Cody didn't immediately leave Mikayla's suite when the singer went off to rehearse with Carey. Instead, he stayed in her bed and ruminated on the night before. There was a mixture of feelings running through him. Unfortunately, not all of those feelings were positive.

To be sure, he had enjoyed his night with Mikayla. The sensations were so fresh that he could relive every moment by just closing his eyes and thinking about her. The softness of her lips, the feel of her body pressed against him, the scent of her hair...it was all so wonderful.

Which made it all the more frustrating that he wasn't very happy with himself. His time with Mikayla may have been magical, but the circumstances surrounding it cast a pall over the entire experience. For one thing, even though he'd shown some restraint and acted responsibly by not taking things too far with Mikayla, Cody still felt that he had taken advantage of the girl, at least partially. When she'd first moved into the hotel, he'd told himself he wasn't going to make any moves on her until she had her life in order. But that's not how things had worked out.

Of course, that was all due to Zack. If he hadn't been so deceptive with Cody the night before, then Cody would never have ended up in front of Mikayla's door. Everything would have gone much differently. But while considering the different ways events could have unfolded, Cody's imagination took some disturbing turns. Suppose for instance, he hadn't gone out looking for Zack and ran into Mikayla. The most likely result in that scenario was that the singer would have gone to bed alone...but what if something else had happened? What if Zack had ended up escorting the girl to her suite? What if Mikayla had pulled Zack through her door?

That thought bothered Cody on numerous levels. Certainly Mikayla would have lost her virginity in that scenario. Cody himself had barely been able to show proper restraint with the girl, so he was certain Zack wouldn't have. But beyond that, Cody was bothered by the idea of Mikayla pulling his brother through her door. She was so in need of comfort that she probably would have. And that made Cody feel, in some ways, that his night with the singer was somehow less special.

But no...he didn't want to think that. Yes, Mikayla was lonely and in need of comfort. And yes, if circumstances had been different, she might have turned to someone else...but that didn't mean that there wasn't a real connection between her and Cody. They had a definite chemistry together.

So perhaps last night hadn't been the ideal way for a relationship to start, but it wasn't like Cody could change what had happened. Mikayla was a beautiful and captivating girl who enjoyed being with him. And he enjoyed being with her. That was all that really mattered, wasn't it?

Zack was in the living room playing videogames when Cody came in. Zack wouldn't have taken much notice of his twin, except for the fact that Cody was still wearing his pajamas and a bathrobe.

"Dude, you never got dressed this morning?" Zack asked.

"Just got home," Cody answered matter of factly.

"What?"

Cody looked in his brother's eyes. "It's a long story and the details don't matter. Here's what's important. You and I haven't been getting along because we've both been interested in Mikayla. That's over now. No more competition. Mikayla's mine."

Zack stood up, an incredulous look on his face. "She's yours? I don't think so. Where do you get off walking in here...." He trailed off as he started to piece the clues together. "Wait...were you with Mikayla?"

Cody nodded, and Zack took an angry step towards him.

"You told me to cool it with her and then you spend the night with her?!"

"Technically I spent the morning with her," Cody replied coldly. "After she got back from the hot tub party with you and London."

"I...that was..." Zack sputtered before taking a moment to compose himself. "Okay, I lied so I could spend time with Mikayla without you. But I didn't try anything. You can ask London. She was with us the whole time."

"I believe you," Cody said in a neutral tone. "And it doesn't matter. I didn't plan what happened last night...but it happened. So, let's put it all behind us. Like I said, no more competition. Mikayla's with me." He paused and made an effort to speak in a friendlier tone. "Seriously, I'd like it if we could get along again. We've had our differences in the past, but never like this. Neither of us needs this kind of tension. And Mikayla certainly doesn't."

Zack frowned. The truth was, part of him agreed with his twin. He didn't like the way things had become so strained between them. But at the same time, his pride was hurt. He wasn't about to let Cody simply dictate the way things would be, at least not before he had a chance to speak with Mikayla. He turned away from his brother without a word and walked out of the suite.

"That didn't go well," Cody muttered.

Up in her penthouse, London was in an unusually serious mood. Having led an extremely privileged life, she'd rarely had to worry about weighty issues. Mostly she just concerned herself with having fun. As a result, she often seemed simple-minded and ditzy, but in fact she was smarter than most people realized. The problem was she didn't use her intelligence that much, so on those rare occasions that she tried to sit down and really think, it could take her a considerable amount of time to get her brain firing on all cylinders.

But since she'd woken up this morning, she'd spent pretty much every moment pondering the same subject…so there was no doubt her mind was operating at peak performance.

Unfortunately, in this case, that wasn't enough. Which was to be expected. The issue on London's mind was a matter of feelings and not logic. Emotions were very hard to dissect rationally.

I need to talk to someone, she thought. But who?

She ran through the possibilities. Moseby was always an option. Carey gave good advice as well, though in this particular case London didn't know if it would be appropriate to talk to her.

"I wish Maddie was here," she said aloud. Less than a second later, the penthouse doorbell rang. London's eyes widened in surprise. "No way. Did I wish her back from Africa?"

When the heiress made her way to the door however, it wasn't Maddie that she found. It was Mikayla.

"Hey Lon," the singer said cheerfully. "You busy?"

"No, come in," the rich girl replied with a smile. Maddie may not have been available, but Mikayla was her friend too. Perhaps she'd be the right person to seek advice from. "I'm glad you're here. I've got something I want to talk about."

"Cool," Mikayla responded. "I came up here because I need to talk to someone too."

"Really?" London asked. "Okay, you go first."

Mikayla was anxious to tell London about her night with Cody, but when she looked at her friend she noted a slightly troubled look in the rich girl's eyes. "No, you go first. You seem like you have something big on your mind."

The two teens sat down on London's couch and the heiress started talking. She told Mikayla about the 'moment' she'd had with Zack the previous night when the two had been alone.

"And I've been thinking about it ever since," she admitted. "It was so…different."

"But was it bad?"

"No," the heiress answered. "But it was strange. All this time I've known him, and I've never thought of him…you know…like that. But now it's got me thinking."

"Go on," Mikayla urged. She was excited at the idea of London and Zack as a couple. Both of them were great people. And now with the way things were going with Cody, all four of them could double date.

"It's got me thinking that just because I've been friends with someone for a long time, that doesn't mean feelings can't change. It doesn't mean that maybe we couldn't become more than friends."

Mikayla nodded eagerly and encouraged London to continue.

"And just because someone's a little younger than me…there's nothing wrong with that. Right?"

"Nothing wrong at all," the singer agreed.

London appreciated her friend's supportive words. The traces of worry vanished from her eyes and a big grin appeared on her face. "Alright," she declared as she stood up. "I'm going to tell him how I feel."

"That's fantastic," Mikayla said. "And I just know things are going to work out. You and Zack would be great together."

London turned back to her friend. "Oh, I didn't mean Zack."

Mikayla was utterly confused. "Huh?"

"What happened with Zack was nice," she explained. "And it made me realize that - yeah, he is definitely an attractive guy. I could totally see him as date-able. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there was someone else that I've never thought of in that way before. Someone who I'm closer to than Zack. Someone I really care about a lot."

"Someone else that's younger than you?" Mikayla asked with a growing sense of dread.

The heiress nodded. "And someone just as handsome." Her smile grew wider.

"Then the guy you're talking about is…"

"Cody," London said with a dreamy look in her eyes. "I finally see that he's the perfect guy for me."

To be continued...

author's note: Mikayla? London? Who's better for Cody? Who's better for Zack? Voice your opinions.