It took him a few seconds before he was able to speak. The revelation was too shocking for him.
"Maddie, you have to believe it or else I won't. Do you?" he asked truthfully
Although her words seemed to be true, he couldn't help but doubt her, judging from the way she treated him in the past.
She couldn't avoid the subject any longer.
Pressing her lips, she nodded. "I believed in it a long time ago. I just didn't show it, hoping that it would go away, but it didn't. I didn't realize I was being unfair. And for that, I'm sorry..." She confessed as her tears continued to flow.
Zack just hugged her, not knowing what exactly to say. Little did he know, she was having a hard time dealing with the fact that her grandma's still in coma and the same time he's leaving. Both were equally painful for her.
Maddie pulled away, wiped her tears using her hands and spoke again, "Well… I can't stay too long. That's all I really needed to say. Have a safe trip." With that, she turned to her heel when Zack caught her hand, and spun her around.
"Maddie, you can't run away from me all the time like you're doing now." Zack said, looking at her intensely
Maddie stared back at him with a confused look. "Zack, I-I really need to go…"
"No you don't." he insisted. "I think we need to talk."
"I already told you everything that you need to know."
"Nope!" he blurted. "You didn't tell me that out of all the good qualities I have, it's my handsome bad boy appeal that did it for you!" he replied in a very cocky manner
Maddie shot him a sharp look. "Very funny!"
"So…" he said, shoving his hand in his pocket. "I guess this means we are officially dating …"
Maddie looked at him for a second and shook her head.
"I don't know, Zack." She hasn't really thought about that.
"What?" he blurted, looking upset. "W-why? I promise, I will not check on other girls! I will not flirt with them! I will not look when a hot babe passed by. I'll be a faithful, nice boyfriend!"
"That's not the point." She replied. "You're leaving; it's not easy to date someone you're not going to see for a long time. I don't think I can handle long distance relationships."
"Well, I can!" he said confidently
"How do you know? Did you ever have one?"
"No but…" he paused, "you know that there's nothing I can't do for you, especially now that I know that you feel the same way. It's just going to hurt me, Maddie."
She didn't respond.
"What, don't you trust me?" Zack asked
"Actually, I don't"
"Why?" he said, furrowing his eyebrows.
"You are flirting every girl that comes your way, Zack. That's how you are."
"It's not my fault that the ladies dig me!" he said defensively
"Really? I'm not so sure about that…"
Zack snapped. "Oh, I have an idea! Why don't we try dating for a week? I-I mean, we'll never know until we try, right?" he said, trying to convince her. "I'm only asking for a week! Then after that, we'll know if we should continue or just break… up." he said
She glared at him for a couple of minutes and nodded. "Okay!"
"Okay what?"
"Let's try dating, I mean--."
"Y-you'll date me?" he interrupted
She smiled and shrugged. "I don't know if this is a good idea but…" she said, "I'm willing to give it a try. You can only take so much rejection, Zack."
He glared at her for a minute and suddenly broke into a smile, biting his lower lip.
"What's with the stupid grin?"
He stepped back a few steps. "I'll be right back. It's too early in the morning, and I don't want to wake our neighbors. I just need to do this really quickly, and don't leave!" He said, leaving Maddie confused.
He entered the bathroom and closed it.
Shortly after, she heard a loud "yes!!!" from the inside, as if he won the lottery.
Maddie just shook her head, placing her hand over her forehead.
"Oh, this is going to take awhile…" She thought.
---------------------
All of them turned their attention to London Tipton. Cody lightened up upon seeing her.
"Miss London, they're leaving for Detroit." Esteban answered
"Oh, have fun on your vacation!" She said happily
"London, they're not on vacation. I thought I told you they're leaving us for good?" Moseby asked
Carey walked over to London, who was saddened. "London, I'll miss you." Carey hugged her.
"Why are you leaving? Is Moseby mean to you?" She said, and shot Moseby a sharp look.
Carey shook her head. "No, sweetie. I'm done working here. That's the nature of my job. I move to different places from time to time."
"Well, I move from different places from time to time but I still come back here at the Tipton!"
"London… That's because this is your home."
"But this is also your home! Look, do you want me to talk to dad?"
"No, no, you don't have to do that. Mr. Tipton has a replacement already. I've met her and she's really nice. You'll like her."
She hugged her. "I'm so sorry."
"Honey, its okay." She said, stroking her hair.
"London, I need to talk to you for a minute." Cody finally said
"Okay! Let's talk!" she said, crossing her arms.
"I mean, privately?"
She smiled. "Oh. Sure."
She walked him in one corner while Moseby and the staff continued chatting with Carey.
"What do you wanna tell me, Cody?"
He took a deep breath before speaking. It's now or never.
