Episode 8

"One Last Summer Hurrah"

I don't own these characters, but it would be nice if I did.

Wait...In this story, I created some of the characters, so I will actually own them.

Anyways, I do promise to keep them true to themselves.

And as to the ones I create, who they are is up to me, so...

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Zack just stood there on the skydeck in total and complete shock. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined turning around and seeing his girlfriend, his brother and his soon to be sister-in-law all standing there first smiling at him and then laughing at seeing the expression on his face. When Kirby had told him to turn around, Zack had thought he was going to see some of the other crew members or even worse, some passengers looking for him to do something for them. But seeing Maya, Cody and Bailey standing there completely blew him away as he had no idea they were coming or even how they got there.

"W...w...what are you guys doing here?"

Cody just shook his head and laughed. "What does it look like we're doing? We're here for a vacation!"

"But...but...today was supposed to be your last day of work."

Bailey grinned. "You're right. It was supposed to be...until Maya gave us an offer we couldn't refuse! When she asked if we wanted an all expense paid trip on the boat for a few days, there was no way we were going to turn it down..."

Zack turned to look at his girlfriend. "This was your idea?"

Maya just smiled at him. "Yes, it was. I figured after all we had been through the past three months that we deserved one last hurrah this summer before school starts back. Besides, if you'll remember, I told you I had a surprise for you the next time I saw you..." She laughed and hugged him. "Well...surprise! Here we are!"

Zack could only shake his head as his mind was trying to grasp the sudden appearance of Maya, Cody and Bailey. But the fact that he was now holding his girlfriend in his arms again did bring a smile to his face. "Not that I'm not happy to see you guys, but you could have told me you were coming! I could have met you guys at the airport or been down at the dock to meet you or..."

She pulled back and cut him off. "Oh, I know, but If I had told you, it wouldn't have been a surprise, now would it?"

"I guess not. So this is why I haven't been able to get a hold of you all day, isn't it?"

Maya grinned again. "Uh huh. As soon as my final was over about two o'clock this afternoon, the three of us headed for Logan where we caught our flight out. We just landed at an airport down here about an hour ago..."

Zack frowned. "You did?" He quickly did the math in his head. "If you guys left then and got here that quickly, you must have had a direct flight out. I didn't know the airport down here was big enough for direct flights from Boston..."

She just shook her head and laughed. "Well, that's probably because it isn't. The airport we flew into was pretty tiny."

He kept frowning. "I don't understand then. How did you guys get here so fast then? Did London fly you in on one of the private Tipton jets?"

Maya just smiled as she shook her head again. "Nope, not London. I had someone else who owed me a few favors let us use his private plane today..." Before Zack could ask her what she meant by that, she continued. "Now, I don't want to make a big deal about it, but it does seem that while having to deal with Ryan McDonald the summer was unpleasant, it had some very pleasant perks in the end..."

Zack just looked at her with confusion written all over his face. "Maya, you've completely lost me here. What are you talking about?"

Briefly, Maya filled him in on what had happened that fateful day at the fit&rec center and then how the booster had bought her silence including paying for the trip down for the three of them. And when she finished, she braced herself for what she expected Zack's reaction to be. Unfortunately, her expectations weren't too far off. His eyes went wide and a mask of anger fell over his face.

"He did what? That son of a..." He shook his head. "Maya, why didn't you tell me about this before? You told me you would tell me if he tried to bother you again!"

She tried to soothe him. "I know, but I didn't tell you because there was nothing you could have done about it. Zack, like I told you before - I can take care of myself, and I did. I did exactly what you told me to do - I took out his knee. And I knew you would worry and immediately hop the next flight back to Boston if had told you..."

"Of course I would have! I'd come back and finish the job on Ryan myself! I'd teach him a lesson he'd never forget and make him regret the day he ever met either one of us! Nobody treats you like that and gets away with it!"

Maya smiled at him. "I appreciate you saying that and even more for feeling that way. But I think Ryan's probably already regretting the day he met me. You see, my boss has been keeping me updated on his current medical status. Turns out, once they got him back into surgery, the doctors determined Ryan's knee was now so damaged that it will never be 100% ever again. In fact, its more than likely that he'll walk with a limp for the rest of his life. So, he has a permanent reminder that he should learn how to respect women. And with his knee shot, his hockey career is over..."

