'We're standing on a tiny ledge
Before this goes over the edge
Gonna use my heart and not my head
And try to open up your eyes
This is reletionship suicide
'Coz if you go, I go
'Coz if you go, I go..'
Talk You Down - The Script.

Chapter Sixteen - Finding Control.

Kurt nervously scratched the back of his neck as he stepped out of the hotel elevator and gazed around the lobby. It had been about an hour since he and Carey had become caught up in yet another heated argument, and a shaken feeling of immense guilt had instantly taken over the twins' father the second that he had finished speaking with London.

There wasn't a doubt in Kurt's mind that Carey did in fact understand how much pain he was in, too - he had merely lost his temper with her. Again. It had quickly become clear to Kurt that he was acting pretty impossible, as well, and he knew that while both of them were just as much at fault as each other, Carey still deserved an apology. The only problem was, upon his arrival back at the hotel lounge to do just that, Carey had been nowhere to be found.

Just as Kurt was beginning to worry that Carey may have disappeared because she was hurt by their argument, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he looked across the lobby to see his ex-wife standing on the other side of the room. Much to his amazement, she wasn't alone, either. She was standing alongside London, talking to her - and laughing.

As he began to make his way towards her, Kurt blinked a couple of times just to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, "Carey?"

Looking up at the sound of her name, Carey tilted her head in confusion at the apprehensive expression on her ex-husband's face before she said her quiet goodbyes to London and walked over to meet Kurt in the centre of the lobby.

"Are you ok?" Kurt immediately asked, causing Carey's curiosity to heighten.

"Yes, I'm doing ok now. Why do you ask?"

Kurt was silent for a second or two before laughing sheepishly, "I went up to the lounge looking for you and when I couldn't find you I thought you may have been upset about something."

Carey frowned, "Upset? No, I'm fine - you know, considering. London treated me to lunch and then we had a mani-pedi. It actually managed to take my mind off everything. For a while, anyway."

Kurt simply nodded his head. After hearing how much effort Carey had put into trying to make herself a little happier under the bleak circumstances, he only felt a million times worse for having the nerve to say that the grieving mother was acting impossible and selfish.

"So, is there anymore news? From the police, or anything?"

Snapping out of his trance, Kurt gazed at the renewed sadness in Carey's eyes and regretfully shook his head, "No. No, nothing else yet."

Nodding her head, Carey stifled a gentle sigh. The despairing tone in his ex-wife's voice caused a further wave of remorse to wash over Kurt as he, too, sighed sadly and gently grabbed onto Carey's arm.

"Look, Carey, I'm sorry about getting into another fight with you," he spoke sincerely, "I didn't realise just how much of a toll all this was going to take on you. It was really stupid, and I just hope I haven't upset you too much."

Kurt watched and waited as, for a moment or two, Carey fell to silence, contemplating everything that the twins' father had just said to her, until a small smile broke out across her lips, "Since when did you start caring?" she asked jokingly, causing Kurt to grin back at her.

"You're the mother of my children, Carey," he recommenced, just as genuinely, "You're just as important to me as our boys are."

The smile on Carey's face blew up to further extent as she tried to hide the blushing, pink colour of her cheeks and tenderly pulled Kurt into an appreciative hug. An electric shiver immediately zapped up her spine as Kurt's close presence instantly reminded her of the way her twins would hug her. Whenever they were happy, excited, or even frightened. She could never mistake the sentiment of the strong grasp that her boys would hold her in. A protective embrace like theirs was instantly recognizable.

After a few brief and contented moments of relaxing bliss, the separated couple soon broke apart, still smiling at each other with every ounce of bravery they could muster, until they were interrupted by the sound of Mr. Moesby clearing his throat.

Awkwardly taking her hand away from Kurt's waist, Carey turned to the Boston Tipton manager and grinned politely, "Sorry, Mr. Moesby," she offered lamely.

"Is there a problem?" Kurt then asked.

