find that Nate is nowhere to be seen.

"It has been an hour now and still nobody is here." I look down as I insert a quarter into Galaxy Raiders. If they aren't going to show up then I may as well make the best of my time here.

"I wish Nate would come back…" I say to myself, regretting ever leaving him in the first place.

"Hey buddy. Can I join?" A familiar voice asks. I turn around. It's Zack! Sure, it isn't Cody, but he's the next best thing. Kind of funny how I used to say Cody was the next best thing to Zack only a few hours ago and now it's vice versa.

"Sure thing, but where are Cody and Violet? It's eight o'clock."

"Not sure where Violet is, but Cody said he isn't coming."

"Why? He sounded so happy about coming before." I say, rather distressed about Cody not coming. How could he not be coming? Is it something I said? Or maybe something I did? Whatever the case, this can't be good.

"Maybe he went to find Violet. He's fine. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to worry about it." Zack mentions, seeing how worried I am about Cody. Is Zack worried about my feelings? This could be a good time to set things right with him since Cody is nowhere to be found.

"You're right. Guess for now it's just you and me like old times," I smile at him. Even though Cody isn't here, I won't let that get me down. Zack might still like the idea of it being just the two of us anyway. He did want to hangout earlier today, so this could be the substitute for the hangout he wanted.

"Yeah. And I'm gonna kick your butt in Galaxy Raiders just like old times too." Zack replies. Oh ho, it's on now!

"Ha ha. You wish. Me and Cody have been practicing together and you don't stand a chance." I input. Though Cody is a walk in the park compared to Zack at this game, he did inspire me to get better at it. So if I beat Zack, then this game will be dedicated to Cody.

...

Woah… I guess Zack is better than I thought. I didn't lose as badly as I used to, but he did put me in my place. That's for certain.

"Wow. You did improve quite a bit. You must have forgotten how good I was after all this time though."

"Yeah. I guess I did... you know what? We should hang out more often. I forgot how exciting it used to be with just the two of us."

Zack is so much fun to be around and, even though Cody is my boyfriend, I have decided to give him another chance to be my friend. This time around, I'll try to get a grip on myself and not pull any moves on him… or his clothes. Ha ha, that was a bit out of line. I know I can control myself though, for Cody's sake.

I continue to watch Zack, who seems to be distressed. Does he not want to be friends?

"Luke, we have to talk. I agree that the past few minutes were an extremely fun reminder of how awesome our friendship used to be, but there is something I have to tell you."

Oh boy. I have the feeling that this could end up going in one of several directions I'd rather not discuss.

"Sure thing Zack. What's up?" I try to say as open minded as possible

"Well. Cody is having a bit of a…"

"Hey guys! I'm here!" Zack is interrupted by Violet as she enters the game room. Slowly following Violet from behind is Cody! Cody is here! What a relief! I continue to observe Cody's face and notice he seems a bit scared. Did I miss something? Maybe this is what Zack was going to tell me.

Zack turns around to greet the duo.

"Hi Viol…" Zack pauses mid-sentence as he looks at the figures standing before him. Zack's eyes bulge open at the site of Cody. Yeah, they definitely have something unresolved going on. Well, don't worry Cody because this time Luke is here to help you!


I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter more than the previous one! Sorry to disappoint many of you with Luke's character, but I hope his recommitting himself to Cody cleared that up! I really hope I don't lose all my readers for that one chapter. =(

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review! Was it better? Worse? Just please let me know.