Chapter 23

I woke the next morning, still in Cody's arms. But someone was in the middle of us. Lilly. She had hold of my hand and had her face hidden in Cody's chest. I smiled to myslef and slowly got up making sure not to wake them. I got my phone off my chest of draws and took a picture of the two of them.

Cody had now wrapped his arms around her instead of me, it was even more adorable. I picked out a pair of denim shorts and a shirt to wear along with some underwear and quietly walked into my bathroom. I locked the door and turned on the shower.

I washed my body and hair and then got out of the shower, I dried my body and hair and then got dressed. I walked out of the bathroom to find only Lilly in my bed. I shrugged and applied my makeup and purfumes. I tied my bangs back and left the rest of my hair to fall naturally.

"Oh yeah Codes, you still need to talk to me before you leave." I heard Trey's voice as I walked down the stairs. "Yeah.. Um, I'll do that just before I leave." "Why not now?" "Um, I-" "Morning!" I chimed as I walked into the kitchen.

I smiled at Cody as I made myself some food. "Did you sleep okay?" Trey asked, I nodded. "Did you?" "Yeah, I'm going to go change." "I'll be up before I go." Cody said as Trey left the room. I turned to look at him.

"You can't tell him!" I half shouted, Cody rolled his eyes. "I have to tell him, you might now understand and that's fine but I'm going to tell him whether you like it or not." "No." I put my hands on my hips.

"I'm going to change and then I'll talk to Trey, my car is still on the drive so I'll leave after that." "Nooo." I pulled him back by his arm. Cody kept walking. "Please?!" I begged. "Lauren, stop." He pushed me off him.

I stumbled backwards and then caught my balance. I pouted at him and gave him puppy-dog eyes. "It's not working Miss Miller." He dismissed and walked up the stairs. "Hey look it's my little princess!" I heard Cody say.

I ran up the stairs and tackled my little sister with a hug. I swept her off her feet and span her around in circles while holding her tightly. "Lauren!" Lilly squieled and held onto my shirt tightly. "I missed you!" "I missed you too, Lill."

I helped Lilly get dressed for the day and then we went downstairs. "Has Cody come downstairs?" I asked my dad as I sat on the couch next to him. "No, why?" "I just wondered." "I think he's talking with Trey." I nodded.

"I'm going up there." I said and walked up to Trey's room. I hesitantly knocked on the door, Trey answered it. "What?" He asked. He stood with the door only open far enough for me to see him. I looked around the door but he pulled it so I couldn't see in.

"Is Cody in here?" I asked. "Why?" "Is he?" "Why?" Trey repeated. I knew he knew something because he was acting weird. "Is he in here?" I asked, Trey looked over his shoulder and then back to me.

"He'll see you in a minute." He smiled and closed the door, I sighed. I was too worried about him, I slid down the wall and sat on the floor. I sat oppisite the door. I heard talking, I couldn't make out what they were saying but I knew they sounded mad.

After a few minutes the door opened, Cody was stood there. He looked down at me and rolled his eyes. "Well?" I asked. "Well what are you doing on the floor?" He asked as if I had done something really stupid.

"I was worried." I explained as I stood up, Cody laughed a little and then walked downstairs. I followed him, he walked to the front door and then started to load his car with his cases. "Cody?" I asked as I watched him.

"What?" He spat, I looked shocked. "Why are you being like this?" I questioned. "I'll see you later." He said and got into the car, I walked up to the car and got into the passengers seat. "What are you doing? Get out!" He said harshly.

"Why are you being such a jerk?!" "Just go inside, Lauren." "No." "Don't start." "Don't make me." "Lauren!" He raised his voice, there was anger to it. "Cody!" He sighed and threw his keys in front of him.

I watched as he got out and walked round to my door, he opened the door and lifted me out. "Put me down!" I struggled as he carried me. "I am." He put me back in the doorway. "Stay here." He told me and walked away.

"You expect me to act as if this is normal?!" I shouted after him. "Goodbye Lauren." He said bluntly and got into his car. I closed the front door and walked to Trey's room. I walked straight in and over to his bed.

"What the hell did you say to him? That was not the Cody I know, what have you done? You're going to undo it." I ranted. "You can't see him anymore." Trey said calmly. "What?!" I raised my voice. "You heard me." "What? And he just listened to you? That's it? Done. Over?"

"Looks like it." Trey didn't even make eye contact with me. "Excuse me?!" I put my hands on my hips. "You wanna know why he walked away so easy?" "Why?" "He got what he wanted. You gave him a challenge and he won, he got what he wanted and then left you."

"You made him leave." "Why do you think he wanted to tell me? So he didn't look like the bad guy. Are you really that dumb, Lon? I thought you were smarter than that." "I can't believe you!" I stormed out of his room and went to my room.

