A/N- Hey everyone. Sorry about the slow update, I got loaded with homework and projects. I had some free time lately, so I’ve been trying to write this here and there.

Also, I’m upping the rating. There will be no porn. There will just be more mature themes, and I’d rather not get kicked off fanfiction. I’m not sure when these will come up, but most likely they will in the next few chapters. If you want to know exactly what’s going to be happening and what issues are going to be addressed, feel free to request it in a review or PM. I know some of you don’t like reading about certain things. Trust me, this will be on the low-M side.

Disclaimer: I do not own Zoey 101 or any of its characters. I do, however, own this plot and my OC’s. Please ask permission before borrowing either.

---

“Oh, how I missed this school!”

Christmas break had come and gone, but unfortunately, Charlotte’s depression hadn’t. Knowing that Keith just didn’t like her ‘that way’ slapped her across the face.

She walked, or rather dragged her feet across the pavement that led to her dorm. She carried her own luggage, knowing that other kids carrying it wouldn’t make her any less depressed. In fact, it would probably just remind her of how every guy but the one she wanted liked her.

She wondered briefly if her cousin (if she could even call her that) had gotten out of the car yet. She didn’t care though. Jacqueline was so not who she wanted to deal with.

“Hey, Char! Wait up! These bags are freaking heavy!”

Speak of the devil…

Charlotte sighed. Wouldn’t that girl EVER learn?

“I told you not to call me that!” she hissed back. Charlotte didn’t even turn around. She didn’t want to face that stupid girl at the moment. Right now, anyone who got in her way would DIE.

“Sorry,” Jacqueline pouted. She sounded hurt by Charlotte’s tone, but right now, she didn’t even notice.

“Whatever,” and Charlotte stomped off in a huff.

---

Keith was only half listening to the TV.

“…Stormy weather has been predicted for southern California. Look out for power outages…”

“Blah…” came the bored response from the blonde in the corner. He and Cam were both bored, having come back from their vacation yesterday, and having no one to chill with. Everyone came back the day before New Year’s Eve, so they could recover from their jet-lag and catch up with everyone before the legendary New Year’s party.

These parties were only half approved by PCA. They usually had approved “gatherings” for each holiday, but this one just happened to be the blowout of the year, every year. There was an unwritten rule that DA’s didn’t have to come back (or even work, if they were there) until the very last day before the end of break, so the New Year’s party would rage for hours. Everyone under the tenth grade knew enough to stay away from them. These parties could and would get dangerous.

“Now back to Natalie,” the weatherman told the dead room.

“Thanks Richard. Now, we have some very exiting news. We are proud to be the first to report that there is on surviving immediate family member to the Reese legacy.”

With that, the room jumped to life. Cam’s green eyes all but bugged out of his head, and his normally tan face went pale. Keith’s newest edition of the Rolling Stone slipped out of his grasp, and he pushed himself up on the bed to see the TV screen better.

“Yes, it is true. Media recently found out that Charlotte Reese, currently living in New York City and attending school in California, is Logan Reese’s daughter. We have not had a chance to interview her directly, but we will try our best to get connected with her soon…” the rest of the report went fuzzy in Keith’s ears, and he automatically reached for his phone.

“Dude! No fucking way they found out!” screeched the blonde. He pounded his fist to the floor in outrage, and Nick walked in the door at that very second.

“Found out what?” he questioned, his brow knitted.

“Hello? Charlotte?” Keith frantically spoke into his phone.

“They know about Charlotte, Nick.” Cam shook his head, his hair solemnly following his movement.

---

“Just what I need,” Charlotte muttered to herself as she looked at her caller I.D. on her phone. She had just but walked into the door of her room.

She flipped it open, regretting it only after she did so.

“Hello?” she spat, the anger evident in her voice.

“Hello? Charlotte?” Keith returned, rushed. She hadn’t realized how much she had actually missed him until she heard his voice. She immediately forgave him with the first word. She was putty in his hands.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?” She was instantly worried, his tone finally signaling something had gone wrong.

