O.k. people I'm back...This story is getting better and better by the day. I promise you, as the story progresses I will try to make it a whole lot more interesting. So please continue to support this story. Because trust me, the surprising climax is yet to come...
I don't own The Suite life series or it's characters. I only own my characters Brad, Damien/James, Mark, Mr. Cannon, and Jen. The story plot is also owned by me.
Chapter 8: Saying goodbye hurts too badly
December 29, 2010. The S.S. Tipton
Zack was pacing his room making sure that he had everything ready for this departure today. He couldn't believe it. He was going to one of the biggest arts schools in America. He couldn't help but be happy for him. Zack smiled as he placed his picture of him and Cody into his backpack. He was going to miss him terribly. He made sure that had everything ready for his departure later that evening. He hadn't seen his brother since the night before. He was probably off at Tipton Cuisine going through training or something like that. He was so happy, that both of them had reached a point in their lives that they could no longer turn back. They had reached their goals. They had achieved their mission. To be happy with what they were planning to do with their life. As Zack scanned his cabin one more time, he walked out carrying his final bags to place in the storage room.
BAILEY AND LONDON'S CABIN
"O.k. these are all of the pictures you wanted Cody." Bailey said.
Cody was planning to make a scrapbook of all of the memories the twins had shared. He wanted to make sure that Zack would remember them while he was away. He smiled at every single one of them, for they all had a significant meaning to each of the twins. Like the first picture of them standing in front of the Tipton. It was their first day there and they were anxious about moving. The last picture was of the four friends on the island. It had the twins, Bailey and Maddie lying on the sand looking up at the glorious sun. But one of his favourites was the one taken after their sixteenth birthday. Zack had his arm around Cody for a tight embrace. Of course the two of them had gone through the Bermuda Triangle and had not been talking to each other because they argued about a way to spend their $200. The second picture brought another smile to his face. It was the exact same day. Bailey and the rest of the gang had cake all over their faces since a huge wave caused Zack to fall off of the table he was currently standing on, knocking the cake over, and covering the misfortunate group standing right in front of it. They eventually got him back by shoving the rest of the cake in his face as shown by the third picture next to it. But the one in the center was really special. It was Cody with his arms around Zack taken that Christmas. It was right after Cody had gotten that iPhone from him. He smiled. He knew Zack had a caring heart. He just needed to show it once in a while. Cody took the box out filled with pictures and memories once again began to flood into his mind. There was one of them standing in front of the S.S. Tipton on their first day there, there was one of the time they crashed the wedding at the hotel, there was another one of the time they had kept Tippy taken in their room, and so many more pictures that Cody was sure would bring a smile to his face.
"O.K. these are way too many pictures." Woody added. He had joined the group to help then.
"Don't worry Woody. We'll be done in no time." Cody said as he began to organize the photos in order.
"Man these hotel pictures bring back way too many memories." Maddie added. She held the prom picture of her and Zack dancing. It wasn't one of the twins but she forced Cody to put it in there so he could see her face every single day.
"Oh my goodness. You did not take a picture of me with a green facial mask!" London gasped. She held the picture of the time she ran into the lobby claiming she had seen a flying saucer.
"Actually mom took that picture. She thought you looked simply ridiculous." Cody said laughing.
"Oh this is cute!" Bailey said as she held up a photo of Cody being potty trained. Of course she had already seen the video. Cody winced when he noticed the photo she was referring to.
"That is far from cute. That is simply embarrassing!" Cody said annoyed.
"Sorry." Bailey said as she began to place photos into the large scrapbook.
'What time does Zack leave anyways?" Woody asked.
"He leaves later tonight." Cody added.
"Hello kids." Mr. Mosby said as he walked into the room. "Cody, just to let you know the private dining room is set for Zack's surprise going away party".
"Thank you Mr. Mosby. We'll be there at 5:00" Cody added while Mr. Mosby walked out the door.
"It's really nice of you to plan this whole thing." Maddie added as she began cutting letters out of magazines.
"Well, he's my brother and I want to say goodbye to him the right way." Cody said as he wrote the captions under each picture with a permanent marker.
"You always do put people first." Woody added while he continued organizing pictures. This was the only time that Cody had actually seen Woody help out.
"O.k. done." Bailey said as she placed the last picture in the album.
"Maddie do you have the letters?" Cody asked.
"Right here." Maddie handed him the bunch of cut-out letters and Cody began pasting them to the front and back of the cover.
