A/N: Ahhh, Curve ball! Watch out, BBB fans, this could get ugly. I'd like to thank you all yet again for your patience, and for you to know the next part is on its way.

With that said- Enjoy!

Cody pulled back the covers, and aimed.

I hate Zack, he thought viciously. I hate him… I'm gonna kill him! It was all he could think about, all he would allow himself to think about. All other thoughts swam uselessly through Cody's panicked mind as adrenaline coursed to the rest of his body.

Pffffft went the spray-can. But Cody could tell that Lysol wouldn't be enough this time. He turned around and glared at his brother, who was sitting on Cody's bed and looking green.

"Could you stop sitting around like a sick puppy for one second and help me with this?" Cody spat, gesturing to what had been, for the past several weeks, their bed. "We can't risk him… smelling us!"

Zack looked up at that, and even through his obvious worry managed to roll his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, he's not Wolverine. He's not gonna smell us."

Cody put down the can and breathed in, trying to stay calm. "I don't appreciate your flippant attitude, Zack. This is serious!" He glared, and Zack look chagrined. "And it's all your fault!"

"What was I supposed to say?" Zack asked defensively, looking tired. "He would have suspected something was wrong if we didn't act as excited as we usually would, having him over. And… I really do want to see Dad."

Cody closed his eyes for strength, and opened them, unclenching his jaw. At least Zack was being apologetic. It almost made up for before… when he'd…

His heart skipped a beat, his throat feeling tight. No. Thinking about that now wasn't going to change anything.

"So do I, Zack. But this? This is insanity." He kept his voice low, not wanting Carey to hear them in the living room. "Do you want him to find out about us? Is this your convoluted little way of getting yourself to accept what you should already have accepted long—?"

Zack cut him off in a harsh whisper. "No. Actually, this isn't about you at all. I just wanted to see Dad. Okay? And if you stopped freaking out about this long enough for us to think up a decent plan, there might not be any reason to worry at all!"

That stung. "I care about Dad, too," Cody murmured, turning away. "I mean, if you've got a plan, I'm all ears..." He looked at Zack over his shoulder, protecting his eyes from the cloying mist that swirled above the bed. "But as of now, the only way I can think that Dad won't find out is if we rescind our offer…"

Zack shook his head, guessing what the word 'rescind' probably meant from context. "We can't do that now, what's done is done. We're just gonna have to ensure that we don't… screw this up. Act completely normal, like nothing's changed."

Cody turned at that, looking at him. Feeling bone-tired. "How?"

Zack bit his lip, and shrugged, feeling hopeless. "No idea."

Two timid knocks jarred them from their reverie.

"Come on in, Dad," Cody spoke, quietly enough that Carey wouldn't be disturbed.

The door creaked open and Kurt popped his head in, all grins. "I have so many plans for us, tomorrow," he said happily, coming the rest of the way inside and shutting the door behind him. He stopped, looking at them both and how they were sitting across the room from one another.

"So… do you guys care which bed I…?"

"No, of course not!" Cody barked, laughing nervously, at the same time as Zack said

"You can have mine."

Cody turned to stare at his brother, incredulous. He furrowed his brow, and grimaced. What the hell, you idiot?

Zack glared right back, with challenge in his eyes. Not Wolverine, remember?

Cody sent him a look that was hard to misinterpret. I am never speaking to you again.

Zack shrugged, and Cody clenched his fists.

Kurt witnessed this exchange with a somewhat baffled expression, clearly understanding none of it. He spoke up carefully as his sons seethed silently at each other. "Are you two... sure you don't mind me sleeping here tonight?"

"Actually, Dad—" Cody began, only to be silenced by the force of Zack's glare.

"Of course not. We're fine."

More confusingly angry looks were shot in both directions, and Kurt couldn't help but feel responsible for the heated crossfire.

"Okay, then..." he spoke slowly to the open air; hoping that whatever was going on between his boys would work itself out soon. Preferably before he crashed from lack of alcohol. He clapped his hands together loudly. He turned to Zack. "Thank you, guys, for offering your—"

"Not a problem," Zack cut in abruptly, not looking at him.

"…Right," Kurt said, more confused than ever. "Thanks..."

He sat down on Zack's bed warily, and Cody stood up, plastering a weak smile across his face for his father's benefit.

"You two can go ahead and get ready for bed. Don't wait up for me, I've just got to wash up," he added, at his father's worried glance. He walked quickly out of the room without shutting the door, and Zack rolled his eyes at his retreat.

Kurt stared at Zack after Cody had left, looking lost.

Zack caught his expression, and sighed. "It's okay, Dad… Cody does this sometimes." He tried to make it look like he wasn't bothered by his brother's display of neuroticism, and instead smiled in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "Don't worry about it, 'kay? It's not something you did. It's definitely just… him." Zack glared again in the direction of the door.