Zack still was incredulous. "He deserves a lot worse than that!"

She kept smiling. "You should have let me finish. Now, ordinarily, he would be eligible for a medical redshirt so he could finish out his education at BU, but with my condition that he stay at least a thousand feet away from me, he wasn't allowed to return back to our mutual physics class. And with it being too late to drop it, he's going to end up flunking it. Add that to the fact that it seems his GPA was already borderline as it was, BU will have no choice but to kick him out of school. So, Zack...he's getting all the punishment he deserves without me having to worry about you going to jail for you trying to defend my honor..."

Zack just looked at her and sighed. "Still..."

"No, I don't want you to worry about this. Its all over now, and I'm ready to forget about it myself. I want you to to try to forget about it too. I had considered not even telling you about it because I knew you would react this way. But I wanted to be honest with you about it because I don't want to keep any secrets from you. Look, I know you've just heard about this, and your emotions are still a little raw..."

"But I wasn't there to protect you!"

Maya just laughed. "Of course you were. Remember you are the one who told me how to deal with him if I had to. You did protect me by giving me the knowledge I needed to handle the situation myself..."

Zack shook his head and sighed again. "I guess...but if anything like this ever happens again, I expect you to tell me about it immediately!"

She grinned and kissed him. "I promise. But there is another sort of ironic twist to this story. The same booster who bought my silence is now trying to get Ryan into...get this...Beacon Hill Community College."

Zack shook his head. "He isn't good enough for that place!"

"Probably not, but it was that same booster that did agree to pay for the three of us to fly out here, for a cabin for me and a cabin for Cody and Bailey until we dock in San Diego, all inclusive passes on the boat and even some spending money. That's what I'm focusing on right now, and I figured this was a perfect way for me to show my thanks to Cody and Bailey for all their help this summer. If I got a 53 on my final today, I'll have A's in both of my physics classes this summer."

Zack couldn't help but smile. "Well, congratulations then on that. Beauty, brains, and a lethal right foot. I'd call that the total package."

She laughed. "Thanks...I think."

He laughed too. "Trust me, it was a compliment..." He turned to his brother. "Now, you...Broseph...how come you didn't tell me about this when I called you last week?"

Cody just held up his hands. "Hey! Maya asked us not to say anything. And after hearing about what she could do with one kick, I wasn't about to get on her bad side. I've spent enough time as a patient in a doctor's office and hospital in the past few years to last me for a long time..."

Zack nodded. "I can see that..." He paused and laughed. "How about that, Codester? My girlfriend can cripple a man..."

Cody nodded. "Like I said, I was very impressed when I heard it myself. I think this should be a lesson to the both of us to never get on our respective lady's bad sides. We both know they can inflict a lot of pain if they really want to. Maya can cripple someone by destroying their knee as well as other body parts I assume, and Bailey could hogtie someone in record time and then proceed to make them a eunuch with her bare hands..." He turned to Bailey and smiled. "And maybe I'm biased too, but I think my Boo Boo is the total package as well..."

Bailey smiled at him. "Thanks Cody Bear...I feel the same way about you."

Zack laughed. "You know...I am kind of surprised that you two actually came along. I figured you two would still be doing your school work for next semester..."

"Nah, we finished our research a couple of weeks ago and our outlines for our papers this morning. Just before we left to head to the airport, we e-mailed them to our faculty sponsor."

Bailey nodded and grinned. "Exactly! We wanted to have everything done before we left Boston so we can enjoy every minute here that we can."

Zack paused as a thought crossed his mind. "Wait a minute! You guys are here on a vacation. I have Sunday off, but I have to work a half day tomorrow and then all day Monday and Tuesday. What will you guys be doing while I do that?"

Cody laughed. "Like Bailey said, we're going to enjoy every minute we have as well as all of the perks of being back on a boat again. Since Moseby always said it was off limits to us on the old one, I think we're planning on hitting the ledo deck sometime while we're here..."

Maya smiled at Zack. "But we did figure you would go with us when we explored Cabo San Lucas on Sunday."

Zack sighed. "So...you guys will be be doing absolutely nothing while I'll actually be working? That doesn't sound like very much fun to me..."

