Hey guys! Sorry for my little one-week hiatus, I had some 'issues' to deal with... :/

I'm happy/sad to announce that this will be the final chapter of my baby... Thank you so much to everyone who's supported me from the beginning, and thanks to everyone who took the time to review over the course of the last four months. I really appreciate/love you all!

I'm dedicating this chapter, in its entirety, to my dear friend Austin Spencer. Thank you for everything. I really hope you get to read this, wherever you may be...

As for the previous chapter... ilovesprouse, KatrinaEagle, Rhythm Shadowlight, Long story, darkblue91, brkayace and funni neko; thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them!

And thanks to lunatari23, darkblue91 and funni neko for the alerts/favorites. :)

Okay. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but for the very last time, onto the show! Brace yourselves, people...

PS. I do not own the rights to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. But it would be totally awesome if I did! :P

A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to thank everyone who's reviewed, favorited and/or followed since my last update. You guys are all awesome!

Also, I noticed that there are a few errors here and there (like the interrobang not working, for example), so I'll be systematically fixing those as well.

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Romeo and Juliet Redux

Chapter 20 - Happiness Is But a Lifetime Away

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I woke up at 5 AM the next morning and practically jumped out of bed. I grabbed some clothes from my dresser and made my way over to the shower, turning on the warm water as soon as I got inside.

I stepped underneath the calming spray when the temperature was just right, allowing it to wash all my troubles away. The only thing that could've possibly made this moment any more perfect was if Zack were standing next to me.

I lathered up my loofah and started scrubbingaway at my body. I tried my best to steer clear of any thoughts of my brother when I reached my groin area, and surprised myself when I actually accomplished my goal.

I wrapped a towel around my waist as I stepped out into the cold air, heading over to the sink to brush my teeth. I dressed myself at record speed, and headed back to my room to blowdry my hair.

Since mom was still asleep, I decided to start packing my suitcase. I wasn't sure exactly what to pack, so I practically crammed my entire wardrobe in there. After about half an hour of struggling, I was finally done.

I wheeled my suitcase into the living room, completely oblivious to the thought that the noise might wake my still-sleeping mother.

"Cody honey... It's Saturday morning. Why are you up sp early?" I heard my mom ask, reluctantly sitting up in her sofa bed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I told her, giving her an apologetic look.

"What's with the suitcase?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm spending the weekend at Barbara's, remember?" I told her, not even realizing that I was blatantly lying to the woman who's been raising me for the last sixteen years.

"You do realize that the weekend has only two days, right?" she asked sarcastically, pointing at the enormous suitcase that was now resting against the wall.

I just gave her an awkward smile as I made my way over to the kitchen to cook some breakfast.

"Bacon and eggs?" I asked my mom, taking out the ingredients from the fridge.

"Yes, please!" she exclaimed, smiling excitedly.

After a few more minutes of laziness, she finally got up and made her way over to the bathroom. I finished setting the plates just as she stepped back out.

"So, what kind of project are you and Barbara working on?" she asked suddenly, causing me to have an internal panic attack.

I tried my best to steady my voice before answering. But just as I was about to expand my web of lies, the phone rang.

"Hello?" my mom said through the receiver of the wonderful device that just saved my life. "What? But it's my day off! Oh, alright…"

"What's wrong?" I asked her as soon as she put down the phone, an irritable look now sprawled across her face.

"My stand-in for tonight cancelled. Now I have to rehearse an entire night's performances in one afternoon!" she miffed before making her way over to the door. "Sorry about breakfast, honey. Guess I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

And with that, she was gone. I let out an enormous sigh of relief as soon as the door closed, not even realizing that I'd been holding my breath up until now. I placed my mom's plate in the microwave, and finished my own breakfast as fast as I could. I had to get out of there before mom realized she forgot something.

I stacked the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and brushed my teeth one last time before heading out the door.

When I reached the lobby a few minutes later, I saw Maddie waving at me from her usual post.

"Morning kiddo. What time's your flight?" she asked as soon as I reached her, making sure to keep her voice down.

"9:30," I told her excitedly, a huge grin plastered across my face.

She returned the smile, although it quickly turned into a look of concern. "Wait… Won't your aunt call your mom the second you show up at her doorstep?"

"That's why Barbara's coming along. She's gonna pretend to be one of Zack's friends from school and tell him to sneak out tonight."

