Sometime after Cody's arrival back to suite 2330, he had been greeted by his mom and took off his wet jacket. He dried off his hair and wrapped a blanket around his body. He laid down on his bed as Carey made dinner for the three of them. Zack was still watching TV when Cody dragged his soaked body into the bedroom. After a while, Zack turned off the TV and thought quietly to himself. When his thoughts had been properly gathered together, Zack stood up from the couch and went to the bedroom. He wanted Cody to answer some his own questions. He thought that it was only fair. Cody got to ask Zack questions and now he would ask Cody some questions. Zack pushed open the door to the bedroom and closed the door behind him. Zack stepped up to Cody's bed and poked his brother in the back. Cody moaned and Zack continued to poke him until he rolled around on his bed. Cody pushed the blanket off his body and sat up. He didn't seem very amused by Zack poking at him. Zack sat down next to Cody as soon as he knew that he had got Cody's attention.

"What do you want, Zack?"

"I have a few questions for you, Cody?"

"Like what?"

"Why do you spend more time with Bailey than with me? Why did you pay so much attention with her when she was new to town?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Why do you have a better relationship with Bailey than with me? We're brothers!"

"We were brothers, Zack. Don't push your luck for forgiveness. We're just twins."

"Oh, you know what I mean, Cody! Why did you do those things?"

"First of all, Zack, I spent a lot of time with Bailey when she was new because I thought it would be nice to show her around and be her friend. I was only trying to be nice."

"Yeah, fine. But after Bailey got used to the city, why did you spend more time with her than me?"

"Zack, Bailey was a new person in my life. She was and still is a breath of fresh air for me. She made me feel better about myself. And unlike you, she doesn't put me down. She encouraged me to the best version of myself."

"So what? We're blood related."

"Just because we're blood related doesn't mean that you have the right to tease and torture me constantly. I wouldn't mind as much if you teased me once and a while because that sort of behavior is kind of normal for siblings but you went too far. You got to know your boundaries and when to stop pushing my buttons when I tell you to stop."

"But I don't get why you spent so much time with Bailey! You barely found time for Barbara when you two were still together."

"Bailey generally is a better person than you and Barbara. She certainly doesn't put me down or physically hurt me."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I'd rather spend as much time with Bailey then to spend any time with you."

"But why?"

"Zack, I'll just be straightforward with you: you're immature, annoying and just plain rude."

"Is that what you really think about me?"

"That's how I have always thought of you but up until this point I used to see past you bad qualities and looked for your good qualities. After your stunt at the school, I'm going to try to look for any redeeming qualities. You'll have to prove yourself that you deserve forgiveness. Zack, what I would suggest you should do is to grow up or at least learn to be more respectful of other people. You can't just show respect to a certain crowd of people, you have to expend to all sorts of people. If you learn to be more respectful and mature then you will be a better person, Zack. Other people will even have more respect for you if take them and yourself seriously. Think about it."

"Okay, fine. But before all of this happened when Bailey was still new, did you even care at all to hang out with me?"

"I thought about it but I knew that we had different schedules. It was enough for me that we ate together; we go to school together and share a room together."

"Do you really like Bailey better than me?"

"Why do you keep asking about Bailey and me?"

"I'm kind of jealous on how much attention she gets from you….."

"Oh my gosh, Zack! You and your pretty jealousy! First, you were jealous of me because I got to hang out with Bailey. Now you're jealous of Bailey because she gets to be with me more often. What's wrong with you? Are you afraid of something?"

"I was afraid that Bailey was going to steal you away from me. I was afraid that the new girl in town would steal my brother away from me."

"Zack, if you had any sense in your head then you would have known that we have a special bond as siblings. It's true that I share a special bond with Bailey but there are different kinds of special bonds between family, friends, and romantic partners. No bond can be replaced by a different bond. However, a certain bond can be broken and then other bonds will simply take up space of that broken bond to fill the gap in the heart."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do."

"But you still know that I'm sorry?"

"Yes, I do. But I won't forgive you just yet. Instead of saying that you're sorry, why don't you show me that you're sorry? If you put some effort into it, showing your sorry shouldn't be too hard. All you have to do is stop being so lazy and do something nice."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"You'll have to figure that out by yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to rest a little bit more before mom calls us over for dinner."

"But what I am supposed to do until then?"

"Do what you usually do: watch TV."

"Oh. Right…."