Cody rolled his eyes. "I call it karma for all those times I was working hard gathering, laundering, folding and distributing towels while you were asleep over at the Easy Squeezie. I, for one, am looking forward to actually seeing you actually do some work on a ship for a change..."

Zack rolled his eyes too. "Yeah, yeah...Someone is still bitter about that."

Cody smirked at him. "Of course I am! If you hadn't stolen my student ID card, I never would have had to take that job in the first place! Besides, you can also consider this as your payback for not being able to keep your big mouth shut..."

"What are you talking about?"

Maya laughed and grabbed his hand. "I'll explain it to you later, Babe. But right now, why don't we keep catching up over dinner. I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast this morning except for an tiny bag of pretzels on the flight out. I'm starving!"

Zack shrugged. "Well, okay. And if that dude is picking up the tab, I say we hit up the Poseidon's Trident. Its basically the new version of the Coral Room."

Cody, Bailey, and Maya all looked at each other and nodded. "Sounds good to us."

As they began following Zack towards the elevator on the skydeck, Cody happened to glance over and see one of the ship's towel boys carrying a pile of towels across the deck. And on reflex, he just shuddered.

"Glad I never have to do that ever again..."

Bailey smiled at him. "True, but it would be nice if you still had your old uniform..." She winked at him. "I mean...you always did look so handsome in it..."

Cody just gave her a look. "Are you serious?"

She leaned in and kissed him. "Oh yeah..." She whispered in his ear. "...and sexy too."

He gulped. "I'll see Esteban first thing in the morning and find out where I can buy one!"

Poseidon's Trident

So, off to dinner they went. And due to Zack still being the highest ranking employee of London Inns on the boat, they were immediately seated at one of the best tables in the restaurant. (Of course, it didn't hurt that a lot of passengers were off the boat and dining out in Puerto Vallarta). And there were other perks the group got because Zack was sitting at their table. Wanting to impress him, the staff did everything to make all of their dining experiences as enjoyable as possible. Everyone ordered the fresh seafood, and it was completely delicious. By the time they finished with their entrees, everyone was stuffed, but since everything was being paid for by someone else, they all still ordered dessert. And as they sat there waiting for it to be served to them, Maya turned to Zack.

"I just remembered I do have one more surprise for you..."

"Yeah, what's that?" He laughed. "Its going to have to be pretty big to top your first one..."

Maya winked at him. "I'll let you be the judge of that..." She reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. "This came for you in the mail a few days ago..."

Zack took it and noticed it it was a letter addressed to him from the BU School of Management. Immediately, realization struck him. "Is this what I think it is?"

She smiled. "Open it and find out..."

So, he did. He tore the envelope open as fast as he could and pulled out the letter inside. And after unfolding it, he began reading it. When he got to the end of it, his eyes went wide and did a fist pump.

"Yes! I got in! I've been accepted to BU's MBA program!"

Cody smiled. "Congratulations, Bro. I never thought I'd ever see this day, but I'm proud of you."

Maya smiled at Zack too. "But not as proud of you as I am..."

Zack was just shaking his head. "Wow..." He just sat there and read the letter again before looking up and smiling at everyone. "This is cause for celebration! And since we're in Mexico where the legal drinking age is 18..." He turned and caught the attention of their waitress. "Would you get us a bottle of your best champagne?"

She nodded, and he turned back towards everyone. "We've all had very big summers, and I think its time we pat ourselves on the back a little. Maya kicked butt in the classroom and out of it. I'm almost finished with my time here on the boat, and I got in to BU's business school. And Cody and Bailey planned their wedding and decided to continue their education at Harvard..." Zack was about to continue when something else suddenly dawned on him. He turned to Maya. "Is this the only letter I've gotten since I left to come back here in July?"

Maya laughed. "No, but this was the only one we could hold up to a lamp and actually read what what it said. There are a few others back in Boston, but they all have thicker envelopes that foiled our lamp trick. Cody offered to steam them open, but I decided against it. We knew how much you wanted to stay at BU, and when we saw you got in, we quit worrying about the other ones. So, when we get head home next week, they're back in the suite waiting on you."

Zack just smiled and shrugged. "Doesn't matter what they say anyways. With you guys showing up here and my acceptance to BU, this has turned out to be one of the best days I've had in a long, long time."

