A/N - This is the final chapter of Part One of this story! This means that I will now be taking a brief break once again and switch back to my "Dying For Love" series. Hope you guys don't hate me for all the breaks I take with this story. I promise I will get back to this soon!

Chapter 10 – The Forgotten One

I stumble into my room, ignoring everyone on my way there. I'm not quite sure why, but I feel like my entire day has been ruined. It's not like I can just go on as if things are normal after the events that just unfolded in Nicholas' house…

I lock my bedroom door and stuff my face into my pillow. "Why did he have to be gay?" I groan to myself. This just all seems like a bad dream that I will soon wake up from. A boy that I became close to and didn't even suspect in the slightest to be gay turned out to be just that. Go figure…

*Knock Knock*

"Zack, it's me." Cody's voice penetrates my door. I, however, don't say a word. Maybe he'll think I'm not here. "Come on Zack. I can help you if you let me. I'm your brother and it's my job." Cody pleads.

Although I hate to admit it, Cody does usually know what to do in the situations where I'm stumped. So, after taking a few seconds to think it through, I rise from my bed to unlock the door. I don't open it for him, but instead unlock it and plop right back down onto my bed.

After a few seconds of silence, Cody twists the door and realizes that I unlocked it. He slowly opens the door and finds me staring back at him with an awfully blank expression. I honestly don't even know how I should be feeling right now.

"So, you mind telling me what's going on?" Cody takes a seat next to me as I lower my head as to not look him in the eyes.

"Cody, can I ask you something?" I say vulnerably.

"Sure…"

"If you figured out that your best friend was madly in love with you, what would you do?" I raise my head once again.

Cody's eyes widen in shock for a few seconds, until he is once again able to regain himself. "Well, if you mean a guy friend, I really don't know. It'd be really hard to hear that your friend is gay, let alone that he's into you, all at the same time." Cody admits. "However, if you're talking about Nicholas, I've seen you around him and you two were really happy in the presence of one another. I wouldn't let all that go down the tubes just because he likes you."

"I guess that makes sense, but it's just so hard for me to grasp. How could a dude want to… you know… do romantic things with me?" I twitch upon saying the word "romantic". Just attempting to wrap my head around that gives me the creeps.

"Well, I can't really answer that question, but I doubt Nicholas would act on his feelings if you didn't want him to. Kind of like me with Bailey…" Cody looks down. "Bailey rejected me by the way."

"Ouch. I hope she didn't freak on you. " I reply.

"She didn't, but that's what I mean. She is still willing to be my friend knowing that I like her, so why can't you do the same for Nicholas?" Cody looks into my eyes.

*Ding Dong*

'Attention all guests, students, and faculty aboard the ship. We will be departing in thirty minutes. As of now, everyone has checked back onto the ship. If you do not wish to travel with us to our next destination, then please check out now. Otherwise, have a wonderful day aboard the S.S. Tipton.' Mr Moseby announces.

I rise from my bed. "Where are you going?" Cody asks.

"There's something I must do." I clench my fist as I dart for the door. Thanks to Cody, I now know what needs to be done.

After what might have been the quickest sprint of my life, I arrive at Nicholas' house. I rapidly pound down the door as I anxiously jump up and down. Once again, Christopher answers the door.

"Welcome back. Nicholas has been in his room since you left. I think he'll be happy to know you're here." Christopher smiles at me again. For some reason I always think this guy is up to something when he smiles. I'm not exactly sure why though.

Without even releasing one word out of my mouth, I bolt up the stairs to see Nicholas. However, once I reach the front of his door, I freeze up. The whole way here I was fully confident that Nicholas wanted me to come back and say sorry to him, but standing in front of his door gives me a sense of insecurity. Maybe things won't turn out as they had played in my head.

I hesitantly provide a single knock on Nicholas' door. "What?" Nicholas spits back in disgust. I stiffen in response to his cold tone."Who's there?" Nicholas raises his voice. I begin to back away. Maybe coming back here wasn't such a good idea. Suddenly, I hear the door begin to unlock. "Ughhh Theresa I'm not in the mood for your…" Nicholas stops when he sees that I am before him. "… Zack …" His eyes widen as he scans my entire body to verify I am not an illusion.