"It's perfect." Bailey said smiling. She admired the work that they had out into it. They had worked all morning and into the afternoon.
"O.k. its 1:00. Who's up for some free lunch at Tipton Cuisine? My treat?"
"Can't argue with free food." Woody said jumping off the bed and began running towards the door.
TIPTON CUISINE
The friends minus Zack were eating away at the delicious inside-out cheese burgers and curly fries Cody had made. It was his signature dish, and every employee in the kitchen had loved it. They thought he was going to make a great head chef here. Maddie was glad since she got the ability to steal food while she was in between shifts since she knew Cody pretty well. Cody looked over his shoulder to the private dining room. Everything was just the way he planned. There were tables, the huge goodbye banner was up, the twins favourite foods were being brought in. Cody knew it was going to be a perfect way to say adios to his brother. He couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he saw the room for the very first time.
"Your brother is going to love my gift." London said as she began to pull out a huge package. "It's a flat-screen for his dorm!"
"Wow!" Cody said amazed. "Now I wish I was moving out." He said teasingly.
"Don't worry you and your so called girlfriend will get one too. You are sharing a dorm right?"
"No London we will be right across from each other." Bailey said. Even though she did like the idea of sharing a dorm with her feller.
"That stinks." London added.
As the five friends began to munch away at the delicious lunch an envelope began making it's way to the table.
"message for Cody Martin." The bellhop said.
'Thank you sir. Have a great day." Cody greeted.
"Well what is it?" Bailey asked.
Cody began reading over the letter. It was sent by chef Dominic and he was surprised by the words on the paper.
"Orientation for me starts next week. And you will not believe the pay!"
"How much are you earning?" Woody said between a mouthful of food.
"Try $50 an hour!" Cody said smiling.
"Wow congrats Cody. You deserve it." Maddie said smiling.
"Of course he does." Bailey said hugging her guy. "I'm so proud of you sweetie."
"You don't know how happy that makes me." Cody said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. Bailey just giggled.
"Geez you two get a room." London said annoyed. Everyone just burst into a laughing fit.
"Hey you guys. I think we should all check on the private dining room to see if everything we need is in there." Maddie suggested.
"That's a great idea Maddie." Cody added as the group began moving to the private dining room.
As they entered the dining room the friends all began desperately placing table cloths on the tables, putting the presents on a huge table in the center of the room, and placing all of the food in the kitchen. They all were busy setting up for the party that they had lost track of time.
"You guys. Ten minutes till the party!" Addison screamed as she pointed to the clock on the wall. Everyone made a mad dash towards their cabins. Cody knew he worked his butt off for his brother's goodbye party. He better like it. He thought to himself.
SKY DECK FIVE: FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE PARTY
Zack was sipping on his final smoothie near the pool. He was going to miss making these drinks. At least he knew Lucas was taking over (Lucas is the other guy that is always there instead of Zack). He began to wonder where all of his friends were that day. He hadn't seen any of them. He looked all over the ship looking for them. He even asked Kirby to help. But he once again said he hadn't seen any of his friends.
"Hey dude." Cody greeted as he pulled up a chair beside Zack.
"Hey. I haven't seen you all day. Where were you?" Zack asked as he eyed his brother very curiously.
"I was working on some things for Mr. Mosby with everyone in his office." Cody replied.
"Oh. I see." Cody's alarm on his cell phone went off.
"Zack come on I want to show you something before you leave tonight." Cody blindfolded his brother and led him to Tipton Cuisine.
"I swear if you run me into a wall I am so going to kill you." Zack said as he began to feel around to where his brother was taking him. They had gone through at least two flights of stairs, and so many turns that he was getting way too dizzy.
"Just take the blindfold off you goof." Cody said laughing.
"SURPRISE!"Zack was greeted by every single one of his friends.
"So this is what you were all up to." Zack said laughing.
"Yep." Cody said laughing.
"I really have no idea what to say." Zack said with a smile.
"Then why don't we hit the buffet?" Woody asked. Everyone agreed since they were all pretty much hungry for setting everything up.
The dinner went great. Everyone was having a great time, and they were all celebrating Zack's success. Zack couldn't think of a better way to say goodbye to the boat. He was glad that Cody had made their favourite foods. He seriously, thought that his cooking had improved. He thought that since he was working for one of the most famous restaurants out at sea, that his cooking needed to be improved. Not that it wasn't good because it was.
"Hey how's the party?" Bailey asked as she walked up behind Zack.
