A/N: Well I know this is a little bit of a filler, but this took a bloody long time to write so I hope you like it! I'm starting to build things up for the ending now… (Don't worry, still lots of chapters to go!) And I have to say the ending is going to be ACTION-PACKED. I've planned it out and I think you'll really like it. It's got Zammie. It's got action. What more could you want? ;) So please stick with me and hopefully you'll like it. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, I had loads! Please continue to review, you have no idea how much reviews motivate me!

Previously:

"I'm sorry" He repeated.

I rolled my eyes. "If I say I forgive you will you stop trying to say sorry?"

"Probably not" Zach smirked slightly, the same smirk Catherine had given me… except it was different in so many ways, because when Zach smirked at me I felt happy, I felt like everything was perfect, when in fact, it was far from it.

()()()()

"How are you feeling?"

"Do you need anything?"

"Is your head hurting?"

"Fine. No. Yes." I snapped at my mom as she fussed around the fluids going through the tube into my hand.

"You know, I'm not sure this is working correctly" my mom mused as she watched my heart monitor.

"Argh!" I exclaimed, making my mom jump. "It's fine! It's all fine! I'm tired, I just want to sleep!"

"But you've been asleep for five days" my mom's eyes filled with tears.

I looked away from her. "And I want to sleep for another five days" I sulked. "At least no one was fussing around me then"

"Oh" My mom's voice broke. "Well, I'll leave you to sleep then"

I sighed as my mom left the room and I continued to stare at the door longingly as I'd done before my mom had interrupted me.

Zach still hadn't visited me. He'd refused to be treated, saying he was fine. He'd been unusually quiet in the car on the way back while my mom had chattered to me nervously and fussed over me. I'd told her the truth about everything, and she'd looked at Zach as if it had been his entire fault, which made me mad beyond belief, because I'd started all of this by writing to Catherine. It was my fault.

I'd made excuses for Zach not coming to see me. It started with maybe he was tired, maybe he was hurt, maybe he was feeling guilty… and one last option which I didn't like was that he just simply didn't want to see me.

()()()()

I woke up screaming that night. Catherine had been torturing me, although I had no idea what real torture was like, I could guess.

"Cammie, it's okay!" the nurse tried to calm me down. As soon as I realised it had been a nightmare I quickly assured the nurse I was fine, and tried to go back to sleep. But I couldn't.

I glared at the tubes of fluid going into my hand as if it were their fault I couldn't get up and confront Zach. I knew I'd feel better just seeing his face.

I looked towards the room where the nurse slept, she was already snoring again.

I took a deep breath and tugged out the tubes in my hand with all my might. I gasped at the pain that tore through my hand. The fluid leaked out onto the floor. I winced as I flexed my hand and blood tricked out the place where the needle had been. I fumbled in the draws next to my bed and grabbed some plasters, sticking one over my hand.

I stood up, swaying slightly at first. I'd been in bed for over a week now, I felt sick, like I was on a boat or something.

I took another deep breath and began to walk unsteadily forwards, cursing the creaking door as I slipped through it.

I tried to avoid looking in reflections and mirrors, but it was impossible. I was sure if I hadn't driven Zach away already then I would if he saw me right now.

"Cammie?"

I spun on my heel, swaying dangerously on the spot as I tried to regain my balance. Zach's strong arms steadied me.

His eyes studied my whole body carefully, looking me up and down… but not in that way. He was frowning. I realised Macey's prediction that moonlight could make anyone look prettier was obviously false… but then, I was more or less broken beyond repair.

"I look like hell, I know" I whispered to the floor.

Zach lifted my chin so I was looking into his eyes. "Of course you don't"

I smiled slightly.

Zach shook his head slightly. "You should be in the hospital"

I eyed his clothes; he even had his coat on. "You should be in bed"

"True" Zach grinned.

He wrapped his arms around me and I rested my aching head on his shoulder.

"You really should be in the hospital Cammie, look at your hand" he exclaimed as I felt his fingers brush over the plaster.

I held out my hand in front of me and groaned. The blood was starting to seep through the plaster. I brought my hand back up to Zach's waist.

"Guess I'll just have to ruin another one of your shirts" I whispered.

Zach's abs were perfectly sculpted against my body, he was hugging me so hard I felt like he was making up for lost time like I was.

