(A/N: Hey all! This story has been on my mind for a while, so I thought I would just put it online for you. I really hope you like it. Take care and please review. Love, Ellivia22)

Disclaimer: If I owned Suite Life, I would be on vacation right now instead of working :)

Reconciliation

By: Ellivia22

Zack

We may be twins, but we are NOT brothers!

I shut the door of my cabin behind me, then collapse on my bed. My chest is so tight I can barley breathe. I didn't know that losing my brother, the person who shares my DNA, would hurt so much. Now Cody doesn't want anything to do with me, and it's all my fault.

It is completely my fault. No matter how many time I try to deny it, I know it's true. I knew better than to mess around with equipment I have never seen before, but I so badly wanted to impress Nellie. I didn't mean to wreck the sea wall, and I certainly didn't mean to ruin Cody's internship. A few tears fall down my face. Cody has every right to hate me. When it comes to being his brother, his twin, I always mess something up. I so badly wanted to make up for my mistake, so I tried to do what I could to make things right.

I walked around the Aquarium, looking for Dr. Spaulding. I forced Cody's hurtful words back as I looked for the scientist. I was determined to make things right with Cody. I spotted Dr. Spaulding over by some plant with orange fruit hanging by the branches. I hurried over to him. "Dr. Spaulding."

The young scientist looked up from the plant he was studying. A scowl appeared on his face. "How did you get in here? You and your brother are banned from this center permanently."

"Just hear me out," I begged quickly. "Before you throw me out!"

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say. I want you out of the building immediately."

"Don't punish Cody for my mistake!" I cried out desperately. I slumped in an adjacent chair, burying my head in my hands. I was half surprised that I hadn't been escorted out of the premises yet. "Dr. Spaulding, all my life I've tried to be a good brother to Cody, a brother he deserves. But no matter what happens I always screw up." I looked up again to face the scientist, not caring if I was showing my wet face. "I just want to make it up to him so that maybe, just maybe, he won't hate me so much."

To my surprise, the hatred and anger slowly left Dr. Spaulding's face. I continued, hoping it would make a difference. "Cody is the smartest person I know and would do great work here. I'll do anything, even give you all my paycheck, to fix the damages. Please give Cody another chance."

The ice melted from the doctor's eyes. His face took on an expression of thoughtfulness. "I have already found someone to take his place for this internship. However, I think I know of another internship that he can do if he's still willing."

` For the first time all day, I smiled. Cody will get his scholarship to Yale after all. Together Dr. Spaulding and I walked to the S.S. Tipton to find my brother. I hoped with all my being that this would get Cody to forgive me.

I wipe my face, which is wet once more. Cody refused the internship because I would have to do it with him. I care so much about him, but he really can't stand me. I bury my head in my pillow, desperate for the pain to go away.

Cody

The walk down the hallway of the boys;' cabin seem to take forever. The last thing I wanted to do was visit my brother, much less talk to him. Unfortunately I had no choice. This was my only chance to get a scholarship to Yale. For Zack's sake, I hope he doesn't screw this internship too, otherwise I'll kill him.

Don't get me wrong, I love my older brother, more than anything and nothing will change that. But what he did back at the Aquarium made me realize that he doesn't love me in return. All he cares about is women and making my life miserable. I'm determined to make it clear that even if he does agree to participate with me in the Gemini Project that it doesn't change anything between us.

Preparing myself, I knock on the door of my twin's cabin.

*knock knock*

"Who is it?" Zack calls from the other side of the door.

"It's me," I answer back.

"I have nothing to say to you!"

"Too bad. We have to talk."

Without waiting for a response I open the door and enter Zack's cabin. My twin is lying on his bed an auto magazine in his hands. He doesn't greet me and keeps his eyes focused on the magazine. I stand in front of his bed, my arms crossed.

"Look, I know you don't want to do this internship with me any more than I want to do it with you. And I know you don't care about what matters to me, but I'll make you a deal. If you do this internship with me, I'll give you the car." Not wanting to be in the room any longer than I had to be, I turn to leave.

"And if I refuse?"

I stop dead in my tracks. Zack's voice is a tone I've never heard before: extreme hurt. The sound twists my insides, but I stay where I am. It's hard to stay angry when he's upset. I force myself to act normal. "Why would you refuse? You're getting the car out of the deal."

"Because it would hurt too much," Zack says more to himself than to me.

I turn back around to actually look at my brother for the first time since our most recent fight. It looks like there are faint tearstains on his face. Am I really seeing this? "What do you mean?"

"Forget it. I'll do the internship with you. Just get the hell out!"

The furious part of me wants to stalk out of the room and begin my Zack-free existence. However as I continue to look at my twin's face and the emptiness in his blue eyes, the more concerned I feel. Plus, for some reason my feet to refuse to move. "Doing this isn't going to hurt you, Zack." My tone is still chilly. "But it's so like you to think that doing anything school related would hurt."

"That's not what I meant. But it's so like you to assume that."

"Okay then what did you mean?"

Zack sighs wearily as he puts down his magazine. "It doesn't matter, Cody. You've made it clear that you don't want anything to do with me anymore. So I'll help you with the internship then take the car and be as far away from you as you want me to be."

The pain in Zack's voice is almost too much for me to bear. The last bit of my anger ebbs away temporarily. I must've really hurt him back at the aquarium. I admit I'm still very,very angry at him for what he did. But maybe I took it a little too far. For the sake of the internship and my future, Zack and I need to have a temporary reconciliation.

"Zack, I might have gone a little far earlier at the aquarium. But you have to understand what you did. Because of you there is a slim chance that I'll get into Yale. And you know how important that is to me. I lashed out because it hurt so much that you would go to such great lengths to ruin my chance. I felt like you didn't care about me anymore."

Zack stands up and wipes his face briefly. "I do care about you, Cody. Very much. That's why I tracked down Dr. Spaulding and begged him to give you another chance."

His words catch me by surprise. By the look on my twin's face, he's not lying. "Really?"

"Yes. I told him that it was all my fault and to not punish you for my mistake. I told him how brilliant you are and how you deserve this internship." Zack takes a couple steps towards me. "I also used my paychecks to pay for the damages."

I stare at my twin in awe. I can't believe that he did that for me. It feels good to know that Zack cares enough about me to try to make things right. I'm not as angry as I was before, but I'm not ready to trust him again. "If we do this internship together, will you promise not to mess it up?"

"Do I still get the car?"

I sigh. "Yes."

"I promise."

I turn to leave when Zack's voice stops me once more. "Do you still hate me?"

"No. But I still haven't forgiven you yet."

As I leave the room, I realize that slowly, I'm starting to.

The End

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