| Alex |

"Mmm. Babe, wait until we're in the room." I mumble against Tobin's lips as we try to kiss and walk at the same time. She finally ceases and takes my hand as we walk through the halls of the hotel towards her room. Since she came here for personal reasons, without her club, she has a room to herself.

We round the corner and see Cody outside Kristie's room, on the phone.

"Okay, I'll see you in two days, when I get home. I'll text you my address. Thanks again." We hear her tell the mystery caller. I glance at Tobin to see that she's just as confused as I am.

"Who was that?" I ask Cody, startling her as she spins around, eyes wide until she sees that it's only Tobin and I, and she relaxes.

"Hey mom, Tobin." She nods at us.

"Are you okay?" I ask, ignoring her attempts at avoiding the subject. I put my hand to her forehead to feel that it's hot and she's sweating. "You're burning up."

"I'm okay" She takes a step back, away from my reach. "I take it you two had a good time?" I narrow my eyes at her, but nod anyway.

"We did. Why are you in the hallway?"

"I didn't want to wake Kristie." Cody informs me, holding her phone up for emphasis, only for Tobin to cut in.

"I knew it!" My daughter and I look at Tobin to see she's wearing a smug smirk. She takes a few steps towards Cody and dramatically sniffs her "Well, you don't smell like sex."

"Tobin!" I smack her, once again, and drag her away from my blushing daughter as my girlfriend laughs. I say goodnight to Cody over my shoulder and hear her laugh as I make my escape.

_________

| Cody |

"Morning all." I greet everyone at my mom's table for breakfast, kissing my mom as I move to sit next to Jack. Kristie having to go to a team meeting left me alone this morning, not that I mind, I get to spend a few hours with my mom before she has to go to the airport to fly home to Orlando. Everytime she leaves, it makes me wish that I was going with her.

"You okay?" Jack whispers so that only I hear her. I give her a timid smile and a small nod, only to be met with a knowing look on my best friend's face as she pats my knee.

"Did you and Mewis have a good night?" Ashlyn asks. She's sitting next to Ali and Tobin, which can only mean that news of last night spread.

"Yeah, actually." I narrow my eyes at Tobin as she wiggles her eyebrows at me. "We had food and watched a movie." I take a sip of the coffee Jack got for me as the interrogation continued.

"Not too much fun, I hope." Ash mumbles, only to be scolded by Ali.

"What movie?" Tobin asks. My hesitation in answering makes her and Ash laugh like maniacs. I can feel Alex's stare burning holes into the side of my face, but I avoid looking at her.

"Nothing happened, so shut up." I try and sound confident, only to fail miserably. It comes out more like a desperate mumble and Jack 'aww's' at me and wraps me up in a side hug which I shrug out of.

My morning with my mom continued like that until, unfortunately, she had to go home.

"I'll miss you, baby girl." My mom tells me as she pulls me into a tight hug and refuses to let go when she hears Ali tell her that she needs to get on the bus.

"I'll miss you too, mom."

"Call me the second you get home, okay?" When I don't answer immediately, she pulls away to narrow her eyes at me. Truth is I was already planning on calling her, I was just too busy smiling at her caring about me to answer her.

"I promise." She lets me go as she says goodbye to Tobin, Kelley, Hope and Jack while I say goodbye to Ali and Ash before the three climb onto the bus, heading for the airport.

"Lets go pack." Jack tells me, grabbing my arm as we head to the elevator.

Jack and I spend the next hour packing - not because we brought a lot, but because we're messy.

"I'll be back in a sec." I tell Jack, ignoring her when she asks where I'm going, and to remember that we're leaving soon and I exit the confined space, heading for Kristie's room. I knock on her door but there's no answer, I all but give up, turning around to go back to Jack when the door opens.

"Cody?" She greets, confused as she wears nothing but a towel telling me she was in the shower.

"Hey. I just wanted to see you before I left." I tell Kristie as she moved aside to let me in the room.

"I can't believe you're leaving already." She tells me as her arms wrap around my waist, pulling me flush against her body.

"Um..yeah, me too." I stutter as I remember she's only in a towel, and Kristie begins to chuckle. She removes herself from me as she grabs some clothes and heads to the bathroom, coming out moments later in a sports bra and Dash shorts, drying her hair with the towel that was wrapped around her body.

"Cody? You're staring." I hear the amusement in her voice.

"Mhmm." I pathetically nod, not tearing my eyes away from my beautiful girlfriend, wondering when I'll next see her. It's not easy but we agreed to try and make it work. "I'll miss you." I admit, finding the strength and confidence to close the distance and kiss her.

She wraps her arms around my waist, and I melt into her hold as she kisses me back deeply, humming against my lips.

"I'll miss you too." Kristie whispers in my ear, leaving a kiss on my neck as she supports me. "Call me when you land? I wanna know you get home safe."

"So cute." I grin but agree, pecking her lips again. We say our goodbye and I head back to my room to grab my suitcase and my best friend and we get to the lobby to see Hope, Kelley and Tobin already waiting for us.

"What took you two so long?" Hope asks as Kelley and Tobin turn their attention to us.

"I had to wait for the lovebirds." Jack tells the adults in a dull tone which makes me glance at her questioningly.

Nobody says anything else as we pile into a taxi and head to the airport. Hope, Jack and I say goodbye and part ways with Tobin and Kelley. I hear Jack saying thank you to Kelley, making me wonder what happened, but before I can ask they each go in different directions for flights home, as we make our way to our own gate.

During the flight home, and the drive back to the house we share, Jack wouldn't really talk. I'd ask what was wrong, if she was okay, but she would either hum, or straight up ignore me. I gave up, deciding that she's just too tired to talk since she was fine when we were packing to come home.

We don't get home until 11pm, each of us deciding to go to bed and unpack tomorrow.

The next day I wake up before Hope and Jack, the first thing I do is check my phone. I have a text from him;

"I'll see you soon." I smile at the text, but don't reply as I grab fresh clothes and begin my morning routine.

Afterwards, I make breakfast for Hope and Jack, leaving a note that it's in the microwave for whenever they wake up, and that I'll be back soon. I grab my car keys and head out to my favorite tattoo parlor.

______

The tattoo doesn't take long, it's only one word, so I head home and get there before lunch. It's quiet in the house, only sounds of chatter from the kitchen to inform me that my best friend and her mom are awake. I enter the kitchen to find both of them on FaceTime with my mom, and I halt in my quest for coffee when it hits me - I didn't call her.

"Cody!" She yells, and I see she has a frown on her face. "Well, at least I know you're alive."

I bite my tongue when she raises an eyebrow at me, instead I mutter a small 'sorry'.

"Where were you?" Jack asks me, and I glance at her. She's wearing an unreadable expression and it seriously confuses me.

"I got a tattoo."

"Another one?" Hope asks as my mom watches intently. It's become a tradition for me to get a tattoo when I'm in emotional pain, but I decided to change it up. I didn't want to look at my body art and think back to all the negative times in my life, I had to be more positive.

"Semi-colon?" Alex asks. I only nod in response. "Call me later, okay?" Again, I nod, knowing she wants to have a serious talk, one that I'm not ready for, or in the mood to have. I take a picture of my tattoo and send it to Kristie, too. She replies but before I can read it, there's a knock at the door.

"I'll get it." I ignore the odd stares I get when I jump up to answer the door, already knowing it's for me. I get there in record time and open the door, revealing the tall, well built man with a beard.

"Cody?"

"Um...hi. You must be Kyle."

A/N - Surprise!