Cody reclined against the pillows on his bed, flipping restlessly through the ridiculous number of channels they had at the Tipton, not really watching any particular show. It was after midnight, and there was nothing good on, but if he was honest with himself, that wasn't the reason for his lack of focus.

It felt like the last round of competition had been days ago instead of mere hours ago. The minute after Bailey had been declared the winner, she'd been whisked off to sign papers and make official arrangements for the prize money, as well as, he could only assume, to have a hard-earned celebration with her family.

Of course, this had left him alone to face his family and friends, particularly Zack. It wasn't surprising that Zack was shocked and outraged by his decision to let Bailey have the money and title, and Cody almost let him in on the secret of Bailey's financial troubles just to get him to shut up about it... but it wasn't Cody's secret to tell. Trying to justify what he'd done to his flabbergasted family and friends was useless, so it was a relief when he was able to escape to the quiet sanctuary of his room for the evening.

But, as usual, his mind kept wandering to a certain brown-eyed Kansas farm girl.

He couldn't help wondering how the Kettlecorn situation had turned out. Would Moose finally leave Bailey alone? Had she already regained ownership of the farm? What was she doing right now?

And what would they say to each other when they finally came face to face again? Would she have figured out why he'd forfeited first place? Would she be angry that he knew about Moose?

He sighed, suddenly realizing that he'd long ago reached the end of the channels and had been flipping through static for the past five minutes.

Knock knock knock.

Cody turned his head toward the sound of the knock, deciding whether he really wanted to answer it. He didn't feel up to dealing with Zack's disapproval, or London's vapid chatter, or worse, his mother's coddling and sympathy.

On the other hand, it was a little late for social calls, wasn't it? He swung his pajama-clad legs off the bed and hurried over to the door. Maybe something was wrong.

He swung open the door and felt the air leave his lungs in a rush. It was Bailey.

Of course it was.

She was in pajamas as well, a yellow tank top and a large pair of dark gray sweatpants, fuzzy purple slippers peeking out at the bottom of the legs. Her hair was up in a messy bun, secured by a hair clip. But it was the frown on her lips that really caught his attention.

"Bailey... what are you-"

Bailey cut him off, stepping forward into his room. "Why did you do it?" she asked, her tone businesslike and demanding.

Cody didn't pretend not to know what she was talking about. "Does it matter?" He backed away slightly in the face of her anger. "I'm happy for you, Bails. Congratulations."

Bailey continued to advance, shutting the door behind her. "It matters to me, Cody! Why did you give up? Why did you let me win?"

Cody hit the bed with the backs of his knees; he couldn't back up any farther. His eyes searched her face- she was genuinely disturbed by his decision earlier. He hadn't expected her to thank him or anything, but he certainly didn't think she'd be angry about it. "I... I don't know..." he stuttered.

Bailey folded her arms confrontationally. "You've never intentionally let me win so much as a round of mini-golf in your life, Cody. You're too competitive for that. And now, when there's a ton of money at stake and the whole country is watching, you decide to toss in the towel. Why?"

"Calm down." Cody raised his hands in a placating gesture, but his mind was scrambling to find the words to say next. He couldn't tell her he'd been eavesdropping on her conversation about losing the family farm to Moose... and he certainly couldn't tell her the other reason he'd stepped down from the contest. "Look, Bails, the reason I stepped down was because you deserved to win more than I did."

Bailey's expression was full of exasperation as she shook her head. "We both deserved to win equally, Cody! We were tied!"

"Well, you won more money than me in regular play, and I only tied you because of a lucky wager and that Daily Double. You wagered less money in Final Jeopardy! You deserved to win more!

"Cody, you nitwit! Final Jeopardy! doesn't mean anything less than a regular clue! If it did, the Jeopardy people would do something about it!"

"Yeah, but-"

Bailey buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe you did that." She took a long, calming breath before raising her head again, and Cody saw with concern that now, there were tears in her eyes. "You found out about the farm, didn't you?"

Cody sighed. He had planned on never telling her that he knew the truth, but she was asking him, and he couldn't pretend, couldn't look her in the face and lie to her. His chin dropped to his chest. "Yeah, I knew." he admitted softly.

He was completely unprepared for when Bailey lashed out and shoved him forcefully, nearly falling backwards onto the bed. "You had no right!" she shouted. "I could have won on my own!"

Cody caught her wrists as she tried to push him again, holding them still. "Or you could have lost!" he pointed out. "This way everything works out for you! It wouldn't kill you to appreciate it a little!"

"Appreciate it?" Bailey cried, trying to break his hold on her wrists. "I never asked for your charity! I don't want your stupid pity!"

"It's not pity!" Cody argued. "It just makes sense! I'm no worse off now than when I started! I still have Zack, and my parents and mom and my friends and I just got 50,000 dollars! You would have been homeless!"

"I'd rather be homeless and still have my pride!" Bailey snarled, unable to shake his grip.

Cody grunted with the effort of restraining her. "Maybe you could do with a little less pride."

Bailey gasped, outraged. "You had no right to throw the competition! That's not even a fair contest! It's dishonest! It's cheating!"

"It's not cheating." Cody gritted through his teeth. "A player can quit the competition for any reason he wants."

"Because you feel sorry for the other player is not a good enough reason!" Bailey shot back, still struggling against him.

