Chapter 8: When the Bough Breaks

Zack walked in silence behind Mr. Tipton as he led him off to a far corner of the house. He guessed that Mr. Tipton didn't want to wake the whole house with his yelling. Zack had never been as nervous as he was now. Finally they arrived in a study and Mr. Tipton switched on a small lamp on a desk. With only a lamp to light the room it had a shadowy ominous feel to it. Mr. Tipton then took a seat and motioned for Zack to do the same. Zack sat in a chair and tried not to let his fear show through.

"Would you like to explain what you were doing with my daughter?" Mr. Tipton asked.

"Nothing happened sir, I promise. We fell asleep on the couch, but that's it," Zack said.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the two of you go to your own rooms? Why weren't you sleeping there?" Mr. Tipton asked with increasing impatience.

"London wanted to see me, she needed to talk," Zack replied.

"It didn't look to me like you were talking," Mr. Tipton said as he leaned closer to Zack.

"She's been going through a lot and I've done my best to comfort her over the last few days. Yes, we did get a little cozier than we should have, but I promise I did not do anything bad to her," Zack said as his heart beat a mile a minute.

"Were the two of you kissing?" Mr. Tipton asked.

"Yes, we did kiss," Zack said and he could already tell this was not going to end well.

"So you snuck out of your room in the middle of the night to make out with my daughter?" Mr. Tipton asked, sounding a little angrier.

"I snuck out to talk with her, the kissing sort of just happened," Zack replied. "Sir, I have total respect for London. I would never do anything to hurt her. I know how hard she's taken her mother's death and I wanted to help her deal with that," Zack said and Mr. Tipton then reached into the desk.

Zack's heart almost stopped as he was unsure what Mr. Tipton was getting from the desk. When he closed the desk drawer he sat up with a piece of paper in his hand.

"I don't doubt that you care about my daughter Zack. In fact over the course of the day I've noticed that you seem to be the only thing that makes her happy right now. The problem is over the years you've proven to be reckless, immature, and almost impossible to control. Here in my hand I hold a list of things you have destroyed or damaged in both my hotel and ship!" Mr. Tipton yelled.

"Mr. Tipton I am sorry about all of that, but…," Zack started to say, but Tipton cut him off.

"Why should I let you date my daughter? She already has a hard enough time focusing on her school work without a miscreant like you distracting her!" Tipton said and this time he was even louder than before.

"Sir I've seen her improve a lot in school over the last year. I've even helped her on school projects before. She's done just fine with me there so far," Zack said.

"The problem is now that you are dating her she won't be able to focus. London is so easily swayed and frankly you've taken advantage of her at an opportune time for yourself!" Tipton yelled and slammed his fist against the desk.

"Now that's not true! I did my best to keep being there as just a friend. I let her choose the pace and she chose to make a move," Zack yelled.

Tipton looked furious at Zack's outburst. Zack figured that he was used to getting his way and wasn't about to back down from a child.

"I have observed you over the course of the day and every chance you got you have put the moves on my daughter. I saw you holding her hand in the den and I saw you trying to kiss her in her room!" Tipton yelled.

"So you were the one in the hallway? I knew someone was out there! You were spying on her?" Zack said a little quieter this time.

"That's my right!" Tipton said defensively.

"She reached out for my hand and we both went for that kiss. I haven't made her do anything she didn't want to do," Zack said.

"I have heard enough of this. I am her Father and I say that you will never be allowed to see her again!" Tipton said and Zack felt like someone had ripped out his gut.

"What!? Why? After all she's been through why would you do that to her?" Zack asked.

"It is for the best! I am pulling her out of Seven Seas High and putting her into a private school," Tipton started to say.

"What!?" Zack yelled.

Tipton looked angry at Zack for yelling over him, but he continued.

"Since you were generous enough to look after her the last few days I will allow you and your brother to stay at Seven Seas High, but if you step one more foot out of line you will both be gone! Oh and if you feel like making any attempts to see her again don't forget that I hold your Mother's job in the palm of my hand. I have been nice enough to let your Mother live at the hotel as long as she's worked for me, but I can take that all away!" Tipton said with almost a grin.

