Chapter One

a/n Starts off as an angst/hurt/comfort story...will keep that theme but there will be eventual twincest (of both the romantic and sexy natures), so if you don't like that don't read :).

This story is rated M for a reason!...there will be some violence (mostly near the start) , plus bad language and gay twincest throughout.

I am honestly not sure where I want to go with this story after the first few chapters, but please review and tell me if I should continue :).

1

Zack Martin rolled over and swatted at his alarm clock as it began to blare, flashing 7:00am.
Not bothering to open his eyes he smacked out at the table by his bed, knocking a half-eaten slice of pepperoni pizza from last night onto the floor.
Groaning, he opened his eyes, squinted at the alarm clock and hit the "snooze" button before lying back in bed with his eyes open.
Man, I hate school days, he thought, staring at the ceiling and wishing he could stay in bed for another couple of hours.

Looking over, he saw his twin lying in bed across the room, fast asleep.
Weird, he thought. Cody usually got up at least an hour before him to prepare for school and double-check his homework.
Maybe he's sick?
"Hey, Cody!" he shouted and threw his pillow at his brother.
Cody twitched and mumbled something inaudible in his sleep, but didn't open his eyes.

"Don't make me get out of bed!" he groaned. "You know I don't like to get up until ten minutes before the school bus gets here; just enough time for chocolate chip pancakes."

Rolling his eyes, he threw the covers back off his body, revealing his red PJ's (identical in all but colour to his brothers blue ones) and climbed out of the bed, making his way over to his twin.
He had to step carefully over his own half of the room as there were video games, dirty clothes, and half-eaten snacks scattered all over the floor. Cody's half of the room was, of course, compulsively neat and tidy.

He stood by Cody's bed and leaned over, shaking him gently.
"Hey Cody...you OK?" he asked.
"Mmm...fine, Zack"
"Time to get up for school, okay? Moms gonna be pissed if we don't get dressed soon." he told him, feeling weird as he said it. It was like their roles had temporarily reversed.

Cody sat up in bed, and Zack brushed his hair out of his face, placing the palm of his hand on his brothers forehead.
"You're not sick, are you?"
"No...I'm okay, Zack."

Zack looked at his brother, knowing something was wrong...but also knowing that Cody obviously didn't want to tell him.
"Well, okay then." He replied. "I'm gonna go take a shower now."

He walked off to their bathroom, half expecting Cody to make a joke about his usual poor hygiene; but heard nothing.
Looking back he saw Cody sitting up in bed, looking down into his lap, a forlorn look on his face.
He suddenly felt like crying and wished he could hug him and tell him it was okay, but he didn't want Cody to get weirded out by the out-of-character sensitivity.
Zack liked to pretend not to, but deep down he really did care about his brother.

Taking his pyjamas off, he turned the shower on, waiting a few seconds for the water to heat up, before stepping under the spray, relaxing as the hot water soaked into his muscles.

He began to lather shampoo into his hair and as steam began to fill the small bathroom, his thoughts once again turned to his brother.
Cody had not been himself for a few weeks now. He seemed a lot more withdrawn than usual and seemed to have even lost interest in school and homework.
He wished he could help but what could he do when Cody wouldn't talk to him?

2

Cody sat in his bed, thinking, while Zack went into the boy' bathroom for his shower.

I really want to tell Zack about it...but how can I? It's embarrassing and I don't know what to say.
He worried Zack would just think he was a wimp.
He thought about going to school that day and felt sick.
Maybe I should just say I'm ill, he thought, but knew that he could not do it. He had never been able to lie well to anyone. Plus, he knew Zack could tell from a mile off if he was being even slightly dishonest.
He really did want to tell Zack – he was the one person that Cody always felt comfortable talking to. And he knew he could tell him anything.
He just wasn't sure he wanted to tell him this.

I should get up, get dressed, he thought. Or I really am going to be late for school.
School.
His stomach tied into a knot and he felt nauseous.
Maybe today would be okay.
It's doesn't happen every day, anyway...just...almost every day.

The door to the adjoining bathroom swung open and out walked Zack - followed by a cloud of steam from the hot shower - wearing Cody's bathrobe. Most likely his own was dirty or he just couldn't be bothered to look for it and grabbed the first one he saw.

He saw his brother looking at him and said: "Oh, hey, you don't mind me borrowing this, do you, Codes?"

Blushing – Why does it always make me blush when he calls me that? – he shook his head, no.

"Zack..." he started
"Mm?" Zack replied, not really paying attention as he looked around the room for a clean (or at least clean to his standards) shirt and some jeans.
Tell him!
"I..."
Just tell him! Spit it out!
"I..."
Stop it, you sound like an idiot!
Okay, just tell him...
"You what, Cody?" his brother asked, turning around to face him, semi-clean jeans in hand.
"I...hope you studied for the math test today" he finished lamely, mentally kicking himself for wussing out at the last minute.

3

"Zack...I...I..." Cody mumbled to him from across the room as he pulled apart bits of mess on the bedroom floor, looking for the jeans he had worn the day before.
He turned around, impatiently.
"You what, Cody?"
He saw his brothers face twitch a little with tension, and then relax and he muttered: "...Hope you studied for the math test today".
"Helloo, that's what the five minute breaks in between classes are for!" he said, rolling his eyes at his brothers' nerdiness.

Pulling on the jeans, he walked over to his brothers bed and sat down next to him.
"Is that all that's been bothering you?" he asked. "That stupid test?".
Cody looked down at his hands, and didn't answer.
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" he told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Cody raised his head and looked at him and Zack saw that his brother had tears in his eyes.
"What is it, Codes?" He asked, now genuinely concerned. He saw Cody's cheeks turn slightly pink and tried to ignore how cute it was.
He squeezed his smoulder gently, and saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a small smile.
"I want to help you."
"I'll be okay, Zack" he said, blinking away the tears before they fell from his eyes. "Really, I'll be fine".
"But you know that I'll do whatever I can to help...and I would never judge you, no matter what."
Cody smiled.
Zack smiled in return.
"That's much better." He said.
"Come on". He ruffled Cody's hair with one hand and gently pulled him out of bed. "You don't wanna be late for your precious test" he said, sticking his tongue out playfully.

4

Cody stuck his tongue out at Zack, feeling a little better.
He always makes me feel better, he thought, smiling as he watched his brother walk into the main part of the suite to say good morning to their mom and eat breakfast.

Alone in the room, he dressed quickly, inwardly cringing that there was no time for a shower that morning .
As soon as I get home from school, he promised himself.

He dressed slowly enough so that he would miss breakfast – he couldn't eat before school, he was too nervous – and walked through to the living room just as Zack was getting up from the breakfast table to leave.
He looked at the clock above the counter in the kitchen and saw that the bus left in 5 minutes.
Surprised that it was so late, he hurried over to the door, shouting a quick good morning and goodbye at Carrie before following Zack out of the suite, shutting the door behind him.

As he made his way up the hallway towards the elevator, he felt Zack place a hand on his back and stopped walking, glancing over his shoulder at his brother questioningly.
"You sure you don't want to talk before we go?" he asked.
He nodded and was surprised to feel Zack wrap him in a hug from behind.
"You know I love you, right, Cody?" he said softly into Cody's ear, his head resting on the smallers boy's shoulder.
"Of-of course I do, Zack." He said. "I love you, too".

Then, as though the unusually affectionate act had never occurred, Zack trotted past him and yelled "Hurry up then!", smiling.

As they rode down to the lobby together in the elevator, Cody felt the old anxiety return again and wondered how he could tell his brother that he was being bullied.