Chapter 23

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

Wait...In this story, I actually created some of them, so I do own them.

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

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

Kurt finished unloading the jeep while Carey continued trying to keep herself busy. But there was nothing for her to do, so she helped him unload everything. And when they were done, there was an awkward silence between them.

"So..."

Carey turned to him. "Yeah?"

"Ummm...Where is everyone?"

"Billy went out to see a band, and I haven't seen Addison in over a day..."

Kurt lifted his eyebrows. "Really?"

Carey nodded. "Yeah. She and Woody have been inseparable since they first met. I don't get it, but who am I to ask questions?"

Kurt laughed. "Fair enough. I guess that leaves you, me and the two prisoners in isolation. I guess I could cook us something..."

Carey just looked at him. "You cook?"

"Well, I'm not Cody, but I can cook pasta...and pasta..."

Carey laughed. "Pasta it is then..."

Kurt proceeded to head into the kitchen to begin fixing them some dinner. And when it was done, he headed up to his room to get cleaned up. And he went all out. He showered, shaved and even slapped on some of his best cologne. Heading out of his room, he stopped to check himself out in the mirror in the hallway. And that's when he heard it.

"Looking good, Dad!"

He turned to see Zack and Cody in Zack's room playing video games. Kurt just smiled, shook his head and closed their bedroom door. "Goodnight, Boys..."

Zack turned to Cody. "What do you think is going to happen tonight?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know. But as far as I can tell, this is our last shot for something good to happen."

"Tell me about it. Thanks to us being grounded, I can't go see Maya. And she's scheduled to leave to head back to Boston on the same flight as you all tomorrow..."

"You don't have to tell me. This is potentially the last night I'll have to spend with Bailey in who knows how long and I'm here trapped spending it with you..."

"Well, as bad as you have it, at least you have me to play video games with. You're terrible!"

Cody rolled his eyes. "So sorry that I haven't spent every free minutes of my life so far practicing. I've had better things to do!"

Both just looked at each and began laughing.

Zack shook his head. "I have no idea why, but I'm actually going to miss this..."

"Me too. I still don't understand what Mom and Dad could be thinking. Now that we know about each other, are we supposed to forget that except on holidays and the occasional trip to visit?"

"I don't know. Their grown ups. When do they ever make any sense?"

Cody laughed at that. "The sad thing is how true that is..."

Zack paused. "Well, they locked us in here, but did you notice what they forgot to do?"

"What's that?"

He grinned. "Take our cell phones away from us. I might not be able to be with Maya, but I can still talk to her."

Cody grinned back. "Smart thinking...I'm going to call Bailey too."

Back in the kitchen, Kurt was serving the dinner he created for he and Carey. And when she saw what all he created, she couldn't help but laugh.

"I must admit. This is a lot better than the first time you tried to cook for me..."

He shook his head and smiled. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"Ordinarily, its tough to screw up hot dogs and macaroni and cheese. But you did a good job of doing just that. As I recall, we had to end up ordering out for pizza..."

"Well, I've gotten better now. But as I recall, you said that Cody does all the cooking for the two of you now. I guess he learned early on that your culinary skills weren't much better than mine..."

"What can I say? He's good at it. He learned from the hotel's head chef."

Kurt paused. "You know...For years now, I've wondered how he would turn out. Wondered if he and Zack were just alike..."

Carey nodded. "I know what you mean. But from what I've learned, they couldn't be any more different..."

"I know. And it looks like both of them have strong reasons to want to spend time in either Boston or Seattle now."

"I've noticed that too. I actually got to sit down and get to know Bailey yesterday. And she's a wonderful girl..."

"Who is this girl Zack seems to be interested in from Boston?"

"Maya. I've met her a few times too, and she seems very nice as well..."

He sighed. "You know neither one of them are going to be very happy with us now. We are pulling them away from people they want to be with..."

"I know, but what other option do we have? If I take them both back to Boston, Cody will be miserable. If I leave them both here in Seattle, Zack will be miserable. If we let the switch places permanently, we're back in the same boat as before in that we have separated them again."

Kurt paused. "What about you? What do you want?"

"I have no idea. What about you? You're fiancee dumped you today..."

He laughed. "Actually, that really doesn't bother me at all. I guess that should be telling me something..."

"Won't it affect your career?"

"Nah. The label still loves us. They want to send us back on a reunion tour at the end of the summer..."

Carey shook her head. "I see somethings haven't changed. And where will Zack and Addison be while you all are traipsing around the country."

He paused again. "I don't know. This will be the first time that I'll have gone on tour while he's been in school." He grinned. "Like I said, I've given him as much of a stable life as I can..."

She sighed. "I don't want to fight about this again..."

"Neither do I. I'm just trying to say I'm not the irresponsible person you thought I was fifteen years ago."

She sighed again. "I couldn't take the chance back then. We had two new lives in our care that had to be our first priority."

"And they have been. You did hear me drop Meredith when she told me to choose between them and her..."

Carey nodded. "I did."

Kurt paused and let it out again. "What happened to us, Carey? I admit. Everyone woman I meet, I compare to you. And no one has ever come close to even halfway measuring up to you..."

She just looked and him and slumped her shoulders. "I don't know. I do the same thing with the same results. Maybe we were just too young? Maybe we bit off more than we could chew? Maybe we we're as ready as we thought?"

"Do you regret it all?"