At that time, the waitress arrived with their desserts, a bottle of champagne and four glasses. Once everyone was poured a glass, Zack held up his glass to make a toast. "Here's to all of us kicking butts and taking names this summer!"

Everyone clinked glasses before taking a sip of their champagne. And when she did, Bailey smiled and turned to Cody. "Okay, this stuff I actually like! I don't feel like I'm drinking paint thinner!"

Zack gave her a look of confusion before shaking his head. "That's right. You're the only one of us here who has already turned 21. The rest of us have to wait until next month." He gave her an evil grin. "So, did you tie one on for your birthday, Bailey?"

Bailey laughed. "Hardly! We were back in Kettlecorn for my birthday, so tying one as as you say around my family wasn't going to happen. Besides, I still remember how you were after the Halloween party our freshmen year, and I have no desire to ever be that way myself. I wasn't planning on drinking anything on my birthday until my uncle shoved a mason jar in my face and insisted I take a sip. And then all of my sisters began pressuring me to try it too saying it was a family tradition, so I did. Like I said, it tasted like paint thinner, and I immediately spit out whatever it was. Of course, everyone around me began laughing, and I soon learned that spitting it out was a family tradition too..."

Zack laughed. "Was it moonshine?"

She shrugged. "I have no idea. Anyways, since then, I've had no inclination to try anything else, but I do admit that this champagne is pretty good..." She turned to Cody. "Take a picture of the label with your phone, and we'll make sure to request this kind to London for the wedding reception."

Cody nodded and took a picture of the label. "Done."

"Good..." She turned back to Zack. "Since then, the only alcoholic beverages I've bought have been some dark rum so Cody could show Maya and me how to flambe Bananas Foster and some Kirschwasser so he could show us how to flambe Cherries Jubilee..."

Maya's Cabin

After they finished their desserts, Zack took everyone on an abbreviated tour of the new boat so the other three would know how to get to where they wanted to go the next couple of days. Naturally, Cody and Bailey had somehow found a map of the ship on line and were using it to tell Zack what they wanted to see next. Their last stop of the evening was back on the skydeck. Everything up there was closed by then, but Zack used his master key to open up the Easy Squeezie and fix everyone a complimentary smoothee. But by then, it was past eleven o'clock and Maya, Cody and Bailey were all exhausted and worn out. Eleven o'clock there was two o'clock in the morning back in Boston plus they had flown completely across the continent that afternoon. So, Cody and Bailey wished Zack and Maya a good night before leaving to head to their cabin. Maya and Zack weren't far behind them, and since Maya's cabin was much bigger than Zack's, he jumped at the offer to stay in it with her. So, after they stopped by his room so he could grab some clothes for the next day, they made their way to hers.

She laughed. "You know, this is a first for us..."

He looked over at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you've packed a bag so you can come stay with me. Usually, its the other way around."

Zack laughed. "True, but to be fair, we could fit three of my cabin inside of yours."

"Well, all I know is that you better be quiet when you get up in the morning. I'm on vacation and don't have anywhere I have to be. So, I'm fully planning on sleeping in tomorrow until I feel like waking up..."

Zack shook his head and sighed. "This is really going to suck having to work while you all take it easy."

Maya grinned. "I know, but its just for a few days. And its like Cody said, karma has come back to bite you in the butt. As I recall, last semester, you teased me that I was going to have to spend my summer studying every night while you sat on the couch, watched television and played video games. Well, now, the situation has been reversed, and I fully plan on enjoying it..." She patted his cheek. "But don't worry, on Wednesday, we'll all fly back to Boston, and you and I will have the rest of the week off to do whatever we want..."

"I guess I can handle that. At least the flight back home will give ample opportunity to finish my journal for my summer class. With you here, I don't want waste any time working on it the next couple of days. Working on the plane will allow me to turn it in as soon as I get home so I don't have to think about it ever again."

"Probably a good idea. How far behind are you on it?"

He grinned. "I have everything done except for what I need to add for today. And I have close to forty entries for my cuisine reviews. Other than teaching Kirby to swim, that's how I've been spending all of my free time."

Maya laughed. "Speaking of which, I need to find Kirby to make sure you taught him properly..."

