This chapter is dedicated to LeahNicole143 for being one of my dedicated readers for a very long time. I love the pet name you made up for Cody and Santana. Cantana forever! Thank you very much, hun :')

SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MY MIND: If I have a song on the side, it's meant for you guys to listen to. Play it while you're reading, pretty please!

*~*~*~*~*

"Santana, can you pass the cereal box?" Cody asked, an amount of annoyance evident in his tone.

I poured milk onto my cereal. "Why don't you come and get it?"

"Because I'd have to stand up from my comfortable position." He nonchalantly replied.

I rolled my eyes at his response. "God blessed you with two legs, use them."

"And he also blessed you with a brain," Alli added, "use that too."

Cody looked offended. "You're supposed to be on my side!" He whined.

Alli snickered. "I'll be on your side when you man up to your mistakes and stop taking your anger out on Santana."

A dead silence fell over the room. I dropped my spoon and watched as it collided against the material of the plate. I began fumbling with my hands nervously, unsure of what to say. What could I say?

"I'll be in my room if you need me." Was all Cody said before excusing himself and trudging up the stairs.

I let out a long breath, burrying my head into my arm. Cody was the one who was at fault at this situation. I was only trying to be a good friend, and he couldn't accept that.

I knew I shouldn't have felt guilty, but could somebody tell that to my panging heart?

"Uh oh," Alli mumbled, immediately rushing to my side. "I know that face. You feel guilty, don't you?"

I shook my head from the position I was in. It was a good thing she couldn't have seen my face, otherwise she would have seen threw my lies. "I'm okay."

Alli rubbed my arm comfortingly. "Even though I think the idea of this is completely gross, try to look past the fact of you loving him. That's the only thing you're thinking of, even though he did you wrong. It isn't fair to you, and I know you know that."

I did know that. I just tried to push it aside. I looked up and met her eyes, sending her a real smile for the first time this week ever since the incident. "You're right," I said, nodding my head in agreement.

Alli sent a cocky grin in my direction. "When aren't I?"

I playfully rolled my eyes and kicked her under the table. "All of the time." I replied.

She gasped and pretended to look offended. "I'm gonna go cry now," she murmured threw fake tears, turning around and heading toward the stairs.

I stared at the iPhone perched on the kitchen table. "How are you gonna be able to call Christian in your room without your cellphone?" I smirked, waving her phone around in my hand.

Alli's eyes widened as she took the phone from my hand. "What makes you think that?" She muttered.

"Like you can tell when I'm guilty, I can tell when you're happy. I see the way your face lights up when you answer one of his phone calls or see him person." I thoughtfully replied.

"You can?" She asked, smiling a little bit. "What does it look like?"

"It looks like the one I have when ever I'm around your brother."

- - -

"I think I'm in Heaven." Tom cried, scanning the variety of food in front of him.

"Relax, Tom." Alli assured him. "It's only pizza."

I took a bite out of my pizza. "If this is what Heaven feels like, then I think I'll become a Saint."

Alli smirked. "That means you'll have to stop dropping the F-bomb whenever Bella comes around."

I frowned at her name and dropped the slice of pizza onto it's place. It was good, but not that good. "Never mind, then." I muttered, stepping away.

Alli picked up the slice of pizza and smiled. "I knew that would make you stop eating. All of this is for our guests," Alli said, motioning toward the dining room table which was full with a variety of food. She threw out my plate and hopped onto a counter.

I took a seat beside Tom. "What time are all of those people coming anyway?"

"In fifteen minutes," Alli replied. "They're coming to discuss the rest of Cody's new album."

I nodded. "Sounds cool."

Alli shrugged. "I guess so. Hey, can you watch Tom for me while I go get ready?"

This girl really wasn't smart. She was already in her dress and flats. I raised my eyebrow. "No, but I could watch him while you go and talk to Christian on the phone."

Alli blushed and ran up the stairs. "You're the best!" She called out over her shoulder.

"Phew, I thought she'd never leave." Tom said in relief.

I smirked. "I know, your sister can be a handful at times."

Tom cringed his nose, a habit he'd picked up from Cody. I couldn't tell who did it cuter. "No, I mean I'm glad she left us alone, toots." He grinned, stepping toward me.

Flirting was another thing he'd picked up from Cody.

"What do you mean?" I pressed on further, trying to stop myself from smiling.

"What do you think I mean? It's only the two of us in here. Now, plant one on me babe." He said, puckering his lips and closing his eyes. I bent down onto my knees as if I were going to kiss him. When he least expected it, I moved my face in exchange for an apple.

Tom moved away in disgust. "An apple, really?"

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," I sang, giggling in response.

Tom's eyes widened in amusement. "Are you for real? This is better than Transformers!" He practically yelled, grabbing the apple from my hand and sprinting up the stairs. I followed closely behind him, careful with my step.

"Slow down, Tom!" I cried out behind him. I stopped at the foot of the hallway, panting. I had just been out-run by a first grader. Shaking my head and walking toward his room, I heard the familiar sound of someone strumming on a guitar.

I whipped my head around and saw that the door to Cody's room wasn't completely closed. I tip-toed toward it and stuck my head out, only to see him playing the guitar with his back turned. I didn't recognize the lyrics and continued to listen as he played.

When I see you walk by,

With that other guy,

I hide my tears and I let my guitar cry,

i just wanna shout,

Gotta let it all out,

She played my heart strings like a guitar cry,

This is for everyone's who heart is brea-- Cody was rudely interrupted by the sound of people clapping. I quickly stepped aside as a group of people who I recognized as his team stepped into the room.