"Well," Moesby began, uneasily fiddling with the loop of his tie, "maybe not so much for me as there may be for you."

The edgy tone in the manager's voice instantly caused a lump of extreme worry to build up sickly in the back of Carey's throat, "What? What is it, is everything ok?"

"Yes, yes, all is fine," Moesby reassured her, holding up his hands in defence, "It's just that…"

Carey and Kurt waited anxiously as Moesby paused, scratching his head in an obvious attempt to find the correct and most appropriate words he need to complete his sentence.

Once again clearing his throat, Moesby sighed, "Bailey's mother is on her way here. And… well, she isn't exactly happy with the boyfriend of her precious daughter whose lead her so far astray…"

Bailey's breathing began to speed up in the very slightest. She nervously looked to her left where Cody was maneuvering the van from the driver's seat in what was slowly developing into quite an erratic behaviour. The second that the two had fled from the scene of the fatal accident, Cody had re-hotwired the beaten up, old van in the way that Nate had showed him, and then they were soon on their way.

The car ride so far had been completely silent, both Cody and Bailey left with nothing but their own deep, saddening thoughts to haunt their minds amongst the quiet. They were on their way back towards the market in the hopes of finding Brayden and Hog. The rain had quickly begun to subside, but the pace that Cody was driving at was really starting to gnaw apprehensively at Bailey. Not only did Cody not have a license and had never really driven properly before, but this van certainly went a bit faster than the one mile per hour that he was used to in the red, twelve volt car that their dad had brought onto the ship for he and Zack.

Sighing softly to herself, Bailey licked her lips, "Cody, slow down."

The farm-girl waited as Cody stubbornly ignored her and continued to roar along the bumpy road in the dodgy van. Swallowing back the upsetting feelings bubbling in her stomach, Bailey opened her mouth to break the silence again.

"Cody, please, you're scaring me."

Immediately, Bailey breathed a sigh of relief as she sensed the van begin to slowly decelerate. She glanced over at Cody to see that he, too, was now looking straight back at her, remorse teeming on the brink of his vision. The thought of putting his girlfriend in a position of such panic was like a knife through his heart.

"Sorry," he managed to speak softly.

Beneath her initial worry, a hint of the smallest possible smile beamed across Bailey's face at the long-awaited sound of Cody's voice, "It's ok," she reassured him, frowning, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Cody showed no physical response but simply turned back to face the road before him, "Everything's fine. I promise."

Still feeling slightly unsure, Bailey quietly nodded her head. It bothered her that Cody hadn't said anything concerning how he felt about what had happened to Nate. It felt to the farm-girl like she was witnessing her boyfriend losing Zack all over again. God only knew how long it would take before Cody would be able to open up again and escape his feelings of extreme depression – especially since there were absolutely no denying that Nate, unlike Zack, was definitely gone.

"Can you see them?"

Snapping out of her trance, Bailey glanced back to Cody at the sound of his voice, frowning again, "Who, sweetie?"

"Bray and Hog," Cody answered, "This is where we left them. Can you see them anywhere?" he repeated, gawking frantically out the window.

Facing back to her own window, Bailey allowed her eyes to scan the desolate area beyond the glass, but soon sadly let another sigh escape her lips and tentatively turned back to Cody, "Sweetie, what if Ty got to them first?"

Cody instantly felt sick at the mention of Ty's name. He sensed an immense fury boil in his stomach and tasted a foul bile in the back of his throat. The image of Nate lying motionless and cold on the damp ground sharply sprung back to his mind as Cody helplessly tried to hold back his despondent tears. He could hardly imagine what it would be like for Brayden and Hog to discover that the one person who was their guardian and friend for such a long time had met an extremely untimely demise at the hands of his own cousin, but the thought of this caused nowhere near as much pain as what the younger twin felt for his own grievances and loss for the only other person in the whole world who ever deserved the title of being his brother.

