Chapter 20

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

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

Throughout the rest of dinner, the two couple continued to discuss Bailey and Maya's trip back in time and the twins' recollections of the weekend. A lot of laughter was heard around the table as Bailey and Maya told more of their memories, and what they found cute and adorable. Both Zack and Cody were especially impressed when Bailey mentioned that she encountered the first interaction between Esteban and Francesca. And of course, Bailey had to tease Cody about being there to see the birth of his six month plan.

But Cody only shrugged and smiled. "It worked, didn't it?

Bailey nodded. "Well, yeah..." She paused. "Speaking of which, has Arwin finally asked your Mom out yet?"

Cody sighed. "Not yet. Every time he gets close, and she kisses him, he passes out...I think he's now going on the sixty-six month plan."

Bailey tried not to laugh. "Poor Arwin..."

Maya turned to Zack. "And I finally got to see you and Moseby early on. Has he always disliked you?"

Zack smiled. "Pretty much. But, I think he and I have come to a mutual understanding now. I think he's going to really miss me next year."

Cody smirked. "Maybe not. You haven't graduated yet..."

"Ha ha."

"Wouldn't be the first time..."

Bailey and Maya looked at each and nodded. "Actually, there is something else we learned we wanted to mention to you both."

Bailey continued. "It seems you both think you live in the other's shadow, and that whatever you do, it won't be enough compared to the other."

Zack laughed. "We already knew that."

Cody nodded. "Yeah, we figured that out last year..."

Bailey frowned. "Where was I when this happened?"

"Tut had confiscated London's phones, and you were helping her figure out ways to keep her hands occupied..."

Bailey nodded. "Oh yeah...I still never got her to do my Christmas cards."

Maya spoke up. "How did you two figure it out..."

Zack paused. "Oddly enough, it was Mr. Blanket. I got into a little trouble, and Tut made me go see him."

Cody smirked at him. "A little trouble? You stole a paper I wrote in fifth grade and passed it off as yours. And you got off easy. I'm the one who ended up dressed as a banana, remember?"

Both Bailey and Maya began laughing. "What?"

Cody sighed. "Long story. Short version, before I archive all of my papers, I insert a random paragraph in them to keep thieves like Zack from stealing them. This particular one had a paragraph about a fictitious fear of bananas."

Zack glared at his brother. "Well, I wouldn't have been able to if your password wasn't so easy to figure out. Who on this boat wouldn't have guessed it was 'Bailey'?"

Bailey smiled and turned to Cody. "It was?"

Cody nodded. "It was. Its different now...hopefully to one Zack will never guess in a million years..."

Zack grinned. "Sounds like a challenge!"

Eventually, dinner was over, and both couples both went their own directions. Maya and Zack were walking along the skydeck, holding hands when Maya stopped them and turned so Zack was facing her.

"So, what are you really thinking, Zack?"

Zack paused. "I don't know. It just makes me think about things."

"Like what?"

"Well, you were there to witness me deciding not to care anymore about what girls thought and you didn't say anything..."

Maya paused. "Because I couldn't. We were afraid if we did too much, we'd screw up the future..."

Zack gave a small laugh. "It didn't work..."

"What do you mean?"

"That weekend left quite the impression on me. I mean, I finally found a cool girl that I wanted to get to know better, and you disappeared on me. I looked for you, but nothing. I don't know why, but that upset me. I tried to shrug it off, but I couldn't..."

"So, what happened?"

"I found a girl who I really grew to like and she ditched me. I thought I was more right than ever to not care about what girls thought. So, I didn't..."

Maya sighed. "That wasn't my intention..."

Zack smiled. "I know that...now. But then..."

"What did you do?"

"I did just what you think I did. I became the biggest player I could be and only worried about me."

Maya frowned. "Great..."

"I did until I met this waitress on this ship. And she reminded me of someone I once knew..."

Maya had a small smile. "Anyone I know?"

Zack shook his head. "I don't think so. Her name was Melanie Johnson...She and I dated pretty much our whole junior year before she had to leave to go home."

