Alone At Sea-A Suite Life On Deck Fanfiction

Part Eight- Brothers

Zack sprinted across the Sky Deck. He was able to keep Cody in his line of sight...barely. The kid was fast, Zack had to hand it to him. The boys pushed through guests and employees, causing people to turn and stare, and even getting a few haughty comments about how reckless teenagers can be. But Zack didn't care. He didn't even listen to them. He couldn't, he was moving too fast to hear them.

He had been chasing Cody for a while when the younger twin made a big mistake; he went for the ship's stairs to try to lose Zack. Cody struggled with the door for a second too long. Zack was able to easily open the door behind him. As Cody ran down the stairs, Zack caught up to him. He had been yelling at Cody to stop the whole time. Finally, he gave up on yelling. When Cody reached a landing, Zack jumped over the last three stairs and grabbed his brother's arm. Cody tried to pull away, but again, Zack was stronger. He held Cody tightly. "Stop...running...away from me!" Zack breathed. Cody tried pulling away, and pushing Zack's hand off of his arm, all to no avail. Zack wasn't letting go.

The twins wrestled for a moment, Zack struggling to keep his grip. The whole time, they yelled at each other.

"Let go!!!"

"Not until you talk to me!"

"Get away from me!"

"No!"

Cody gave one final push before giving up. Now that he wasn't squirming or running, Zack got a good look at how hard Cody was crying.

It scared him.

He'd never seen his brother this upset. Both boys panted, trying to catch their breath. Zack dared to speak.

"I don't know what's going on with you...But, you're not supposed to keep it from me. I'm your brother. Brothers tell each other stuff. We always tell each other stuff. I-I wasn't lying, earlier. You're...this, is scaring me. Please, please talk to me."

Cody said nothing.

Cautiously, Zack let go of Cody's arm. Cody stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Can you please talk to me?" Zack repeated. Cody glanced at him. "You heard everything. There's nothing more to say." He started to walk away, but Zack grabbed him again. "Stop doing that!! Stop running away from us!" He yelled. At the same time, Cody jerked his arm away from Zack with a strength Zack had never seen in his brother before. "Don't touch me!!!" Cody screamed. Zack looked at his twin. Cody's eyes were wide with fear, and he was shaking. Zack remembered Cody had looked like this in the room when he freaked out before.

"Is it happening again??" Zack asked, suddenly terrified.

"Just g-get away from me." Cody mumbled, suddenly very dizzy.

"No." Zack said. "Brothers tell each other things."

Cody looked at his twin. "Name one time you told me something like this." He said shakily. Zack hesitated.

"Exactly." Cody retorted. He turned and quickly ran down a few more flights of stairs and out a door. Zack heard the door slam shut. He leaned back against the wall and slid down, resting his arms on top of his knees.

Out of nowhere, the door swung open. Mr. Moseby jumped slightly at the sight of Zack sitting on the floor. "Oh! There you are. Where is Cody?" He asked. Zack shook his head, shrugging. "Is he alright?" Mr. Moseby asked him. Again, Zack shook his head and shrugged. Mr. Moseby stepped inside the stairwell and closed the door.

"Are you?" He asked.

Zack hesitated before slowly shaking his head a third time and looking down, letting his hair fall in front of his face.