In an incisive moment of throbbing defeat, Cody swerved the van parallel to the gutter and slammed on the brakes, collapsing his head into the steering column with a great rush of warm tears, his arms crossed over the wheel in support of his head as his cries dampened the sleeve of his jacket.

Bailey gasped as she watched the heartbreaking scene unfold before her, not knowing what to say or think, "Cody…"

"I should've stopped her!" Cody yelled, the peak of his emotions finally pouring through, "All I did was just stand there and watch! I watched as Nate died right before my eyes!"

The farm-girl flinched as Cody viciously snapped his head up, his red-rimmed eyes piercing right through her, "I was right there, and I couldn't do anything! It was exactly the same as…" the younger twin sobbed as his voice began to soften, "the same as… Zack. Zack and then Nate. All of it is my fault…"

Whimpering silently to herself, Bailey heaved another breath of colossal shock and resisted reaching over and slapping more sense into her boyfriend, "Cody, no!"

Bleakly wiping away the tears that were now streaming down her face, too, Bailey unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed over the middle of the van, straddling her legs over either of Cody's as she tilted his head up to stare directly into his eyes. She delicately traced her thumb under each of his tear soaked eyes and gently pushed his hair out of his face. As her eyes prolonged the connection with his, Bailey stifled another sob at the miserable emotion that drowned Cody's dull, blue orbs. She fought back against the romantic urges she felt being in such an intimacy with her boyfriend and calmly stroked his cheek.

"Cody, none of what has happened to us is your fault," she beseeched softly, "There was nothing you possibly could have done to have stopped any of this."

Showing no visible signs of reaction to Bailey's closeness, Cody shook his head, "But – "

"No, there's no buts!" Bailey urged lightly, "Cody, please. I know how much you're hurting, but it hurts me more and more every day to have to sit back and watch you like this when you don't seem to be getting any better!"

Cody fell to a sharp silence at Bailey's upset outburst. He gently placed a hand on her knee, "I'm sorry, I didn't know… but I can't just turn off my emotions."

"I know you can't," she assured him, "But you have to try and at least put it to the back of your mind, for now, anyway. I'm devastated about Nate, too, but there will be time to grieve and get through all of that – after we get Zack back, ok?"

Sniffling to himself, Cody tried to dart his eyes away from Bailey before she cupped his face with both hands and persisted on making eye contact with him. The younger twin gazed into Bailey's orbs and felt his heart beat speed up ever so slightly. He hated that he was making her so upset when he wasn't even aware of it. He wanted to protect Bailey, not hurt her. But what he hated just as much was that he was obliviously allowing his emotions to control every single little thing that he did and said. He didn't want to be dominated like that, not when he still had so much to lose if he was proven unable to keep his feelings restrained.

Willingly allowing his vision to lock with his girlfriend's, Cody was silently thankful that he had Bailey with him for love and support, as well as the fact that he had the expectation of Zack waiting for him at the end of their journey. The younger twin then slowly nodded his head, "Ok."

Sighing in exultant relief, Bailey choked on a withheld breath, realising just how frustrated she had become with Cody's ever contrasting emotive behaviour, "You can't keep doing this to me, Cody! You can't ever lose it on me, ok? You can't. Because if you do and I can't make you feel better, then I don't if I'd ever be able to – "

"Ok, ok," Cody implored soothingly, "I won't, not ever. I promise. I'm so sorry, Bailey."

The younger twin intertwined his fingers with Bailey's and then pressed his forehead to hers, the two exchanging a soft smile.

"I love you," Cody whispered. He had absolutely no idea how sweet it would feel to speak those three simple words, just as Bailey had no idea how sweet it would feel to hear them as she hungrily brought her lips to Cody's in a chaste kiss, sending electric shivers up both their spines.

As they eventually parted, Bailey continued to gaze at Cody as she yearningly bit her bottom lip, "I love you, too."

