May I Have Your Attention, Please?

By: Rhuben

Summary-There was only one time in his life when Zack Martin didn't want all of the attention. [Post Suite Life on Deck] [Zack/OC friendship]

"Looking good, Martin."

Zack Martin pulled his sweatshirt hood farther down his forehead as he hurried through the streets of New York City. Were they all staring at him? Were the cute girls he passed whispering about him? Normally, he wouldn't be worrying so much, but in a city filled with people, it felt like all eyes were on him.

The strange thing was, he used to enjoy it. He liked being the center of attention. All the jokes, his laid back attitude, the way he flirted all encompassed getting something good said about him. His bad grades and lack of responsibilities could only be used to bring him down so often. There had to be something good that people would remember him by.

Oh boy, would they remember him now that he gave them a reason for it.

Ugh, this is all Cody's fault. Zack crossed his arms tightly over his chest as he came to a crosswalk. He pressed his thumb into the button to signal a crosswalk signal change and adjusted his backpack on his shoulders. Tapping his foot, he watched the traffic go by, wondering just how far it had spread by now. Curse them living in the social media age; things like this spread like wildfire. He tapped his foot impatiently, staring at the red hand in signal across the street. Come on, change!

Change. Normally Cody was so adverse to it. What made him want to do something so drastic now? "I just want a little change," he had explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "That's all. We're in college now; a time to find ourselves."

People were certainly finding him now; a quick look through their social media feeds, or text inboxes would have them learning more about Zack then he ever wanted out there.

And it was all because he wasn't the center of attention. Cody always had it for his good grades, his responsibility, his smarts, and even for keeping Zack in line. But, he had grown up over the years. His school year at sea helped him grow up, and learn some responsibility. He had a job on the boat and he had his first steady girlfriend—whom he loved and was still together with. His pranking days had become few and far between, but he still loved to have fun.

College certainly was a new experience as was living in New York with his brother to attend New York University. He had never thought of leaving Boston, but this was a great experience. While he went to pursue a degree in video game design—and his mom complained about all the hours he spent gaming—Cody decided to study archaeology to feed his hunger for knowledge and discovery. Plus, after their time spent on the S.S. Tipton, it was a good profession for Cody to take to cure his itch for travel and for Zack, he was inspired by the places they visited and planned on how to use their landscapes in his games.

"Finally!" The red hand turned into a white figure signaling the group of people to cross the street. Grasping his backpack straps tightly in his hands. He started at a walk before finding himself jogging across the street and running all the way back to his apartment building. "Thank god."

Taking in deep breaths of the air conditioned building, he removed his hood before hurrying into the elevator. Only did he relax when he pressed the rounded button for his floor and the elevator doors slid shut with a ding. Crossing his arms over his chest, he slumped in the corner, the handrail barely holding him up. As the elevator lifted him up floor after floor, he banged the back of his head against the wall, planning out what he would do next.

He didn't have class again until Tuesday so he could hide out the whole weekend. Maybe by then, people would forget about the whole thing. "Shit," he said aloud, "but Riles would want to go out."

His heart started racing as it always did whenever he thought of his girlfriend. Man, did he love her. Just knowing that she was in the city after her routine trip back home to Australia made everything feel so much better. He couldn't wait to take her in his arms and just focus on them—all the while she would laugh at him and call him names. It's funny how he grew to love that about her; she was one of the very, very few people he could go toe to toe with.

"Think, Zack, think," he willed himself as the doors opened. He reached into the mesh pocket of his backpack and retrieved his keys as he made his way down the carpeted hall. He unlocked his apartment door and hurried inside, slamming the door shut behind him before throwing his backpack onto the floor. "Salvation." Kicking off his shoes and adding it to the pile of his belongings—he hadn't fully learned how to pick up after himself—he made his way through the apartment.

After living on NYU's campus for the first two years of studies, Zack and Cody had agreed to live off campus. It was a bit of a spike in expenses, but the money they had received for disbanding the Gemini Project, as well as participating in a couple twins studies, helped them fund the somewhat lavish living space. It wasn't the Tipton Hotel, but the wall of windows in the living room overlooking the streets below, the view of the city horizon, and the daily sunsets made it worth it. He did miss the Tipton's "clubhouse" space on the roof, though.

"Hey, Zany. How ya going?"

Zack followed the accented voice into the kitchen where Cody's Australian girlfriend, Rhuben Jackson, sat on the island with her legs crossed, balancing her computer on her lap. A bowl of popcorn sat beside her and Zack made a beeline for it, grabbing a handful and shoving it into his mouth before kissing her on the cheek in greeting.

He was dating Rhuben's older twin sister, Riley, and had been for a while. With her black hair, piercing blue eyes, and accent, he wasn't surprised to find himself attracted to her the second he had met her. Ok, so maybe that was the case with all the pretty girls, but there was always something special about her. It took a bit of time for the two of them to get together.