“I was just watching the news and… and…” he broke off, not being able to get out whatever he wanted to say. She worried about her friends, and their name been called as a victim of a freak accident? Had someone murdered Cam?

“And?”

“Well, they mentioned you being the daughter of Logan Reese…” he cut off there, knowing she would comprehend the rest.

“Oh my…” He eyes were as wide as saucers, and she nearly dropped the phone in shock. They couldn’t know. How did they know? No one that did know would tell…

“Charlotte?” His voice was faint and fuzzy in her ears. She couldn’t answer. Her life was over. “Do you want me to come over?”

His voice was clearer that time. It cut through the irritating buzzing in her mind, unclouding her thoughts, bringing her back to the surface.

She breathed in. “Yes.”

---

Keith was standing at her door alone. Cam and Nick had refused to go, saying she wouldn’t want them there, for whatever reason. Sometimes, they confused him, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

He knew for a fact Charlotte was alone. Veronica’s flight wasn’t until nine that night and Tom would’ve stopped at their dorm before hers. Jacqueline, Charlotte’s cousin-thing, was a grade younger, and wouldn’t be bunking in the same dorm, and even then, he doubted Charlotte wanted comfort from her.

When he opened the door, she was lying on her bed. He face was dry, no tears yet. He frowned anyway; her face was clearly in distress.

“My life is over,” she mumbled quietly. He wasn’t sure who she was talking to, since she didn’t make and physical recognition that she knew he was there.

“Charlotte, I’m so sorry,” he apologized, even though it wasn’t his fault.

“It’s over, it’s over,” She repeated again and again. She pulled herself up, and hugged her knees to her chest.

Keith closed the door behind him, and sat across from her on the bed, legs crossed. He looked at her face again. Still no tears.

“Charlotte…” again he trailed off, still not sure what to say. If he knew what he wanted to say, what would make it better, he’d say it all. He’d say it all and then some. Anything to take her out of this trance she was in.

As of this very moment, Keith forgot about the last time he had seen her. Topless, making out with one of his friends in her dorm. He forgave her, too. The state that she was in was too scary for him to still be mad at her.

“Keith?” her voice was fragile, like porcelain. He looked up, stating he heard her. He met her green, green eyes. She was still void of tears.

“What’s going to happen now?” he voice broke at the end of the sentence, and her tears broke over with it.

He hugged her, as best he could with her current position. She rearranged herself to cling to him, like he was the last solid thing she could find in her life.

Her tears and makeup stained the shoulder of his shirt, and he didn’t notice. The time passed like sand in an hourglass.

He bent his head around, and kissed just underneath her eye, hoping that maybe it would make her feel the least bit better. He tasted the bitter saltiness of her tears, and heard her sharp intake of her breath as his soft lips met her skin.

Her breathing hitched, the steady stream of tears stopping.

She regulated her breath again, and fell limp in his arms. He could feel how tired she really was, and laid her weak form down on her bed.

When he tried to get up though, she caught his pale hand in her own. She lifted her head to look at him, begging him to stay with her.

He couldn’t even think about denying her request at that moment, and crawled back on the bed to lie next to her. She clung to him, like before, and cried herself to sleep, he face buried in his chest, and he rubbed her back reassuringly.

He fell asleep, too, exhausted with his sorrow for the girl in his arms.

---

Charlotte awoke in a new time. She was in Keith’s arms, she had obviously fallen with him. Memories flooded back into her mind, of the phone call, the crying, and him hugging her until her last thoughts of the night drifted away with her consciousness.

He was already awake, and holding her phone. He was reading something, she guessed. At any other time, she would call him out for invasion of privacy, but she was too exhausted to care.

She looked up at his face, and then noticed that it was still dark in the room.

Charlotte placed her hand on Keith’s shoulder, getting his attention. “What time is it?”

He looked down at her, meeting her gaze. He frowned, it was early. She needed the sleep.

