Author's Note: Thanks for the helpful comments you all have left me! Here is the next chapter, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, I wish I did, but sadly do not!


The days passed by in what seemed like a blur. All Zack could think of was his upcoming date with his "mystery girl". She was perfect, or at least she seemed to be, and he couldn't wait to sweep her off her feet. Zack stood in the lobby with his red baseball cap on waiting, and waiting. She was an hour late…

He threw her birthday present on the ground; he should have known this would happen. She was so perfect that there was no way she could be real. He got on his computer and looked at his e-mail replying to some messages from Tapeworm and Max. Then, the familiar voice chimed through the speakers "You've Got Mail!" and started to read it.

TheCuteTwin,


I am so sorry that I missed our date. My car got caught in traffic from a wreck that had happened so it was too late by the time I got at the Tipton. Maybe, if you want, we can plan another date. Please forgive me!

SweetasCandy

Zack replied quickly and sent back to her telling her that he would give he another chance. She had a good excuse so why not give her another shot? They had made plans once again to meet at the Tipton the next day.

He went down to the lobby overhearing Cody talking to London.

"Hey London! So I was wondering…umm…would you like to go out sometime?" Cody said nervously.

"Sure, say five o'clock this afternoon at Café Le' Bistro?" London said in a bubbly voice.

"Sounds great! I'll meet you here in the lobby." Cody replied happily.

Just then, London then turned to reveal that she was talking on her cell phone and walked off. Cody frowned and slumped into one of the couches in the lobby.

"Dude, that was painful just watching!" Zack said as his brother slumped even lower into the cushion.

"Gee thanks, you sure are a nice brother." Cody replied depressed.

"You need to catch her when she isn't making plans with another person, then she'll give you a shot…maybe. Well, I'd have more of a chance with her than you, but you never know, right?" Zack said as he slapped his brother on the back.

"You sure know how to kick a guy when he's down ya know." Cody exclaimed to his brother, anger rising. He hated how his brother always made him feel inferior, just not quite good enough. Cody got up and walked away; not wanting to lash out on his twin in public.

"No problem, call me anytime you want to talk again!" Zack shouted as his brother walked towards the candy counter towards Maddie.

"Hey Maddie…" Cody greeted in a sulky tone.

"Hey Cody, why the long face?" Maddie asked in a concerned manner.

"Well, I don't know if I should tell you this. But I need some help in the love department." Cody replied, quickly regretting bringing up the subject at all.

"Who is the lucky girl?" she asked anxious to hear who Cody's crush was.

"Well…I don't know if I should tell you…you would laugh…" Cody said nervously, contemplating weather to tell her his secret, or soon to be not so secret crush.

"I haven't been having too much luck in that department either, but you can tell me anything. I won't laugh. I promise" Maddie replied doing the boy scouts honor signal thing with her fingers.

"Well, okay…I like…London!" Cody cautiously.

"Oh…really? Well, I don't know what to say to you Cody. London is a whole other ball game." Maddie replied.

"Why does everyone use baseball metaphors whenever I tell then about how I like London? Zack said that I was way out of my league; you said that she was a whole other ball game. I need to think, if you need me I'll be in the kitchen." Cody said as he walked off.

"Bye then!" Maddie said with a smile. Cody was a good guy and she wanted to help him, but London was different from most other girls. Maddie spent the rest of the day figuring out how to hook Cody up with London, coming up with very few ideas.

Zack still had to get Maddie a present for her birthday, which just happened to be that very day. He had been so caught up in his chat room girl that he had completely forgotten about Maddie. He had an idea on what to get her, so he ran off to the mall and bought a T-shirt he had designed himself. He knew that Maddie supported saving the Earth and that she loved chocolate so he knew exactly what to buy her.

He handed her the gift as she got off of her shift at the Tipton.

"Happy Birthday Maddie!" Zack exclaimed as he handed her a box wrapped in light green paper.

"Oh, Zack! Thank you so much! You really shouldn't have, but I'm glad you did!" Maddie said happily as she torn up the paper and opened the box.

"No problem, I just thought it would be nice to get you a little something for your birthday." He replied with a grin.

Maddie pulled out a light green shirt with the words 'Save Earth' on the front in brown. As she turned it over she read the words on the back that said 'It's the only planet with chocolate'. There was a chocolate bar on the back that was underneath the words.

"Zack…thank you so much! Did you design this yourself?" She asked.

"Yeah, I thought it fit you pretty well." Zack replied.

"I love it!" Maddie replied as she gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. True, they were only friends, but Zack still had feelings for Maddie. She was the first girl that he had ever really loved, even if she hadn't returned that love back. But he had figured out that being friends was better than not being friends at all.

"I'll buy something for you everyday if I get this kind of reaction!" Zack said smoothly, wishing he was still hugging her.

"Slow down there buddy, are we JUST friends? Besides, what about your chat room mystery girl?" Maddie questioned.

"Well, I'm just saying, it's not everyday that a guy gets hugged and kissed on the cheek by his gorgeous FRIEND. Plus, I'm still waiting to meet my 'mystery girl' as you call her." Zack replied with a wink.

Maddie blushed and hit him lightly in the side. He was a huge flirt, but it worked on any girl every time. Maddie changed into her new T-shirt and a short blue jean skirt with brown flip-flops. She went back out into the lobby only to find Zack with his mouth wide open. She was half expecting him to have his tongue out, but at least he was regaining most of his composure. It was so funny watching him it made Maddie laugh out loud, waking Zack from his trance.

"Wow, you look great!" Zack said with his mouth still open.

"Thanks ya ready to go and hit the mall?" Maddie asked, she had told Zack she would go with him to find a present for his mystery girl for their date. He hadn't told her when his date was, but she figured it would be coming soon since he was already looking for a gift.

They browsed through tons of stores looking through hats, shirts, perfume, and shoes. But nothing really popped out at him until he saw this amazing green necklace. It had a white gold chain with little green emeralds. The emeralds were fake, but he figured she wouldn't care. It was fifty bucks since the chain was real though.

"Isn't it a little much for a first date?" Zack asked Maddie, questioning jewelry on a first date.

"Any girl would love this, Zack. Especially, on a first date. It is so pretty!" Maddie said wishing that one of her past date had given her that instead of flowers that wilted the day after.

"Okay, but only since you approve…"He replied, still a little hesitant on giving such an expensive gift. Okay, so it was only fifty dollars, but that was quite a bit of money to him.

The two made their way back to the only to get stuck in the Boston mid-day traffic. For a while the two were quiet in the back of the taxi. Until they started talking about the baseball game that the Red Sox had lost the previous night. Maddie lived next to the baseball field and loved the game.

They soon returned to the Tipton and said their goodbyes. Zack went back up to his family's suite on the 23rd floor only to find his brother in one of his cooking hazes. There were desserts everywhere. Brownies, cookies, pies, cakes, crème puffs, every dessert imaginable. He knew his brother was having some kind of problem, cooking was his way of thinking out a problem.

Zack grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and went into his room to check his e-mail. No messages from SweetasCandy or Max and Tapeworm, just a stack full of junk mail. It was almost 11:30 and Zack wanted to be well rested for his big date tomorrow, so he decided to hit the hay.

His dreams were filled of his brother's cooking, Maddie, and his mystery girl, but Zack didn't want to dream of Maddie. He was trying to get over her and now she was not only with him during the day, but even in his dreams! It was almost like the more time he spent avoiding her the more he wanted to be with her. Maybe you really never do get over some people…


Author's Note: Okay, I hope you guys liked this chapter; it took me a while to write. Hope you all have a happy 4th of July!