Here's the next chapter. I think there's actually only going to be maybe 12 chapters, so we're getting close to the end. Hope you guys are enjoying it so far!


Logan wakes up the next morning a little later than normal. He stretches and heads to the bathroom, and begins his daily morning routine. Half an hour later he is sitting at his computer, almost completely ready. He logs into FaceSpace, interested to see what his friends have been up to since they'd left for their own homes five days ago. The first thing that really catches his eye however, has nothing to do with his friends who are currently spread across the country.

Mark DelFiggalo is in a relationship with Brooke Margolin

Logan's first thought is that he's surprised that DelFiggalo managed to find another girlfriend. Especially one like Brooke Margolin. His second thought is of Quinn and whether or not she's seen this new post. He closes his laptop, completely forgetting to check on his other friends and heads downstairs, hoping that Quinn won't be too upset when he finds her.

She's sitting at the table in the kitchen, eating pancakes that Chauncey has obviously prepared for her, and when she hears him shuffle in she looks up and greets him with a warm smile. He's caught off guard by this. Perhaps she hasn't seen the post yet after all.

"Hey." She greets, nodding her head to the stack of pancakes on a plate in the middle of the table. "There's pancakes if you're hungry."

He nods enthusiastically, he's a teenage boy so he's always hungry. "Sweet!" He grabs three pancakes before loading them down with syrup and taking a large bite. "I have to admit, I love Chauncey's cooking."

"Thank you sir." Both teens turn to find said butler standing in the kitchen doorway. "But I am afraid I didn't make those."

Logan looks surprised by this. "You didn't?"

"No sir."

"I did." Quinn tells him, taking another bite of her own pancake. "But thanks for the compliment." She's smirking at him and for some reason he's blushing so instead of retorting like he normally would, he concentrates on making his face return to it's normal (and beautiful) tan color by glaring at her.

She laughs at this and for split second he's pretty sure she can see right through him and that makes him just blush harder. Luckily, she just shakes her head and tells him, "I'm glad you like them. Pancakes are one of the few things I'm really good at making."

He's about to answer her when he's phone goes off, startling them both. He looks down and realizes it's his father and that he should probably take this. He excuses himself, waving the phone lightly as means of explaining why he's leaving. He makes his way towards the living room, flipping his phone open as he does so. "Hey, dad."

His voice trails off and Quinn is left alone in the kitchen with Chauncey and her thoughts.

oOo

Quinn is able to finish eating and clean the mess she made while cooking and Logan still hasn't returned from the phone call with his father. She shrugs it off though, figuring it must be a very important call. It would certainly be an improvement over the silence that had blanketed the only meal she's ever eaten with Malcolm Reese present. She had been starting to think that Logan and his father never talked, which she had found incredibly sad for her friend, so she's glad that she seems to be proven wrong.

Not wanting to bother him, she decides after breakfast to take a walk around the vast grounds that his home sits on. She's seen most of the inside of Logan's house (with the exception of his room), but she's seen surprisingly little of the grounds outside the house. As she makes her way outside she stops to enjoy the way the breeze lifts her now shortened hair. She only takes a minute to enjoy the nice weather before she heads down towards the pool, wondering how big the Reese property actually is.

She doesn't even make it to the pool though. She's stopped short by the image of Logan sitting dejectedly over on the red swing of a swing set he clearly out grew years ago. Cautiously, she approaches him. Obviously, whatever talk he'd had with his father had left him upset and Quinn wasn't sure if he would even want her there. But he'd been there for her when she needed it the most, so the least she can do is offer.

"Hey." She says quietly, sitting down next to him on the blue swing.

He looks over at her and offers her a half-hearted grin. "Hi."

"Is everything ok-"

"Everything's fine." He cuts her off and his voice is tight, a clear indication that he does not want to talk about it.

"O-okay…" She sighs and moves to get up before realization dawns on her face and she settles back onto the swing, using her legs to push her back and forth ever so slightly. "Mark didn't break up with me."

Logan looks up at her, confusion clearly written on his face. She turns to face him and is glad that she's got his full attention. "I mean," she continues to swing lightly back and forth, "he did break up with me. But he didn't just break up with me."

"What?" She can't tell if his confusion is more from the story itself or the fact that she seems to be randomly telling it to him now, of all times.

"A few days before you found my playing basketball…Mark told me he wanted to take a break because we'd been seeing each other for such a long time." She shook her head. "But that wasn't really what he meant." She sighed and turned to face him. "Do you know that I was okay with him wanting to take a break?" At his headshake she smiles slightly. "I figured it was just a guy thing. He needed some time to himself and that it would just be a phase. But Friday, I walked into Sushi Rox and he was there, attached at the lips with Brooke Margolin. He didn't want a break. He wanted a different girlfriend. And I felt like such an idiot for thinking that everything would work itself out in a little while when he'd really been lying about it from the start."