I picked up my phone and dialed Cody's number, it went straight to answer phone. And again, and again, and again. I threw my phone across the room. "What's wrong honey?" I heard my mom's voice, I turned to look at her.

"Oh sweetie! Why are you crying?" She hugged me, my tears started to fall even more. "Why don't you ask your son!" I shouted and pushed her away. "Where are you going?" She asked as I walked out of the room.

I knew she was following me as I put my shoes on. "Lauren, tell me where you're going!" "No. I don't want to be found." I walked out the front door and slammed it behind me. I let my tears fall freely walked along the sidewalk.

I went to my favorite beach and sat on the sand. Hours went by and it was dark now, still I wasn't going home. I didn't have my phone on me so no one could contact me or anything. I noticed I was alone on the beach.

No one could be seen, I got up and walked closer to the ocean. I took off my shoes and left them by the dry sand as I played in the shallow water. I saw a figure, a person. They were walking towards me, I couldn't make out who it was as they had their hood up and it was dark.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I realised who it was. "I could ask you the same question, it's nearly eleven o'clock." Cody said. I shrugged and turned around. "We need to go home." "No, you need to leave." I didn't turn to look at him.

"We need to go home and we need to talk." He corrected me. "You made it pretty clear what you want." "I want you." "Why did you leave then?" "Lauren, don't do this. Not here." His voice got softer.

"I'm done." I said and walked away. "No, no, no." Cody ran after me and stood infront of me. "You're not done, please." He begged. "You got what you wanted, congratulations." I sarcastically clapped. Cody pushed my hands down.

"If I had what I wanted, you wouldn't have your makeup down your face." He wiped my cheek soflty with his thumb. "Trey told me, he said you only wanted to tell him about us so that he would say we can't see eachother and you wouldn't look like the bad guy for leaving me."

"Are you crazy?" Cody asked, I looked away from him. "I had to walk away this morning but I wasn't walking away from you. No! I was just annoyed. He didn't say we can't see each other at all." "He didn't?" "No. He said other things but you don't need to worry about it." He pulled me into him.

I let him hug me but I didn't hug back. "I love you, forever and always." Cody reminded as he flipped over my necklace so you could see the writing. I looked down, he lifted my chin. I felt his nose brush against mine.

I moved my lips closer to his. "Do you promise?" I questioned. "Of course." Cody whispered against my lips. "Prove it." I did the same. "I will." He pressed his lips onto mine and pulled my body into his. I held onto his hoodie tightly and he held my waist.

I pulled away but kept my face close to his. "Are you cold?" Cody asked, I shook my head. "Let's get you home anyway." "No." I refused. "Come on, everyone's at home and they want to see you." "I don't want to see Trey." "Let's go."

Cody turned and started walking up the beach, I grabbed my shoes and followed after him. "How did you know where to find me?" "I was looking for an hour and then it clicked." "An hour?!" I asked in misbelief.

"Yeah, everyone's worried about you and I wanted to find you." "Oh." I said quietly as I got into the passengers seat of the car. "It's going to be fine, trust me." He rested his hand on my leg. I looked at him, I watched him as he drove.

We pulled up on the drive, I didn't get out of the car. Cody walked around the front of the car and opened my door. "Come on. " He unbuckled my belt and I got out. I walked in the front door behind Cody and followed him through the house.

"This is your house, why are you so scared?" He asked as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out the back door. "I found her." Cody spoke up, everyone looked at me. "Where was she?" My mom asked as she came over and hugged me. "It's not important." He shrugged.

After an hour I decided to go and get ready for bed. Once I was ready I went and stood on my balcony. The view of the ocean was the best. "You're not coming back down?" I heard Cody's voice behind me.

"No." I didn't turn around. I felt his arms wrap around my stomach and his chin rested on my shoulder. "I'm proud of you." He said. "Why?" "You're a lot stronger than you think you are." I smiled. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I asked as I looked at the beach.

"Second best view in California." "What's the first?" I questioned. "Just some girl I know." He kissed my cheek, I felt myself blush. Cody span me around and kissed me passionatly. He lifted me up, I wrapped my legs around his waist as he walked back into my room.

He kicked the doors closed and walked to the bed. Cody dropped me on the bed and fell with me, niether of us broke the kiss. "Shouldn't you go back downstairs?" "I'd rather stay up here with you and do this."

"Trey will come looking for you." "He's going to have to get in here first." Cody got up and locked my bedroom door. "He'll get mad." I warned. "I couldn't care less." He got back on the bed with me and continued to kiss me.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea with everyone here." I pulled away. "They're ouside." "It's late, they'll be leaving soon and you'll be going with them." "We'll then shut up and let's get on with it." Cody smirked.