While Zack had always been open with his feelings (well, maybe it was just a crush at first) to Riley, she was always a bit distant. There were times where it seemed like they were on the same page in regards to how they felt, and then the next minute, it wasn't just the right time. Maybe he had a girlfriend before getting together with her, but she was always the one who occupied his mind.

"What's up, Belly?" he asked as she used her shoulder to brush away the butter residue he left on her cheek.

"I'm editing your and Cody's pictures," Rhuben explained, making a face at his nickname for her. She used her hand to brush her purple streaked black hair away from her blue eyes.

"The ones you took for our Linksys profiles?" Zack asked. He made a mental note to log into his account to check and see if anyone had contact him for a job or had questions about his resume.

"Yeah, and there are some I reckon your mum and dad would want sent to them." She angled the computer towards him so he could see.

Peering over her shoulder, he was met with his and Cody's smiling faces in Central Park. They were laying on their backs, top to toe, their heads side by side. Zack's eyes were closed as he laughed in contrast to Cody's green/blue eyes looking directly into the camera. Of course, with his girlfriend behind the lens, Zack wasn't surprised by it.

At least there were some good pictures of him out there. He didn't even want to think about how his parents would react if they found out.

"You've gotten really good," Zack complimented, shaking his hair out of his face. "Mom and dad will love them."

"Thanks," Rhuben said, smiling up at Zack. "Riles went out to lunch with Cody and Max, by the way. I stayed to get this done." She rested her arm on Zack's shoulder and winked. "I was able to convince Cody to bring back some pizza."

"You know me too well," Zack said with a smile of thanks, tossing a kernel into his mouth. "I would've been back earlier but the teacher came to class late so he went over the usual time since the room is free after ours."

"No worries," Rhuben replied, waving her hand in the air. "By the way, is this shirt yours or Cody's?" She reached up to tug the collar of the button down shirt she was wearing.

Zack wrinkled his nose as he looked the shirt over. "Cody's," he replied before smirking. Rhuben rolled her eyes and Zack laughed. "Wearing his clothes? You must've had a nice night last night, huh?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," she replied, giving him the finger. She then gave him a sweet smile. "And you still haven't answered my question."

Rats. He was hoping she would forget. Zack let out a long sigh. "Fiiiiiiiine," he replied.

"That good, huh?"

"Please tell me you didn't see those pictures," Zack begged, clasping his fingers together. He dropped his arms, tilting his head back in a groan when Rhuben suddenly became busy with what she was doing on her computer. "Not you, too."

"If it makes you feel any better, I already, kind of, knew about them," Rhuben said, closing the lid to her computer. She set it down on the island and jumped down to the floor. With their height differences suddenly in his face, Zack tilted his head down to look at her. "Kind of."

Suddenly feeling hot under the collar, Zack felt his jaw drop just slightly. "Huh?" he asked. "How?"

"I…may have seen them on Riles's phone?" Rhuben said as more of a question, twisting her fingers in front of her as she moved to sit down at the kitchen table. "I was borrowing her phone to finish an app game for her and I just saw them."

Zack buried his face in his hands before joining her at the apartment table. "I don't know what happened," he said, running his fingers through his dark hair. "They were supposed to be for Riley and Riley only. It was private and personal."

And stupid. He wouldn't have even thought about sending naked pictures of himself if it wasn't for Cody. So the guy goes and dyes his hair black and gets a lot of compliments, big deal. Only, it was a big deal. People raved about it, it was all they could talk about. Sure, it made it easier for people to tell the two of them apart—not that it wasn't hard given that they were in different classes pursuing different degrees. But he was always "the hot one." He was always the more popular one.

He was…worried. In a way. He knew Riley and Cody were close friends and nothing more. She had always chosen him to be with and he was so glad she did. He couldn't stop himself from wondering if it was something he should have done, though. Her excited comment to Cody about his look ("you look so hot" accompanied by Rhuben's single exclamation of "Fit!") as she walked a circle around him had put some doubt in Zack. At an age where he wanted to be different from his brother, which now people were really seeing, he was worried he wasn't doing enough.

Somehow he got it in his mind to send those pictures. His fingers had twitched to put his phone into airplane mode to stop the pictures from sending as soon as he ended the text, but even he wasn't fast enough. In the seconds it took for the three dots to appear on his phone as she formed a response, he felt like his body was shutting down.

And then he got her response: WOW! 3 What did I do to deserve you? ;) Love you.

Relieved, he quickly typed back his response (I love you, too) and went about his day—which now entailed sending flirty messages back and forth with his girlfriend. He didn't ask, nor expect her to send any pictures back. With her upbringing, he knew it wouldn't

"Do you know how they leaked?" Rhuben asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Or who could've leaked it?