“Six,” he snapped the phone shut.

“What time did I fall asleep?” She mumbled quietly, shifting in his strong arms again.

“Eight maybe, I feel asleep around the same time, anyway.”

“And may I ask why you were going through the contents of my phone?” she smirked up at him. He smiled back, happy to see she was showing some kid of positive emotion.

“It rang a minute or two before you woke up, so I checked it. Turns out Veronica and Tom were taking the same flight out of Michigan. You know they live in the same town, right?” Charlotte nodded. Veronica and Tom had always been closer then everyone else in the group, give or take Charlotte and Cam, and they had known each other since kindergarten. “Well, anyway, their flight got cancelled, there’s some really bad storms heading our way, they must have started last night.” Charlotte then craned her neck to see out her window, and sure enough, rain was hitting her window, dripping down like tears.

“And how did you figure all this out?”

“I just texted her back, of course. Don’t worry, I told her it was me. She was a bit curious as to why I was in possession of your phone, but whatever. She’s not smart enough to think about it.”

Charlotte snorted, burrowing her head into his chest. He placed her phone back onto her bedside table, and wrapped his arms back around her.

“You feel any better?” His tone had gotten softer, and he whispered it into her ear, like her was telling her a secret.

“I don’t know, it’s just…Now that people know, it just make’s it more real you know?” She pulled her head away from his chest to meet his gaze, never breaking it. “My father is dead. Logan Reese, Noelle Reese, my parents, they’re dead.”

“It’s gunna be okay,” he was whispering still.

“I’m an orphan. I never knew my parents. I don’t know anything about them…it’s too late, Keith. It’s just too late.’

“Oh, Charlotte,” he muttered, look deep into her eyes. He was searching for something, something he could do or say to fix it, because he’d fix anything for her.

“Will you go to that party with me tonight?”

The question caught him off guard, and he blinked once, twice, three times, before answering.

“Anything you want.”

---

“Stupid, stupid airport!”

“What did the airport ever do to you?” asked the annoyed boy as they scanned the stacks of magazines. He’d been listening to this almost all night, except for the time when they had gotten some sleep in.

“Well, I’m stuck here, aren’t I? We’re going to miss the party of the year! I HATE YOU!” Veronica threw her arms up in exasperation, and Tom shook his head. She was really embarrassing sometimes.

“Angelina Jolie…Brittany Spears…Charlotte Reese…Lindsay Lohan…” Tom muttered as he scanned the tabloids. Just then, something hit him. “Wait, what? Charlotte Reese?” He immediately snatched the magazine off the rack, and paid for it.

Veronica followed him over to an empty bench, worried. His brow was furrowed, and he looked pale. It was quite hard for an Italian to look pale, so she was really worried.

“Oh Em Gee.”

“Did you really just say that?” she snorted, and folded her arms across her chest, and amused smile spread across her face, and she planted herself next to him on the uncomfortable bench.

“Look!” Tom squeaked and he shoved the magazine into her face. She read the page, and one name popped against the rest of the black humdrum text.

Charlotte Reese.

“OH… EM… GEE...”

“See what I mean.”

Veronica devoured the rest of the words on the page, hungry for the dirt. She had never read so intently before. The words soaked in her mind, he head spinning.

Her best friend was in serious trouble.

Did she already know? Was she crying? Was that why Keith had been there this morning? The questions buzzed in her mind, for once overshadowing hot guys and new jeans. Her nails weren’t her biggest concern anymore. So what if the were chipped. The word was out.

The whole world knew that Charlotte Reese was the daughter of the world famous movie producer, Logan Reese.

---

The rest of the day passed slowly.

Charlotte refused to leave her room, so Keith brought her meals from the cafeteria. He hadn’t talked to Nick or Cam, seeing as that they hadn’t been in their dorm all the times he had went there, and he hadn’t seen them around, either. He left once more for a shower and a change of clothes, interrupted more then once by Charlotte wondering what was taking him so long. He just laughed it off, he felt like her babysitter. (Not mother, that would be a bad choice of words at the moment.)

