Alone

Summary: Kurt and Carey have remarried. But, two months after the marriage, Kurt starts to abuse his older son. Not Cody, not Carey -- Zack. And only Maddie will listen to him. Zack x Maddie

Disclaimer: Same as it always has been. Same as it always will be. For now and forever, I do not own the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Sometimes, dreams don't come true.


-- Cody's POV --

"What's going on here?" My voice came out shakily as I watched the scene in front of me. I felt so clueless, like I was ten once more. What could Dad be doing to my brother? It looked like he was going to shave Zack's head. But why?

I could see the relief on Zack's face as I walked into the bathroom, and I felt slightly proud that I stepped in when I did. But clueless. I was clueless, like everything around me had changed in an instant. Like two plus two no longer equalled four, like it was no longer the middle of summer, like ice no longer melts. Like the sun was no longer a large, bright, hot star in the sky. Like there was no such thing as Mars or word games. I felt like my whole world had been turned upside-down -- but that was just the beginning.

"Hey, Code, why don't you go ask Arwin to help you with starting the games up?" Dad asked me, completely avoiding my question. But no. I wanted my world to turn back to normal, I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to be the smart one again.

"No, Dad," I said seriously. "I want to know what's going on here. And I want to know now." I looked at Zack, his eyes begging for me to allow him to speak, begging for me to believe what he was about to say. I nodded slightly, signalling that he could speak and I would listen.

"Abuse," Zack said quietly, his voice shaking as well. Zack looked... Scared? Never before had I seen Zack scared. He was always the strong one. The tough one. The twin that would do anything for someone he cared about. I was the one that was constantly afraid, constantly scared. The one that would back away from a challenge, cringe in fear... The one that would cry.

Then the word hit me. The word that Zack had said. I wanted to burst out in laughter, like this was some sort of joke. But the look on my brother's face kept me from doing so. He looked so... serious, in a way. If you looked past his scared looks. Instead of me laughing, Dad did. Maybe Dad wasn't abusing Zack, maybe Zack was just making it up. Out of jealousy, of course. Everyone knew that Dad liked me better.

Stubborness told me Zack was lying. Logic told me he was telling the truth. Fear told me he was lying. Putting two-and-two together told me he was telling the truth. Trust told me both. I trusted Zack, that told me he was telling the truth. But I trusted Dad, too, and that told me he was lying. I was torn between loved ones. Should I have trusted Zack? Or was Dad the trustworthy one?

I chuckled humourlessly. "Dad would never," I said, hoping to sound more convinced than I felt. Zack hung his head in defeat, and before he did I could see his eyes shining -- and I doubted it was because of the light. It was because of tears. Zack, crying? They just didn't fit together. Zack never cried. The last time I saw him cry was in the old family videos when we were newborns, and that crying was rare.

I could see water falling from his eyes and making small splashes on the floor as I looked up at Dad. Dad's eyes told me, 'Don't fall for it, Code. He's just putting on a show -- he's pretending to cry.' I nodded at my father, wanting to believe it. Oh, how I wanted to believe it! But I couldn't believe that Zack was faking this, like he was trying to make me feel bad. I was the one that could make myself cry at a moment's notice, that could fake the tears. Zack couldn't make himself cry if his life was on the line, that I knew. But that was what I didn't want to believe.

Dad and I walked out of the bathroom, after Dad had suggested that we give Zack a minute to calm down. Of course, his words weren't like that -- it was actually, "Hah, what a joker. Let him get over himself, he should've known that you wouldn't believe his damn joke." I had nodded, just noticing that my hands were shaking uncontrollably. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably. I was shaking and sweating somewhat, knowing that Zack was right but refusing to believe it, keeping the tears in for once. Making sure that I didn't cry in front of my father, making sure he didn't know that I believed my brother over my father. That would hurt his feelings, or so I thought.

Dad himself seemed nervous. I could see a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead, then running down his eyebrows, where he realized them and wiped them away with the back of his hand. This was weird. And then when he talked, his voice didn't seem that confident. "I - I can't believe that Zack would a... a... a lie like that to you, C-Code," he stammered. I knew that something was wrong.

When Dad pulled up his shirt to wipe some sweat from his face, I noticed his belt. The belt buckle... It was red, blood red, though bits of the gold shone through. Same with the leather -- some parts had dried blood on it. "Wha -- What happened to your belt?" I asked nervously, my worst fear coming alive. I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. Dad was silent.


A/N: Cody's point of view.Did I make youhappy? I thought I'd give you some insight on how Cody was doing and what he was thinking through all of this. Don't worry, though, things aren't all just going to end up all right really quickly. Hehe... Next chapter will be a police officer's point of view.