She shook her head, laughing lightly. "But you know what, it turns out I was right. It did work itself out in the end. Just not the way I had thought." She looked up at the sky, pushing her legs a little higher, making her swing back with a little more force. "When I saw Mark's new relationship status this morning, I braced myself for all the pain of our break-up to come back full force. But it's funny, there was this little ache, but it was more like saying goodbye to an old friend that I've outgrown." She turns to face him and smiles gently at look on his face, half disbelief and half awe. "And honestly, I owe that to you."

"You do?" He sounds confused, but she thinks she also detects a little bit of happiness in his voice too.

"Yeah." She nods. "You gave me exactly what I needed, even though I didn't realize it at the time. You made sure I kept my mind off of everything, you gave me a chance to physically start fresh, even though it was just a haircut, and you've been giving me reasons to smile since we left PCA. So thank you. Really."

He smiles. "You're welcome. Not that it's not nice to hear but, uh, why are you telling me all this."

Quinn stands up, turning back to face him, still smiling gently. "So that you could realize that I really am grateful to have you there for me when I really needed someone. And to let you know that if you ever need someone, I'm here to return the favor."

She takes a few steps back towards the house when he calls after her. "My dad is going to be in LA for the next six months."

He gestures to the now empty swing next to him when she turns to face him once again. She walks back and takes her place on the blue swing, turning to him with a look that clearly says she's ready to listen. "I just, he promised to actually be home this spring break." He scoffs. "But that was my own fault for thinking he'd actually keep this promise."

"Logan…"

"I know my dad is busy." He continues. "And I know that he loves me and that he tries to be a good parent usually, but it just seems like he always has some type of business project to take care of. Like he puts his money and being successful before everyone else, including me."

Her eyes soften and when she speaks her tone is tentative. "You do that sometimes too, you know."

His eyes harden and she's afraid she may have made a mistake. "I know." He says finally. "I hate myself when I do that. I just, well I don't have a lot to go on. My dad is kind of the only role model I've ever had and even though I don't want to be like him, I'm usually not sure how to be anything else."

Quinn suddenly leans forward and wraps Logan in a hug. He stiffens underneath her, clearly not used to being so open with her (or anyone), but after a few seconds he relaxes and wraps his arms around her waist. They stay like that for a few minutes and when Quinn finally pulls back they both can't help the rush of disappointment and loss that seems to fill them. Logan shoots her a small half smile before turning back to the house.

"I know that my dad is just doing what he believes is best, but sometimes it would be nice if we could just, you know, do stuff together, like a regular family."

Quinn can feel her heart going out to the boy in front of her. He's never shown this side of himself to her before and she can't help the sudden feeling that surges through her. The one that wants to wrap him in a hug and protect him from what he's feeling. "My family goes camping every summer." She tells him.

"What?" This is the second time he's looked at her like she's sprouted a second head and she mentally barrettes herself because Logan obviously can't read her mind so that probably seemed terribly random to him.

"Every summer," she repeats, hoping to better explain herself, "we spend a week camping. We don't take a lot of money or luxuries, but we spend the week together, doing all kinds of stuff. Canoeing, roasting marshmallows over a fire, singing songs around the fire, typical family camping trip stuff. You should come with us."

He blinks, clearly still trying to digest this information. "Really?"

"Yeah." Quinn nods happily. "Mark was supposed to come with us this year, but since if he did I'd just spend the whole week trying to figure out a way to attract a bear to eat him, it's probably much better if you come. My parents won't mind since they were expecting to bring him anyways. Think of it as my way of repaying you for this." She gestures around her, referring to his invitation to spend the week at his house.

His face blooms into a rare, honestly happy smile, not single trace of a cocky smirk anywhere in it. "Seriously? I think I'd really like that." He pulls her into another hug. "Thanks." He says into her hair.

She grins and realizes something. "You know," she says, and he pulls back just far enough to be able to meet her gaze, but doesn't release his grip on her, "I think I'd like to burn that stuff of Mark's tonight. If you don't mind."

Logan Reese, she decides, really does have a wonderful smile.


Well there's chapter 7. I'm sorry if the characters seem a little out of character, but I feel like, realistically, they could be like this. Because Zoey 101 was a kid's show a lot of its elements where played up for laughs without going deeper into them so I really think that, Logan could feel what he expressed here and, given that they're supposed to be getting closer (the next chapter is sort of the moment where everything boils over for Quinn and Logan) that it wouldn't be that odd for him to share those feelings with her.

Well let me know what you think. Chapter eight will be up in a few days!