Wrapping his arms around her torso, Cody and Bailey then fell into the tender, contented moment that they had managed to create between them even amongst all the chaos that was incessantly spiraling out of control around them. Just as Cody was beginning to believe for the first time that he and Bailey were going to be ok and find Zack, even without Nate loyally by his side, the younger twin and his Southern Belle suddenly jumped in surprise at the sound of driver's seat window shattering as a small rock landed at their feet.

The second that the glass began to crumble, Cody shielded Bailey's face and turned away himself, before he looked back and his eyes widened in shock at the image of Damon and Jase walking towards the van. Cody listened intently as Bailey's breath hitched in the back of her throat while he gawked worriedly at the two boys making their approach. The younger twin was thankful that Damon's whole group wasn't in tow, but even though there was only he and Brayden's brother, the fact still stood that Cody was all on his own.

Swallowing nervously, Cody wriggled out of Bailey's grip and reached over to the door handle, "Wait here, beautiful."

Bailey scoffed as she climbed out of Cody's lap, "No way."

As the two then jumped out of the van, Cody attempted to stand tall before the pair of thugs, but their height in comparison to his only increased as they advanced closer and closer. More than anything else, he tried to ignore the severe thumping of his heart in his chest.

"Well, isn't that a nice picture?" Damon taunted, his hands dug into the depths of his pockets, "I hope we weren't interrupting anything."

Shaking off the insult, Cody took a deep breath, "You're lucky you didn't hurt my girlfriend with that rock you threw."

"Lucky?" Jase repeated with a laugh.

"What exactly could you do, little man?" Damon went on, "From what I can see, these streets are all empty. That and you're by yourself this time. No bodyguards to protect 'ya."

Bailey took a step forward and latched onto Cody's arm, "What do you guys want? You hardly even know Cody, what problems could you possibly have with him?"

"Don't think I didn't see those parts of my car fall out of his jacket the other day," he answered instantly, "You obviously had just as much to do with it as the rest of them."

"I was helping a friend," Cody spoke through gritted teeth, pushing all thoughts of Nate from his mind as well as he could.

"Get real," Jase grunted, "My brother and the fat kid have no real friends. That dickhead Nate was just an insurance policy or something for you, wasn't he?"

Immediate concern bolted to Bailey's vision as she whipped her head up to look at Cody. The younger twin was clearly endeavoring to conceal all aspects of his emotions as he simply remained silent and expressionless.

Damon frowned almost straight away, "Where is Nate anyway? Not like him to leave one of his little buddies walking around by themselves."

"Yeah," Jase interjected, "And what about the others, Brayden and them?"

Cody raised a mocking eyebrow, "What, concerned are you?"

"Ooh, smart prick," Jase exclaimed, he and Damon both laughing at Cody's bravery. Bailey, on the other hand, could feel her body quaking in fear of both her boyfriend's sharp tongue and the prospect of what Damon and Jase were more than capable of doing to both of them.

"Well, seeing as your insurance policy isn't here help you," Damon began, walking dangerously closer to the younger twin, "I suppose I need to get mine – meaning the money for my trashed car!"

Bailey cringed and cupped her mouth in fright as Damon grabbed Cody by the arm and tried to dig into the pockets of his jacket, "So, whatcha got, a wallet? Any money at all?"

Stiffening in panic, Cody shrugged fiercely out of Damon's grip, "I'm broke, man! I've got nothing!"

Grinning slyly at Cody's obvious fear, Jase echoed Damon's cruel laughter before joining in, seizing a tight grip around Bailey's wrist, "Well, what about your little bitch, then?"

Bailey squealed softly in a sharp twinge of pain from the firm grasp locked around her as Cody's eyes exploded to the size of saucers in utter rage and anguish. Thriving off nothing but pure adrenalin, Cody abruptly jerked away from Damon and charged at Jase, shoving the larger, older boy with all of his might. Jase stumbled, just managing to stay on his feet, as he looked back to the younger twin and the fury that filled his eyes.