When he had come back the last time, it was quarter ‘till nine. The party didn’t really start until nine-thirty, but people were already in the boys lounge. He walked by them and scowled when they talked about Charlotte. She seemed to be the topic of discussion, and he hoped it would die down before they arrived.

He knocked on the door, and he heard he shout for him to enter. She was blow-drying her long hair with a round brush, straightening out the normally curly hair into a smooth blonde silk.

“Your hair looks better curly, y’know,” he shrugged it off, like it didn’t really mean anything, but he meant it.

“Way to flatter a girl, Keith. No wonder you’ve had so many girlfriends since you got here!” She was being sarcastic, obviously. In reality, he hadn’t had any girlfriends since he got to PCA, and they both knew why.

“I’m serious,” He stated while walking towards her, and pulling her into him by the waist. He smelt the newly added perfume from on her neck, and felt the warmth of her body underneath the thin black tank top she was wearing.

She shuddered. What was this? Why was he acting this way? She swallowed hard. Did he want her?

“What are you doing,” she asked, trying to make it sound casual, but instead it came out breathy, like she had just run a hundred miles with no break.

“Flattering a girl…You know, you’re skin is very soft.” She felt him smirk into her elbow, planting a light kiss there.

Tease.

She let out a sound of contentment, and he backed away. She immediately regretted vocalizing her pleasure.

“Finish straightening your hair,” he ordered, in a more serious tone. He defiantly didn’t want her. “The party is starting. I walked through it before I came here.”

She only nodded.

When she finished, she pulled on a black v-neck sweater, grabbed an umbrella, and headed out the door.

---

As they were walking over to the boy’s dorms, she set an alarm for midnight.

“Just incase they don’t have a TV on or anything. I don’t want to miss it,” she had explained to him after he had asked why she needed that alarm.

They had to bring an umbrella, since the rain had really picked up. With the first bolt of lightening, they started sprinting, laughing when Keith informed her that his hair was ruined.

“This is so weird,” he opened the door for her, like a proper gentleman, “There are barely ever any thunderstorms in the winter.”

Then, they walked into the crowded lounge.

Keith could feel every eye on them, or rather, Charlotte. They stared at her, and he should have known better then to take her there. Even the seniors stared, and they hated her because she was so much more popular than them. They stared for what seemed like hours. He could hear them muttered about her parents, and he looked over at her. Her eyes were watering up, she was just beginning to forget what had happened. He should have known better then to take her here…

And then, when the first person started to walk over to her, the music stopped, and the dimmed lights shut off completely. It was silent. Then, Charlotte felt someone pull her hand, and drag her out of the door she just came from.

When they were just outside the girl’s dorm, they stopped running. No one had followed them. She stood there, shivering and rain soaked.

“What happened?” she asked.

He shrugged, “The lights must have going out. Makes sense, this is one heck of a storm.”

And if on cue, and lightening bolt struck close to them, and they both ran to her dorm for cover.

---

Despite all the drama circulating around his cousin, he still tried to have fun at the party.

He drank, he danced with someone random girls whose names he couldn’t remember, and partied with the part of himself that wasn’t continually worrying about Charlotte.

He had heard she had made a brief appearance right before the power went out, with Keith none the less, and disappeared right after. He didn’t worry about her much, she was self-sufficient. And if she was with Keith, she’d be happy. They had become the best of friends. What Cam and everyone else didn’t know, they had crossed the friend boundary that one night in October.

As for the lighting issues, he didn’t think anyone would be coming out tonight to fix them. It was New Years, and the electric companies would probably figure that the majority of the school would be at home. So someone plugged in their iPod into wireless speakers, and everyone partied in the dark, the only light given off from the lightening.

It was around ten thirty when he saw her for the first time.