"Good luck with that then. Actually, you might be right at home in teaching him. Kirby would whine as much as a five year old would at times. And the first time I got him in the deep end of the pool, I thought he was going to go nuts on me..."

She kept laughing. "Well, I'll just have to see that for myself."

"Fine with me." He smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "I just want to enjoy the fact that I actually have you here with me again."

She smiled again. "You like that, huh?"

"Of course I do..."

"Good. Well, if you like that, I think I have something else you're going to like even more..."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Well, I'm guessing that you would probably be interested in knowing that I've done a lot of thinking about the question you asked me the last time we actually saw each other. Would I be correct?"

Zack paused to just look at Maya. "Well, to be honest, that thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't want to bring it up and potentially ruin the good time we were having..."

Maya smiled back at him. "I appreciate that, but I have made a decision."

Zack just looked at her expectantly. "And?"

She paused. "Well...I've gotten quite used to the bathroom being spotless, so I'll expect that to continue. And just because I've learned how to cook a few things from your brother this summer, don't expect me fix dinner every night. As for chores, I'll expect us both to do our fair. And..."

He leaned in and kissed her. When he finally pulled back, he was grinning. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

She grinned back at him. "I'm saying you've got a new full time roommate...if the offer is still on the table."

"Of course it is! Babe, this is going to be great! And of course, I'll agree to anything you say!"

"I think its going to be great too..." She laughed. "But maybe I need to rethink my terms now that you've said you'll agree to anything..."

Zack laughed too. "Fine with me. I'm guessing what I said finally made sense to you, huh?"

"Actually, it was a talk with Bailey that made me realize this would be a good thing."

"Oh yeah?"

Maya nodded. "Yeah. I asked her about how living with Cody had changed their relationship. She helped me see that the concerns I had were completely normal. And she told me how she and Cody dealt with them. Everything she said make complete and perfect sense..."

He grinned. "Remind me to thank her then..."

She laughed. "Well, the main thing she told me was that I should only do things when I was ready for them. So, I asked myself if I was ready, and thought about that for close to a month. In fact, it was my encounter with Ryan that convinced me that I was..."

That surprised Zack. "It did?"

"Yeah. I realized that I'm a lot stronger than I realized I was. I stood up to him and refused to back down. It made me realize that I'm equipped to handle anything thrown in my way. Next to seeing some guy try physically assault me, us living together should be easy. I mean, Bailey made me realize that arguments are going to happen with everyone, but its how you handle them that's important. And Zack, I think were both equipped to handle them too. She also made me realize that us living together would actually be a good thing. If we plan on having a long future together, we need to know that we can co-habituate with each other..." She smiled. "So, I'm ready to see if we can."

He just nodded. "So am I."

"Good. Now, us living together means there is another topic I think we should discuss before we do. I think its important that we both know where we stand in regards to it..."

"Anything. Just name it."

"While I'm looking forward to us living together, I still think we should take...other things...slowly."

Zack paused until it dawned on him what she was talking about. "Oh...OH! Yeah, of course. Maya, I would never pressure you to do something you weren't ready for..."

Maya smiled. "I appreciate that..." She laughed. "And I don't foresee us getting trapped in a freak winter storm either. While Bailey said that worked our for her and Cody, I'd rather not risk my life like that..."

"Oh..." He paused again. "So you've talked to Bailey about that and she knows now that you know..."

"Yeah, our conversation covered a myriad of topics, and what she said made a lot of sense. Zack, when the time is right for both of us, we'll know..."

"I can't argue with that..." He sighed. "Well, I guess I now know what Cody meant about me not being able to keep my big mouth shut..."

Maya laughed. "I assume so. And I'll have you know there were some times I did borrow your ear plugs just to be on the safe side. The flambes weren't the only things heating up the suite these past six weeks. I stupidly said I didn't care what they did while I was in the suite with them, and with them no longer trying to keep it a secret, I'm afraid I created two monters. I think now we should both be glad they are wanting their own place next year close to their medical school.." She paused and smiled. "As for us though, its not that I haven't thought about it because I have. But I want to make sure everything is perfect for us. I hope you can understand that."