Maya just stared at him. "Oh...I...ummm..."

Zack began laughing. "Gotcha!"

Maya looked at Zack in confusion before she realized he had been messing with her. "Zack!"

Zack grinned. "Serves you right for not telling me then that the Celtics were about to get Rondo, Allen and Garnett and win a title. Or that the Sox were going to win the World Series the next year."

Maya shook her head. "Not funny..."

"Oh come on...What I did say was half true. I was in full player mode until I met a waitress. However, her name was Maya."

Maya smiled. "Really?"

"Really. I knew the first time I saw you that you reminded me of someone. Now I know who...you reminded me of you..." He paused. "...but it wasn't you, but Mary, but was you..." Zack sighed. "I need to re-watch Back to the Future to get this time travel thing down..."

Maya laughed. "I think everything is okay now..." She paused. "So, if you were a player, what ever happened to Maddie?"

Zack shrugged. "Last time I saw her was two years ago. Cody keeps in contact with her through e-mail, and she's in college right now. And from I understand, she has a pretty steady boyfriend."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

Zack shook his head. "Why would it?"

"Well, I saw first hand you crushing on her. I heard you say yourself you couldn't wait to take her to your prom."

Zack smiled. "Babe...I was thirteen. I've grown up since then...a little."

Maya smiled. "Well, you are taller now...but still no facial hair."

Zack smirked. "Hey! I'm a blonde. You just can't see them!"

"Uh huh..."

Zack sighed. "Anyways, there is only one girl I want to go to my prom with, and she's standing right here in front of me..."

Maya smiled. "Is that an invitation?"

Zack smiled. "It sure is...but if you don't want to, I can go ask Melanie..."

Maya laughed. "No way, I accept your invitation. I'm just glad to be back here where I belong."

"Exactly where you belong..."

Maya leaned in and kissed Zack.

On another deck, Cody and Bailey were walking hand in hand as well, enjoying the beautiful night and being together. Finally, they came to a railing and they stopped there to look out over the ocean.

Bailey paused. "Cody, can I ask you something?"

Cody smiled. "Anything."

"Did you mean it when you said 'Betty' and I were the only girls ever to steal your heart?"

Cody nodded. "Of course I did. You have no idea how it makes me feel to know that you and Betty were the same person. It just proved to me what I already knew..."

"What's that?"

"You remember what Arwin told me about finding the one girl who would make feel something that I never had before?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah."

Cody smiled. "It just further proved to me that it was you."

Bailey smiled. "Well, I meant it when I told you that you would find a girl that would be so thankful that she had you and would feel the same way about you..."

Cody took her hand. "When you told me you had a boyfriend, it about destroyed me. But he sounded like a good guy..." He chuckled. "I just wish I had known you were talking about me."

"I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. We couldn't risk changing the future if we could help it."

"You did anyways...When I couldn't find you, I resorted to desperate measures. I actually would stop by London's school just hoping to get a glimpse of you and hopefully talk to you."

Bailey smiled again. "What would you have said?"

Cody paused. "To be honest, I don't know. I wanted to tell you to give me a chance, but I couldn't let myself do that."

"Why not?"

"Because you said you already had a boyfriend. I wasn't going to interfere with that. I have no respect for cheaters, and I didn't want to be that guy. My hope was that you and he would break up, and I would have a chance then. Of course, I also thought he would have to be a complete idiot to break up with you...Now I know the complete idiot was me."

Bailey sighed. "We both were. But that's in the past now. There was so much I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid I'd lose you again if I did..."

Cody smiled. "There is no chance of that happening again. You're stuck with me now. I'm just glad you didn't think the thirteen year old version of me was too bad."

"Too bad? I thought you were completely adorable."

Cody blushed. "Really?"

"Absolutely." Bailey paused. "I wish I had known your views though. It makes my idiotic thinking in Paris even more inexcusable."

Cody paused. "We both made mistakes. But I do owe you another apology for that night."

"For what?"

Cody sighed. "When I went home to Boston the summer between our sophomore and junior years, I learned something that I thought at the time didn't bother me, but I guess it did more than I thought..."

