Author's Notes: I was greatly inspired by one of the last scenes in the Drake & Josh episode, "Josh Is Done", so if you haven't seen that yet you definitely should. All the words in italics are taken from that scene and everything else is of my own creation. I do not own Drake & Josh, I'm making no profit from this (ha, wouldn't that be nice), and no copyright infringement is intended. All comments/constructive criticism is more than welcome. Enjoy!
Mr. Roland was one of the strictest teachers at Belleview High, but Drake could not have cared less as he pushed past the man, soaking wet and mad as hell. The bubble of anger and frustration that had been building since last week finally came to a head as Mr. Roland called out after him.
"Sit down Drake. Drake, sit down!"
He continued on his way, angrily, as the water really seeped into his clothing and made him even more wet and uncomfortable. He didn't care if Mr. Roland was going to write him up or how he was going to get into some fresh clothes – Drake concentrated on making it to the door in one piece and even that thought disappeared as he slipped when he grabbed for the handle.
"No!"
"Drake!"
There's Mr. Roland, calling out for him again. Didn't he see that this is what ignorance looked like? What did Mr. Roland do, expect him to finish out the stupid experiment in soaking wet clothes? This whole thing wouldn't have happened if he had just remembered to drive Josh to school that morning. And if Drake had remembered that fact, maybe he wouldn't be sliding across the linoleum in wet sneakers and finally the bubble inside him burst as he whirled around to face Josh across the room.
"Josh!"
Drake's emotional turmoil flipped from frustrated anger in to a hopeless apology as he saw Josh's face. He didn't know what to do and he didn't know how to fix things anymore. Maybe it was best to just lay it all on the line, right here right now.
"What?!"
For a guy who said he wasn't mad, Josh certainly had a pained look on his face that Drake hadn't seen in what felt like forever. It was a flash of familiarity that ran through him in seeing Josh's annoyance with him. Josh could be done with Drake all he wanted, but Drake was going to do his best to grasp at the last few straws that remained between them.
"Look, I'm sorry!"
He didn't want to do this, not in front of everybody. Not with Kat looking dumbly at her beaker or Craig and Eric looking uncomfortably at each other as everyone else waited with bated breath. All too often, Drake was accused of speaking before thinking and it was a trait he'd always found himself guilty of, especially now as the words came stumbling out of his mouth.
"Well-"
Drake couldn't believe that Josh had the nerve to interrupt him, right when he was at his most vulnerable. Not just vulnerable at school or at The Premiere or during whatever wacky scheme he'd gotten the two of them into – but the most vulnerable Drake had ever been in the entire time they knew each other.
He started to speak faster when he felt pricks of tears in the corners of his eyes.
"Let me finish, okay? I was wrong, okay, I was wrong!"
"What do you mean?" "I need you more than you need me. I need you way more than you need me, alright? I'm sorry! Man, I'm sorry I made you late for your exam and I'm sorry I ran over your bike. I'm sorry I'm probably the worst brother in the world and you're way better off without me, you know and I just need you to understand…"
I just need you to understand that I'm nothing without you. That whether I knew it or not, my life became better when you walked through my bedroom door three years ago. We were there for each other through thick and thin, through all of Megan's pranks when no one would believe us, through talent shows and science fairs. We've grown up together and no one knows me better inside and out than you do.
I just need you to understand that when we're together, life isn't so scary and the thought of losing you terrifies me.
"…I-I-I just…I'm sorry Josh, I'm sorry."
Drake didn't even wait to hear what Josh had to say; he slipped out the door and heard it click behind him as he bolted down the hallway. Two lefts and a right led him to his locker where he quickly spun the combination on the cold, metal lock. Opening the slim locker door, Drake grabbed the keys lying on the top shelf and shut the door quietly. He stood there, silent and still for a moment. The words replayed over in his head of what he had said and what he had wanted to say and the look of surprise that had been stretched across Josh's face.
Drake gave a frustrated punch on locker door with his fist and in doing so, the tears that fell from his eyes mixed with the water on his face from the emergency shower. Clutching the car keys in his hand, he headed for the door that led to the parking lot and paused when he reached it.
He left when he realized that Josh wasn't coming for him after all.