'It's great. Thank you guys so much for pulling this together." Zack said as he hugged his best friend.
"You know Zack, no matter how much I'm going to hate myself for saying this, I'm really going to miss you while you're gone."
"Touché." Zack said as they both laughed.
"At least you still got Cody." Zack said with a smile.
"Yeah. I would be a nervous wreck if Cody was the one that was leaving."
"Bailey, I know my brother. He would never leave you if he didn't consult you if you were o.k. with it, or if he offered for you to come with him." Bailey laughed.
'You can say that again." Bailey and Zack continued to watch the sun glow in the water. It was still 5:30 so the sun was still out. They continued to talk into the evening.
"Hey London." Mark had snuck up behind her and scared her again.
"Hey Mark. How are you?" Mark and London were near the cake and they were talking. They seemed to be getting closer and closer together.
"I'm doing great for my first day here. The S.S. Tipton sure is a beauty. Your father did a great job with the design." Mark added as he stuffed a mini-burger in his mouth.
"That's dad. Always thinking about customers needs first." London replied as she began to pour herself some punch. "Where are my manners? Would you like me to pour you some punch?"
"I would love some." Mark accepted the glass and the two friends began drinking.
"You know I think hiring Cody as head chef of this restaurant was such a smart idea." London said. "His cooking is amazing."
"You can say that again. Did you try his spaghetti?" Mark asked while he pulled out a chair for London.
"Yep. His pizza was good too." London added.
"Let's face it. What dish wasn't good this evening?" Mark laughed.
"You can say that again." London said with a smile. The two friends began chatting well into the evening until they were rudely interrupted by woody screaming into the microphone.
'YOU GUYS! CODY SAYS IT'S TIME FOR ZACK TO OPEN THE PRESENTS!" Every single guest had to cover their ears since Woody was screaming right into the microphone.
"Woody why did you have to do that?" Cody asked.
"Because we get cake right after that duh?" Everyone just moaned.
'O.k. Zack. This one is from me, Bailey, and your brother." Maddie said as she handed Zack the scrapbook.
"Wow. Cody you seriously had to put every single picture in here?" Zack asked as he began to tear up.
"Why you don't like it?" Cody asked starting to get a little nervous.
"I love it. Wait NOTHING CAN TEAR US APART...NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US...JUST CALL OUT...AND I'LL BE THERE. Cody what does that mean?" Zack had seen the letters that Maddie had written on the front of the scrapbook.
"It's more of a promise Zack." Zack hugged his brother as tightly as possible. He would make a mental note to keep that promise to him.
"Cody I promise you. I will seriously drop everything if anything happens to you while I'm gone." Zack said as he and Cody were looking up to the night sky. Zack was leaving in a short 20 minutes. So they thought they should make the best of it. Woody and Addison were making out in a corner, Maddie was cleaning the area with Bailey and London.
'Thank you so much for everything you've done for me these past eighteen years Cody."
"Zack, like I said. I don't do it because I have to, I do it because I want to." Cody said smiling.
"You know. Even when I constantly tortured you, and teased you, and pulled pranks on you, and called you a nerd, you still manage to care about me. I seriously don't deserve it after what a horrible brother I've been to you." Zack said as he looked at Cody right in the eyes.
"You weren't that bad." Cody said laughing. "You just liked to make the brother relationship a little more fun. And challenging." Cody said smiling.
"Well when you put it that way, I guess I wasn't that bad of a brother after all." Zack said.
"Oh it's time." Cody said sadly. Zack wrapped his arms around his little brother as they noticed that the helicopter was about to land on the landing pad on the ship.
"Walk me to the helicopter pad?" Zack asked all of his friends.
"Of course." They all replied.
S.S. TIPTON LANDING PAD 7:50 PM
Zack had everything put into the helicopter while he was busy trying to keep his cool while he was saying goodbye to his good friends. Cody, Maddie, Bailey, Woody, London, Mr. Mosby, and Miss. Tutwiler were all standing there saying their goodbyes.
"Bailey. Take care of my brother for me will you? And if something happens, call me." Zack said as he hugged his friend one more time.
"Don't worry. He's safe with me. Take care of yourself." Bailey said as she felt tears go down her cheeks.
"Mr. Mosby. I'm sure going to miss pulling pranks on you." Zack said laughing in between tears.
"Try to stay out of trouble for me will you?" Mr. Mosby didn't want to admit it but he thought of Zack and Cody as his kids he never had. He watched them grow up, and it was sad that they had grown up way too fast.
