Living a Nightmare

Disclaimer – I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody… Although if I had the chance, I'd take it:)

A/N – Please review…

Chapter 2, Living the Nightmare Begins

Zack woke up sweaty and on the floor. He finally realized he was screaming his lungs out. He hadn't known what had happened was a dream, he thought it was real. And he still does.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and quickly turned around. It was Cody. "Aaahh! Get away from me! You… You traitor!"

Cody backed away and the door opened. Carey stood at the door way and helped Zack and Cody up. "What's going on? Zack, why were you screaming?" Zack pointed at Cody. "He is the problem! He tried to kill Maddie! He killed DAD!"

Cody stared at Zack, horrified. Carey blinked and hugged Zack. "Oh… Sshh… It was just a nightmare… Go to sleep."

Cody nodded. "Y-yeah Zack. It's just a dream… Go to bed." Zack looked up. 'Was it really a dream? It seemed… So real.' Zack thought.

The next morning, after the horrible dream, Zack woke up with a bloody nose. "Aaah! I haven't had one of these since 3rd grade! That's when Cody punched me on accident!" Zack looked at Cody and pointed. "You… You did THIS! You tried to KILL ME!"

Cody stood up from his bed. "No I didn't! Mom! Tell Zack that I'm innocent! Please!"

The twin's mom once again entered the room. "Zack, honey. Cody didn't punch you. And will you get over the fact that you had a bad dream, please. Come on, go to the bathroom and clean your face."

Zack felt bad. It was a dream. "I'm sorry Cody. Just promise you to never fall in love with Maddie." Cody made a puzzled face; due to the fact Zack never explained his nightmare.

"Okay… I promise." Cody finally said. Zack smiled.

The rest of the day seemed like it was one thousand years. Zack spent his day in their suite and watched TV. Cody on the other hand, went through that day with little conversation with Zack and studying and watching TV with Zack.

"Hey Zack." Cody brought up the next morning. (A/N – By the way, it's the weekend.)

Zack looked up from his cereal and said, "Hmm."

"Do you mind, er, explaining the nightmare you had to me?" Cody asked, wondering.

Zack frowned and thought about it. 'Should I tell him? What if he takes it the wrong way? Hmm. I should tell him, I mean he's my brother. No, he's my TWIN!' "Well… Cody, promise you won't tell anybody. Even though it's just a dream, I mean, nightmare, it feels to me that it's kind of personal…"

Cody responded quickly. "Of course! I mean, hey, I'm your brother. Usually you're the one begging me to say something personal about… something…? Oops, sorry, not the time, eh?"

"You better apologize, or I'm not telling you." Acting childish, Zack crossed his arms and turned in the chair.

Cody wanted to guffaw at Zack's immaturity but he really wanted to hear his problem. "I'm sorry, okay? Please tell me, I really want to know."

Zack turned back to Cody and started to explain his nightmare. "Well… How do I start? Ok. It started out me in the jungle and I was trying to save Maddie. I heard her scream and when I followed the scream, I found a… A… What were those things the Egyptians built?"

Cody rolled his eyes because they just studied the Egyptians last week. "They're called pyramids and temples. Now go on."

Zack smiled. "Yeah, that's what it's called. Anyway, when I went inside, a man was chasing me and I ran into a room with Maddie tied up into rope and was about to … Fall into a boiling pot."

Cody interrupted Zack and gasped. "Who did it?"

Zack gulped and said, "Well, since you wanted to hear this nightmare, er… You were the one who… tied Maddie up."

"No… So that's why you called me a traitor. Sorry if that hurt your feelings, but just remember, it wasn't real."

"Y-yeah… Yeah, it wasn't real. So anyway, I tried saving Maddie but then the guy that was chasing me came in and picked me up. Somebody hit me and the stranger died."

"Oh that's sad. Who killed him?" Cody asked, not knowing what Zack was going to say.

"Er, that's the bad part… The stranger wasn't a stranger… I guess I didn't recognize him. It was… Dad."

"No…" Cody said.

"Yes. And… You k-killed him…" Zack frowned.

"WHAT? I wouldn't do that! But, why?" Cody asked, surprised.

Zack winced at Cody's explosion. "You got jealous because you liked Maddie and you found out Maddie was in love with me…"

Cody started to object, "Well, just to let you know, I will never fall in love with your lady."

Zack smiled once again. "Thanks. Anyway, I woke up in the hospital, I mean, in the nightmare. Then, I REALLY woke up." He looked at Cody. "Are you satisfied? It felt worse then I told it. You wouldn't understand."

Cody looked hurt. "Why wouldn't understand? I'm your twin."

Zack was confused. "I don't know… I just feel like nobody would understand what I feel like right now. Well look at the time! I gotta go." Zack stood up and walked out the door.

Cody shrugged. "Wait a minute. Zack doesn't have a watch! Wait up, Zack!"

When Cody met up with Zack downstairs, he found Zack sitting down on the guest chair. "Hey Zack."

"Why are you following me?" Zack said as he looked up.

Cody wiggled his brow. "No reason. You just wanted to get away from me, didn't you?" Cody said, frowning.

"Maybe." Zack said, barely opening his mouth. Cody looked at Zack and asked, "I thought we concluded that all the things that happened in the nightmare is unreal?"

Zack shrugged. "I-I know. I'm just afraid of losing everybody. You know, about dad and almost losing Maddie. And I really don't want you turning bad."

Cody sat down next to Zack. "Don't worry bro, I'll never turn bad. Anyway, it's Sunday and it's still morning. I'm heading out to the pool. Wanna come?"

Zack forced on a smile. "Okay, sure. But, I'm gonna take a while to get up to the room and back down. But, I'll be there."

"Okay, I'm going to get a candy bar." Cody said to Zack, while getting up and heading to the candy counter. "Hey Maddie."

The candy counter girl looked up, "Hey Cody, what do you want?"

"Just a Chocolate Bar please." While Maddie got the candy, Cody examined Maddie. He thought, 'Wow, I never noticed how nice Maddie looked. Wait, am I thinking about Maddie? I can't. I promised Zack! But, I can't help it… I just noticed how pretty she looks. She looks way older than when we first met her. Hey, she cut her hair. Never noticed that. Wait! I'm doing it again. I cannot start falling for Maddie. I just cannot.'

"Heeellooo… Cody." Maddie waved her hand in front of his face. "Here's your candy bar."

Cody shook his head. "Sorry. Thanks." Cody handed Maddie a dollar and started to head upstairs to put on his swimming trunks.

And the nightmare begins.