I take a deep breath. "We need to talk." I walk into his room, feeling a bit more confident in myself now that I've actually seen his face. It's just like I'd been telling Cody from the start, say what you need to and if the person doesn't want to date you, or in this case forgive you, then at least you'll know you tried. "I'm really sorry about everything I said before." I state as I shut his door. "I was just so shocked by what I discovered that I had completely forgotten that you're my best friend." I tell him.

"But…" Nicholas starts as he stuffs his head into his knees position.

"What's wrong?" I ask him in confusion.

"I'm wrong Zack! I'm not supposed to be like this. I'm not supposed to be gay! It goes against everything I believe in." Nicholas begins to tear up. "I completely understand why you left before. I mean, who would ever want some fag as their friend?"

"I do, Nicholas. I want you as my friend! I haven't had so much fun in such a short amount of time with anyone before and I don't want all of that to be forgotten over such a minor issue! So what if you're gay? Let's just go back to the way things were. As long as you don't make any moves on me, it's all good." I try to comfort him. I don't think I'd ever have said half of the things I'd just said if I weren't so worried for this boy.

"You don't know how jealous I am of you Zack. You have it so much easier being interested in girls. I'd do anything to be straight." Nicholas wipes the tears out of his eyes before they fall.

"Then why don't you just turn straight?" I question him. I mean, if he wants to then what's holding him back?

"It's not that easy. I can't control who I fall in love with. If I could, then life would be a whole lot easier. I wouldn't have fallen in love with you, and I wouldn't feel so misunderstood."

I never really thought about it that way. He can't control who he falls in love with? "Well, I'm here for you buddy. I'm not exactly gay, but I promise I'll always help you when you need it."

"Thanks for being such a good friend." Nicholas hugs me. I instinctively resist for the first second, but after I realize that he's hugging me for reasons aside from lust, I allow it. I really need to learn to not always be so paranoid. I trust Nicholas and he would never go as far as to make a move on me that I don't want him to.

"Now, let's head downstairs and maybe see what's cooking in the kitchen." I stand up with Nicholas to follow. As we both exit the bedroom, my phone begins to vibrate. The name on the front reads 'Cody'. Of all times he has to call now? "I'll see you downstairs Nicholas. I have to take this call." I inform him as I open my phone.

"Hello?" Cody asks.

"Hey bro, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Nicholas' house. Why'd you ask?"

"Oh no... Dude! The ship set sail!" Cody yells in the phone.

"WHAT!" I gasp. Could I have really taken that long?

"Okay, don't worry. I'm gonna go inform Mr. Moseby immediately. I'll call you back in a bit." Cody anxiously states as he hangs up. Now what am I supposed to do? I can't just go on with Nicholas and act like nothing's wrong. I guess I'll just be honest and tell him what's going on.

I rush down the stairs and run into Theresa at the bottom of them. "Hey Zack! My friend just left." She tells me.

"Sorry Theresa, but I'm kind of in a rush here. I have to talk to Nicholas." I run past her into the kitchen. I wish just as much as she probably does that I had the time to talk to her, but unfortunately I have bigger things to worry about.

As soon as I enter the kitchen, I find Nicholas beside his mother. There's no time to waste on greeting her though. "Nicholas, I have a huge problem! The boat took off without me and I'm stranded!" I cry out.

"Oh no, that's awful!" Katherine turns her attention toward me. "I'll get my husband to call their and let them know immediately." Katherine rushes out of the kitchen.

"Do you think they'll come back for you?" Nicholas asks.

"They have to come back. I'm a student aboard the ship. Besides, all my stuff is aboard that ship. They can't leave me stranded like this." I sigh. I rush into the living room with Nicholas to give Christopher the phone number of the front desk. For once his startling personality will be put to use.

"What's going on?"" Theresa asks as she joins the rest of us.