"London. Make sure to thank your father for the helicopter ride." Zack said as he squeezed the life out of the hotel heiress.
"I'll do that. Be safe o.k.?"
"Miss. Tutwiler. Thank you so much for dealing with me throughout High School. I'm sure I'm going to be twice as successful now that you taught us so many things. And many lessons." Zack said as he was surprised that Miss. Tutwiler hugged him.
"Just be careful out in the city you little man. I had a boyfriend who lived in New York. He stabbed a cop." Everyone glared at Miss. Tutwiler in horror.
"Maddie what am I going to do without you?" Zack said as he hugged her tightly.
"I swear, if you don't answer every single one of me or Cody's e-mails we will seriously fly out to New York ourselves.' Maddie said through tears. James slowly approached the landing pad to get a closer look.
"Is that Madeline crying. I have to take a look at this." James/Damien had been keeping a close eye on her.
"Oh I can't say goodbye to you again Maddie." Maddie gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to say goodbye .James continued to descend the staircase to see what his Maddie was crying about.
"Cody buddy." Zack said a he burst into tears.
"Hey don't worry. The ship will dock in New York in...three months..." Cody also burst into tears.
"You better talk to me every night." Zack said as he held onto his brother again.
"Don't worry. I will. Just be safe out there. I don't want my big brother getting hurt."
"Codes, I'm a man now. Nothing can bring me down." James continued to inch closer to the landing pad. If he wasn't mistaken Zack Martin was the one that was blowing his nose.
"You better e-mail me big brother." Cody said after he finished blowing his nose. James inched even closer to the railing. Still too far for him too see. He began to come closer to the landing pad.
"Stupid helicopter get out of my way." James whispered.
"Go Zack. Frank's getting mad." Mr. Mosby said as he held back a new batch of tears. James was finally the level bellow the landing pad. He would just have to wait until the helicopter took off to see his Maddie. He saw her hair behind the helicopter.
"Goodbye guys!" Zack screamed as he slowly got into the helicopter. Zack let out a new batch of tears as he waved goodbye.
"Are you ready Mr. Martin?" Frank the pilot asked.
Zack looked back at all of his friends. As a new batch of tears sprung to life he knew he was going to miss his best friends like hell.
"I'm ready." As the pilot nodded the helicopter took off.
"Look at him go." Cody said sadly.
"Don't worry Cody. He'll be back." Maddie said as she bit her lip. James could only see half of Maddie as the helicopter was not in the air yet.
"But I miss him already." Cody said as he burst into a new batch of tears. Maddie hugged Cody tightly. James saw this and he was raging with anger.
"I swear Zack Martin you are going to pay for that..." James said as he began running up the staircase to the boat.
"Oh Cody get over here." Bailey said as she pushed Maddie aside. She held onto her boyfriend for what seemed like a long time. She didn't care. She enjoyed comforting Cody when he was sad.
Everyone just stood on the landing pad hugging poor Cody for quite a while.
"Thanks you guys. But I think I'm going to go to my cabin now." Cody said sadly.
"Would you like me to come with you Cody?" Bailey asked.
"I'd like that." Cody smiled. Bailey and Cody walked to the cabin in complete silence.
Once they got there they noticed how empty it was.
"O.k. Cody try to get some rest. I think I'm going to go." Bailey started to leave but was stopped by Cody gripping hold of her hand.
"Can you stay here? I really don't want to be alone tonight." Cody said.
"O.k. for you anything." Bailey said with a smile.
"Thank you Bails. You always know how to make me feel better."
"Cody we've been going out for a year now. I think I know how to make you laugh by now."
"Your right." Cody said as he kicked off his shoes and laid down. Bailey laid down beside him. She had to admit, she always lost herself when she was lying next to Cody.
"I could get used to this." Bailey said as Cody laugh.
"You know having you here, has made the situation twice as much better." Cody said smiling.
"Good. My old feller is finally coming back to me." Bailey said as she wrapped her arms around Cody.
'Hey Bailey?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you promise me one thing?"
"Anything."
"Promise me you won't leave me."
"I would never."
T.B.C.
O.K. People. I know that this chapter was a little short. I just needed to cover all of the basics I had planned for this chapter. I will try to make Chapter 1o a lot longer than expected. I promise. Next chapter, Cody, London, and Zack go through orientation and get ready for a new start. Also, Bailey may have another plan brewing for New Year's to make her boyfriend and London happy. But will she regret it after an accident? Find out next time on LOVE ON DECK
