Only 3 reviews for Chapter 4. Come on people you can do better than that! Shout outs go to my three musketeers who were kind enough to review. You guys are wonderful: xAlL-tHiNgS-sUiTe-LiFe-RoCkSx, Lennie1984, and Mad-Dog-GXO . Thank to anyone who did story/author alert/favorite too. Though you may not have said anything, I guess you enjoyed the story. : ) On to the next chapter.

*I don't own SL or it's characters, just my story and the songs.*

Chapter 5

Previously: "My room is this way." Zack hauls their stuff down a hallway with four closed doors and two open ones which are the bathrooms. He opens the last door on the right, sets everything down off to the side and turns on the light. "This is it."

Maddie walks slowly into the room and her jaw drops. She looks around at the floor, the tables and the bed in amazement. "It's clean!" Looking closer, she grins and shakes her head. "Still can't keep it tidy though."

Zack's room has dark blue walls covered by the occasional poster or picture and hardwood floors protected by a dark blue area rug. In the corner next to the door there is a stool with some music equipment and another two guitars, one acoustic and one electric. A queen size bed dominates the room, jutting out from the center of the back wall. The navy sheets and comforter or strewn about as if he had just gotten up minutes ago. The heavy oak desk set off to the right is crammed full of papers, books and school paraphernalia. Zack's bedside tables, one on either side, are overflowing with books, some of which have landed on the floor.

"Well, no one else was going to clean." Zack shrugs his shoulders and moves further into the room. "Thankfully I have a big enough bed so neither of us has to sleep on the floor."

"You and me? Together in a bed?" Maddie asks, nervously eyeing the bed in question.

"It's either that or the floor. We all lock our rooms for privacy and, trust me, you don't want to sleep on the couch in the front room." Zack sighs. "If it really freaks you out that much, I can sleep on the floor."

"No, I can't kick you out of your own bed." Maddie rejects that idea to Zack's relief. "It's okay. We can share."

"Do you want to borrow some clothes to sleep in?" Zack walks over to door next to the stool, opens it and starts digging through the clothes when Maddie nods her head. "How about this?" Zack hold up an old pair of cotton shorts and a black tee-shirt with a drawing of a silver guitar on it.

"That should work." Maddie grabs the clothes and heads into one of the hall baths to change into the other outfit. Unfortunately, the shorts keep falling down around her ankles but at least the shirt covers down to her knees. She walks back into Zack's room holding her pile of clothes and the extra pair of shorts. "No luck with the shorts." Maddie lays her clothes down on her bags and turns to find Zack staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Zack shakes his head. "You just look good in my shirt." He mumbles as he walks out the door to use the bathroom. He comes back in wearing a pair of sleep shorts and nothing else, showing off a well toned body.

Maddie stares appreciatively at him as he throws his clothes into a hamper in the corner but manages to look away before he notices. Zack wearing just shorts is dangerous for a girl's heart rate. She takes a couple deep breaths to calm herself down and keep herself from attacking him. 'This is Zack. This is Zack. He's my boyfriend. No, he's my fake boyfriend. Hot, fake boyfriend. Stop thinking about it. I can't.' Maddie argues with herself as she sits down on the bed. Maddie feels the bed dip behind her as climbs under the covers.

"Are you going to get in bed?" Zack yawns and rolls onto his belly.

"Yeah." Maddie turns off the light and makes her way to the other side of the bed. Crawling in, she curls up and covers herself with the covers. "Goodnight Zack."

"Night Maddie." Zack whisper, sounding almost asleep.

Maddie, laying on one side of the bed, watches as Zack's back moves with each breath he takes. There is just enough light to see his outline. She falls asleep still watching him.

Zack is highly aware of the girl sleeping next to him. Staring into the darkness, he contemplates the situation they are in. He loves and hates having Maddie so close, pretending to be a couple. The truth is that he's still in love with her so this is absolute torture.

He learned how to live without her, little by little, a long time ago. As her fake boyfriend and getting to be so affectionate with her, he is having trouble reminding himself that this isn't real. 'Maddie doesn't actually want me. I'm just doing her a favor. I can't let myself forget that. She doesn't love me like that.' Zack tells himself as he finally falls asleep.

Early the next morning Maddie wakes up warm and snug. Feeling someone's breath on the back of her neck, her eyes fly open. Looking down, she sees a very masculine arm wrapped tightly around her waist. Over her shoulder is a crop of dark blonde hair and a face buried in her hair. The night before comes back to her and she relaxes into Zack. Deciding to enjoy this small pleasure while she can, she falls back asleep.

Waking up again later, Maddie is alone in the bed. Stretching she walks out of the bedroom and wanders through the apartment looking for Zack. Finding herself alone, she sits on the couch and turns on the television. Just then the front door opens and a very sweaty Zack walks in.

"Hey, you're awake!" Zack stretches out his legs and arms. "Want some breakfast?"

"Where were you?" Maddie stares at him. Normally she finds sweaty guys kind of gross. Zack's exposed skin glistening as he stretches out all those lovely muscles, his damp hair curling a bit around his face, he is about as far from gross as you can get. He's delicious.

"Just out running." Zack takes a quick drink from his water bottle. "Let me get a quick shower and then we can have some breakfast." He grins at her and walks down the hall.

'Don't think about him in the shower. Don't picture anything warm, sudsy or wet. Ahh, I just pictured it. Damn, watch TV.' Maddie distracts herself flipping channels until he comes back dressed in his pajama bottoms from last night and a white tee shirt. She gets up and follows him into the kitchen where he is pulling stuff out of the refrigerator.

"So what are we having?" Maddie asks coming up behind him.

"How about omelets?" Zack asks.

"Okay. Want some help?" Maddie smiles at him.

"Sure." Zack hands her the eggs and a large bowl. "You can scramble the eggs while I chop the veggies and brown the sausage." They work in a comfortable silence until Zack has the omelets sizzling on the stove. Maddie moves up and wraps her arms around his waist from the back as he checks their food.

"Thanks for making breakfast." Maddie says. Turning so he can wrap an arm around her, he hugs her back, smiling.

"You're welcome." He leans down and places a soft kiss on her forehead. "Thanks for helping."

"I go away for a couple days and I apparently miss everything." A deep voice says from the behind them. Startled they spring apart and look at the newcomer.

"Cole?" Maddie asks incredulously.

"In the flesh." Cole laughs. "How have you been Maddie?"

"Not bad." Maddie turns to Zack. "You didn't tell me your cousin was one of your roommates."

"You never asked." Zack laughs. "How was the trip, Cole?"

"Good. Your mom said to tell you hi and that she misses her little men." Cole grins at Zack's blush. "Hard to believe she still calls you that when you tower over her. Any chance I can get one of those omelets? I missed breakfast."

"Yeah, sure." Zack finishes cooking while Maddie finds some plates and silverware. She sets the table for three places and pours juice for everyone before sitting down. Zack plates the omelets and everyone digs in. After eating their fill, Zack clears off the table and sets everything in the dishwasher. "I'll be back in a minute." He heads down the hall.

"So Maddie." Cole grins at her. "Not that you don't look lovely wearing Zack's shirt, but maybe you should get dressed."

Maddie, blushing ten shades of red, yelps and runs out of the room. She had forgotten what she was wearing. Cole's laughter follows her down the hall. Not looking, she rushes into the bedroom and plows into Zack. They land in a tangled mass of arms and legs on the bed.

"Sorry." Maddie says looking down at him. She freezes and her eye widen. Zack is wearing nothing but a pair of thin boxes and she is, quite intimately, pressed up against every square inch of him. "Oh dear."

Anyone want to hazard a guess what happens next? :) Please review!