Cody flops back down on his back and curls up in his blanket. Zack gets of Cody's bed as Cody moves around in a sleeping position. Zack leaves the bedroom just as Cody gets comfortable and rests his body again before dinner. As Zack walks back to the couch, he thinks of ways to be nice and mature. He is stumped and gives up. He plops back on the couch and turns the TV back on.

It isn't until thirty minutes later that Carey calls for Zack and Cody to come over for dinner. Cody clear4ly heard Carey and so he gets up and stretches his limbs. Zack still is watching TV by the time Cody comes out of the bedroom and heads over to the table. Carey sees that Cody is sitting down at the table but notices that Zack hasn't moved. He has zoned out look on his face and walks over to him to snatch the remote out of his hand and turn off the TV. When the TV screen goes blank, Zack snaps out his zombie-like zone and moans at his mom. Carey rolls her eyes and instructs Zack to come over to the table for dinner. He groans as her and gets up to shuffle over for dinner. Carey drops the remote on the couch and follows behind Zack. Finally, at Carey's delight, all three of them are at the table and they join in to eat dinner as a family. For most of the course of the meal, Zack and Cody didn't communicate much to each other unless they need to ask the other to pass food. Carey can tell that they are going through a rough patch as brothers but she doesn't want to open up old wounds. Instead, Carey asks Zack about sports and then she asked Cody about him and Bailey. Dinner went along relatively uneventful. Despite dinner being so quiet and boring, Carey considered it successful because Zack and Cody did not exchange snide comments and rude remarks toward the other. All they did was eat quietly and asked for the other to pass back food that they wanted.

After the last meal of the day, Carey brought over the dishes and washed them. Then she dried them and had put them away. Carey finished clearing the table and surveyed the atmosphere of the suite that she and her two twin sons lived in. Zack was on the couch watching and Cody obviously was in the bedroom. Carey could feel the dismal aura wrapping itself around the suite. She knew that she had to do something about the problem. Carey first walked in the bedroom in hopes that she can get something out of Cody first. He usually was more open about sharing his feelings than Zack did. In addition to Cody's openness, Carey noted that he was also was honest. Zack, on the other hand, would sometimes convolute the truth. Carey knew that she would have a better time getting to the surface of a problem if she went to talk with Cody before she went to Zack. Carey entered the bedroom and rubbed the spot in between Cody's shoulder blades until he willingly turned his body around and sat up. The blanket fell off of him like it was nothing. He repositioned his legs so that they would be hanging from the side of his bed. He looked up at him with curious eyes.

"Hi, mom. What can I do for you?"

"May I sit down, Cody?"

Cody scoots to the side so that he leaves plenty of room for his mom to sit down. Carey smiled as she took the action as an invitation to sit down. She was glad that Cody was well behaved and wished Zack tried to behave a little more like Cody but she knew that she couldn't force Zack to act a certain way, she just had to accept him for who he was. Carey sits down next to Cody and is face-to-face with him.

"So, what do you want to talk about, mom?"

"I was wondering if we talk more about you and Bailey. I know I asked you before but you only seem to give me the bare minimum information about her. Why are you holding back?"

"It's just that we're still a relatively new couple and I don't want to jinx anything. I really do like Bailey and I'm hoping that we'll have a lasting relationship but we won't know that unless we take things slow."

"Well, you two certainly make a nice couple. I know that you guys are still young but I think that you two could go a long way and I mean a very long way."

"Thanks, mom. I think so, too. But I don't want to get my hopes up too high. I still have to be realistic about certain things."

"That's very important to keep in mind. Are you serious about being with Bailey?"

"I would say that I'm definitely happier with Bailey than I ever was with Barbara."

"So, you're serious about Bailey?"

"Yes. I suppose so."

"How serious, Cody. Are you so serious about being with Bailey that you would be willing to shut out your brother for whatever stupid thing that he did?"

"What did Zack say?"

"He said nothing. Cody, I know that there's something wrong between you and your brother."

"He's not my brother. He's just my twin."

"Cody, Zack's still your brother whether you like it or not. Now, I know that you two have had your differences and you two have had quite a few fights but I want this feud to end. Cody, will you help me take the first step?"

"What do you want to know, mom?"

"I want to know what Zack did that was so horrible that you don't want to talk with him."

"He lied to me, Bailey and Barbara at the Homecoming dance so that Bailey and I wouldn't be friends anymore and that Barbara would want to hook up with me again."

"What do you mean?"