Zack fought back the urge to scream and yell, but he figured things were bad enough as they were.

"Also you will be leaving tonight and will be sent back to the ship. Your friends and family can leave tomorrow as planned, but I want you out of my sight tonight. I will explain everything to your mother tomorrow," Tipton said and stood up to see Zack out.

Zack wanted to say something, but he had already threatened his mother's job. Mr. Tipton seemed determined to keep them apart.

"This isn't right," Zack said.

Mr. Tipton turned around and looked at Zack before saying, "Would you like me to expel both you and your brother and fire your mother? If not then get on that plane tonight and go back to school!"

Zack literally shook with rage, but he held it back and stormed out of the room.

"Hold it! Don't even think of returning to that den. One of my butlers will bring you your bag, so I want you to head straight for the limo waiting out front," Mr. Tipton said.

Zack had no choice, if he stayed then he would be costing his brother and mother so much, but the whole situation was unfair in Zack's eyes. He gave in and headed for the limo where he sat and waited for his bag. Harold the butler came outside and handed it to him, but Zack stopped him from walking away.

"Harold could you give London a message for me? I don't want Mr. Tipton to find out about it though," Zack said.

"Your secret is safe with me young man," Harold said.

"Tell her that I'm sorry for all of this and that I will find away to see her again somehow," Zack said quietly to him.

"I will tell her," Harold said and then he patted Zack on the arm.

The door was shut and the limo driver started to drive as Zack watched the mansion closely. He kept his eyes on the house until he could see it no more and as they drove off the tears started to flow. Zack buried his face in his hands and just let it all out. He continued on this way until they reached the airport. The limo took him all the way to the private jet, which was parked near the jet ways. Zack slowly climbed onboard and took a seat. Within minutes they were on their way back to the ship. The plane ride took a few hours and Zack tried to sleep, but he found it impossible to do with all that was on his mind. Finally they landed in some place that Zack never bothered to get the name of and he was escorted to the dock where the S.S. Tipton was located. It was around mid morning when Zack arrived and he went straight to his cabin without saying hi to anyone.

Zack stayed in his cabin all day until around evening time there as a knock on his door.

"Who is it?" Zack called out.

"It's Cody," Cody said from the other side.

Zack contemplated whether or not he wanted to talk to him, but then he realized he might have news.

"Come in Cody," Zack said.

When the door opened Zack was shocked to find that Bailey, Woody, Maddie, Moseby, Esteban, and his Mom were there as well.

"Gee thanks for telling me you had guests," Zack said, but honestly he was nervous as to what they had to say to him.

Carey stood at the foot of Zack's bed and looked at the floor while trying to think of what to say. She looked serious, but not necessarily angry.

"Zack…first off I don't condone the fact that you snuck out of your room in the middle of the night to see London, but with that said…I'm not angry with you. In fact none of us are. Mr. Tipton tried to give us the same speech about how he held our jobs in his hands and frankly we told him to stick it," Carey said and Zack was absolutely floored.

"Wait…did you lose your jobs?" Zack asked all of them.

"Honey I was going to resign anyway. Turns out during my tour of the Tipton Hotels a record producer saw my act…I've been signed to a deal," Carey said with a smile.

"Mom that's great!" Zack said, but then he turned to Moseby and Esteban. "What about you guys, you didn't have to quit your jobs for London and me."

"Zack I couldn't bring myself to work for Mr. Tipton if this is how he will treat his employees, and his family," Moseby said.

"Neither could I," Esteban said as well.

"But what about Cody and me? Are we expelled?" Zack asked.

"We don't know yet, but if he tries we will fight it," Moseby said.

"And London, what about her?" Zack asked anxiously.

"Zack, as much as we would have liked to help her, she's still Mr. Tipton's daughter. If he wants to pull her out of school we really can't stop him," Carey said with a look of sadness.

Zack's heart sank, with all the good news he had hoped that London would have been able to return.

"Thank you, everyone, you didn't have to do this," Zack said.