"Why didn't you come and see me?" I whispered. It sounded weak and pathetic. I cursed myself for being such a typical girl. Why couldn't I be like Macey?

"I didn't want to see what I'd done to you" Zach's voice broke.

I shook my head in amazement, about to argue, but then my eyes caught sight of the bags a little further down the corridor.

I pulled away from Zach suddenly, my heart rate increasing frantically.

"Going somewhere?" I whispered.

Zach looked down at his feet. And just as he opened his mouth to speak…

"CODE BLACK, CODE BLACK, BODE BLACK"

The sudden siren made me jump out of my skin. But it didn't make me forget that Zach was trying to leave me.

Zach immediately went into spy mode as he proceeded to pull me down the corridor, but I snatched my hand away.

"I'm not going with you"

"What!" Zach yelled angrily over the code black. "It's a code black Cammie, there's bad people in here, we need to get you into…"

"I'm not going with you until you promise me you won't leave"

Zach stopped trying to push me down the corridor and his eyes met mine.

"You don't understand, I'm doing it to protect you, you're not safe here with me, I can't promise you…"

"Fine" I proceeded to turn away from him.

His hand gripped my arm. "Fine" he said through gritted teeth. "I promise… for now… I won't leave"

I nodded and finally let him drag me down the corridor, the code black still ringing in our ears, making my headache worse.

We went to the great hall where Zach said everyone was supposed to assemble.

The hall was in a state of organised chaos, everyone seemed to be searching around the room for something. If the situation wasn't so serious and my head wasn't pounding I probably would have laughed.

"There she is!" one of the seventh graders shouted, pointing at me.

Suddenly a herd of teachers had crashed into me, their bodies creating a barrier around me. Before I had a chance to ask what was going on my mom had pushed through.

"Oh Cammie, did they hurt you?!" she asked.

I frowned in confusion.

"Did they hurt you?" My mom repeated a little louder, probably thinking I couldn't hear her.

Suddenly the code black siren stopped, and I sighed in relief.

"I'm so sorry, I should have been there, I set the code black off as soon as I'd realised they'd taken you…" My mom started to say.

"Who took me?" I asked in genuine confusion, fully aware of the hundreds of girls staring at me.

"Catherine" My mom whispered.

My eyes widened. "Catherine's here?" I asked in panic.

This time my mom frowned. "Well, yes, I thought she'd taken you, you disappeared…"

"Mom… no one took me" I looked down. "I… I just went for a walk"

Mr Solomon pushed in front of my mom. "You mean to say Cammie… that even though there's a mad woman after you, you decided it would be a good idea to take a walk in the middle of a night? The nurse went into the hospital, saw your bed empty, and immediately thought you'd been kidnapped!"

I bit my lip. "I… I'm sorry… I…"

"It's my fault"

I stared at Zach as he pushed himself forward.

"Cammie was trying to find me, I told her to meet me"

"That was careless of you Zach, you know how much danger Cammie is in" Mr Solomon scolded him.

"But…" I began to confess it was my fault, but Zach gave me a sharp nudge.

"Zach, you'll be doing extra CoveOps lessons" My mom looked at him with distain.

"Everyone except Zach and Cammie, go back to your rooms please!" Mr Solomon called out loudly, and the crowd began to disperse in hushed whispers. I had no doubt that they would be talking about me all night.

"It wasn't Zach's fault" I muttered.

"It was" Zach argued.

"Zach, go back to your room please, and stay there" my mom ordered. He nodded and left without giving me another glance.

"Mom, it wasn't his fault" I muttered through gritted teeth.

"He could have got you hurt, he could have…"

"But he didn't!" I screamed.

"Don't talk to your mom like that!" Aunt Abby ordered.

"Give her a break" Mr Solomon's gentle voice took me by surprise just as I was about to tell my mom how much I hated her.

"Cammie, would you like to go back to your room? Or back to the hospital?"

"My room" I said immediately.

"But…" My mom was obviously going to go off on some rant about how the hospital was the best place for me.

"Rachel, Abby, I've got this, both of you go and get some sleep"

"Night Cammie" Aunt Abby gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze and I shot her a smile.

"Night…" My mom's hand hovered over my shoulder too, but then fell to her side.

"Night" I muttered.

As soon as I left I shot Mr Solomon a thankful smile and he gave me a pat on the back.

