Cody lay awake in Mikayla's bed while the singer continued to sleep, her head resting on his chest. He gently moved one hand to stoke her hair while he looked at her. It made him happy to see the subtle smile and overall look of contentment on her face. To Cody, she looked like a sleeping, dark-haired angel.

Her eyes fluttered and then opened. She saw Cody's face and her smile grew larger. "Hey," she said in a sleepy voice.

"Good morning," he replied.

Mikayla snuggled against him. "This is nice," she sighed. "Have you done this before? It's my first time."

Those words cut through Cody's relaxed mood as his mind filled with confusion.

"W-what?" he stammered. "What do you mean? We didn't...last night...all we did was...."

As Cody tried and failed to form a complete sentence, Mikayla lifted her head to look in his eyes. The smile on her face grew more and more mischievous by the second.

"I meant this was the first time I ever slept in the same bed with a guy," she said. "And the first time I ever woke up with a hot guy's arms around me. What did you think I was talking about?"

Cody blushed and then chuckled as he saw the twinkle in Mikayla's eyes and her impish grin. His dark-haired angel certainly had a devilish sense of humor.

"So answer the question," she said with a laugh. "How many girls have you woken up with before?"

"You're the first." Cody resumed stroking her hair, but began speaking in a more serious tone. "So, you're a virgin?"

"Yeah," she answered as she laid her head back on his chest. "You too?"

He nodded. "Last night with you was the most I've ever done. You know, when you pulled me through your doorway...I wasn't sure what you had in mind."

"To tell you the truth," she said quietly. "I wasn't sure either."

Cody's memory turned back to the night before. He and Mikayla had barely spoken once they'd entered the suite. They'd simply stood and gazed at one another for the longest time.

Then they'd kissed.

Cody wasn't completely sure who'd started it. Maybe he'd kissed Mikayla first, maybe she'd kissed him. Whatever the case, the first kiss had been followed by many more. Then there had been the touching, the tentative exploration of one another's bodies. The gentle but exciting caresses had continued until both teens had fallen victim to lack of sleep. But even then, Mikayla had not been willing to let go of Cody, and that was what had led them to where they were now.

"What if I things had gone farther last night?" Cody asked. "Did you think about that when you asked me to stay?"

Mikayla lifted her head again to look in his eyes. "All I knew was that I didn't want to be alone," she admitted. "Why didn't you...do more?"

Cody was silent. The truth was that he'd come very, very close to doing more. It was only a combination of factors that had stopped him: the fact that they'd both been very tired, the fact that they didn't have any protection, and one other thing. The thing that bothered Cody the most.

Mikayla could sense he was troubled. "If you had...if we had done more," she said. "I think it would have been okay."

Seeing the girl's face as she said those words only made Cody more upset. There was the thing that bothered him so much, the thing he kept seeing in Mikayla's eyes. That desperate, eager-to-please look.

"You've done so much for me," she went on. "I do owe you."

"No, you don't. Not like that." He gently pushed her away, just enough so that he could sit up in bed. "Anything that happens between you and me, I want it to be something that you want. Not something that you feel you have to do."

Mikayla just looked at him. His sincerity both confused and amazed her. All her life, the people around her had followed the same cynical standards of behavior: quid pro quo, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Her parents and her former manager had taught her that all relationships were based on people using other people.

But her new friends didn't operate that way. Especially not Cody. Part of her kept thinking he was too good to be true, but another part remained hopeful.

"I feel safe when I'm with you," she whispered, as she leaned against Cody.

He put his arms around her. "You'll always be safe with me."

Although Mikayla wouldn't have minded doing so, she knew she couldn't spend all day in her suite with Cody. For one thing, she had to go to her regular rehearsal session with Carey. But later that morning when she arrived in the lounge, Mikayla was informed of a surprising change of plans.

"No rehearsal for you today," Carey informed her. "It's time to try something different."

At first the young singer was worried. Was she so hopeless that Carey had given up on trying to help her? "But I need more work," the bewildered teen protested.

Carey shook her head. "You do, but not the kind of work we've been doing." She led Mikayla to the elevator and hit the button for the 23rd floor.

"I've shown you everything I know about performing," Carey explained on the ride upwards. "And there's nothing I've shown you that you haven't been able to do. The problem is you still don't know how to apply what you've learned."

Mikayla couldn't argue with that statement. Whenever Carey gave her specific directions on how to move or sing, the teen followed her instructions perfectly. But when Mikayla tried to sing without guidance, her performances turned stiff and mechanical.

"You need to loosen up and learn to enjoy what you're doing on stage," Carey said. "If you start having fun up there, I think things will fall into place for you."

When they got to the Martin family suite, Carey pulled out several cases of CDs.

"You've been singing your whole life," the older woman told Mikayla. "But it's always been work for you. Now it's time for you to sing just for the love of the music."

