"Absolutely Not. That Would Be Torture."

It was Saturday evening when Cody knocked softly on Bailey's cabin door. He didn't know what kind of masochism possessed him to come over now, when she was sure to be getting ready for her date with Holden, but some part of him just wanted to see her before she went. Probably the same part that was hoping she'd change her mind.

"Just a minute!" Bailey called from within. A few seconds later she came to the door. "Oh, hey, Cody! What are you doing here?"

Cody walked in, not shutting the door behind him. "I, uh, just wanted to return your science book. Thanks for letting me borrow it. Who knows what Zack's done with mine." he set the book down on her desk. "You, uh, you look really... good." She looked, as London would say, fantabulous. Her elegant black skirt flowed smoothly around her legs, a pair of strappy black heels giving them a few extra inches. A tight red top with fluttering sleeves gave the ensemble some spice. For about two seconds Cody let himself pretend that she had gotten dressed up for him and not Holden...

Bailey smoothed her skirt with her hands nervously. "Really? Thanks. I'm so nervous."

"You have nothing to be nervous about." Cody told her. "You look great. And you dance great." To prove it he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a few experimental steps, which she followed easily despite the fact that there was no music. Feeling bold, he maneuvered her into a low dip- a move they had never practiced.

Suspended in his arms, Bailey looked up at him with a warm gaze. "That's not what I'm nervous about." she confessed softly.

"What are you nervous about?" Cody asked gently. When she didn't answer, he pulled her up and spun her out, leaving them standing straight and facing each other once more. "Bails?"

"Bailey, are you ready?" Holden was suddenly standing in the open doorway.

"What?" Bailey's head spun towards him. "Yeah! Yes."

"I, ah, just came by to drop off her book." Cody explained quickly. "See you later, Bailey."

"Wait!" Bailey grabbed his arm. "You've met Holden, right?"

Holden nodded. "You're in one of my classes. Zack, right?"

"Close," Cody said with a rueful smile. "I'm Cody. Zack's my brother."

Holden reached out to shake his hand. "Oh, Cody! You're the one Reina's dating, then?"

Cody flinched slightly as he shook Holden's hand. "Yeah, I guess that's me." he admitted.

"Nice." Holden said in congratulations. "Hey, the four of us should double date sometime."

"Uhm, well..." Cody fumbled for the words to say absolutely not, that would be torture in a way that wouldn't tip Bailey off as to his feelings about her.

"That sounds like fun." Bailey said, giving Cody's arm a little shake. "Let's!"

Unable to refuse her, as always, Cody manufactured a smile. "Well, Reina and I were going to do a movie tomorrow." he said. "You two could join us if you want."

"Sounds good." Holden agreed. "We could do dinner beforehand, too. What do you think, Bails?" He stretched a long arm around her shoulders and Bailey grinned.

"Sounds great!" She smiled at Cody, and he could swear she was trying to tell him something with her eyes. "See you tomorrow then, Cody."

"See you then." Cody returned. They parted ways outside of Bailey's room, and as soon as he was alone in the corridor Cody slumped against the wall, banging his head gently against the cool plaster. What had he gotten himself into?


"Cody, are you okay?" Reina asked, as soon as they were alone. Their double date with Holden and Bailey had been unremarkable, a slightly awkward dinner in one of the ship's diners, an action-packed but on-the-whole-predictable movie. "You've been making that face all night."

Cody looked up at her, startled. "What face?"

Reina raised her eyebrows. "Like you have a stomachache." They stopped once again outside her cabin door and she turned to him, slipping her arms around his waist. "What's on your mind, Cody? You can tell me."

Of course, telling Reina what was on his mind was the last thing he could do, since the object of his thoughts was, as usual, Bailey. It had been so difficult to watch Holden touch her all night. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Bailey alone since Holden had interrupted them last night, and he kept losing himself in fantasies of what she'd been about to say to him... maybe she'd even wanted to talk about what happened Friday, after the water slide... Yet instead of taking her in his arms and finishing what he'd started in that pool, he'd been forced to sit next to her in the movie theater, watching her bury her face in Holden's arm during the scary parts. And Reina... well, she was still holding him, waiting for an answer. "I'm sorry, Reina. I've just got a lot of things on my mind." he apologized uncomfortably. He looped his arms around hers, resting his hands on her shoulders just to make their stance less awkward. It wasn't exactly an embrace, yet clearly it was close enough for Reina.

"Nothing you want to talk about?" she offered sweetly, leaning towards him, her intentions plainly visible on her face.

Cody couldn't lie to himself, couldn't pretend that it was Reina he wanted. Regretfully, he shook her off. "Sorry, nothing." he said, hating himself as he pretended to be oblivious to the fact that she was about to kiss him. "I had fun tonight. See you in class tomorrow!" Ignoring the hurt look on her face he backed away from her, nearly running down the hall and leaving her standing forlornly outside her room.

He found himself breathing easier once he was out of Reina's view, the crushing guilt of her failed expectations no longer pressing down on him. Heading back to his cabin, he stepped into the cool air of the Sky Deck and froze.

When he and Reina had parted ways with Bailey and Holden, he had assumed the other boy would be walking Bailey to her cabin just as Cody and Reina had done. But they were standing by the rail on the Sky Deck, holding hands. Evidently, Bailey and Holden's date wasn't over yet.

Cody's breathing difficulties returned. He watched, unseen, as Holden raised one large hand to cup Bailey's face. Cody couldn't see her expression, as she was facing away from him, but she didn't try to stop the tall boy as he lowered his head to meet her lips tenderly.

Cody felt a pang of physical pain in his heart and turned away from the kissing couple, smiling bitterly. He hadn't realized how literal all this 'heartache' stuff could be. He stepped back into the hallway where the girls' cabins were, not wanting anyone to know what he'd seen. He leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, trying to calm his painfully beating heart. Finally he straightened up and began walking, retracing his steps down the hall. He wasn't sure what made him do it. It was as if his will was taking a backseat to his instinct.

He reached Reina's door once again, tapping his knuckles on the frame. She answered it and smiled, and he stepped into her space and encircled her waist with one arm, bringing his other hand up to cradle her head as he leaned in and kissed her.