A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

Gone, like yesterday is gone,
Like history is gone,
The world keeps spinning on,
You're going, going, gone,
Like summer break is gone,
Like Saturday is gone
Just trying to prove me wrong
You pretend like your immortal

-Switchfoot; Gone

When Cody met Tapeworm at his locker the next morning his friend had nothing to report. Patrick wasn't anywhere to be found. This may have been regarded as a danger sign, but Tapeworm had seen Patrick's friends hanging around the cafeteria without him, and Patrick wasn't one to be alone.

"So…Maybe he's sick, or something?" Tapeworm suggested as they cautiously made their way to their first period class.

"No," said Cody. "My mom found out about all thisyesterday when I got home; she probably called the school and they suspended him."

Tapeworm grinned. "Maybe they'll expel him."

"Yeah, he's done enough drugs I'm sure they can find something that'll get rid of him for good." said Cody.

They walked into their math classroom and took their seats. Cody pulled out his textbook and binder and began opening to last night's homework; homework he hadn't exactly done. He was busy scribbling in answers (all of which he would later find out were correct; it appeared that he was now lazy, but no less intelligent) when the girl next to him (who's name he thought was Martie. Or was it Mary?) leaned across and whispered in his ear.

"D'you hear about Patrick O'Dell?"

Cody shook his head and listened eagerly.

Martie/Mary laughed softly. "He got expelled!" she spilled, undoubtedly going to burst if she did not share this juicy bit of news soon. "They found cocaine stuff in his locker and at his house!"

Cody looked at her, feigning disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Yeah!" Martie/Mary nodded exuberantly. "Did you know him? Was he really like, into that stuff?"

Cody raised a brow. "I could see him doing it, yeah,"

Martie/Mary shook her head, still smiling widely, and went back to doodling in her planner. Cody sighed softly and went back to the assignment.

Kurt was at the car dealership looking over a few papers when his cell phone began to vibrate. He checked the caller ID and groaned, before flicking it open.

"Hello?"

"Kurt, it's Carey."

Kurt made a face but answered pleasantly. "Hey, Carey, how are you?"

"I'm hoping you'll…reconsider what you said last time we talked."

Kurt raised a brow. "Reconsider…What-you mean the part about Zack coming back to Boston?"

"It's just that…Cody needs him. One of Zack's old friends has been—beating him up after school and bullying him between classes and-and I called the school and they expelled him for drug use, but I'm worried about Cody. About our son."

"Look, Carey," Kurt sighed and rubbed a hand over his stubbled face. "I'm worried about Cody, too, but now thatthat kid's been expelled don't you think the problem is solved?"

"No, I do not!" Carey said loudly and Kurt cast a nervous look at the customer just outside the little office. "He needs Zack! His grades were…Were horrible, Kurt. All C's, one D; he used to get straight A's!"

"Carey," Kurt tried to sound calm. "If Cody's decided to slack-off, how is that Zack's fault? Zack got all A's and B's! Better than he's ever done before-,"

"-Don't compare our children!" Carey sounded disgusted and Kurt for the life him could not understand why. "This isn't some-some competition between you and I, Kurt, these are our children we're talking about!"

"I-," he began to defend himself but his ex-wife interrupted viciously.

"-Zack needs to come home, Kurt. He needed to get away for a little while, but it's been nine months, and from how it sounds he's more than ready to come back."

"Carey, don't!" Kurt cut in. "How do you think he's going to react when I tell him he doesn't have the choice anymore? Huh? How am I supposed to tell my son that's he has to go back to where he totally screwed up, and he can't stay with me anymore? How, Carey?"

"By reminding him that he has a family that loves him and misses him!" She sounded close to tears and Kurt sighed deeply. "By reminding him that his brother is here and needs his support. Remind him, Kurt, becauseapparently he's forgotten!"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Okay, let's just calm down, alright? Why don't we-,"

"-I'm not losing both my babies," Carey said, tears in her voice. "When Zack's not here, Cody suffers. But when Zack is here, he suffers. Why…" she trailed off and Kurt heard crying in the background.

He closed his eyes briefly before replying. "I'll talk to Zack. I'll see what I can do. Tell Cody I love him, and to hang in there."

"No, Kurt, I'm sorry but I can't trust you to convince Zack. I'm coming up to get him this weekend. He needs to come home if he's ready."

"Carey! You can't take him away from school in the middle of the year! Away from his friends and his music and his life-,"

"-I'll work something out. He's strong, he's smart, he can deal with it. His life is here, Kurt. In Boston. I'm coming to take him home."

