AN: Since there was a big updating gap between chapters 15 and 16, here's a recap of the story so far: Zach, Cammie, Liz, and Bex were close friends as kids, with Cammie and Zach being best friends. Zach and his mother move when Zach is 8. For years, Zach thinks Cammie is a civilian because that's what his mother and Mr. Solomon, his godfather and mentor, told him so he doesn't contact her in an effort to keep her safe. They meet in a CovOps mission in which Zach and Grant are supposed to tail Bex, Macey, Liz, and Cammie. Cammie and Zach find out the other person is a spy and Cammie reveals that the Blackthorne Boys are coming to Gallagher. That night, Cammie's mom shows Zach footage of the girls interrogating Cammie, in which it is revealed that Cammie thinks Zach is hot, but isn't ready to get into a relationship because of Josh. At Gallagher, the girls go crazy over the Blackthorne Boys, excepting Cammie, who is still in denial, and Macey, who is mysteriously antagonistic to Nick Cross, Zach's roomate. The girls and boys go into town for a CovOps mission where they run into Josh and his new girlfriend, DeeDee. Cammie freezes up, Zach kisses her, Cammie enjoys it, and Cammie gets mad at herself for losing her cool in the field. In other news, it's revealed that Nick didn't know that Macey is a spy and that they had met last summer at a pool party at his father's vacation home. And, oh yeah, he just happens to be Senator Winters' oldest son.

Wow that was long. On with the story!

Chapter 18: Loving son, Nick Winters

"I can't believe your parents don't notice a silver Porsche backing out of their garage. You might need to get a new security guard," Macey didn't respond, concentrating on quickly climbing through my open window. "You've done this before," She closed it quietly and raised her eyebrow at me. That seemed to be her trademark.

"Like you haven't?" I chuckled, offering her a beer that she took. "Nah, Emmett is fine. He knows that I sneak out, but he doesn't tell. I think it's his little way of getting back at my dad for his shitty dental plan. Besides, I don't think my dad notices when his daughter is gone, nevermind her car. Well, he doesn't notice and doesn't care as long as my face isn't pasted on tabloid covers. What about you?"

"My dad doesn't trust me enough to leave me alone. I just found out he had bribed two of my "best friends" and three of my teachers to keep an eye on me at my last school," Macey whistled.

"Unfortunately, they didn't manage to stop me from spray painting those cars. Although it's hard to do anything from the inside of a locked janitor's closet,"

Macey snorted silently, a very un-America's princess sound that made me grin. "What'd you write?"

"Uh…" I couldn't exactly tell her that I had written 'Senator Samuel Winters is a fucking douchebag. Sincerely, his loving son, Nick Winters' because she still thought I was just Preston's friend from school.

"What? Scared of damaging my innocence or something?" I scoffed. She seemed like she was just as "innocent" as I was. "Then what is it? It couldn't have been too embarrassing or else you wouldn't have sprayed it on a freaking car," I simply told her that I had written some "unkind statements" about my father. "I bet daddy Winters wasn't too happy about that," she calmly responded. "What? It's clear as day," she said, "Your facial structure almost the same as your father's and you have the same eyes, I could tell the moment I saw you. Secondly, I've known Senator Winters for a while and he's not the type to house a delinquent teenager. Actually, he wouldn't have let Preston associate with you in the first place," she calmly pointed out. I was still in shock but I was grateful I wouldn't figure out a way to drop the bombshell.

All I managed to say was, "Delinquent?"

"From me, that's a compliment," I didn't doubt it.

"I have to say, that was pretty impressive, Mr. Holmes,"

She examined her nails, "I think I'm more of an Irene Adler," I gulped at the images that evoked.

"Enough with that tangent. Will you tell me what you wrote now?" I did and she grinned. "I can't believe you fit that onto a single car."

"Did I say car? I meant cars. As in a whole row of them," There was that strangely adorable laugh again. Macey would probably kill me if she knew I described her as "adorable."

"How'd he react?"

"You assume he already knows," Macey gave me an appreciative glance and raised her bottle. We sat in comfortable silence, sipping on my dad's beer.

"We're shitty kids aren't we?" Macey quietly said. She sounded guilty.

"We wouldn't be if we didn't have shitty parents," Macey just shrugged and I thought about the differences between our situations. We both had the public eye turned towards us and the weight of our parents' expectations thrust on our shoulders, but Macey's parents actually seemed like decent, albeit a bit neglectful, people.

"Your dad must be happy about how Preston turned out,"

"Well I'm not. He's actually more concerning than I am. I'm reckless, but I always know what I'm doing. All those times I was caught with drugs and alcohol were on purpose. When I get in trouble, I just do it to ruin my father's reputation. Preston is completely controlled by my father. He would probably jump off a bridge if it made my father happy," A shadow crossed over Macey's face, "And he's so naïve and trusting, which is, as you know, dangerous for people in our position. He still thinks my father is a good person, for god's sake,"

"Why don't you tell him the truth?" I took another big gulp of beer. This conversation was getting unexpectedly personal. For some reason, I'd told Macey McHenry more in ten minutes than I've ever told anyone else in my life.

"Preston's life is centered around my father. It would break his heart. I will tell him, just, when he's older,"

Macey looked unconvinced, but just said, "You guys seem really close. I wish I had a sibling to talk about these things with. Someone to protect me or to be irrationally protective of,"

In that moment, looking at Macey's wistful face, I decided I was going to be that person.

AN: Thanks to everyone that read, reviewed, and/or added me to their alerts/favorites.

And thanks to Sunniva Steiner and Kelsey, my two guest reviewers that I was not able to reply to.

Team Zammie: Thanks for your input. I don't really like reusing old ideas and scenes from the book, but I thought they were necessary for the setup of my story. I definitely have some original plot points coming up so that's something to look forward to.

I have lost my writing lead, which means I don't have a finished chapter yet. I'll try my best to finish the next chapter in a week. As always, please review!

Love,

Anh