"You guys really have this all figured out, don't you?" she said, smiling admiringly.

"Yup," I replied smugly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my cool Nebraska guy awaits…"

She stepped out from behind her workplace and gave me a warm hug. "Be careful. And tell Zack I said 'hi'…"

I gave her one last smile before making my way over to the front door. And as soon as I stepped outside, I saw Barbara waiting for me, suitcase in hand.

"Morning Juliet. Ready to be reunited with your Romeo?" she asked as soon as she saw me, a look of excitement spread across her face.

I blushed a little before finally replying. "Thanks again for doing this Barbara. It really means a lot to me."

She hugged me tightly as soon as the words left my mouth. "You're welcome. Now, let's go. We don't wanna miss our flight, do we?"

I shook my head and followed her over to the cab that was waiting in front of the hotel. We put our suitcases in the trunk and got in, asking the driver to take us to the airport.

About half an hour later, we finally arrived at our destination. I handed the driver his money, and after we got our luggage out of the trunk, we made our way inside. We headed over to the boarding area, initiating the overly-long boarding process.

We were practically just in time for the plane doors to close. We made our way over to our seats, which turned out to be business class. Barbara asked for the aisle seat, claiming that she always got airsick when she sat next to the window.

"Thanks again Barbara. I don't know how I'll ever make this up to you," I told her, finally sitting down.

"Seriously, Cody. If you thank me one more time I swear I'm having you thrown off this plane!" she said teasingly, although there was a slight hint of irritability in her voice.

I put on a half-hearted smile and sighed heavily as I lay my head back against the headrest, thoughts of my brother making their way into my mind. And a few minutes after take-off, I couldn't hold my eyes open any longer.

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"Zack…" I suddenly heard myself say, looking into my brothers mournful eyes.

"What are you doing here, Cody?" he asked me, sounding almost disdainful.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" I asked him, saddened by my brother's sudden display of apathy.

"I'm with someone else now," he told me, his eyes still glued to the ground. "Someone I actually love."

"What are you saying? You never really loved me?" I asked in total shock, tears starting to form in my eyes.

"No," he replied simply, walking away.

I just stood there in the darkness, holding a dagger against my heart.

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My eyes shot open as I felt something warm seeping down my chest.

"Cody? Are you alright?" I heard Barbara ask me, her voice filled with concern.

I looked down at my shirt, wondering why she wasn't panicking at the sight of my blood. But then I realized that it wasn't blood, it was water. Or more specifically, tears.

"You've been crying for a while now," she told me, drying my tear stained cheeks.

"I'm sorry," I told her, averting my gaze towards the window.

This had been the absolute worst dream I'd ever had. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get rid of the empty feeling it left me with. What if Zack never really did love me?

"Cody…" I heard Barbara say as I felt her grasping my hand in her own. "Everything's gonna be fine. Zack loves you. And nothing will ever change that."

"How did you…? I asked in complete disbelief.

"You talk in your sleep…" she pointed out, a slight smile appearing on her face.

But no matter how hard I tried to, I just couldn't reciprocate the gesture.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll be arriving in Omaha shortly. Please put on your seatbelts as we begin our descent," I heard the flight attendant say in her overly friendly voice.

I strapped myself in, watching as Barbara did the same. And a few minutes later, I could feel the plane starting to drop.

"Do you really think he'll be happy to see me?" I asked my friend, hoping her answer would make me feel better.

"Of course. He'll be the happiest boy in the world. Other than you, of course," she said, smiling reassuringly.

And this time, I was able to return the smile.

After we disembarked and got our luggage, we headed out of the airport towards the car that was waiting for us. Turns out Barbara had arranged for a driver to take us straight to my aunt's house.

"You really thought of everything, didn't you?" I asked her a little snidely, also adding a sincere smile to the mix.

"Of course," she replied proudly, smiling back at me.

We stopped in front of a huge building a few minutes later. I looked over at Barbara, who let out a small laugh at the confused look on my face.

"You didn't think I'd make you hide behind your aunt's mailbox, did you?" she said, still laughing.

"You are an amazing person, Ms. Brownstein," I told her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "If I wasn't madly in love with my twin brother, I'd totally marry you."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go check in. The reservation is under Martin. I'll be back with Zack a little later," she told me, shooing me out of the car.