Kurt sat looking at the wall and rubbing his neck. "Look, Zack," he began, feeling like he had to speak what was on his mind, even if he didn't have much experience with this sort of thing. Emotions had never been his strong point. "This isn't… because of the divorce. Is it?"

Zack's eyes widened. "Uh, no... Cody's just like that, I swear…."

"That's not what I was referring to." Kurt looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, and Zack didn't blame him. "I meant, you know, all this…." He gestured to the room at large, and lowered his voice, looking at the open doorway. "Is my being here stressing you guys out too much? Should I leave?"

Zack sat for a moment, staring at his Dad and realizing how all of this probably looked to him. "No, it's fine, honest. We're really glad to have you here! Me and Cody, we're just…" He tried to speak past the lump in his throat, not wanting to give anything away, but feeling that he owed him at least half of the truth.

"We're just going through a bit of a rough patch."

Kurt nodded, looking like he understood, although Zack knew he couldn't possibly. As long as he and Cody were together… his heart sank, as he realized the truth of it. Their dad could never find out.

"I had that with my brother, growing up," Kurt said wisely. Zack bit back a snort, highly doubting it. If Kurt noticed, he didn't comment on it. "He was younger, and always wanted everything I wanted. When I went off to join the band after high school… he wanted to come with me. But I wouldn't let him. I told him he had to get his own life." He looked down at his shoes, and back at Zack. "You know that we haven't spoken for years."

"Yeah, Dad," Zack agreed, not sure where his father was going with this. "I know."

The sound of a hairdryer erupting into life from the other room distracted them both momentarily, but the look on his father's face brought Zack swiftly to the present. It was a brooding look, unfamiliar on his father's usually smiling features. The laugh-lines contorted unnaturally, pulling into a frown.

Kurt's eyes became suspiciously bright, as Zack watched in awe, and a part of him suddenly felt that he was witnessing something he shouldn't. Something raw, and private.

He looked away from his father's haunted gaze, uncomfortable.

"Bill went off to college at BU in the summer of '85, got rich and decided to get married to his high school sweetheart at the age of twenty-three. And now he's in Alaska, living the good life as an accountant with his wife of twenty years and two children." He paused, counting. "They've got to be at least ten or eleven by now."

Zack perked up, interested despite himself. Kurt hardly ever talked about his family. "Alaska, huh? That's kind of cool." He paused. "Did you ever think of visiting him? I mean… them?"

Kurt sighed, looking pained. "Sure… tons of times. But Bill… well. Let's just say that our relationship is never gonna heal."

He cleared his throat after several moments of strained silence. "He told me just before he left that he didn't ever want me in his kids' lives."

Zack stared at the emotion in his father's voice. "That's…"

Kurt laughed, a dry barking sound. "I know. Bill's kind of an asshole."

Zack couldn't help but laugh as well, not sure what to think of this softer, more serious side of his dad. He couldn't remember the last time they'd had a heart-to-heart like this.

"It may be too late for me and Bill, Zack, but for you and Cody… I've got to say, you two've always been closer than me and my brother ever were. So I know that whatever happened to, er, make you mad at each other won't be permanent." He rubbed his legs, in a gesture eerily similar to one of Zack's own. He was clearly feeling uncomfortable. "Just—make sure you don't screw this up. Right? You two need each other."

Zack grew discomfited as well. It was uncanny, sometimes, how well other people seemed to pick up on the strength of his and Cody's relationship.

And if they weren't careful, one day somebody might find out just how strong it was.

"Um… thanks, Dad," he said. "For sharing. I'll keep that in mind?"

Cody chose that moment to appear in the doorway, looking very clean. He'd chosen to wear his pajamas, which Zack was grateful for, because Cody's usual bathrobe might have been seen as kind of weird given their sleeping arrangements.

"Am I interrupting something?" Cody asked, looking between the two of them; slightly alarmed at the serious vibes coming from their father. Kurt grinned, however, looking more himself again, and Cody visibly relaxed.

"Nope," Zack said simply, offering Cody a small smile.

But it was a real one.

Cody was taken aback by the intensity of it, and his heart fluttered without his permission. He wondered what on earth could have happened in the short amount of time that he'd been gone. Slowly, after a few moments of awed disbelief, he combed shaking fingers through his bangs and sent Zack a tiny smile of his own.

A/N: Mwahaha, I'm sure I scared a couple of you with those opening lines. I do so delight in being evil. :) I guess that's just my sense of humour...? Don't worry, though, I love these guys (and you guys!) way too much to spring something like that on you without warning. ^^

Next part is already half done! I'm just tinkering with the ending.