Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody so please do not sue me.

A/N: Well, it's been a little over a month. Sorry this update took so long. I had to finish up my finals for school. They weren't exactly the best of grades, but hey, they're passing right? So, now I got the summer to write this story. I'm on top of this! I wanted to say thank you SO MUCH for the reviews! They're what kept me writing this story! Reviews make me happy, good or bad. So let me know what you think of the next installment!

High Tides
Chapter 10: Aggravations

Oh my gosh, what I thought was going to be the best night of my life actually turned out to be a nightmare. Sleeping with Maddie is painful! She's a worse tosser and turner than Cody!! It's a miracle I survived the night to be quite honest. Gently rolling over in the bed, I am faced with the beautiful, yet destructive, dreamer herself, Maddie. I smile slightly, her mouth is half open and there's a small spot of drool on her pillow. Her face scrunches up for a moment and in an instant she shifts herself in the bed, her knee colliding with my prized jewels.

"Maddie!" I grunt, grabbing my crotch. This is by far the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life. Thank goodness that woke her up, her eyes quickly fluttering open as she begins to murmur apologies.

"Does it hurt? Do you want some ice?" she asks.

"You don't put ice on a guy's-" I begin but she places a finger on my lips. If I ever recover from this, Maddie is going to see the right side of my fists! Seriously! I don't care how soft her finger is against my lips.

"Shh. Okay. I'm sorry! What can I do?" she asks, remorse in her tone. Darn it! Now she's making me feel guilty. Squirming in the bed to help ease the pain, I respond.

"Just keep your feet away from me." I can tell she is really upset, I know she didn't mean to kick me there, but still, getting kicked in the nuts hurts! I mean, if on a scale of one to ten - ten being like child-birth painful - then this pain is at least a seven point five. Seriously! Groaning lightly, I gently roll over in the bed, trying not to damage the boys anymore. "I think I'm gonna be okay."

"No need to call the doctor?" she inquires.

"No! It's not that bad! I'll be fine." Pushing out of the bed, I try not to make eye contact with her. How is it that I feel guilty when she should be the one who needs to feel guilty? "Do you have aspirin or something in your bathroom? Because, I am going to need something to help ease this pain."

"There should be some on the shelf. Help yourself."

Help myself? Is that a subtle way to tell me to OD on the aspirin? Waddling to the bathroom, I glance at the mirror in front of me, trying to get a better look at my studly-self. Yikes, I need to shave! The last thing I need right now is facial hair. I want to have that baby smooth face. Opening the mirror to reveal the shelf, I begin searching for the aspirin. My goodness! Did Maddie really need to bring all this stuff? There's like three moisturizers, some tanning lotion, q-tips, and - oh my gosh, help me now - tampons. Shoving past all her girly products, I manage to find the stupid aspirin. (Which of course, is hidden in the tampon box. Who does that? Honestly?)

"You okay in there Zack?" I hear her call, her voice jolting me. Fumbling with the tampon box, I try to grasp it before it falls. Yep, you guessed it, it fell into the toilet. What is up with my luck this morning? I pry the box back out of the toilet and merely place it back on the shelf, shutting it to where Maddie will not be able to see it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just found the aspirin." I call back. I open the bottle and take two of the small tablets and swallow them without water. The last thing I need right now is for her to suspect I am doing something else in the bathroom.

"Took you long enough." she jokes. She's waiting outside the bathroom, her coy smile upon her lips. Gosh, that woman has no idea what she does to me. "What were you doing in there, putting on some make-up?"

"Heh, yeah you know me." I joke back. I casually leave the bathroom - making note to shut the door - and she cocks her eyebrow in suspicion. I pull her by the arm to lead her back to the bed. I'm really not helping her growing suspicion. "Come on, I wanna lay back down for a few more minutes."

"Uh-huh." she says, not totally convinced, but follows anyway. Phew, that was close. The last thing I need to deal with is her freaking out about her tampons falling into the toilet. Laying back down in the comfortable bed, I feel the weight of Maddie's body next to mine in the bed. I wish I was in her room under different circumstances...

"Zack. Wake up, quick." Maddie beckoned me. With groggy eyes, I jolt up, trying to calculate what the commotion was. I cannot see anything other than Maddie and she looks deeply concerned, something isn't right here. Her eyes are red and puffy, has she been crying. I open my mouth to speak, but she shakes her head as to tell me not to, instead I continue to gaze at her, trying to understand the problem. Her posture is horrible, she's slouching and she never slouches. She has her hands over her chest as if unwilling to open up and say anything. Oh yeah, I'm the master at body language. Maddie takes in a sharp breath, it looks like it hurt, then she turns away from me slightly. "I can't believe what he did."

"Who? Did Woody come in here and gas the room up?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood. She gives a feeble smile and shakes her head once more. What the heck is wrong with her? "So, what is it? Or I guess, who is it?"

"Mitch." she chokes out. I resist the urge to roll my eyes, mainly because the distraught on her face. Wait, what did she say? Didn't she say she couldn't believe what he did? Maybe he broke up with her?!

"What did he do?" I ask, trying to mask my initial excitement of a break-up.

"He's in ICU. He was in a horrible motorcycle accident."

Suddenly she bursts into tears and clutches onto me for dear life. Taken aback that her good-for-nothing boyfriend is only in the hospital and not her ex-boyfriend, I allow her to use my shirt as a tissue once more in the last two days. Well, I guess the tampons in the bathroom explain away her crying fits, because this is definitely not normal for Maddie. Gosh, I don't know if I'll be able to handle her emotional roller coaster until France to be honest!

"I'm sorry." I say, feeling awkward. She slowly pulls away from me before she opens her mouth to speak.