Carey then proceeded to pick out some of her favorite tracks and play them. Sometimes she sang along and encouraged Mikayla to do the same. Other times she just sat back and listened. But whatever she did, she kept the atmosphere light and informal. Mikayla appreciated the lack of pressure.

"This is some collection you have," she commented as she went through Carey's CDs. And indeed, it was. There was a wide range of music represented. Easy listening standards, some of which were part of Carey's lounge act, were mixed in with classic rock, pop, show tunes, a surprising amount of old school heavy metal, and a smattering of many other genres.

"Some of it is music I listened to when I was your age," Carey explained. "A lot of it is stuff my ex-husband introduced me to. Music has always been Kurt's number one passion and he turned me on to many acts I might never have heard of otherwise. It's one of the things I'll always be grateful to him for." She paused for a moment and looked contemplative. "It's probably third on the list of things I'm grateful to him for."

"You have a list?"

Carey laughed. "It's a short list. Kurt's a decent man and a good father, but he was pretty mediocre as a husband. So there's not a lot I'm grateful to him for, but the things I am tend to be memorable."

Mikayla listened with interest. She'd never met Kurt, but Zack and Cody had both spoken highly of their father. However, this was the first time she'd ever heard Carey talk about him.

"If music is number three on the list, what is the number one thing you're grateful to him for?"

Carey beamed with motherly pride. "Zack and Cody, of course."

"Makes sense," Mikayla replied. "Then what's number two?"

Carey opened her mouth as if to answer, but almost instantly snapped it shut. Her cheeks colored slightly, and there was a certain glint in her eye when she finally did respond. "Don't worry about number two."

"Sounds juicy," Mikayla said with a suggestive grin. "Come on, give me details."

"Actually, I think it would be illegal for me to give details about that to anyone under twenty-one," Carey joked. "Let's just say that overall he was a mediocre husband, but...he did have his moments."

After sharing a laugh, the two singers went back to discussing music. Carey told Mikayla to spend the next few days going through the CDs and picking out which songs she enjoyed the most. Once that was done, Carey would tell her what their next step would be.

As evening fell in Boston, it was still afternoon on the other side of the country. And in Malibu, two teenage girls were watching a celebrity news program on television. Unlike most teenage girls engaged in that activity however, one of these girls was a featured topic on the show.

"And here's our favorite pop princess giving her fans a thrill in Los Angeles last night," the television announcer gushed as footage of Hannah Montana at an autograph signing was shown.

"Do you think those pants look okay?" Miley Stewart (who was secretly Hannah Montana) asked her best friend Lily. "I liked them yesterday when I put them on, but on TV they don't look so hot."

"Yeah, I don't think they look as good in that lighting," her friend answered. "But don't worry about it. They still look nice."

"I guess so," Miley said with a shrug. Despite being one of the most popular entertainers in the world, her family and friends had always done a good job of keeping her grounded. She wasn't going to throw some diva-like tantrum just because she didn't like how a pair of pants looked on television.

Which is not to say she was incapable of throwing diva-like tantrums. The next bit of celebrity news proved that point.

"Speaking of pop princesses," the announcer's voice droned on. "Look who's been seen at all the biggest hot spots up and down the East coast...Mikayla."

"TV say what?" a stunned Miley said as the footage on screen showed Mikayla and London Tipton enjoying some nightlife. She began to scowl as the announcer went on to detail how the new BFFs had been making quite a splash in elite social circles.

"Of course, Mikayla has been flying under our celebrity radar for a while now," the announcer continued. "So we're all happy to see this talented songbird out and about again."

"Talented songbird?!" Miley exclaimed. "More like a no-talent birdbrain!"

"Don't let it get to you," Lily advised. While she was no fan of Mikayla's she wasn't bothered by seeing a short mention made of her on television. "The only reason she got any coverage was because she's hanging out with London Tipton."

"And why is that?" Miley asked petulantly. "Why does Mikayla get to be the BFF of the richest heiress in America, while I'm stuck with you?"

Lily made a face at her friend. "Hey!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Miley said with a contrite smile. "It just burns me up that they'd do a story about her right after they do a story about me."

Miley's anger was perfectly understandable to anyone who knew her history with Mikayla. While the two had always appeared friendly to one another publicly, in private Mikayla had been unfriendly and rude from her very first meeting with Hannah Montana. Miley had naturally taken quite a disliking to the girl and had been happy when the other singer's career had gone downhill.

"Look, it's just one little news item," Lily pointed out. "It's not like she's got a new CD or anything else coming out. We're probably not going to hear anymore about her after this."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Miley agreed.

They had no way of knowing how wrong they were.

To be continued...

author's note: So how does everyone feel about the way things are going for Cody and Mikayla? There are more twists and turns to come. If my plans work out the next chapter will have more focus on Cody, Zack, and London.