"Come on then, I better escort you to your room to check you don't go on a midnight walk again"

We passed a few girls on the way to my room, talking in hushed voices to each other as they made their way to their rooms.

"Let's hurry this along ladies" Mr Solomon ushered them down the corridor.

I could make out their voices talking about me.

()()()()

"I hate her!"

Macey, Bex and Liz who were getting into bed merely shot me a glance as I walked in.

"I mean, who does she think she is?!" I ranted on.

"Your mom maybe?" Macey rolled her eyes at me.

"She's not my mom… she's… she's…"

"Your mom" Bex finished for me coldly. "Cammie, she's your mom, whether you like it or not"

"Well I wish she wasn't" As soon as I said the words I felt horrible. I felt guilty.

"Cammie!" Bex shot out of bed making me jump. "Cammie, I wish you knew how I felt right now!" Bex screamed in my face as I backed away.

"And me too!" Macey was by Bex's side.

"And me" whispered Liz sadly from her bed.

"What?" I frowned.

"Cammie, do you have any idea how bloody lucky you are?!" Bex threw her hands up in the air. "Cammie you have a mom who loves you, who wants to make things right"

"Well maybe if she hadn't dumped me…"

"Oh here we go again!" Macey sighed. "The sob story about how your mom dumped you in a boarding school. Well Cammie, imagine how much you would have hated your mom if she'd brought you into the spy world knowing she'd have to be watching you every minute, having to hide you away from the world!"

"Well… I guess I'd never thought about that before…" I whispered. It was true… I never thought that maybe I would hate my mom even more if she'd brought me into the world of spies when I was younger.

"That's the problem Cammie!" Macey shouted. "You don't think!"

"Do you even know anything about our lives Cammie?" Liz asked.

I opened my mouth to say of course I did, they were my friends, I knew everything about them… but I didn't. I had no idea what their back stories were, I'd been so self-centred I hadn't even wondered.

"Well, let me clue you in" Macey ranted as she saw my expression. "People think my life is bloody perfect! They think it's all modelling for magazines and sitting there smiling to make my dad, who's the senator, look good… Well it's not! Sometimes I have to sit for hours on end smiling into that camera. When I was younger I only saw my parents for an hour a day they were so busy. All I am to my family is a pretty face, Cammie"

"Macey… I'm so…"

"Don't say you're sorry. I don't want anyone pitying me Cammie. Because unlike you I appreciate what I have. Three best friends, a roof over my head, and a life as a spy ahead of me"

I smiled at the way she said three best friends, but then Bex pushed her way to stand in front of me.

"And Cammie, you don't know anything about me either. The way I don't hear from my parents for months, the way they could be dead right now and I wouldn't even know. I know what life as a spy involves first hand Cammie, and I wouldn't give that life to my child"

"Or me" Liz whispered. "I know my life isn't quite as dramatic as any of yours, but I still have problems too. Trying to convince my parents this is simply a boarding school, having my parents write to me every other day. They know something is different about this school, and having to lie to them for five years when we're all such a close family is heart-breaking"

Bex, Macey and Liz watched me as I weakly fell onto my bed, trying to absorb everyone's words.

"We know this is hard for you Cammie, and we'll help you as best we can, but there's a difference between your problems and ours. Ours can't be fixed. Some of yours can. You have the opportunity to speak to your mom, to Aunt Abby; you have so many people here that care about you Cammie, whereas we only have each other. But we're cool with that. And we wouldn't change that for the world. So you need to either quit complaining or do something about it"

Macey's words brought tears to my eyes. I had no idea. No idea about what everyone went through. It was true; I was self-obsessed.

"We know you're not really this selfish Cammie. You saved me from drowning remember?" Macey smiled.

"And you went after Zach" Bex added. "And took on his bitch of a mom!"

"That wasn't selfless guys" tears welled in my eyes as I realised just how selfish I really was. "That was just acting on instinct"

"No" Macey shook her head. "It wasn't, stop acting Cammie, you suck at it. We know you're not selfish and horrible, we know you just need a little prompting at being a Gallagher Girl"

"A Gallagher Girl?" I whispered. I didn't deserve that title.

"A Gallagher Girl" Liz confirmed with a smile. "And one of the best Gallagher Girl's ever, if you show us the real Cammie"

"I'll try" I promised. "I'll try to be a Gallagher Girl"

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