"That wasn't the reason!" Cody growled.

"Then what was it?" Bailey taunted bitterly. "You wanted to show everyone how selfless you are? You wanted me to owe you something?"

"Bailey!"

"Don't pretend like your family can't use the money!" Bailey cried. "What does your mom make, 30 or 40 grand? You guys need the money! How are you going to pay for your future education and pursuits? How are you going to help Zack get on the right track? You need the money as much as I do! Or are you above all that? Maybe the money really does mean nothing to you! Maybe you really just don't mind losing!" She was breathing heavily now. "I know you have an ulterior motive, Cody! If it wasn't pity, what is it?"

"Fine!" Cody yelled. "Fine! I have an ulterior motive! A selfish one!" Bailey was so shocked by his outburst that she stilled, eyes on his face, waiting. "I couldn't let you lose, Bailey. Not for you. For me." He sighed, his voice softening. "I... it would have killed me if-" His voice broke. "If you married Moose."

She didn't even breathe, and her wide-eyed stare twisted his heart in knots. Releasing her captured hands, he dropped his gaze to the floor, unable to look at her. Those beautiful eyes, he couldn't dare meet. The show was up, and his selfishness had to be explained.

"I couldn't be happy if you lost your farm and never came back to school, no matter how much money I had." he confessed miserably. "It wouldn't be worth having you walk out of my life forever." He risked a glance at her and was alarmed to see that she was now crying in earnest, tears streaming down her face. "Bails, don't cry-" he hastened to comfort her, but she shook her head.

She looked so small standing in front of him, arms wrapped protectively around her torso, sobbing into the palm of one hand. "Cody... I... you just said..."

Cody huffed a humorless laugh, knowing full well that he'd just spelled out his feelings for her as clear as day. "I know." They'd been over this, she didn't feel the same way. Why would she? He was a pathetic loser with a weak imitation of his handsome brother's looks. He was weak, stupid, and clueless. He was such a stupid nerd, who didn't deserve a princess. "Don't worry about it. I didn't do this to make you feel guilty, or that you owe me anything. I already got what I wanted, remember?"

"No..." Bailey dried her tears with her wrist. "I meant... that's the most amazing thing anyone's ever said to me."

Cody didn't know what to say. "Well... you know me, a poet at heart." he quipped awkwardly. He wanted to see her reaction.

"Cody..." she opened her arms and moved in, and he accepted the embrace. A few remaining tears dripped onto his shoulder as he just held her. Finally she pulled her head back. "I wasn't going to marry Moose." she whispered. "Even if I lost."

"What?"

"Even to save the farm." she sounded a little guilty. "The farm means so much to me, but even if Moose wasn't an ignorant, blackmailing jerk... I could never marry him when I'm in love with someone else."

Cody's breath caught in his chest.

Bailey laughed a little at the surprised look on his face, touching his cheek tenderly with one hand. "You shouldn't have to forfeit the competition for me." she said softly. "But thank you."

"You're welcome." he said simply, smiling at her. "You know there's not much I wouldn't do for you, Bails."

"Ah, so it was for me." Bailey teased, looping her arms around his neck. "I don't deserve you."

"No." Cody agreed. "You deserve better."

"There is no one better."

The next thing he knew, she was grabbing his head between her hands, surging forward, meeting his lips with her own and greeting his body with the entirety of hers. The kiss was hungry, aggressive, like nothing he'd ever felt before.

His mind was frozen with surprise and euphoria; luckily, his body operated on instinct. One arm snaked around her waist, roughly pulling her against his chest, while his other hand twisted itself into her hair, the clip unfastening and falling to the ground unheeded, her silky hair tumbling loose around her face.

They kissed desperately, passionately, tasting each other for the first time in months. Feeling as if they were starving for this, feeling as if they couldn't get close enough. She pulled back from his lips, sliding her torturous mouth along his jaw to lavish hot kisses down his neck.

His hands abandoned her hair and found their way to her waist, fingers exploring the thin strip of exposed flesh between her sweatpants and the hem of the tank top. "Cody..." She whimpered at the sensation of his hands on her bare skin, pulling his head down and finding his lips once more.

Somewhere in the back of his extremely distracted mind Cody knew that if they didn't stop now they weren't going to. Grudgingly, reluctantly, he pulled away, panting and grinning. "What was that for?"

Bailey shrugged, equally as breathless. "A consolation prize?" she joked.

Cody laughed, shaking his head. "I love you, Bails."

"I love you too." she replied instantly, leaning in to brush another kiss over his lips.

Cody let himself melt into the kiss for another minute before pulling back. "We should stop."

Bailey blushed adorably. "I know... but I don't want to leave you."

"I didn't say you should go."

"Oh..." She smiled coyly. "In that case..." She sat down on the bed, reclining back against the pillows in the same position that Cody had been in before she came. Making herself comfortable, she motioned for him to join her.

He lay down next to her, wrapping her in his arms, and she sighed in contentment, closing her eyes and relaxing into him. "It's been a long day for you." Cody said, smoothing back her hair.

"For you too." Bailey agreed, eyes still closed. Her brow furrowed with the last remnants of her insecurity. "Are you sure you don't regret bowing out of the game?"

Cody leaned down and stole another kiss from her lips. "Are you kidding me?"