Disclaimer: I own nothing

Note: Written to "Honest Truth" by Typhoon. Love to all my readers and reviewers.


"…What…," Zack breathed, staring at the girl in front of him with a mixture of shock, horror...and hope?

"You heard me- I. Like. You. Zackary. Martin." Bailey spoke each word slowly, her eyes still holding Zack captive.

"I…I don't...understand… I… what?" Zack, for the first time in living memory, was at a loss for words.

Bailey sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Turning around, she sat down on a lounge chair, motioning for him to sit in the chair next to her. Smiling sadly, the brunette began to talk in quiet but commanding tone, "Look Zack. I think we should talk."


"Hi Bailey...can...can we talk?" Cody Martin implored outside her door.

"Uh, sure Cody. It's only half an hour until curfew, though," she told him, moving aside for him to enter her room. She sat down on her bed, eyeing Cody worriedly.

"What's up Cody? You look...tired…" Actually, if she was honest, Cody looked…old. Like he had aged ten years or something…not that she was going to tell him that.

Cody stood in the center of the room, rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture. He opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed heavily.

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Sooo," she said lightly, trying to put a stop to the echoing silence (What's going on? Does he need something…?)

Cody stopped playing with his hands and finally looked up at her, his green-blue eyes holding hers hostage.

His gaze burned into her. Trapped in the iris of his eye, a flame danced dangerously… and dark depth she had never seen in him came to the surface.

"C-Cody?" the words fell from her lips, half in shock, half in fear. Steeling herself, she fought a wild impulse to run away.

... She didn't know this look in his eyes.

She didn't know him right now.

" Bailey… I should have done this a long time ago…but I'm doing it now. I hope you can forgive me," the blonde stranger in disguise as Cody Martin said to her quietly.

She just stared at him, caught between wanting to flee… to wanting to hear more from this stranger she used to know.

He smiled at her slightly… and the darkness melted from his eyes, the shadows haunting his face disappeared… leaving a sad teenage boy in front of her instead.

And he was Cody again.

" I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not trusting you in Paris. I'm sorry for not listening to you. I'm sorry for making everything a competition when were together. I'm sorry for how I acted after we broke-up," he paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm... I'm just sorry."

She was stunned.

Cody Martin? Admitting he had been wrong? This…this was... unexpected…

But not unwelcomed.

"Cod-" she began, but he held up a hand, stopping her.

"Bailey...I ...I just want you to be happy. I was planning on bursting in here, begging for you to take me back…but… that's not the right thing to do, is it?" He looked at her, searching her brown eyes for an answer.

"..No… that...that would not be the right thing Cody." Her eyes held a silent plea for him to understand.

He nodded, looking as if something had been decided, an uncomfortable truth finally spoken.

The blonde smiled tightly."Right. Right…then…then… can we be friends again? Because I really need a decent lab partner- Woody set his hair on fire yesterday and-"this time, Bailey cut him off.

"Cody. I would love to be your friend. And I would be honored to be your lab partner." She grinned at him, the first real smile she had given him since, well, since before Paris.

Eyes twinkling, Cody grinned back at her.


"So, you and Cody are friends again. That does not explain how you went from being friends to… to talking about me," Zack said, slightly confused. Or how Cody went from being determined to win Bailey back to wanting to be friends, he thought darkly. Something must have happened…

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there," Bailey said patiently.


"So. As your friend, I feel obligated to ask… what's going on with you and Zack?" Cody asked, raising an eyebrow mischievously. He sat down on the corner of her bed, looking more relaxed than she'd seen him in a very long time.

"What? Zack? Nothing's going on. We're friends. I'm ... I'm his tutor." She said, confused.

"Mmm-hmm."Only Cody could make mono-syllables sound sarcastic.

"What! We are! I'm just his tutor! Why are you asking this?" she shook her head, voice heavy with bewilderment.

Cody leaned back on her bed, lips turned into a smirk. Moonlight filtered through the open porthole, weaving a golden glow across his hair, the streams of soft light casting a holy flush to his features.

And for a second, she saw that stranger wearing his face again.

A man.

No, not a boy anymore… when had Cody grown-up? How has she missed this?

"I think the lady doth protest too much," he said simply, raising his eyebrows… that darn twinkle in his eyes gleaming mockingly at her.

"Cody!" she exploded, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him, anything to wipe that knowing smirk off his face.

"Well. It's just you guys have really been getting along lately. You never used to," a muffled voice said from beneath her pillow. Cody peeked his head out from under the pillow, eyeing her carefully.

"Yeah. We've become friends. He's not actually stupid, you know? I'm... I'm starting to think it's a bit of an act…like he wants people to think he's dumb or something." She paused, looking away.

Her eyes grew distant, memories lurking under their brown depths. She smiled unconsciously.

"He…he has a lot more going on in his head than he lets people believe," she paused, her eyes still very far away, looking at something only she could see, " He has layers…"

Cody smiled, a contradiction to the hurt masked in his green gaze.

"I know. And I think…I think he wouldn't mind if you unwrapped some of those layers for him," Cody said straight-faced.

She gasped. "Co-dy! Stop it. What's gotten into you? There. Is. Nothing. Going. On. Between. Me. And. Your. Brother." She puffed out, angry now.

He just looked at her.

"Prove it. Kiss him or something. A hug. Anything. If you feel nothing, then I guess I'm wrong. But If I'm right… I happen to have on good authority that he doesn't have a date to the dance…and I don't think he will say no." Cody raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"I'm...I'm not going to kiss your brother! It wouldn't be right!" she sputtered.

"Why? Because we dated? That was months and months ago. And we are friends, right?" he said, eyes pleading.

"Yes. We…we are friends," she said faintly, barley believing the conversation she was having. Cody? Telling her to go after his twin? What? Where were the flying pigs?

"Good. And as your friend, I'm telling you… what could it hurt? One. Hug. That's all I'm asking. Then I'll never bother you again," he said firmly, the moonlight sill playing across his face.

Well.

She guessed a hug couldn't hurt.

"Fine! One hug. If only to shut you up," she retorted.

If wasn't like she... liked Zack or anything. Right?

Right.

...and if she could ignore that small voice in the back of her head warning her, she almost believed it.

What do you think happened to Cody? What caused this change of heart? Reviewers receive hugs and pumpkin juice!