Disclaimer: I do not own the Suite Life of Zack and Cody…'cause if I did, I definitely wouldn't be writing a fic, I'd be working on this fic being the movie (as one reviewer so kindly said. :D!) I only own Sarah, Cody's girlfriend.

College Years

Chapter 8

Moving?

The weeks went by slowly, Cody spending most of his time with Sarah, and Zack with Maddie. They rarely saw each other except when they had a class together or when they were going to sleep. It was all really hectic. Before anyone knew it, it was Christmas and everybody was happy to be going back home for a long break. They were flying home this time, and Maddie was coming up with Zack, but staying at her parents. Sarah was flying home with Cody to meet his family and spend some time with them, and then she was flying to her own home to be with her own family down in Florida. Cody and her worked out that he'd meet her family when they went down to Florida for Spring Break.

The morning they left could only be described as complete and total chaos. They were packing, double and triple checking that they had the tickets, and getting everyone to the car. Sarah and Maddie had met and became good friends fast. Things just seemed to go so well for them. Nothing could stop the twins. They felt great, they had good friends, sweet, caring, loving girlfriends, they still had the black mustang, and, for Cody at least, school was going well.

The flight back was uneventful. Carrie picked them up at the airport. Cody had called his mom the first week Sarah and him had gotten together and made sure to tell her that he had a girlfriend. He didn't want to go through what Zack did.

When she saw Sarah she gave Cody a thumbs up sign, making him blush with embarrassment saying, "Mom…" Carrie smiled and said, "You're still me baby, and I can still torture you." She turned to Sarah and said, "Hi, you must be Sarah. I'm Carrie, Cody and Zack's mom. I've heard so many great things about you." She outstretched her hand and Sarah took it, shaking it gently saying, "Hi, Miss Martin. I've heard a lot about you, too." Carrie smiled and said, "Please, call me Carrie. Calling me Miss Martin makes me feel old." Zack interrupted, "But Mom! You are old." Carrie glared up at him, as he was now taller than her and laughed nervously, saying, "Sorry Mom…you're very beautiful…and uh…young…and talented…and uh…" She smiled and said, "Fine, you're forgiven. Just don't slip again." "Aye, aye Captain!" He saluted her playfully. Carrie shook her head and started walking out of the airport to the car. Zack wiped invisible sweat off of his forehead.

The hotel was alive with Christmas spirit. A big Christmas tree was in the center with balls of every color and silvery tinsel. Presents were underneath the tree. When Zack saw them, he ran for them, grabbing one quickly from the floor. He was about to unwrap it when Mr. Moseby snatched it away saying, "They're fake! They're empty! Don't touch my Christmas theme here. And for once: please don't destroy my hotel, hm?"

"It's good to see you, too, Mr. Moseby." He made to throw the present back on the ground, but Mr. Moseby gave him a stern look, and he said, "Aw, you always ruin the fun, Mr. Moseby."

"Well, I try to, anyway."

Carrie smiled and called to Zack, "Come on, Zack. We have to get upstairs."

He followed them into the elevator, a tight squeeze for 5 people and 4 people's luggage, 2 of which were girl's luggage. They walked the familiar route to the suite on floor 23, which wasn't so familiar to Sarah, and opened the door to reveal a completely different room. "Mom! What'd you do to our home?" Cody cried.

The walls had been painted girlish colors: light sky blue, pink, yellow, and lilac. The furniture matched and was rearranged. Zack ran across the living room and opened his old bedroom door to reveal his worst nightmare. The room had been turned into an extra closet for Carrie's clothes.

"Mom…what is this? Please tell me this is a dream." Zack said.

Cody piped in, "Dream? How about nightmare?"

"Well whatever it is, what is this room? An extra store closet?"

"No, Zack, that's my new dressing room. It's got a vanity table, lit up mirror, wall to wall mirrors on the side wall, dressing racks, a changing screen, and a shoe rack! Okay, well, multiple shoe racks, but it's the best!"

Maddie and Sarah both rushed into the room, giggling as if they were best friends, out for a day at the mall. They heard Maddie yell from the closet, "Oh, Carrie, these sparkly blue strappies are awesome!" Carrie said back, "Which pair of sparkly blue strappies?" She smiled at the boys and went into the room. Zack and Cody sat on the couch, which was now light blue, matching with the yellow paint.

"Wow…"

"You said it, Zack."

"I can't believe Mom did this! I mean, where are we going to sleep?"

"All four of us definitely can't sleep on the couch."