He had never ever seen someone like that before. She was small, very petite, with short brown hair that ended just at her collarbone. Her eyes were a wide, clear blue, and her skin was even paler then Keith’s.

He approached her immediately.

“Haven’t seen you around,” He mentioned subtly. “Have you always gone here?”

“Oh, me? I’m in the tenth grade. I’m Jackie,” she smiled, her white teeth shown even in the dark.

“Not many tenth graders come here…” he stated. He checked her out again, hoping her wasn’t making it too obvious that he was checking her out. “Wanna dance?” he grabbed her hand, noticing her nails were painted a violent pink.

“Of course.”

---

“Did you just check that guy out?”

“No!”

“Yes! Yes you did!

“I think you’re seeing things…”

“Just because I got a C in half of my classes does not mean I’m oblivious.”

“Yes it does. I did not.”

“Did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too times infinity!”

“I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Stop teasing me… HEY! Stay on subject!”

“I did not check that guy out, end of story.”

“I swear you did!”

“Fine, maybe I did… just a little!”

“I knew it!” Veronica shouted in triumph.

“You’re not even disgusted?” Tom raised one of his eyebrows at the redhead next to him, questioning her.

She sighed, and put her hand over his, “Tom, we’ve been friends since kindergarten. I’m not going to make the fact of you being gay split us apart,” she explained, sincerely staring back into his eyes.

“I’m actually just bi, but I’m glad to know you accept.”

She giggled, “Well, why wouldn’t I? Now we can scope out hot guys together!”

He looked at her, long and hard, “Veronica, are you kidding me?”

“What? You don’t want to go boy hunting with me,” The funny part of that sentence was that she actually looked hurt that Tom didn’t want to go ‘boy scoping’ with her.

“No, I’ll go boy hunting with you, but really, you haven’t noticed one guy in particular that may like you a little more than a friend?” She cocked her head to the side, wondering which boy her friend could be talking about.

“Who, Will? We’re already going out…not that I like him or anything, because I don’t. He’s kinda strange, now that I’ve got to know him. I was going to dump him today but…”

“No, Veronica, I mean Nick,” he cut her off with. First, she had a look of pure confusion across her face, and then her face went blank, showing him that she didn’t know how to interpret the new information.

“Nick likes me?”

“Well, duh. I knew you were out of it…” he scoffed.

She stared at him wide eyed for a moment, “Hey!”

“What? Everyone else knows he’s completely in love with you except for yourself. I mean that kid’s so annoying sometimes. He talks about you all the time. I felt bad for Keith. He thought Nick was a total headcase because you were all he thought about. And don’t even get me started about when he’s sleeping…He practically moans your name. It’s kinda hard to sleep through stuff without getting really funky dreams.”

Veronica blushed a deep shade of red at that.

“Well, I never really thought of him that way…”

“Oh please, don’t feed me that crap. We all know you two made out that time…When Charlotte walked in on you two.” He rolled his eyes.

“I told her not to tell anyone about that!” Now her face was red for an entirely different reason. They always did say those redheads had a testy temper…

“We might have got her to spill…”

“So Nick really does love me?” She asked again, more serious, almost shy about it. And seeing Veronica shy was defiantly something you didn’t see everyday.

He gave her an all-knowing stare. She should know this by now. “I’d say he does, I think he might even love you more then love describes.

“When we get to California, I’m going to have a little talk with him…” she trailed off, her brown eyes sparkling.

“You might want to break up with that Will character…” Tom reminded her.

“Oh yeah, him.”

---

“Where’d you get that lighter from?”

“When Veronica does her yoga, she likes to have candles burning. We hide it under the mattress so the DA’s don’t think we’re smoking or anything,” She explained, lighting a few candles in various places around the room, before returning to sit cross-legged across the bed from Keith.

They had found a pack of cards in Charlotte’s drawers, probably left over from when Cam had come over, and were preparing to play a game.

“What do you want to play?”

“Go fish?” she smiled.

“Charlotte, are you kidding me? I haven’t played that since I was four.”