Zack shook his head back and forth. "I have no idea," he mumbled. He slumped down in his seat, his chin resting on his chest. He put a hand to face, finding it hot. "I don't think I even want to know." He pounded his fist onto the kitchen table. "This wouldn't have happened if Cody didn't dye his hair."

"Oh, yeah, 'cause your brother can actually dictate what you do," Rhuben said, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Next you're going to blame me because I told him I thought it'd look good on him."

"So, it's your fault," Zack said, pointing an accusatory finger in her face.

Rhuben batted her hand away. "Yeah, that was my big, master plan," she replied, her upper lip curling slightly. "You know, I've always thought Jughead from those Archie comics is so cute that I wanted him to resemble that." She scoffed. "Please!"

Zack shrugged his shoulders, dropping his hand into his lap. "It could happen," he muttered.

"Well, mate, you worked hard to get your body into the shape it's in now," Rhuben said with a shrug, "you should be proud."

Zack lowered his hand and stared at her. "Why are both you and Riles so…nonchalant about this?" he asked.

"I'm not! I can see that it really embarrasses you." Rhuben pulled her knee to her chest, her kneecap poking out of the deliberate hole in her black jeans. "It's just that, I'm more open about talking about sex. It's part of my culture."

Zack lifted an eyebrow, sitting up in his seat. "Ok," he said, giving her an intense look. Rhuben took up his silent challenge, lifting her eyebrows. "If I asked you any question about you and Cody—"

"Within reason," Rhuben said, interrupting him.

"You would answer?" he finished as if she hadn't interrupted him. She nodded her head. "Ok. Let me think." He made a show of tapping his chin with his finger, letting the comment hang in the air. "Hmm, hmm, hmmmm. What should I ask?"

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you, Zany?" she asked.

"Yep." Zack popped the 'p' as he smiled. "Do you two have like a, uh, code for when you want to go and do it?" He put a hand to his chest. "You know, just so I know what to look out for when you visit."

"Ha!" Rhuben suddenly looked embarrassed despite holding his gaze. "Nothing verbal. It's just the way he kisses this spot between my neck and ear." She tilted her head slightly indicating with her index finger the area where her neck connected with the very end of her jaw bone right below her ear.

"I never would have thought you'd like that," Zack said, sitting forward in shock and excitement at the admission. "Riles sometimes doesn't even like it when I whisper in her ear because she hates it when—"

"Your breath gets in her ear," Rhuben finished with him, nodding her head. "Mmmhmm. I know what she means." She then waved her hand in the air. "Anyway, Zack, you should be proud of your body, yeah? You decided to take the time to get fit and work on to your health. There's nothing wrong with wanting to show it off to your girlfriend."

"I guess."

"Was Riley appreciative of them?" Rhuben asked.

"Yeah, of course," Zack replied.

"Then why does it matter what anyone else thinks?" she asked. "The only person's whose business it is is you two."

"I just don't need all the comments," Zack replied, twisting his mouth to the side. "I mean, I used to like getting that kind of attention and now—"

"You don't really want it from anyone but Riley," Rhuben said, interrupting him.

"Exactly," Zack replied with a nod of his head. That was it. He just loved getting all the attention from Riley Jackson.

There was a time he wondered if he would ever push her away because of how he had felt about the Tipton Candy Counter Girl, Maddie Fitzpatrick, but she stayed. He wondered if he would ever feel as strongly about any girl like he did about Maddie and he had found that in her. He wondered if she would ever let him get close enough to her and she did. He wondered if he would ever see that sense of love in her eyes that he knew he had whenever he looked at her and she did.

He really loved her.

"Thanks, Belly," Zack said, giving her a grateful smile. "You're the best."

"I know," Rhuben replied with a smile before she lifted her hand in a fist and he bumped it. "Anytime. No worries."

"And you're right, I should be proud of these guns," Zack said as he flexed his muscles. "Oh yeah." He kissed both of his biceps and grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, please," Rhuben said with an eye roll.

"Come on, admit it," Zack said, feeling his confidence return. "You're jealous you don't have this." He used his hand to indicate his body.

"I am perfectly content with Cody's physique," Rhuben replied.

And, as Zack found, he was happy with his as well. He got to his feet and grabbed he abandoned bowl of popcorn, shoving another handful in his mouth before sitting back down in his chair, throwing a kernel at Rhuben's head. But, that didn't mean he couldn't gorge on junk food every now and then.

"So," he said casually as he leaned back in his chair, chewing, "Jughead, huh?"

"Shut up."

"I've always been a Veronica fan."

Rhuben stared at him, slowly shaking her head. "That explains so much about you," she commented.

Zack threw popcorn at her, sticking out his tongue.

A/N: I just started re-watching the Suite Life series and got hooked all over again. I forgot how much I loved the series. Plus, I'm excited to see Cole in Riverdale when that releases in 2017. Cole looks great with black hair, doesn't he? I just had to throw in that Jughead line.