"Bravo, Cody!" A random man applauded. "Why haven't you ever shown us this song before?"

"I dunno," Cody admitted. I watched from the corner of the door as Scooter rested against the window.

"When did you write this, Cody?" Scooter asked.

"I wrote this song about a year ago and found it on a crumbled piece of paper in my drawer." Cody replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"This is some good stuff, man. You should add this to your upcoming album." Scooter said.

Cody smiled slightly. "You think so? I don't know, it's kind of personal."

Scooter nodded. "I know so. I understand what you mean, but just think about it, alright?"

I stumbled out of the hallway and down the stairs where a bunch of people were awaiting. What did Cody mean by personal? Everything was going good for him. Bella was the only girl he'd dating in the last two years. The only one who was in a relationship was me, with my jerk of a boyfriend, Liam.

Wait a minute. Could Cody have written that song about me? There was a possibility and it all made sense. Why am I thinking this? Remember, Santana, you're only his best friend and basically thought of as a little sister.

My thoughts were interrupted by my face coming into contact with the wall beside me. I groaned in frustration as I fell backward. Cody was already by my side, holding my head and muttering things under his breath.

I slapped his hand away from me as I stood up. "You totally did that on purpose, Simpson." I half-yelled.

Cody looked shocked. "I wouldn't intentionally hurt you!"

"Liar," I muttered, rolling away from him. "If you wouldn't intentionally hurt me, then why aren't you talking to me?"

Cody only sighed and shook his head. "I--I, just, nevermind. Are you okay?" He asked, hesitantly reaching over to touch my face.

I narrowed my eyes at him and moved away. "I just high-fived a wall. Do you think I look okay?" I snapped.

"I'm only trying to be nice."

"Yeah, well, don't be."

"You must have high-fived the floor this morning too when you fell out of the wrong side of the bed," Cody muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter?"

I stood up onto my feet as Cody did the same. "I could give you a stuttering problem, Simpson." I threatened, taking a step toward him.

"Oh, really? I'd like to see you try."

I began charging toward him until he moved out of the way. I quickly became confused. Which way was left? Which way was right? I stumbled in my steps, the collision with the wall coming into effect. I was about to fall backward when a familiar pair of arms wrapped around my waist.

"If you're gonna hurt me, you're gonna have to be a little more careful than that." Cody chuckled.

I felt like screaming, laughing and crying all at once. The situation itself was pretty funny, but I wasn't in the mood to laugh. "Shut up, Simpson," was all I managed to say.

"What in the world is going on in here?!" Mrs. Simpson cried.

- - -

I awoke to the sound of somebody giggling. I recognized the setting as Alli's bedroom. I looked around and saw that I was lying in her bed with the same clothes as last night. Or earlier today. I turned my head toward the window. It was still dark outside.

Yep, earlier today.

"Awe, Christian, stop it." Alli gushed. "No, you're cuter."

"Haha, no, you're cuter."

"Hehe, okay, fine. I'm cuter."

I groaned. Not because of my pounding headache, but because of Alli's annoying sweet talk. She quickly whipped her head around and muttered a quick goodbye for dropping her phone onto the bed. "Someone's awake."

I nodded slowly. "What happened?" I asked, trying to climb off of her bed. Alli only stopped me and pushed me back onto the bed.

"You're not going anywhere," she ordered, taking an ice pack in her hand and placing it on my forehead.

"You tripped on one of Tom's race cars and fell head first into the kitchen wall. You accused Cody of pushing you, you guys got into an argument, you fell somehow and he ended up catching you. Then, my mom came downstairs and went ballistic on Cody. You fell asleep and he carried you upstairs into my bed. Yadda, yadda, yadda, the end." Alli vaguely explained.

There was a faint knock on the door before Cody slid inside. "Is she awake yet?" He softly asked.

I looked up and met his eyes that were full of concern. When he looked back at me, a wave of relief went through him. He quickly covered up his emotions with a dull expression, but I was too smart for him. I knew him better than that.

"I'm fine," I mumbled. "Thanks for bringing me up here."

Cody scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "You don't have to thank me, I wanted to."

"If Santa wasn't mad at you, she would have probably said 'awe.' So I'm just gonna skip to that part and kick you out of my room." Alli rudely said. "Goodbye."

Before Cody could make his way out, Mrs. Simpson stormed into the room and motioned for him to sit on the bed.

Cody sat down beside me as I positioned myself differently.

"A lot of things have been going on lately." Mrs. Simpson explained. "Because of that, your father and I have decided to take a short vacation and visit The Simpson Family Beach House."

"Cool." Cody smiled. "It's what our family needs, a break from all of this mayhem."

"Nice." Alli agreed, grinning.

"Are you excited too, Santana?" Mrs. Simpson asked me, a gentle smile on her face.

"Huh?" I replied in confusion.

"You're coming too, of course." Mrs. Simpson replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Cody raised his eyebrow. "I thought this was a family vacation, mum."

"Santana is part of our family." Mrs. Simpson argued.

Cody let everything process before letting out a humorless chuckle. "Oh, I understand what you mean by that, mum." Cody said. "She's coming as our family dog," he added in a baby voice.

"Keep acting the way you are and I'll show you how good I am at being a female dog." I beamed.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Ooh! Do NOT get on Santana's bad side. Somebody should have warned Cody. . .

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback I've been getting! Comment and vote for a chapter to be uploaded much sooner! xD

Stay amazing everybody.

HCHC, (remember that?)

CodySimpsonsAngel