He smiled back. "Yeah, I understand that. While I've been teaching Kirby to swim, he's been offering me good advice in return. You're right - one step at a time, and no need to rush anything."

"Good. I'm glad we were able to come to a mutual understanding and that we're both on the same page now..."

"Me too..." Zack paused again. "While Bailey and you were having your little chat, you didn't happen to bring up the fact that...you know...that we're both...?"

She just smiled at him. "Now, do you really think I'd tell her that?"

Boston

For the next couple of days, everyone enjoyed having a few days to take it easy aboard the new ship. Well, except for Zack. He only had half a day Saturday and Sunday off to spend with them. The other days, he had to actually work while Maya, Bailey and Cody all enjoyed the numerous amenities of the lido deck and the rest of the boat. Still, they all had dinner together every night, and on Sunday evening, Cody suggested some place nice in Cabo for Zack to do his final review of local cuisine on. But come Wednesday, the boat docked in San Diego, and it was time for everyone to finally head back to Boston. Fortunately for Zack, everything he brought with him to the boat and bought over the past six weeks could fit into two bags in addition to his carry on one. And even more fortunately for him, Cody and Bailey had shared one bag for their trip. He finally persuaded his brother to claim his other bag as his so Zack wouldn't have to pay an additional fee to check it himself. Of course, Cody insisted he repack the bag himself so he would know everything that was inside of it just in case. Their direct flight home left San Diego about one thirty Pacific Time that afternoon and arrived back in Boston close to eleven thirty that night Eastern Time. An hour later, they were all back at the hotel, and no one was happier to have everyone back under one roof that Carey. In light of her heightened emotional state, Cody and Bailey felt it wise not to mention at that moment that they would be moving back to New Haven on Saturday.

The next morning, Zack finally got around to opening the other envelopes he had gotten from other schools. But like he said, he couldn't have cared less what they said. His acceptance to both Boston College and Northeastern meant nothing to him, and he simply shrugged off his rejection from MIT. BU was the school he wanted to go to, and he was looking forward to continuing his education there. For the next two days, Thursday and Friday, Zack and Maya took it as easy as possible as both relished not having anything they had to do. Well, almost. They did make one trip over to BU so Zack could drop off his 'homework' to the school of hospitality administration. And while they were on campus, Maya decided to stop by to see her physics professor in hopes of finding out her final grade in that class. To her delight, she had received her second A of the summer with rather ease.

During those same two days, Cody and Bailey did everything they could to get ready to move back to New Haven. On Wednesday, they did all of their laundry, and by Friday night, they had everything they owned packed. But before they left Boston, they had a few errands to run. On Friday night, they went out to do a little shopping for a few items they would need to carry out Bailey's decorating plans for their new dorm room.

On Saturday morning, Bailey and Cody were up early so they could be on the road by eight AM. And as they were going over their checklist one last time to make sure they had everything, both looked up in shock to see that Zack and Maya walking out of their bedroom. Cody did a double take before looking over at the stove.

"Whoa! Its 6:45 AM on a Saturday!" He turned back to Zack and Maya. "What are you two doing up this early?"

Zack grinned. "Fulfilling a promise I made. We went to Six Flags the week before I left in May, and I told Maya we'd go back again once I got back for good. So, we're heading down there today. The park opens at ten o'clock, and we plan on being there when it does..." He laughed. "Now, I would say you two could follow us until the I-84/I-90 spilt, but we all know you two will be eating our dust once we hit the interstate."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well...it will be just the two of you in your car. On the other hand, we'll have us as well as everything we own in ours. Excuse us if we plan on driving as carefully as possible..."

He laughed. "Well, you two better do a good job getting your new room set up this afternoon because we're crashing with you tonight!"

Cody shook his head and sighed. "Great. We really do appreciate you giving us so much prior notice..."

By eight o'clock that morning, Cody and Bailey hugged Carey goodbye even though she wasn't happy about them having to leave so soon after she finally got everyone back. But they just reminded her that that time next year, they would be back in Boston to stay. That seemed to appease Carey, and it allowed them to get on the road without any further guilt trips. And Zack had been right - before they had even got out of the city limits, Zack and Maya had pulled way out in front of Cody and Bailey on the interstate. But like Cody said before, karma was indeed alive and well. Just past the I-495 interchange, he and Bailey just waved as they passed Zack pulled off on the side of the road – with a state trooper parked behind him with his lights flashing.