"He was-" but as she starts, she stops. Furrowing my eyebrow, I wait for her to finish, but there is nothing. Instead she stands up from the bed, wiping her eyes. "Maybe we should get out of this room for a while, want to go to the pool? I'm sure you'd love some sun."

"Sure." I say, though I am somewhat frustrated she did not finish her statement about poor hospitalized Mitch. Gosh, he's not too smart if he got in a car accident! "I'll go get my trunks from my room and meet you up there. Okay?"

"Can you be trusted?"

"Of course I can." I retort, forcing myself off the bed along with her. I head toward the door and open it, "I'll see you in a few."

She simply nods in response as I leave the room. She is way too hyper-sensitive right now. I'm slightly glad to get out of there to be honest. Walking down the hallway, I am able to finally see something besides her room, and it feels good. It was beginning to get congested in there. I mean, I like Maddie and everything, but that was a bit of Maddie overhaul. Making my way to my room, I spot a few of my friends, it's Bailey and Woody.

"Odd to see you two together." I state. It gains each of their attention and they both glance at me in surprise. "Did I interrupt a date or something?"

"A date? No, Woody's just trying to study with me. And by study, I mean copy off the answers I already have!" Bailey exclaims. She throws her hands up in the air. "Cody won't let him copy anymore, he's put all his homework in a lock-up safe. So, now he's mooching off me for answers."

"You say it like it's a bad thing..." Woody retorts half-heartedly. I roll my eyes at the duo. They really are an unlikely pair, I mean, if I had to pick someone for Bailey to be with, it would not be Woody. (It would probably be my brother to be honest with you.)

"Well, I don't want to bother you two. I gotta go get my trunks." I say. As I walk away, I feel someone pull on my arm.

"Hey, will you bring my trunks too? Oh, and don't forget my floaties!" Of course it was Woody. I slowly nod and turn away. He really is quite the odd fellow to still be needing floaties. Nonetheless, I make a mental note to bring his stuff to the pool as I finally make it to my room. Luckily, it only takes seconds to get the needed clothes and in minutes I'm at the pool, where Woody and Maddie are both waiting for me.

"Hey Zack. Took you long enough." Woody states and pulls his trunks and floaties out of my hands. "I wanted the trunks with the little sharks on them!"

"You'll get what I bring you or you won't swim at all." I state, sitting next to Maddie in a deck chair. It's fairly obvious that she won't be swimming today, but I figure I'll hang out with her for awhile before jumping into the chlorine doused pool. Knowing the answer, I ask a question anyway. "So, you gonna take a dip?"

"No, not today. I think I'll just sit out and work on my tan." she replies, her face heating up slightly.

"Girls and their tanning." I say. Without a second's hesitation, I run and jump into the pool, allowing the water to rush through my body. Its chill is rejuvenating, the first thing to really wake me up in the last couple of days. I'm glad Maddie recommended getting out of the room, I might have rotted to death in it. Coming up for a breath of fresh air, my eyes meet an angry Maddie's. I must have gotten her wet when I jumped in the pool. "What? The chlorine burn you?"

"No, but I wasn't planning on getting wet." she says, keeping her scowl prominent on her features. She's even pretty when she's mad. Grinning at her, I splash a small amount of water toward her. "I mean it Zack, don't push my buttons."

"Is that supposed to threaten me?" I ask, teasing her.

I watch as she angrily pushes out of the seat she's in and approaches the corner of the pool with anger. She is seriously asking for me to pull her in. Grinning devilishly, I grasp ahold of her leg tightly. The death look I am receiving is immensely threatening, but I ignore it and manage to pull her into the pool. To say the least, she is not happy in the slightest. Her blonde head emerges from the water and she gasps for air before turning to me to yell,

"Zachary Martin!" she exclaims, her eyes livid. "I had no intentions to get in the pool!"

"Well, too late, you're in here now. Might as well have some fun." I joke, splashing her. I guess that doesn't help her mood because instead she swims to the pool ladder to get out. She's not going to get out that easily; diving underwater, I sneak up to her with eyes opened, to make sure I don't miss grabbing her. With swift hands, I grasp her around the waist and pull her under the water with me. But, that's not the only thing I seemed to pull on...

I shut my eyes while still in the water. I accidentally pulled her bikini bottoms down! She still seems to be struggling in the water, so I come up for air to make sure she's alright. As I do though, I only get one quick breath before she pushes be back under and holds me down! One breath was not enough for me to go back underwater, my head starts spinning and I squirm underneath her grasp, trying to show her I need air.

"I don't think so. You pulled my bottoms down!" she shrieks loud enough for me to hear underwater. I take a hold of her waist and begin to pull on her to get her attention that I need air. If she doesn't let me up, then I'm going to pass out or something, and I really don't want to do that again! I start to feel my body losing conscious, my arms are giving up on struggling....

"Oh Zack, I'm sorry." She gasps, allowing me to finally come up for air. Choking the water, I find it hard to get any air in my lungs. Apparently Maddie notices this and I feel her dragging my body through the water. She might be trying to get me on the deck. Sure enough, she lets go for only a second, until her arms pull me out of the pool and onto the harsh surface of the deck. What in the world is she doing? I try to force my eyes open and at the same moment, Maddie's lips came in contact with mine.

"I'm alive." I choke out, puking up water next to our bodies. Not exactly what I was planning, but man it feels so much better to breathe. "Next time I'm struggling underwater, let me up for air."

"Well you deserved it! You pulled my bikini down!"

"On accident!" I exclaim, flailing my arms in the air. I cough slightly before finishing my statement. "Which, by the way, I am really sorry for."

"Uh-huh." she says, crossing her arms across her chest. "Well, all I know is I can't wait for this boat to get to France. I'm starting to get tired of being your baby-sitter."

With that said, she stalks off. Probably heading back to her room. I wonder if I am welcome there tonight.