I grabbed our bags from the trunk and started making my way over to the huge building that stood before me. It wasn't until I reached the front door that I noticed the giant T emblazoned everywhere.

'That girl truly has a sense of humour like no other…' I thought to myself before finally heading inside.

I walked over to the front desk to check in, getting our two room keys from the surprisingly friendly manager. The lobby looked almost exactly the same as the one back in Boston.

I took the elevator to the 17th floor, in search of the suites Barbara had booked for us. But when the elevator doors opened, I saw the very last person I expected to see.

"Fancy meeting you here…" she said, an evil glint shining in her doll-like eyes.

"Stefani? What the hell are you doing here?" I asked her, instinctively backing away.

But I stopped dead in my tracks when she pointed a gun at me.

"Not so fast, pretty boy…" she said as she cocked it, emphasizing the authority she now had over me. "You're not going anywhere."

"What do you want from me?" I asked her, tears suddenly building up in my eyes.

"I want you to feel the pain that I felt. I want to break your heart into a million pieces, just like you broke mine. You're finally going to pay for taking Zack away from me…"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! But it's not my fault that he chose me over you! I never forced him to do anything!" I shouted, the tears finally spilling over my eyelids.

"Shut up! It is your fault! Everything is your fault!" she shouted back, pointing the gun straight at me.

I closed my eyes, expecting the bullet to pass through me at any second. But it never came.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill you…" she told me, completely calm again. "Not yet, anyway. Now open the damn door."

I did as I was told and made my way over to room 1708, shivering as I felt the cold steel of the gun pressed firmly against my back. I used the key card to unlock the door before Stefani pushed me inside.

"Is Ryan with you?" I asked her suddenly, wondering why he hadn't made an appearance already.

"That idiot?" she asked irritably. "He outgrew his usefulness…"

"What do you mean?" I asked her, trying to swallow the lump that was forming in my throat.

But instead of answering, she just walked over to the window. She sat down on the windowsill, glancing outside every so often, but never averting her gaze from me for more than a second.

After about an hour of absolute silence passed, a sudden look of excitement spread across her face.

"Alright, they're here. Now the fun can finally begin!" she said, a demented laugh escaping her throat.

Now my heart really started to beat uncontrollably. 'What exactly was she planning…?'

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Stefani got up to unlock it, still not taking her eyes off me for an instant.

As soon as I saw my brother walk through the door, I ran up to him and threw my arms around him.

"Zack! Thank God!" I said as I squeezed him tightly, tears of joy rolling down my face.

"Cody! I've missed you so much…" I heard him say as he pulled me as close to him as was humanly possible.

"Aww, how touching," Stefani said from behind the door, causing Zack to jump at the sound of her voice.

"Codes, what the hell is she doing here?" he asked me, a look of confusion spreading across his face.

"I don't know. She was waiting for me when I got here," I told him, trying to hide the fear in my eyes. "I have no idea how she knew I'd be here."

"I told her…" I heard Barbara's voice emanating from the door.

"What? How could you?" I asked her in disbelief, unable to accept the fact that she would betray me like this. "I thought we were friends…"

"Sorry Cody, but friendship won't pay my family's medical bills. And with the crap load of money Stefani's paying me, I'll never have to worry about living in poverty ever again."

I just stood there, unable to comprehend what was happening. Everything was becoming too much to bear.

"Cody, I love you. I will always love you. Never forget that," I suddenly heard Zack say.

He brought our lips together for the first time in what felt like years, but the kiss was unlike any of the others we've shared. It was almost as though it was filled with sadness. With regret. And after he pulled away to look deeply into my eyes, everything happened too fast for me to understand.

Zack lunged himself at Stefani, trying to dislodge the gun from her hands. Someone shouted as the two of them hit the floor, wrestling for possession of the weapon. And then… It went off.

Barbara rushed out of the room, crying profusely. Stefani followed suit, mumbling something about how it wasn't supposed to end like this. Someone appeared at the door, apparently phoning for an ambulance. And Zack just continued laying there, the pool of blood beneath him growing larger by the minute

There was only one thing left for me to do now.

I pushed myself off the floor, made my way over to the kitchen, pulled out the sharpest knife I could find, and knelt beside my brother's lifeless body...

"O happy dagger!

This is thy sheath;

there rust, and let me die."