"Don't you dare touch my Bailey!" Cody yelled, only seconds before he spluttered from a strangling cough as Damon heaved him into the side of the gray van and held tightly onto the collar of his shirt, making it incredibly difficult for the younger twin to breathe.

"Cody!" Bailey screamed in tremendous horror.

Breathing heavily, Cody gawked nervously into the eyes of the furious thug that was still twisting brutally at the collar of his shirt.

"Little Cody isn't as big as he thinks he is," Damon sneered, "Looks like something of Nate's rubbed off onto you after all. You're just as much of a thick smart arse as he is."

As his heart dropped to his stomach for what was possibly the millionth time in what felt like an eternity, Cody's eyes narrowed in severe resentment as he violently began to squirm under Damon's clutches and whipped his head around so he was facing him. He sensed a heaving lump in the back of his throat as he held back all possible temptations of spitting right in the older boy's face, "Nate's dead!" he roared, "He's dead! Do you get that, you fucking idiot? He got hit by a car and he's dead!"

For a split second, a dull silence took over what could have quite possibly been the entire town as Cody's overwhelming announcement was given time to pass through both Damon and Jase's minds. After what was only a few seconds, however, Damon simply renewed his sick smile and shrugged his shoulders, "Oh well. That only means that no-one can stop me from beating the shit outta' you."

With Bailey's terrified shrieks drumming lifelessly in his ear, the only thing that Cody was concentrating on as his whole world slowed right down and he helplessly watched Damon's closed fist flying menacing towards him was one sole thought,

It's all worth it for you, Zack…

"Hold it!"

A rejuvenated breath brought new life into Cody as Damon immediately dropped his fist at the booming voice that erupted from behind him, while each of the teens turned around to see two police cars with three officers running straight towards them.

"Shit," Damon cursed, "Scatter, Jase, get the fuck out of here!"

As Damon and Jase took off in different directions and two of the three officers began on a foot race after them, Cody slowly slid down against the door of the van and crumbled to the ground in a shaken up, but relieved heap as Bailey collapsed tearfully in his lap, kissing him on the cheek and neck and thanking God over and over again that he was ok. The younger twin simply slinked an arm around Bailey's waist and rocked her back and forth, shushing her and trying his best to reassure her that he was ok.

"Are you alright, kid?" the police officer asked, bending down to Cody's level, "What happened here?"

Taking another deep breath, Cody opened his mouth and stuttered out a reply, "They were trying to m-mug my g-girlfriend and I. All I did was – "

"Whoa, wait a minute," the officer cut in, speaking slowly. Cody watched, confused, as the man gently tilted the younger twin's head up and looked into his face, a deep frown creasing his brow. A mere few seconds later, the dark haired police man gasped to himself in surprise, smirking, "You're Cody Martin."

Cody's heart stopped as he glanced over at Bailey in anxiousness, and then back at the officer, "What makes you say that?"

"Because I'm the one who's been looking all over L.A. for you for the last few days," he answered, helping both Cody and Bailey up, "I'm officer Matthews. Jeffrey Matthews."

His eyes expanding in apprehension, Cody quickly tried to think of something to say. Anything to stop this Officer Matthews from taking him back to the L.A. Tipton – he and Bailey had come too far for that to happen now.

"How the heck did you find us all the way out here?"

"Me and my other two officers got a distress call about a public disturbance," Matthews explained, "Do you have any idea how worried your parents have been about you, and your mother, so I hear, Bailey?"

Bailey nervously but her lip, "My mum?"

"You can't take us back there!" Cody interjected sharply, "I've got to get to Newberry! Nobody believes that my brother's alive!"

"I know, Cody," Matthews said, attempting to console him, "I know the whole story. But it's my responsibility to bring you kids home, not let you continue to wander the streets."

"But – "

"There's no telling what could happen to you out here," Matthews firmly continued, "If it's not a mugging in the street, then it's getting hit by a car, or something. That's the only reason I was out this way in the first place, you know. I got called to an emergency just a few blocks away – some poor kid got hit by a car and passed away, do you want that to be – "

"Wait, what?" Cody interrupted, "Hit by a car?"