She shook her head. "Never. We have Cody and Zack. Having those two is worth everything."

"I agree. But...you know...we are older, wiser and hopefully more mature now..."

"I sure hope so..."

"Why not try us again then?"

Carey swallowed. "I admit that thought has crossed my mind from time to time." She began shaking her head. "But I can't. You have no idea how much it hurt me the first time. I couldn't bare going through that a second time. It would kill me!"

And with that, Carey got up and left the table leaving Kurt sitting there just watching her walk away...again.

The next morning, it was pouring down rain. And that was just fine as it matched everyone's mood. The cab to take Maya, Carey, Woody and Cody to the airport was due to arrive at any moment, but nobody was in any hurry for it to arrive. So, in the last few minutes they had before they were to be separated, the group of six teens broke off to have some private time together.

Woody sighed. "It doesn't seem fair. I just met you, and I now I have to go back to Boston. Dang it!"

Addison smiled at him. "I know. But, we already know webcams and cell phone works. And when Cody comes out here to visit, you better be coming with him..."

He smiled back. "I will. And when Zack comes out to Boston to visit, you better be coming with him."

"Count on it."

Woody pulled her into a hug. "I just wanted to say thank you for the best couple of days of my life. I think I'll even be able to tolerate Steve when I get back..."

"Well, if he causes you any problems, you tell me and I'll make sure he deals with me!"

In another secluded area, Maya and Zack were saying their goodbyes.

"You do have my number, so you better call me."

Zack smiled. "I will. And when I come out to Boston, it won't be just to see my brother and mother. Seeing you will be just as important to me."

She smiled back. "It better be. Besides, I'll need you to come back to shut up Theo every once in a while..."

He laughed. "Count on it. What about me though? I'm losing my favorite teammate. After playing with you, you think I have any desire to play with a bunch of sweaty guys?"

Maya paused. "Are you going to be dating any other girls?"

Zack shook his head. "No way. There is only one girl I want to go out with, and she's standing right in front of me. Who knows? With so much free time on my hands now, my grades might actually go up?"

She laughed. "Ill believe that when I see it..."

He pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm really going to miss you."

"I'm really going to miss you too."

And in yet another secluded corner, Cody and Bailey were saying goodbye to each other.

"This really, really sucks!"

Bailey smiled at him. "I know. I'm not happy about it either, but just think of the alternative..."

"There's something worse than not getting to be with you?"

"Yeah, there is. Just think. Due to luck, coincidence or fate, we actually met. I have you in my life now. I have to be thankful for that."

Cody smiled back at her. "You're right...as usual. I'm thankful to have you in my life too. The girl of my dreams now has a face to her...and a melodious laugh..."

She giggled and smiled back. "And the boy of my dreams has the cutest nose crinkle when he's lying..."

He laughed. "You're not going to forget that, huh?"

"Don't believe so." She sighed. "I'm really going to miss you, Cody..."

"I'm really going to miss you too, Bailey..." He leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled back, he just looked at her. "I think I'm falling in love with you. And you know that's the truth..."

"Me too."

Unfortunately though, the taxi chose then to show up, and Carey, Cody, Woody and Maya had to finally leave. As the cab pulled away, Bailey, Addison, Zack and Kurt just watched it leave, all feeling their hearts breaking. Kurt finally closed the door, and turned to find everyone just looking at him.

He sighed. "I know..."

For Cody, Woody, Maya and Carey, the trip back to Boston was a long and sad one. No one said much of anything, and to make matters even worse, their layover in Detroit was extended by over an hour due to weather. Finally, about ten o'clock that evening, they finally arrived back at the Tipton Hotel. As they walked inside with their bags, Carey turned to the three teens.

"Why don't we drop off our bags upstairs, and I'll take you all out to get a burger or something. I'm sure we're all starving by now.

The other three just nodded without any real emotion, and they began the ride up the elevator to the 23rd floor. Opening the door, they turned on the lights. And to everyone's surprise, there was Bailey, Addison, and Zack all sitting on the couch waiting on them.

Cody couldn't help but smile. "What are you guys doing here?"

Bailey smiled back at him. "Well, about thirty seconds after your cab left, we all decided we weren't going to let you all go without a fight..."

Addison continued. "So Uncle Kurt immediately borrowed the record label's private jet..."

Zack finished. "And with your layover, we got to Boston first..."

Carey just stood there in shock. "All of you?"

Kurt walked in from the kitchen. "All of us. Carey, fifteen years ago, I let you get away from me without putting up a fight. This time, I'm going to fight to get us back together just as hard as you will fight against it..." He smiled. "But just remember, our boys get their stubborn streak from me, so I like my chances..."

Carey sighed. "Kurt..."

"Hear me out. Our boys need both their mother and their father. When we were all split apart, none of us felt whole. We can feel whole again. And I was right when I said we needed a woman around the house. But we all need the right woman. The right woman is you...for our boys...and for me. You always have been."

She sighed. "But there is no way this can work even if we did try again. You're going out on tour again. The boys need stability in their lives. It wouldn't work with you out on the road and me at home...either here or in Seattle."

"Then go out on the road with me. We'll see and enjoy the country together. Like we should have done the first time..."

"What about the boys then? Just leave them at home?"

Kurt fell silent. But Cody paused and began grinning as an idea came to him. "What if I said I had an idea that would make everyone happy?"

To be Concluded...