A/N: This has been one of the hardest chapters I've written, so sorry for taking so long. Thanks to Woundedhearts for all her help with this chapter, and thanks to Ellie and Lody for inspiration on some of these scenes. Enjoy...

Chap 3: A Heavy Downpour

"Now class," Ms Tutwiler said, trying to get the class' attention. "As you know, we will be docking in France and then taking a bus to downtown Paris to experience the sights, sounds, and cultural. Just to make sure you don't have too much fun though, you will each be required to take photographs of several cultural landmarks to prove that you were there. The groups for this will be, Zack and Woody, London and Holden, Cody and Bailey, and lastly, Addison and Becky. We will meet in the class room at 9AM tomorrow morning, so don't be late or you will be left behind."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class. The students quickly ran out of the room before the teacher could come up with anything else to add.

"Ugh, I hate Paris," London said as she and her roommate returned to their room.

"Why, it's such a beautiful city."

"Yeah, but then it named itself after that air headed hotel heiress who thinks she better than me. Too bad London was already taken."

"Um, I don't think that's why-"

"You want to get a manicure?" London asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"No, I have homework I have to finish before tomorrow."

"Well, while you do that, I have important stuff to do," London said as she merrily went on her way.

_

"Has the milkshake been stirred?" a teen with blond hair and a suit asked as he stood upon the sky deck.

"Plan D7 is underway," another teen with brown bushy hair said.

"Very good," the first teen turned around facing his accomplice while stroking a small furry animal.

"Um, Zack, why do you have Ivana?" Woody asked.

"Way to ruin the moment dude," Zack said putting the dog back on the ground.

"Oh, sorry, but why did you have Ivana?"

"Well, Renney said I should have had a cat when I told Cody about my plan."

"Wait, she's part of the plan too?" Woody asked.

"Oh, none of this would be happening without her."

_

Cody felt his heart pounding against his chest as he walked to the classroom that day. His hands were shaking so badly that he had already dropped the camera twice, luckily not breaking it. Today would be the day his life changed forever. He just hoped it would be in the way that he wanted.

"Hey Cody, you ready to see Paris?" Bailey joyfully asked. She had always loved learning about different culture around the world, especially since before coming on the ship she had rarely left Kettlecorn.

He swallowed, trying to calm his voice. "Yeah, this will be great." He just hoped Zack's ideas would really work. The ship had reached France during the night and Zack had already set everything up, though he refused to tell Cody any of the details.

"I can't believe I was paired up with someone who is so into the French culture," Bailey exclaimed as they sat down and waited for their teacher.

"Yeah, it has such a rich history, from the foundations in the fifth century, to the age of Imperialism, and the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic era."

"Calm down buddy," Zack said walking up to his brother, "Let's not get so wrapped up in the history that we forget to have fun."

"History can be fun," Cody declared.

"Wow, Cody, you're almost as funny as me," Zack said as Tutwiler walked into the room.

_

Cody couldn't believe how fast the time flew. It seemed like only seconds ago that they were boarding the bus. In order to prevent Cody from fainting, Zack had tried to calm his brother down on the bus ride to Paris by watching the Matrix with him. The movie seemed to distract him, at least until they pulled up to the bus station in Paris. "Hey Cody, you ready to go see the city of lights?" Bailey asked as they got off the bus.

"Yeah, this should be a lot of fun. I was thinking we should hit the famous Louvre Museum of Art first."

"Isn't that where they keep the Mona Lisa?" Bailey asked eagerly.

"Yeah, but it's also a historic landmark. Did you know that the building was originally a military fortress in the 12th century?"

"Well, while you two enjoy that boring stuff, me and Woody are going to try finding some hot French babes," Zack said as he dragged his friend away.

"What? I thought we were going to get some French food, like French fries, French toast and French bread," Woody whined.

"You know those aren't really French foods, don't you?" Cody asked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we can find some of them," Zack said as the two of them went out randomly in a direction.

Cody and Bailey just shrugged their shoulders. "So, we just need to go a kilometer down this road and we'll reach the museum," he said pointing at one of the street signs.

"Lead the way then."

_

"Wow, I can't believe how big this is; this museum is larger than all of Kettlecorn."

"Yeah, we could easily spend a week here and still not see anything," Cody agreed, in awe of the treasures of the past.

"Where do you think we should start?"

"How about the Egyptian antiquities?"

"Yeah that should be fun," Bailey agreed and the two of them walked down one of the many corridors.

The hours flew by as they carefully examined each piece. Both of them were amazed that the other knew so much about Egyptian art. Not even the museum workers could compete with the teens' vast knowledge. Cody would frequently correct the workers flawed knowledge of the difference between the Egyptian dynasties. Eventually, they decided they could learn more just by exploring the museum without the guides.

After several hours admiring the art, Cody looked down at his watch to see that it was already 7:30. "Wow, we've been here for four hours!" the twin exclaimed.

"And we haven't even gotten through this section," Bailey said, disappointed that there was so much they still hadn't seen.