"And I am not sleeping on the floor."

"You got that right."

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead…"

"What would you say if I moved in with Maddie?"

"Move in with Maddie! Has she asked you to move in with her? Are you allowed to move in with people of the opposite sex? Why do you want to leave our room? You're just going to leave me there all by myself? What? Do you not like me anymore?"

Zack stopped him, "Cody, Cody, Cody, stop! No, Maddie and I haven't brought up the subject before…but I was going to ask her this weekend…I'm not sure if they'd allow it, but since when have I been stuck on rules? I don't want to leave our room, really, it's just that she's my girlfriend and you're my brother! Ive known you my whole life, and I've lived with you my whole life, but I've known her for a long time, but I've never lived with her, you know? I wasn't going to just leave you there all by yourself…well, okay, I was, but you can visit anytime! Plus you'll have Sarah whenever you want to talk. Of course I still like you. What are you? Dumb?"

"Alright, well say you guys move in with each other…I'd be all by myself most of the time…I've never had my room to sleep in like that before, Zack…what if…I get scared or something?"

"Cody, you're 18. If you're 18 and still getting scared of monsters under your bed, clowns in the closet, and evil chipmunks at the foot of your bed, then I wouldn't be worried about me being right there. I'd worry about getting help!" They could hear the girls in the back room, giggling about shoes, make-up, clothes, and every other thing girls talk about when they get together.

"Hey, I only got scared of the evil chipmunks once! They were scary…they had these long sharp buckteeth and razor like claws! They were trying to eat me for Pete's sake!"

"Cody, man, you need to get over the freaking chipmunks and focus on our bigger issue."

"Well the chipmunks were part of our argument. If I get scared or something, who's going to help me? I'm not going to run over to Maddie's dorm in the middle of the night so I can calm down!"

"Well, I don't know, Cody, but I'm not going to let your little nightmares keep me from moving in with Maddie."

"Moving in with Maddie?" Zack and Cody looked towards the new sound and saw Carrie standing behind the couch, her arms folded across her chest.

"Zack?" She glared down at him. He tilted his head back to look up at her and said innocently, "Yes, mom?"

"Are you moving in with Maddie?"

"Well…"

"I want the truth."

"As of right now, no. I haven't asked her yet."

"Zack…I don't know if it's such a good idea to go moving in with your girlfriend. Things that you're not ready for might happen!"

"You're talking about sex, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

"Mom, we've been through this a thousand and one times. I'm not old enough for sex and I'm not going to do it until I'm ready."

Carrie muttered to herself, "Which hopefully won't happen until you're on your death bed."

"What was that, Mom?"

"Nothing!"

She turned and went to the kitchen to start making a late lunch. Zack turned to Cody, who was giving him pleading eyes.

"Cody, stop! That…that doesn't…that doesn't work on me!" Although it clearly did.

"Yes it does and you know it."

"Ok, listen, Cody. I haven't decided anything yet…but it is time for us to…to grow up…and lead our own lives! We're adults now…we have to get up and get out there in the world."

"Who would've thought that you'd be the one giving me a lecture…and about growing up, too!"

Zack smiled and shook his head. He turned to Carrie in the kitchen and said, "So Mom…uh, where are Maddie, Cody, Sarah and I going to sleep? We can't all fit on this couch…"

Carrie gave him a puzzled expression and then said, "Oh! I forgot to tell you, didn't I?"

Cody replied, "Tell us what?"

"Well, Mr. Moseby has given you a suite to use on your Christmas break here."

Zack cried, "Really? Which suite?"

"Room 312. It's on the 6th floor."

Cody said, "Mom. We've known this entire hotel by heart since we were 13 years old."

They called to Maddie and Sarah, who came out of the door wearing the craziest clothes imaginable over what they had been wearing. Maddie had on a blue sequin tank top over her brown long sleeve shirt, a black skirt over her jeans, and a pair of blue strap heels. Sarah had on a red sparkly halter-top dress over a red and green long sleeve shirt and jeans and a pair of red heels. Maddie answered sweetly, "Yes?" Zack, Cody, and Carrie laughed and Zack said, "What on earth are you wearing?" Maddie looked down and said, "Oh, well, Sarah and I saw some clothes we really wanted to try on…I hope you don't mind, Carrie." Carrie shook her head and said, "As long as none of it's stretched and everything goes back to where it belongs, then no." Maddie smiled and Carrie looked at the outfit she'd chosen.

"Wow, Maddie…that looks really good on you!"