"What's that?"

"Bob confessed to me that he and Barbara hadn't just gotten together the night I left for the ship. I felt like a fool."

Bailey sighed. "I know they did..."

Cody frowned. "You did?"

Bailey nodded. "I saw them kissing in the park when you went to get lemonade. I wanted to tell you so badly, but I knew I couldn't because it would mess with the future. That's why I told you to never settle for second best."

Cody smiled at her. "I remember. And that's what helped me deal with it. I remembered that I had you, and I definitely got the best end of that deal. I still felt like a fool, but I realized I had come out so much better in the end."

Bailey smiled. "Thank you. I feel the same way about you when I think about Moose. I still don't know what I was thinking there."

Cody paused. "Unfortunately, that experience stayed in the back of mind, and when I saw you with that smarmy French guy..."

"It brought back that memory, didn't it?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, it did. I knew better, but you know the saying, once bitten, twice shy."

"To be honest, I don't even remember anything he was trying to tell me. I was just so heartbroken at the time until London made me realize how big of a mistake I had made..."

"And that memory came to the forefront, and it made me say things I would never mean..."

Bailey sighed. "What a mess that was..."

Cody nodded and smiled. "Yeah, it was, but now, we are much wiser now. We've made sure something like that will never happen again. We can put it in the past where it belongs."

Bailey smiled. "You're right...Speaking of the past and us being honest with each other, there is something I should tell you..."

"What's that?"

"You remember that dance show you were on?"

Cody sighed. "I'll never forget. Not my finest moment."

"Well, I had watched it when it happened when I was thirteen. And I remember seeing you lying there after falling off the stage, and I thought you were the cutest boy I'd ever seen..."

Cody smiled. "Really?"

Bailey nodded. "I was jealous of Max. I wanted to be the one dancing with you."

"You know your name fills my dance card now, right?"

"I know..." Bailey paused. "Speaking of which, when did you become such a good dancer?"

"Ummm...well..." Cody sighed. "I'm going to tell you another story that may sound completely out there, but after what you just experienced, it might make it more believable."

"Tell me..."

"Well, it all began with the International Dateline Dance our sophomore year. You see..." And with that, Cody went on to explain everything that had happened to him over his 87 times reliving the same day over and over again. "...and that's when I was able to stop the loop."

Bailey just looked at Cody with her eyes and mouth open wide. "Oh my gosh!"

"Kind of crazy, huh?"

Bailey paused. "Yeah..." She smiled. "But also extremely romantic. You did all of that just to tell me how you felt about me. That may be the sweetest thing I've ever heard."

Cody smiled. "I couldn't help it. I knew from the moment I met you...both times...that you were something special."

Bailey smiled. "I'm glad I went through all of this. I've learned so much."

Cody chuckled. "And as I recall, you learned some things about me that I haven't told anyone else."

Bailey nodded. "I did. And it answered some questions I had." She paused. "And some answers I got made me feel horrible."

"Like what?"

Bailey sighed. "Like finding out my resentment of Blankie was completely unwarranted."

Cody shook his head. "No, it wasn't. I should have told you the story behind it. It just brings up memories I don't like to think about."

"I understand that, but I would like to apologize to it if I may."

Cody smiled. "That's going to be a little difficult to do..."

"Why?"

"Because after we got back from Kettlecorn, I boxed it up and mailed it back to Boston."

Bailey was confused. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I used to it to comfort me when I needed it. I realized I already had something else much better at doing that."

"What?"

Cody smiled. "You. I much rather hold you than Blankie any day..."

Bailey pulled Cody into a hug. "I know what you mean..."

Cody rubbed her back. "There is nothing better in this world than holding you in my arms."

Bailey pulled back and smiled. "I can think of something better..."

"What's that?"

"This..." Bailey leaned in and kissed Cody.

Cody had a dopey look on his face. "Oh yeah...much better."

The End.

Author's Note: I don't have a Parenthood chapter done for tonight, but it will be back tomorrow. Sorry. I've been watching basketball all day.