A/N: This was born out of a throwaway line that I wrote for my ongoing fic, Disappearance, which states that Zack comforted Cody when they were younger and their parents were fighting. I wanted to write a fic about that specific moment in time. :) To anyone who's reading my other fic - don't worry, I haven't given up on it! A new chapter is in the works! This is just a oneshot that was begging to be written and wouldn't quit tumbling around my brain. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Just a fan!

"The end," Carey Martin said dramatically, shutting The Little Engine that Could and placing it next to her on her perch on Zack's bed.

"Another story, Mommy?" Cody asked, sitting up in his bed eagerly. He blinked his eyes slowly and affected a pout, knowing that this was usually a surefire tactic to get their mother to do whatever they wanted.

"As adorable as that face is," Carey said with a laugh, bending down to kiss Zack on the head and tuck the blankets around him, "I'm afraid I can't read you another story, sweetie. You already heard three!"

She crossed to the other side of the room and was about to tuck Cody in when a door slammed from the front of the house. The twins glanced at each other, squealed "Daddy's home!" and raced out to greet him. Carey sighed and followed them out of the room. So much for getting the boys to bed at a reasonable hour.

"Hey, kiddos!" Kurt said boisterously, grabbing both boys at once and hugging them to him. "How are my boys doing?"

"They're going to bed," Carey said with a sigh, but she was drowned out by the twins raving about all they had done for the past few hours, since Kurt had left to play a show with his band. She could see that Kurt had a bag of something that looked an awful lot like candy, and Carey hoped that the boys wouldn't take notice.

Kurt always did this to her. He would come home at all hours of the night and want to see the boys, or blatantly contradict her rules and allow them to do the exact opposite of what she'd just told them to do. Carey didn't resent her boys – she could never resent her boys – but she sure could resent Kurt. He'd had to come home and make as much noise as possible, hadn't he, just to make sure the twins came out to see him?

"Daddy, guess what? Daddy, I drew a picture of a dinosaur!"

"Daddy, Daddy, I went outside and I found this weird bug and it looked like an ant but it wasn't, and I squished it and -"

"What's in that bag, Daddy?" Cody demanded, standing on his tiptoes and trying to peer into it. Kurt looked half ready to haul it out and give them whatever treats he'd picked up, and Carey knew that she had to intervene. It was already almost eleven o'clock, and the boys had school in the morning. If she didn't act now and they got a hold of that candy, she'd be lucky to get them into bed by 4 AM.

"Boys, you really have to go to bed," Carey said, loud enough to be heard over them. She hated doing this; she didn't want the boys to think of her as the bad guy, but someone had to make sure they went to bed at a reasonable hour and ate their vegetables and did things besides zone out in front of the television – all things her husband was guilty of not doing.

Carey could feel her blood beginning to boil, but she attempted to control herself, at least in front of the twins. "Now," she added, pointing to their bedroom. The boys groaned, but finally relented, clinging to their father for an extra moment and then running into the bedroom, ignoring her completely.

With a final glare at Kurt, Carey followed them into the bedroom and tucked them both in. "I'm sorry, boys," she apologized. "I really am. I know you're excited to tell Daddy all about your day and see what he got for you, but you can do all that tomorrow, okay? After school?"

The boys nodded begrudgingly, and finally relented and allowed her to kiss them, even though they at first pulled away. "I love you, Cody," she said, kissing Zack and tickling him on the belly. It was a game that she played, sometimes. She pretended to mix them up, which never failed to cheer them up, no matter how cranky they were at her.

It worked again. "Mommy, I'm Zack!" Zack squealed, giggling.

"I don't think so," Carey said, shaking her head. She crossed the room to Cody's side, where he was looking up at her expectantly, knowing what was coming. "This must be Zack," she teased, tickling his stomach too.

"No, Mommy, you're wrong," Cody said seriously, and Carey stifled a laugh at how sincere he was about it.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she said, giving him a kiss on the head. "Good night my angels. I love you to the moon and back."

"Good night, Mommy," the boys chorused.

Carey turned on the boys' nightlight and turned off the ceiling light in the room, knowing that another argument was about to brew between her and Kurt.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The boys had just drifted off to sleep when they were awakened by the sound of loud voices. Zack braced himself, before he realized that it was just Mommy and Daddy talking again. Sometimes they got really mad at each other and talked really loudly. When Zack concentrated, he could make out a few words.

"So immature... only think of yourself." That was Mommy. Zack didn't know what that big word meant, but Mom sounded really angry.

"Strict...don't want them to have fun." That was Daddy. Zack knew all about having fun, but he didn't know who wasn't supposed to have it.

Their voices kept getting louder and louder, even though he could hear their mommy trying to shush their daddy, and Zack plugged his ears so that he didn't have to listen anymore. He wondered if his brother was awake. He glanced over at his brother, and saw that Cody was shaking with sobs, his head pressed into his pillows.

Zack climbed out of his warm bed and padded across their bedroom. Moving aside the blanket, he climbed in next to his brother and hugged him. Zack got sad when his mommy and daddy fought, but he didn't get as upset as Cody did. It made him feel even worse when he saw his brother so sad; Zack hated seeing his brother cry. Zack couldn't voice why this was so. All he knew was that when he saw his brother hurting, it made him hurt, too.

Cody stiffened, and then relaxed when he realised it was his brother, allowing himself to be hugged. He turned to face his twin. "I want Mommy and Daddy to stop yelling at each other," he stuttered between hiccups. He wiped the tears away from his eyes.

"Me too," Zack agreed. He patted his brother's back, like their mom did to them when they were sick or sad. "Everything will be okay, Cody. They'll stop yelling soon. I promise." Zack didn't know if this was true, but he wanted to say whatever he could to make his brother feel better.

"Zack, do you think Mommy and Daddy hate each other?" Cody moaned, sniffling. He wiped his nose on his pyjama sleeve. "They're always yelling. I just want it to stop."

"They don't hate each other," he rushed to assure his brother. "Mommy and Daddy still kiss good night sometimes. Mommy still cooks Daddy breakfast, and Daddy gets Mommy flowers." These things didn't happen much anymore, but they still did occasionally, and Zack used this as reassurance of the fact that everything would be okay.

Cody nodded, seemingly comforted by Zack's words. He had all but stopped sobbing, save for a few hiccups that would not quit. Zack made to get out of Cody's bed and go back to his own.

"Don't leave!" Cody protested, grabbing Zack's shirt and tugging him back. "Please don't leave," he begged. "I'm still scared," he confessed.

"Okay, I won't," Zack agreed, settling back down. He wrapped his arm around his younger twin protectively. "I won't ever leave you. I promise."