"London…"
She stared in anticipation
"I-I really like you…" he said, stammering, "I-I mean... like that..." Argh! I should get better at this! "And I don't like you because you're rich. I like you because…" he paused, "underneath the 'heiress' attitude, I know you are a beautiful person, London."
Although surprised, she knew exactly what he meant. "Aww… Cody…"
"But don't worry," he continued, "I'm not like Zack. I'm not going to call you sweet thang or hate your boyfriends or anything stupid like that." He said and continued, "I just thought I'd let you know that not everyone is after your money."
She smiled and kissed Cody on the cheeks.
"You are so sweet. Remind me to dance with you at your prom." She said, and walked away.
He looked dumbfounded.
-------------------
Zack came out of the bathroom, looking calm. He smiled at her.
"Zack, are you alright?"
"Y-yeah. I'm okay!"
"Okay. I guess I can leave!" she said walking towards the door but Zack stood in front of her and stopped her.
"Whoa…. Whoa… not so fast! We haven't talked about one thing."
Maddie glanced at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Zack, its quarter to 8. You have to go down in the lobby!"
"You do realize that you just gave me a reason not to leave, don't you?" Zack said
"Are you crazy? They're waiting for you!"
"Look at you, you're so cute when you're scared!" he laughed. Maddie just gave him a sharp look. "Okay, I'm leaving, on one condition."
"What?"
"Kiss me."
She gave him a stupid look. "Not gonna happen!"
"What! I am officially your boyfriend, but we still can't kiss. Can you say torture?"
"We can't kiss, Zack. It's not a good idea."
"Says who?" he said, motioned to look around, "I don't see anyone here."
"We're still three years apart. It's gross!"
He scowled. "I thought you love me?"
Maddie sighed. "It's still too weird for me. I can't imagine kissing a guy younger than me even if I love him."
"Even if he's an expert kisser?"
Maddie rolled her eyes. "That's enough, Zack. You're going to miss your flight!"
"At this point…." He paused, "I don't care!"
Maddie got up and walked over to the door. "That's it. I'm leaving."
Zack shook his head. "Not without my kiss, baby." He said, blocking the main door.
Maddie took a deep breath and calmly spoke. "Zack, move away from the door."
"Make me." He said, folding his arms across his chest
"Oh Zack…" she sighed
"Fine. If mom gets late on her first day on the job, it's your entire fault. I don't care!"
"You are seriously out of your mind!" Maddie shook her head. "I can't believe how stubborn you are! I said I can't kiss—"
She didn't finish her sentence as Zack reached up and caught her lips.
Once again, he caught her off guard.
Zack's hands rested lightly on her waist as he continued to kiss her purposefully as he was experiencing the sweetness of kissing her first for the first time.
She didn't realize that her arms had crept up around his neck as she lost herself in his gentle yet passionate kiss.
She found herself lost in it.
Finally, Maddie opened her eyes, pulled away and gasped for air. "Zack…" she said, exhaling
He opened his eyes and gazed at her, giving her the sexiest smirk she had ever seen.
Blushing, she bit her lip and gazed into his eyes. "I… I gotta go…."
Before she opened the door, Carey opened it and caught them in an uncomfortable position, her hands still on his face and his hands on her hips.
All three of them were shocked.
Maddie immediately pulled her hands.
"I'm sorry to interrupt but…"
"It's okay, I'm leaving anyway!" Maddie said, her legs slightly wobbled. She could swear she hasn't reacted like this to a kiss before. How can anyone be a good kisser at such age?
"What's wrong, Maddie?" Carey asked
"Nothing! See you sometime!" she said, hurrying outside.
"I wish your grandma a speedy recovery!" Carey yelled
"Thanks!" she yelled back from the hallway.
-----------------
"Come on now, honey, were gonna be late, where's your suitcase?"
He didn't budge.
"Zackary?"
He finally looked at her.
"Are you ready?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready."
A/N: I know I promised to update as soon as I can, but I couldn't. I was involved in a car accident recently, I was the driver and it was my fault, so it was really hard for me to find the inspiration to continue. I'm okay, though, I wasn't hurt. I was just deeply upset and probably traumatized. So I apologize if this chapter wasn't good enough, its hard, really. No, I'm not saying this to gain sympathy, I'm just sharing how I feel cos that's how I really am. :)
Anyway, here you go. I hope you like it. It's not the ending. And THANK YOU for the wonderful reviews!
actingalexis13, Rongo, hsmtroyella, hayden, stessa, MaseyIsLove, HELENz, StarWarsRules, Ghostwriter626, Chel08, Lennie1984, Johnny Solstice, SparklyZanessaFan, ceps, Sam, happy-snow-angel
Thanks for your time. I can't wait to know what you think of the chapter. Till next time! I hope I'll find the inspiration to write the next chapter soon. :)