"I guess we should leave then, after all we want to see the Eifel tower; I've heard it's beautiful at night."

"Sure, let's go then."

_

"You think we should go to the top," Bailey asked once they were at the massive tower's base.

Cody felt his phone vibrate, and opened it up, revealing the text from Zack. 'Send her up' "Sure, let's go," he said, acting like nothing strange was going on.

"Going up?" a Frenchman asked who was operating the elevator.

"Yes please," Cody said and they entered the elevator that would take them to the top. As they ascended, the operator told them some of the history of the tower, but Cody didn't hear any of it. All he wanted was for the doors to open and for her to see the sunset from 896 feet in the air.

The door opened, revealing a table overlooking the window, covered in a scarlet tablecloth. A candle gently flickered in the middle with music gently playing in the background. Two plates were set on the table, filled covered with whine-poached salmon with white truffles, along with several gougéres that filled the room with a fragrant aroma.

"Cody…is this for me?" she couldn't believe her senses.

"Care to dance?" Cody asked holding his hand out to her. He couldn't believe he had actually been able to say that with a straight face, practicing all morning in the mirror had paid off.

Bailey stared at him; her mind unable to comprehend all that was going on around her. Her mind had shut off, her heart was screaming and her tongue was unable to form words.

He swallowed, waiting for her response. He knew it, she was going to say no, she was going to run away in tears, she was going to catch the next flight back to Kansas and never want to see him again.

Bailey's heart finally reconnected with her brain and she remembered how to talk. She was almost certain that this was a dream, but even if it was, she had to embrace this chance while she had it.

"Okay," she answered softly, placing her hand gently in hers.

Cody snapped in fingers and a cd switched to one of his favorite love songs, 'Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.'

Whatever happened

To Tuesday and so slow

Going down the old mine

With a transistor radio

Standing in the sunlight laughing,

Hiding behind a rainbow's wall,

Slipping and sliding

All along the waterfall, with you

My brown eyed girl,

You my brown eyed girl.

Do you remember when we used to sing,

Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da.

Bailey placed her other hand on his shoulder and they slowly danced in the sunset lit room. As they spun, he found himself gazing into her dark brown eyes. He couldn't believe everything had gone so perfectly so far, she said yes, she didn't smack him across the face; she was here in his arms. "Bailey," he whispered.

"Don't say anything, just dance," she replied, lost in his crystal blue irises. A smile larger than anything she felt before came across her face, feeling so secure in Cody's arms.

The song ended too soon, but Bailey quickly noticed everything else he had planned. Between her empty stomach and the delicious aroma filling the air, her eyes found their way back to the delicious French cuisine.

"Did you do all this for me?"

"Are you hungry?" he asked, ignoring her question but noticing her gaze.

"Yeah, we haven't eaten anything since breakfast this morning," she responded.

"Then enjoy," Cody said, pulling out the chair and allowing Bailey to sit down.

"Are these really gougéres,"

"Yeah, I remember you saying how you loved French foods like them," he said nervously as she took a bite of the pastry.

Her eyes lit up as the flavors tantalized her taste buds. With the aroma filling her nostrils along the sweet and flaky pastry in her mouth, she didn't think she'd ever tasted something so good. "I knew you were a good cook, but this is amazing!"

"Try the rest of the dinner," he suggested happily, glad that everything was going so well. He'd have to find a recipe for them.

Bailey couldn't believe how wonderful the dinner was, she knew that Paris was known as the city of lights, but she didn't know it was also the city of delicious foods.

"So Cody," she said, trying to get the question out of him, "You didn't do this just because we were friends, did you?"

He knew this time was going to come soon enough. All his hard work would pay off here. He just had to ask one simple question. "Yeah, Bailey, please go out with me, I promise this will only be the beginning."

"I don't know how to put this," she said with a smirk as she got up from her chair." His heart beat faster; had everything he had done been for nothing? She walked around the table and put her arm on his shoulder. "I think this should explain it." She leaned down next to him, their faces just inches apart. She leaned in, pressing her lips against hers, and they kissed.

After a couple seconds, she backed away slowly. "Is that a good enough answer for you?"

He could only nod his head in response. During that kiss, his brain completely forgot how from words.

They stood there for a second in silence, staring out at the sunset that bathed the sky in crimson red. No words were needed to convey how they thought; they wanted this moment to last forever.

"Well, we better be getting back," Cody said, noticing the sun has almost completely disappeared under the horizon."

"Yeah," Bailey agreed with a twinge of sadness in her voice. She couldn't believe the night she had. Not only did she get to learn about French culture and get the visit one of the most famous museums in the world, but she also learned that the man of her dreams liked her as much as she did him. "Thanks for everything Cody," she said as they stepped onto the elevator do descend back down to earth.

After returning the ground level, the sun shone in their faces, nearly completely gone. The sky still held a shade of red as the colors battled the black of night for control of the sky. The teens shadow's stretched out like taffy among the windings streets of the city. Nature itself seemed to be congratulating them. Between the beautiful scene before him and the beautiful girl beside him, Cody had only one thought. 'Zack, you're awesome.'