And she ended the call.

Kurt buried his head in his hands, suddenly feeling the weight of the world. It was all suddenly too complicated, too risky, too much to think about.

"Excuse me?"

He looked up. A woman and her two children stood before his desk. Heblew out his breath and shuffled the papers."Can I-," he cleared his throat and blinked a few times. "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for a car for our family. Can you help us with that?"

"Yeah," said Kurt, trying on a fake smile. "Yeah, I can help."

That night Kurt heated up tomato soup and set out buttered bread and tall glasses of ice water.

"…Talking to Nick and he said that I should ask Kara to the Winter Dance," Zack was saying, mouth full. "What do you think? Think I should?"

Kurt was staring off into space, deep in thought.

"Dad?" Zack waved his spoon in front his father's face. "Dad?"

"What?" Kurt blinked, sitting up straighter. "Yeah. Um. About that, kiddo-,"

"-Okay, so maybe Kara's a bit extreme." Zack took another sip of soup. "But I was thinking that maybe Ashley would want to go-,"

"-No, not about girls," Kurt opened his mouth and then closed it, unsure of what to say. "Your-mother called me again today."

"So?" Zack bit off a corner of bread.

"So…" Kurt sighed. "Zack, she wants you to go back home."

Zack raised a brow. "This is home, dad."

"No, home as in Boston," Kurt was touched by his son's loyalty to living with him, but it made saying what he had to say all the more harder. "Apparently Cody's not doing too well."

Zack looked up quickly. "Is he okay?"

Kurt shrugged. "He's been having-problems with bullies beating him up. His grades have dropped, and your mother's worried about him."

"He's getting beat up?" Zack swore. "What the hell's wrong with some people? You know, it's like, Cody's the nicest guy in school; wouldn't hurt a frickin' fly! Who'd wanna hurt him?"

Kurt shrugged again. "Has he said anything about it to you?"

Zack scowled. "No. He sent me rude emails, remember?"

"Look, Zack, I really need you to consider your brother's welfare. I think you're more than ready to go back, and I think you're needed in Boston-,"

"-What, you-you don't-don't want me here, or something?" Zack's voice turned to a hurt tone, though he tried to mask it with his trademark carelessness.

"No, no, Zack, it's not that," Kurt groped for the right words. "I just...Iwant what's best for you and your brother, and I'm starting to think your mother's right."

"So," Zack clenched his jaw. "So, even though you told me it was going to be my choice, you're kicking me out-,"

"-Zack, I'm not 'kicking you out', I'm just saying. Your mother is coming this weekend, and she wants you to leave with her-,"

"-What?" Zack stood up violently from the table. "This weekend?" He let out a cry of anger. "This is so unfair! I want to stay here! I love it here! What-what about my friends and-and school? What am I supposed to do about that? I can't just drop everything because my mom misses me!"

Kurt half rose, trying to remain calm and level-headed. "Think about Cody, Zack, he needs you there-,"

"Oh, so this is about Cody?" Zack glared at his father, fists clenched at his sides. "Well, that's nothing new. Everything's about Cody! You just-you just like him better, right? So does Mom. He's the good one, right? Poor, sweet, innocent Cody!"

"Zack, stop it, you're way off-,"

"-Oh, I'm way off?" Zack laughed humorlessly. "That's great, dad, just get rid of me! Just give me back to mom 'cuz you don't want to deal with me!"

"Zachary," Kurt stood and shook his head authoritively. "Stop right now-,"

"-You know what?" Zack snarled. "I don't need you. Or mom. I don't need any of you!" he backed away, shaking with emotion, and left the small kitchen, darting up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door.

Kurt slowly sankback downinto his chair and rubbed his temples. "Well," he said lowly to himself. "That went well."

Zack furiously stuffed clothes into a suitcase, adding a notepad and pens and three water bottles to the hodgepodge. He grabbed his guitar and put both it and the suitcase in the corner of his room, yanking on his pajamas and turning off the light.

Tonight he'd leave. Go somewhere where nobody could find him. Life in Boston had sucked. And just when everything in Connecticut had been going really great he had to leave. Nobody seemed to care about what he wanted. Nobody.

Cody was a lot tougher than he got credit for. He could take bullies. He had Tapeworm. He didn't need his brother.

Zack stared at the clock.

By the time it read three fifteen, he'd be long gone.

To Be Continued

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