A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Not Too Late For Coffee

Cody Martin was on his way home from work, walking casually down the sidewalk under the dark sky. He never minded the walk back to his apartment during the night. In fact, he found it kind of enjoyable. It wasn't until he began feeling soft drops of water from above him, causing him to look up. Once he did, it seemed as if it were on cue as the raindrops began to fall harder. Cody quickened his pace a bit, but continued taking his time.

A young woman suddenly ran into him, causing a box of envelopes and stock paper she was holding to crash onto the sidewalk. The paper was meaningless to him, but he felt horrible as she cursed loudly, placing the soaked papers into the box and walked quickly away from him. He hadn't seen her face, but this woman was familiar to him, as if he met her in a past life or something of the sort. Something about her was bittersweet and yet, Cody couldn't place his finger on it. He had a feeling of who he thought it was and was unable to control his actions, as he turned around to follow her into a café.

She ordered a latte and sat at the corner of the room by herself when she received the drink. Nearly a split second after she set her cup down, a novel was whipped out of her bag. Unfortunately for him, the book covered nearly 75 percent of her face.

Once Cody found his way inside, he ordered a rich dark coffee and kept it black as he took a seat on the opposite side of the room, but still kept her in range of his sight. He was almost relieved that she had walked into the café for he needed something warm his body and had been ignoring his own body signals. His hands were numb and his nose had turned pink from the cold rain.

Once he glanced back up to find the woman, she was already walking over to him with a coffee cup in one hand, and the box of wet papers held in the other against her hip. Able to see her face, Cody recognized her at an instant.

"Maddie?" he asked in disbelief as the woman placed her stuff down and sat down opposite from him.

He could remember her figure a decade before she left. She had once been a lean, young girl with a childish smile always set on her face. She was much different now and he knew that change was inevitable. She was filled out in all of the right places and was no longer only a girl. Although, he noted that there was a new feeling in her eyes. Loneliness. He only knew because he saw it in his mirrors.

"I never thought I'd see you here," she said calmly, tucking her drenched hair behind her ears.

"I could say the same thing about you!" Cody replied, smiling at her, "You look amazing. How've you been?"

Maddie stared at her coffee after his compliment and looked back at him, "I've been alright. You?"

"Been better," he replied, but was still in shock that he was sitting with her after all those years, "It's been what, ten years?"

"You're the math genius," she responded with a slight smirk across her face.

That made him laugh as he nodded his head, "I thought you were still in Chicago.

(Flashback)

'Five minutes until the departure of flight number A347 to Chicago, Illinois. Five minutes until the departure of flight number A347 to Chicago, Illinois.'

"I can't believe I'm already leaving for college," Maddie admitted, standing with her backpack and a nervous smile.

London hugged her tightly and then stepped back, her eyes watering a bit as she gave her best friend a smile, "Call me when you get there, okay?"

"Of course, I will. Aw, you're going to miss me!" Maddie teased London and gave her another quick hug.

Then Carey grabbed her into a big hug and kissed her on the top of her head, "Okay, sweetie. You better be safe over there. And watch out for creeps. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

Maddie laughed and nodded her head, "Thanks, Carey."

"I wish you the best of luck during your stay in Chicago," Mr. Moesby said professionally and was surprised when she gave him a hug as well.

Zack and Cody hugged her at the same time and she smiled at them both, "I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you, too," Zack said as they both stepped out of the hug.

'Last call for flight number A347 to Chicago, Illinois. Last call for flight number A347 to Chicago, Illinois.'

"So, this is it!" Maddie said and she walked quickly to the door, turning around to wave at them with tears in her eyes, "Goodbye!"

(End Flashback)

"I got a job as an administrative assistant for this storage company after I graduated," she explained, pausing to take a sip of her coffee before continuing, "The company transferred me here about two months ago."

"And you never tried to find me? That hurts," he said, giving her a mock hurt expression.

Maddie quickly shook her head, "I didn't even know you were in New York! I thought you were still in Boston with the others."

"I went to college here and ended up staying," Cody said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh look at you, Cody. You're all grown up," she said at random, smiling at him.

For some reason, her smile had caught him off guard as he mumbled in return, "You too."

"How's Carey?" she asked, feeling the need to catch up on what had happened with the old Tipton crew.

"She's been doing great. She's still singing at the hotel since Moesby can't find a better singer."

"That's good. And Zack?" she asked, causing a memory to suddenly flash into Cody's mind.

(Flashback)

Cody and Zack were sitting in their room in the suite after they had just waved off Maddie to Chicago. Zack was having a hard time coping with the fact that the only girl he thought he truly loved had gone off to college, nevertheless a completely different state.

"I couldn't even convince her to stay," Zack said, staring wide-eyed at the wall across from him.

Cody sat on his bed and looked at his brother, "What are you talking about?"

"Maddie. I asked her to stay. I told her that I – that we needed her in Boston more than that stupid college in Illinois did."

"Are you serious?"

Zack nodded his head, "Yeah. But she didn't even think about it. She told me immediately that it was something she needed to do."

"Because it IS something she needs to do!" Cody said, "We're graduating in three years, you should understand that she needed to go."

"But she didn't even think about it! She didn't even comprehend that I need her here. She didn't understand that I need her because I love her," Zack yelled as angry tears welled up in his eyes, "How come she didn't understand?"

(End Flashback)

"Zack? Zack's been doing alright," Cody said, nodding his head. He could have told her that his brother mentioned her name every night for months after she left for college, but he spoke nothing of it.

"I'm glad," Maddie said awkwardly, sipping her coffee again.

They continued to talk for what seemed like ages until one of the workers went up to them and told them that the café closed at midnight.

"Well, I've got to go and see if I can dry up these papers," Maddie said, picking up the box.

Cody gave her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry about that. I didn't see you walking towards me."

"No, no. It's my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Cody nodded as they walked towards the exit and opened the door for her.

"Would you like to get together next Saturday?" he asked her and tried not to sound so pushy so he added, "You know, since we have ten years to catch up on."

Maddie smiled and pulled out a business card from the box, "I'd like that. Here's my number. The card's a bit wet, but it's still legible."

"Great," Cody said and gave her a quick hug, "I'll see you then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Maddie smiled and began walking with her box.

Cody nodded his head and walked the opposite way as a weird feeling crept into him. It was funny because all he could think about on his way back home was Maddie.

A/N: There you go! Please review! Hopefully the next chapter will get a little more interesting. ;)

- Lina.