She laughed, “That’s the only card game I know how to play…except for poker. But we don’t have any chips.”

He raised his eyebrows at her, in a way the Charlotte used to, and sometimes still did, at him. “We could play strip poker…” his eyes gleamed, and he smiled suggestively.

Somehow, a blush rose onto Charlottes cheeks, and she looked down at the blue comforter under her. “I think I’ve had a bad influence on you.”

“Or maybe I’m just curious…”

“What’s gotten into you tonight, Keith?” She asked, suddenly suspicious. What was up with him?

“I’m just trying to make you feel better, that’s all,” he shrugged, and starting to split the deck in half, preparing them for Go fish.

She scowled at him, “Well, it’s not making me feel any better,” She picked up her cards from the bed, and looked at them. A pair of sevens.

“Sorry… Hey! Kings!”

“Jerk! Do you have any eights?” she asked, while glaring at him.

---

“What time is it?” Charlotte moaned. She had long since given up at Go Fish. Keith had some mad skill at that game.

Little did she know, he was cheating.

He picked up her cell phone, and pressed the side button to light up the front screen, “11:57.”

“Yes, I can finally go to bed!”

“Why’d you stay up all this time, then?” he asked, lying down on the bed next to her. He was tired now, too.

“How big of a loser would I look like if I didn’t even stay up until midnight on New Year’s?” she gave him a look like her answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“A pretty big one, actually,” They laughed together.

“So what am I going to do, you know, now that everyone knows who my parent’s were?” she started, after they laughed.

“I don’t know, actually. I’ll beat up anyone who harasses you, though, if that makes you feel any better,” he smiled at her. She smiled back, and hugged him on impulse. Just then, her phone started playing a catchy jingle, signaling the New Year.

“Happy New Year, Keith,” she finished with a yawn, and buried her head into his chest. He figured she was going to sleep. Charlotte had long since changed out of her jeans and black sweater, and was wearing a think tank top and pajama pants.

He knew she wouldn’t let him walk back to his dorm in this rain, and by the way she was snuggling into his body, she didn’t want him to leave either.

He just needed one thing before he went to sleep.

“Hey, Charlotte,” he whispered.

“Yeah?” she pulled her head up, to look at him. What happened next altogether shocked her.

He placed his lips to hers, and she had now idea how she lived all those weeks without them there. Being sober intensified the feeling of the kiss by a million and one. Also, it might have had to do with the fact that she knew she was in love with him now…

She kissed him back just as gently, but he didn’t let it stay that way. He moved his hands to her hips, pushing her tank up by a fraction to let her tan skin peek through. She shivered under his touch, while she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders.

His tongue broke into her mouth, tasting her. This time, her taste wasn’t that of beer, but something more addicting, more intoxicating then he could ever imagine. He rolled himself on top of her, adding a gentle pressure, just so he could feel her body along the length of his. Her hands tangled in his dark, bushy hair.

And this was the first time in this long kiss that she realized he had kissed her. He had kissed her. And she moaned at the thought of it, and arched her back, pushed against him, wanting everything and then some.

He broke away, panting, knowing it wasn’t right to go that far until he knew where they stood, how he really felt. He wanted to be sure this wasn’t some crazy he lust he was feeling, or just guilt for what had happened in the past day.

She clung to him again, tighter, every inch of her body pressed against his. She buried her head back into his chest, were it had been before, hiding her outrageously large smile from his view.

“Happy New Year, Charlotte,” and with that, he stayed another night at Charlotte’s dorm.

---

Sorry it took so long to get this up, but I tried to make it as good as possible. Also, I’m sorry that I’m boosting the rating, but this will be the last chapter this will be under Teen. When I post the next chapter, I will put it up to Mature, but there might not be anything mature in that chapter.

Again, there will be no porn, so no need to worry. If you would like to know the issues being addressed, so you can decide if you would still like to read it, please request in a PM or review.

As always, review!