Matthews nodded his confirmation, watching with curiosity as the expression on Cody's face went from a grave sadness to a sudden appearance of deep thought. The younger twin spun around to face Bailey, who was staring right back at him with great concern that the mention of who was presumably Nate would only upset her boyfriend all over again. Instead, however, Cody smirked as the cogs in his mind gradually began to turn.

"He was tall wasn't he?" Cody carefully asked of the officer, "Dark hair, a lightning bolt buzzed into the side of it? Sharp, green eyes?"

Matthews' brow instantly furrowed in critical suspicion as he eyed Cody questioningly, "If that were true, how would you know all that?"

"His name was Nate. Nathan Lucas. Bet you arrested the guy who hit him, right?"

Avoiding the question, Matthews glared deep into Cody's smug vision, "Are you trying to tell me that you were at the scene of the accident when it happened, Cody?"

With a conceited laugh, Cody shook his head, "I'm trying to tell you that you got the wrong guy. Pretty much, anyway. Nate didn't fall into the road, or anything like that – he was pushed."

"Pushed?" Matthews repeated, clearly alarmed, "Pushed by who?"

Releasing a breath of profound satisfaction, Cody looked over his shoulder at Bailey and gestured for her to come closer, taking her hand, "We'll tell you who it was that killed Nate when you take Bailey and I to Newberry hospital to get my brother back."

Just as staggered as Matthews was, Bailey looked on with her jaw touching the ground as Cody held in a breath and waited for the officer's response.

"This isn't a game, son."

"I know it's not – it's a deal," Cody countered, "You're not going to get the name out of me any other way unless you take us to that hospital. You can ring my parents as soon as we get there, I don't care, I just…" the younger twin abruptly trailed off as he forced himself to not let his emotions get the better of him any further, "…I just need my brother back."

After what could have surely been an eternity of contemplation, Matthews caught sight of the determination that absolutely smothered Cody's eyes. From what the twins' parents had informed him, Matthews was well aware that Cody Martin was certainly not one to back down when it came to something that he believed in, and when that particular something happened to be his twin brother – his Zack, his everything – it was rapidly becoming extremely evident that there really was utterly no point whatsoever in arguing with him.

In a final wave of hesitation, Matthews nodded towards Bailey, "Is that what your girlfriend wants, too?"

Bailey stood back, amazed at the opportunity that was seemingly only milimetres away from her and Cody's grasp, as her beautiful boyfriend gently spun around and gazed at her lovingly with his large, excited blue orbs. It made the farm-girl's heart swell with pure bliss to see true, blinding happiness beam off of Cody for the first time in what seemed like the longest of centuries.

Smiling at her with imploring expression, Cody licked his lips, "Are we going to go?"

As the farm-girl then swapped her vision between Matthews and the delighted image of her boyfriend, Bailey drew a blank, yet extremely genuine expression and ultimately declared herself to Cody, "I'll go wherever you go, Cody."

With that being all the confirmation needed, Matthews watched with the smallest possible of smiles as Cody and Bailey collected each other in an affectionate, devoted embrace before he then reluctantly opened up the back door of his squad car, "Alright then, get in."

The simplicity of the words from the officer sang beautifully in Cody's mind as his thoughts began racing at a million miles an hour,

I'm coming, Zack.

Oooooh, what's going to happen now? :)

Hey guys! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I actually had so much fun writing it, particualrly because I love writing the loving, close scenes between Cody and Bailey. There's still plenty of those to come :) As well as - which is now the official confirmation - Zack's fate will be discovered by everybody in the next chapter :O I'll tell you all right now, that next chapter is going to be a predominantly short one as well - take that how you will :)

Anyways, heaps keen to hear what you all thought of this chapter :) You all should totally feel free to leave me a review with some kind of general comment :) Till next time guys - the ultimate chapter!

Reneyyyyyyyyy x.