"Yes we did, it was the right thing to do," Esteban said.

Zack spent the rest of the day with all of them, trying to decide what to do next. Moseby had confidence that he could find a new job no problem, while Esteban was hopeful, but not as confident. Cody, Bailey, Maddie, and Woody did their best to cheer Zack up, but it was no use. As it got late, Zack decided to turn in for the night.

"Thanks everyone, for trying to cheer me up, but I think I'm going to call it a night," Zack said and headed for his cabin.

Zack barely got any sleep that night and when he did he had nightmares of London calling out to him, but he couldn't find her. Finally, once the sun was up and he was sure he wouldn't get any more sleep, he dragged himself out of bed and cleaned up before heading to breakfast. He arrived on deck to find all of his family and friends sitting around talking. Once they spotted him they quickly hushed up, which made Zack a little suspicious.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing, we were just worried about you that's all," Carey said.

Zack gave them all a funny look before heading over to the breakfast cart. After piling his plate full he glanced around and was surprised to find that they were still near land.

"I thought we were heading out today," he said, but no one seemed to hear him.

Zack figured there must have been something wrong with the ship, so he sat down to eat and didn't give it another thought. Just as he was about to take a bite someone behind him spoke.

"Look! What is that?" a woman asked.

"It looks like a helicopter," a man answered.

Zack nearly choked on his food as he turned around and looked to the sky. Sure enough a helicopter was approaching the ship. Zack quickly ran over to a man who was using binoculars to bird watch and grabbed them away from him, nearly strangling him with the strap.

"Sorry, I need this real quick," Zack said and took them off of him.

Zack looked through the binoculars and felt a rush of emotion as he saw the Tipton symbol on the side. He wasn't sure if the helicopter held Mr. Tipton, London, or both, but either way he had to find out. He quickly returned the binoculars to the man he took them from with a hurried apology. Zack then took off running up the stairs towards the landing pad at full speed. By the time he reached the top he was out of breath, but he didn't care. He stayed at a safe distance as the helicopter landed and he waited for the door to open while his heart nearly beat out of his chest. The doors did not open right away, which was driving Zack crazy, but once the propellers stopped the door opened. At first Zack couldn't see who was inside, but then a person stepped out.

"London!" Zack yelled as he rushed to greet her.

London stood there on the landing pad with tears in her eyes and a smile as Zack made his way over to her. He scooped her up into his arms and planted a kiss on her lips. The two of them kissed for a good minute or so while the people below them cheered loudly. Finally he put her down and took a good look at her, but their arms remained wrapped around each other.

"I don't understand, your Dad said we could never see each other again," Zack said.

"What did I tell you before? I have him wrapped around my pinky," London said with a smile. "Once he realized his best employees were quitting he began to understand. Then I told him that I was going to finish school and it was going to be at Seven Seas High whether he liked it or not. I also told him that you were the best thing that's ever happened to me and if he valued my happiness he wouldn't try to prevent us from seeing each other. He finally gave in once he realized how serious I was."

Zack was amazed with London; he couldn't stop smiling even if he tried.

"Daddy is giving everyone their jobs back. He realized that he reacted harshly and I heard he's even going to make an appearance to apologize in person. That's something he never does," London said with a laugh.

"You are amazing," Zack said.

"I know…it's a gift I have," she said with a smirk.

Zack pulled close and whispered in her ear, "I thought I almost lost you."

"You'll never lose me. You were there for me when the wind blew and the bough broke and I fell," she whispered back.

"I told you I will be there to catch you," Zack said.

"And I tried to tell you before…you've already caught me," she whispered and then pulled him into a kiss.

Another round of applause erupted from the deck below. Mr. Mosey could even be seen crying and trying to wipe the tears with a pocket hanky. Zack and London continued to kiss as the ship pulled into port, but to the two of them in that moment nothing else in the world existed but them.

The end.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed it. I know it was a bit of a tear jerker, but I hadn't really done one yet so it was new to me. I know I threw those updates out their pretty quickly, but I was posting them as I wrote them. Thanks for reading and be sure to read my other works.