"Really?"

"Well, without the jeans or the brown shirt, but the rest of it looks fantastic…especially with your light hair!" Maddie smiled and blushed and Carrie said, "You know what? You should borrow that and go out dancing in it."

"Carrie…I couldn't borrow your clothes!"

"And why not? They fit you perfectly and they look fantastic on you! Borrow that outfit! I have plenty of other clothes and plenty of other blue sparkly heels. Borrow that outfit! You too, Sarah. As long as they come back to me unharmed and cleaned, then we'll have no problem!" Both girls smiled and went to take off Carrie's clothes.

Suite 312 was like paradise. They had two rooms with two twin beds in them. Zack and Cody shared one, and Maddie and Sarah shared the other. They had a large kitchenette which opened up to a living room with every entertainment imaginable: Big screen, stereo, surround sound, board games, and an XBox complete with 4 controllers and lots of games. During the start of holidays, they played video games, played board games, watched movies, and cuddled up in front of the stone fireplace.

Sarah left on the 23rd for Florida with her family, and Cody sadly drove her to the airport. He kissed her good-bye and he saw tears forming in her eyes.

"See you in 2 weeks, Cody."

"2 weeks, Sarie."

She smiled when he said her pet name.

"We've never been apart this long!"

"We've never been apart at all…well, except when we're sleeping."

She laughed and turned to face the boarding gate. She dropped her carry-on and Cody stood behind her with his arms around her waist. She looked up at him, as she was considerably shorter than him, and said, "I don't want to leave."

"Sarah…"

"What?"

"It's 2 weeks! Everyone's going to think we're lovesick wimps if we can't spend 2 weeks apart! Maddie and Zack spent 3 years apart…"

"But he just liked her, they weren't together."

"Still. You have to get on this plane."

"I know, but I still don't want to."

"Regardless of what you want, young lady, you have to. Why don't you want to leave anyway?"

"Well, when I talked to my mom yesterday, she said she had some news…and I know it's not really happy news, because she didn't sound too excited. I don't want to hear the bad news!"

"Oh my gosh, Sarah. You can't run from your problems!"

"I know, I know…I also don't want to go 2 weeks without your sweet face!"

"Way to turn a negative into a positive, Sarah."

She smiled and the announcer made the final call. She looked worriedly again at the gate and Cody turned her around to face him and hold her in a hug.

"It's going to be okay, Sarah."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am. Now, go! You're going to miss your plane."

"That'd be a good thing."

"No it wouldn't! Call me everyday, okay?"

She nodded and he kissed her forehead. He looked into her eyes and she caught him in a breath-taking passionate kiss. Cody pulled away and cried, "Not that I didn't fully love that, but you have to go!" She laughed, kissed him again and turned. She gave her ticket to the flight attendant at the door and started down the path to the plane. She turned and caught Cody's eyes, smiling and waving. She turned a corner and boarded the plane, a tear sliding down her cheek.

During the next few days, Cody refused to turn off his cell phone or leave it anywhere. He couldn't wait for Sarah to call, and he couldn't understand why she hadn't called yet. I hope nothing's wrong…I'm probably just jumping to conclusions…it's no big deal, right? She'll call when she gets a free minute, right? He immediately stopped worrying and tried to stop thinking about it, but it was hard, as Zack and Maddie were always together and he had no one to talk to.

On a day when he was particularly bored, his cell phone rang. He dashed for it, and seeing a foreign number, he picked up, praying it was Sarah. He said, "Hello?" He heard a sniff and then Sarah's voice, "Hi, Cody."

"Sarah? What's wrong?"

"Cody…I knew I didn't want to hear the news…"

"What is it?"

"Cody…I don't know how to tell you this…"

"Are you dying?"

"No!"

"Oh, thank God!"

"No, Cody, I'm…I'm…well…my family…we're…"

"Come on, Sarah. You can tell me."

"We're moving, Cody."

A/N-

Hey! I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait! I had this Writer's Block thing and I'm starting this role-play story for The Outsiders (really good book!) with my BFF, Sarah (Dopey91) I'll be posting it (hopefully) soon, so look for it soon if you're into that book (which if you're not, then GO READ IT! It's AWESOME!) So I guess I don't have any notes (I REALLY should write those down… / ) So yeah, THANK YOU to ALL of my reviewers! I love ALL of you SO much! You make me happy every single day, a hard thing to accomplish! So keep this up and review for this story, I'm aiming for 100! HEART YOU ALL!

Love,

DC