"Zack's ship left without him. So now we're calling them up to tell them." Her mother informs her.

"Oh." She states as she watches her father on the phone.

As Christopher talks on the phone, his tone becomes increasingly irritable. He eventually begins yelling. This can't be good…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T TURN AROUND? YOU LEFT ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS HERE!" Christopher yells into the phone.

It looks like I'm not going to be able to get back on the ship. Well, if that's the case, then I might as well give my mother a call to pick me up. I step out of the living room and pull out my phone to call my mom. She immediately answers.

"Hey mom, it's Zack!"

"Hey sweety. How's everything?"

"Well, not so good. The S.S. Tipton kind of departed without me and now I'm stranded in New York. I was wondering if maybe you can pick me up because they can't turn back around for me." I groan into the phone. This really sucks, but as much as I don't want to go home I have not much of a choice.

"Oh no! That's terrible! I have a concert tonight, but if you need me to pick you up I can cancel it. This is an emergency after all!" She yelps.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there mom. I'm currently in my new friend Nicholas' house. His dad is talking to Mosey right now and I'll give you an update in a few minutes." I inform her.

"Okay, but don't forget to call back! Love you." She makes kissy sounds into the phone as I hang up. It's just one bad thing after the next today.

When I walk back into the living room, I find Christopher off the phone. "Apparently, the ship has to make an important meet in England and is on a tight schedule. They can't turn back around, but the guy in charge said they'll come back for you as soon as they can. For now you're more than welcome to live with us if you'd like though." Christopher smiles at me. My face begins to light up. Stay… here? That was the first smile from Christopher that actually thrilled me. I turn toward Nicholas who also seems happy about that idea.

"Zack is staying?" Theresa exclaims in excitement.

"It's up to him." Christopher responds to his daughter.

"All of my clothes and things are on the ship though." I remind them.

"You can borrow some of Nicholas' clothes. I think you two are about the same size." Katherine tells me.

"Well, my mom is on a tight schedule, so taking time out of her day to pick me up would be tough." I state, giving an excuse. Who am I kidding though? Of course I'd rather stay here than go home! "Looks like I'll be staying here for a while then!" I grin ecstatically.

"Hooray!" Theresa jumps onto me in excitement. I love how close I feel to this family after only such a short amount of time. Sure, Christopher can be rough around the edges and Theresa can be the annoying little sister type at times, but I just feel so accepted by all of them. This is definitely going to be an interesting few weeks.

I then proceed to call my mom and twin brother, letting them both know that I will be staying with Nicholas and his family. My mother gives me the whole "don't cause them any trouble" speech and insists that she has a word with Nicholas' mother. After I hand Katherine the phone, I hear my mother saying she'll pay for whatever the costs of keeping me are. Katherine tells her not to worry about it though. My mom can be real interesting sometimes.

My phone call with Cody is a bit different. I tell him about how Nicholas and I are friends again and how I will be staying with him for a while. Cody says that it should be a lot of fun and to keep in touch with him while I'm gone. I guess separating from a twin is never easy.

After all the phone calls, I am told to follow Nicholas to get the inflatable mattress to sleep on in his room. Nicholas and I break into a conversation of what we will do in the days to come together as we get the mattress. Apparently I have yet to try fishing, horseback riding, tubing, and many other activities. The more he discusses this, the more excited I am to be here. At this point, it's as if the ship leaving me here was a good thing!

I also notice how it seems as if Nicholas has completely forgotten about our conversation from before about him being gay. I didn't think we'd get over that so soon. I'm sure it will come up again, but hopefully with a better context.

So, now that all the drama in my life is resolved, it's time to kick back and have a good old time with Nicholas and his family! Could life get any better that this? Doubt it!

END OF PART ONE

What will happen in the weeks to come with Zack, Nicholas, and the gang? Stick around for Part Two of this story to find out!

As always I would really appreciate that you guys review. The more reviews I get the more I feel like writing. So if you want to see Part Two, then let me know that in a review! I might continue this story sooner than I plan to if I get enough reviewers demanding me to do so.