Cody takes in a big breath and then tells Carey all the details that had led up the point when they were at the dance. Carey listened carefully to every detail that Cody gave her and knew that the issue between her two sons was serious. And despite how dire the situation was, Carey knew that Zack and Cody could mend the bond between them as brothers and then things would go back to normal. After Cody had exhausted every possible detail of the situation, Carey simply placed a caring hand on one of shoulders and reassured him that he and Zack find their own solution to patch things up between the two of them. Cody asked Carey how they would do that and she replied that both of them are good problem solvers when it came to something important for both of them. Cody told Carey that he would think about it and then Carey got up from the bed. She kissed Cody on the forehead and then left the bedroom. Carey then strolled over to the couch and casually sat down next to Zack. He felt her presence and so he turned toward her.

"What's up, mom?"

"Zack, I just talked with Cody and he told me everything that caused this problem between you and him."

"I told him that I was sorry."

"That's what Cody said."

"But Cody told me that I had to show him how sorry I was."

"Cody also told me that already."

"Mom, if you know everything about it then why are you here?"

"I want to help you two mend your bond. You two are brothers and you should act like ones."

"Well, I don't know that's going to work. I don't know how to show Cody….and Bailey how sorry I am."

"Did Cody suggest anything that you could do?"

"He said that I should grow up. He said that I need to be mature and respectful. He said that I should nice to him and other people."

"Well, your brother is right, Zack."

"Mom, you're not helping."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to be like that. I just want you to help me how to be nicer."

"Like what?"

"What would I do to be nice?"

"Well, that's easy, Zack. To be nice to people means doing simple and small favors for them. Being nice means not expecting anything in return for your kindness.

"What are some things that I could do?"

"You could open a door for someone or pick up a pencil or pen that rolled off someone's desk and giving it back to them. You could maybe even lend someone a pen or pencil if you have an extra one and then need something to write with. You could even give someone a piece of paper for them to write on."

"Really? That stuff doesn't sound so hard to do."

"That's because it's not hard at all, Zack. The problem with you is that you don't want to do much other than play sports and video games and watch TV. If you really want to prove yourself to Cody, do nice things for him and other people. Start out slow. Do small favors and then work your way up to other nice things to do."

"Okay. Thanks, mom for the pointers."

"You're welcome, Zack. If you put in some effort then you'll be able to show Cody that you do care. All it takes is time and practice."

"Like basketball?"

"Well, sort of like basketball but you need a lot of patience and have good timing when you do something nice because your good deed might be misinterpreted as something bad if you do it at the wrong time and place."

"Okay. I got it, mom. Thanks again."

"You're welcome, Zack. Remember take things slow. Cody will eventually forgive you."

"What about Bailey?"

"If Cody forgives you then she will too."

"How does that work?"

"They're a couple. When one thing happens to one of them, the other one is affected too."

"Huh?"

"It's like when you and Cody would want a midnight snack even when you two were in different places at the same time."

'Um, I sort of get it."

"Zack, just think of it this way: Cody and Bailey have a certain bond. If one of them feels or thinks a certain way then the other one will feel or think the same way."

"So, are they like twins?"

"Well, yes and no. It depends on what personalities they have. Since Cody and Bailey have similar personalities then they will act like twins. They probably share the same values and views about the world around them. For Cody and Bailey, they feel and think the same way about certain things so it appears to others that they are one person with two separate bodies."

"Um…."

"Zack, please, just accept the fact that Cody and Bailey have a close bond. However Cody may feel about you now is how Bailey feels about you too."

"So, that means that both of them are really, really mad at me?"

"Yes."

"And that when Cody forgives me, Bailey will too?"

"Yes."

"Um, okay. I still don't get it."

"You don't have to get it, Zack. You just have to accept that is how Cody and Bailey will act."

"But mom…"

"No buts, Mister. You may as well go in your room and get ready for bed. It's getting late. You should be going to sleep soon."

"But mom…"

"No excuses, Zachary Martin. Get in your room and go to bed."

"Uh…fine."

Zack gets up from the couch and goes inside his and Cody's bedroom. He gets his pajamas and changes in the bathroom. He returns to the bedroom and slips under the covers of his bed. Cody had already changed into his pajamas when Zack got back. Both Zack and Cody were in their beds when Carey came into their room to say goodnight and turn out the lights. Zack and Cody said goodnight to Carey. She said goodnight to them and then turned off the switch and left the bedroom. The room was pitch black and not a sound was made. Even though there was pure darkness surrounding the room, there was a sliver of light for the two Martin brothers in the few days in the coming week.

To Be Continued…