New Haven

Once they got back to New Haven, Cody and Bailey quickly noticed a lot of people milling about Lanman-Wright Hall, their dorm their freshmen years. Both just looked at each other and laughed as they realized it had been three years since they had gone through freshmen orientation themselves. Of course, just to be safe, both checked the sky and were relieved that that is was a clear cloudless day. Fortunately, it was a Saturday as it would make things easier in finding a close parking space. Lucking out, they found a spot right outside of Berkeley North and grabbed it before anyone else could. First things first, they headed inside to sign in and get the keys to their room and mailboxes. And before they headed back to the car to begin unloading it, they decided to head up to the fifth floor to check out their new room. And to say that it was nice would have been a complete understatement. Even their room in the Caribbean the previous spring break wasn't as spacious as this place was.

Both wandered about checking it out completely, and they loved everything about it. It was even better than they could have imagined after seeing the floor plans. Specifically, Bailey was enthralled with the garden tub in their bathroom and could already picturing herself relaxing in it after long days of studying. On the other hand, Cody couldn't help but to check out their kitchenette area. It actually had a built in full size refrigerator and microwave which he began imagining the possibilities of. While he wished it had an actual stove too, he wasn't about to complain especially since they did have the country's best dining hall a few floors down. Once he left that area, he found Bailey still fawning over their bathroom.

He laughed. "It'll still be here once we've moved everything in. You ready to go get that over with?"

She turned to him and smiled. "Yeah, lets do it. Sweetie, I already know this place is going to be perfect!"

For the next hour, they made several trips from the car up to their room toting all of their belongings with them. By one o'clock that afternoon, they had everything upstairs and in a big pile in the middle of their new common/living room. After dropping off the boxes from their last trip, Bailey turned to Cody and grinned.

"Ready to get started on our little home improvement project?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He reached down and picked up something. "I've got my tool box right here. I just hope this will work..."

She picked up a couple of plastic bags. "Don't worry. It will."

Another hour later, they had finished their not so extreme makeover home edition and were standing there admiring their handy work.

Bailey elbowed Cody and laughed. "See? Its just like I said it would be..."

Cody smiled. "Yeah, I think I'm really going to like this arrangement..."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door to their room. And when they opened it, they found Gertie and Tapeworm standing there with big grins on their faces.

"Can you believe these are actually our dorm rooms? I was completely floored when I saw ours!"

Bailey smiled. "Yeah, they amazing! Come on in, guys."

They did, and immediately noticed all of Cody and Bailey's things were still piled in the middle of the common room. "You guys just get here too?"

Cody shook his head. "Nah...we've been doing some...rearranging of furniture."

Bailey lead them into one of the bedrooms, but all it had in there were two desks and two chairs. "We decided to make one of the bedrooms an office of sorts. We'll put our bookshelves and the big printer in here later." She lead them to the other bedroom. "And we made this one our actual bedroom. We shoved the two dressers together to make one big one. And we pushed both the twins beds together, and we bought one of those kits that converts two twins into a king sized bed. There is a fitted pad that fits on top of the two mattresses so you can't tell where they meet. Plus, there are several straps that hold them together and keeps them from sliding apart. Finally, we bought a king sized egg crate mattress pad to put on top. And on top of it, we bought a king sized bed in a bag with two spare sets of sheets we found on clearance..."

"Can you tell any difference?"

"Nope. We've already tried it out, and if we hadn't done it ourselves, we would never have known it wasn't really a king."

Gertie and Tapeworm could only look on in amazement at what Cody and Bailey had done with their room. Almost immediately, Gertie turned to Tapeworm. "I think we need to make a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond ourselves this afternoon..."

He nodded. "I was just about to say the exact same thing..." He paused. "Tell you what, lets unload our things from my Dad's truck first. Then we can make a run out to get everything we need there and at Wal-Mart. While you two ladies bring all that stuff back in their car, Cody and I will head over to the storage facility and get our other furniture..."

So, that's exactly what they did. By five o'clock that afternoon, all of their furniture had been moved back in and set up as well as Gertie and Tapeworm's room having been converted in a manner similar to Cody and Bailey's. And when they finished that, it was time to begin unpacking everything. Cody and Bailey decided to to put all of their winter clothes in the closet in their office since they wouldn't need them for a few months. And by seven o'clock, everything was unpacked, stored away, hung up or hooked up. Since the plan was to meet Gertie and Tapeworm for dinner at 8:00, they had an hour, and both were dripping with sweat.

Cody grinned at her. "I noticed how much you were checking out our tub earlier. How does trying it out right now sound to you?"

Bailey grinned back at him. "Sounds like the best idea I've heard in a long time!"

And it was even better than Bailey could have imagined. While they couldn't take their time, both knew that they were going to love having their own private bathroom with a tub they could share as often as they wanted. But since they had a deadline to meet, they did have to hurry and focus on actually getting cleaned up. By eight fifteen that night, the four of them were heading towards a brick oven pizza place right off of campus. And once they ordered, Bailey spoke up.

"Now that we have some time, there are a couple of things we need to fill you two in on."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Bailey smiled. "Well, almost all of our wedding is now planned..." She went on to fill them in on all of the details. "So, London will be expecting you guys to RSVP to the invitation ASAP..."

Gertie smiled back. "Don't worry. We sent back our RSVP the day after we got our invitation. Now, what's your other news?"

Cody spoke up. "We know where we're going to med school now..."

"Oh yeah? Which lucky school did you finally decide on?"

He leaned in close and practically whispered to them. "Harvard..."

Tapeworm's practically shouted out. "Harvard!" He leaned in and whispered to them. "What about what they did to you during your interview there?"

Quickly, Cody and Bailey explained for the umpteenth time everything that had happened to them over the summer that lead to them finally choosing Harvard. "Besides, when the best medical school in the country is going to pay you to go there, its kind of hard to turn down..."

Tapeworm laughed. "So much for school loyalty!"

"Oh, we'll still be loyal to Yale. We both may be moving back to Boston, but it doesn't mean we have to like the school we're going to attend. We'll still root for Yale in The Game..." Cody paused. "But we're smart enough to know not to wear Harvard gear around here or Yale gear out in public around the campus there next year..."

While everyone was enjoying getting to hang out with each other again, it started getting late, and they were all kind of itching to try head back to their new rooms for their first nights in them. So they decided to call it a night...well, Gertie and Tapeworm did. Cody and Bailey couldn't until their guests showed up. About twelve thirty, they were relieved when they finally got a call from Zack saying they were fifteen minutes away. As they waited for them to arrive, Cody shook his head and sighed.

"Our first night in our first official place together, and we don't even get to spend it by ourselves."

Bailey rubbed his back. "I know, but think of it this way. Every other night after this, we will. While we're here, this place will just be for me and you..." She grinned. "Besides, we have lot more room now to do our streaking in..."

Cody grinned at her. "Now that's the best idea I've heard in a long time!" He yawned and stretched. "Unfortunately, I might need a rain check until tomorrow. Bails, I'm beat..."

She snuggled in closer to him on the futon. "You and me both...Its been a long summer."

"You can say that again. And after the summer we've had, it feels good to be back here again."

"Yeah, it does." She paused and let out a little laugh. "And to think, on Wednesday we'll actually begin our final year of college..."

"And hopefully easiest and less drama filled one..."

"Sounds good to me..."

He was about to say something else when his phone began ringing again. Answering, he found out that Zack and Maya were both downstairs in the lobby. So, Cody headed down to check them in as guests for the night. As they walked up the stairs to the fifth floor, Cody couldn't help but smirk at his brother.

"Did you remember to drive the speed limit the rest of your drive this morning?"

Zack laughed. "Of course not. I didn't even get a ticket either. Turns out the state trooper that pulled us over is the husband of Moseby's secretary. When he saw my license, he recognized my name. So, he let us go with a warning..."

Cody sighed. "Of course he did..."

He lead them down the hallway to his and Bailey's room, and when Zack and Maya saw Cody and Bailey's new dorm suite, they were in awe too.

"Whoa! If my dorm room had been like this, I never would have moved out of it..."

Zack just shook his head. "If your dorm room had been like this, I would have moved in with you..."

To be Continued...

AN: I decided to say screw it and just post a new chapter every other day.