This fic was deeply inspired by FletcherFox's amazing fic "Painted Skies and Trampolines" (written for the X-men movie fandom).
Whether this is slash or not is totally up to the reader.
I do not own Drake and Josh.
Wrestling matches and Bouncing Balls
50 sentences, 50 moments in Drake and Josh's relationship, with everything from smiles to chess to wrestling matches and bouncing balls.
1. Genuine
Josh knows that Drake has many smiles, one for each different mask, and that adds to the warm feeling he gets in his stomach when he sees the genuine, brilliant smile flashed in his direction, just for him.
2. Possession
Drake knows that he can't keep Josh forever, but that won't stop him from being nasty to anything that threatens to come between them.
3. Rules
Rules are the hands of God to Josh, but for Drake, he's willing to quickly glance the other way.
4. Night
Sometimes, Josh glances over in the middle of the night and marvels at how sweet and vulnerable his tough-guy brother looks in his sleep.
5. Comrades
Neither would admit it, but both knew that the other would always have their back, no matter what idiotic argument they might be in the middle of.
6. Height
Drake may be smaller, but he had Josh wrapped securely around his little finger.
7. Ordinary
Drake never realized when the hugs started to feel natural.
8. Unspoken
They've never said "I love you," but neither really cared because their time together is enough to let the rest go unspoken.
9. Playtime
There is no shame in acting ridiculously silly when alone in their room with the door firmly shut.
10. Privilege
Josh knew he was special in Drake's eyes when he was allowed to handle his best guitar, the one that was usually kept hidden behind five locks, if only for a few moments.
11. Brothers
They squabble over the most trivial and pointless things, and it's something they can't do anywhere else because these were things that no one else could ever bring themselves to care about.
12. Love
Love is when your brother keeps your meal warm until midnight even after you've been gone all day and would so be grounded this weekend.
13. Resignation
There is only one person for whom Drake would say a word as stupid-sounding as "Joshakazam" in public.
14. Bliss
A slice of Heaven was hidden in Josh's Fudgie Boos, and the fact that this batch was made especially for him didn't hurt either, because now he could steal as many "sneak peeks" as he wanted from the oven during the infuriatingly long half-hour it took them to bake.
15. Tears
Josh went numb when he realized that Drake had cried – in public, no less – for the first time in years, and he was the reason for those tears.
16. Hollow
There was a lonely cry for help echoing in the bounces of the ping pong ball that only Josh could hear.
17. Traitor
Josh was annoying virtuous, and for this reason Drake teams up with Megan against him, just this once.
18. Precious
Josh realized what the word "cute" really meant when he caught Drake asleep on the couch at ten past midnight, an orphaned, scrappy, newly-bandaged-after-a-fight kitten curled up and fast asleep on his chest.
19. Worry
Josh says "if you get hurt, you'll deserve it!" every time Drake sneaks out at night, but that doesn't change the fact that he keeps the light on in his vigil downstairs, his eyes always straying towards the door, watching and waiting like a nervous mother hen.
20. Thrill
They have never experienced a peaceful, conflict-free walk through the park together, but that was fine with both of them, because this was their life, and they wouldn't trade it in for a boring one that anyone else could have, ever.
21. Company
They have a knack for getting trapped together in enclosed spaces, but somehow neither seemed to mind as much as their complaints would suggest.
22. Protector
When he heard his name tumbling form Drake's lips during a nightmare, he nearly broke his back while hurtling up those damn stairs that separated him from his brother.
23. Apart
The first time Josh went on a college visit out of state, staying the weekend, Drake discovered that the suddenly huge and depressingly empty room caused a tingling, uncomfortable feeling in his stomach that made him, for whatever inexplicable reason, want to cry.
24. Distance
When Josh got back, the only acknowledgement Drake gave was a cool, "hey man," and Josh is confused by the lack of feeling in those words that made him feel like a stranger.
25. Facade
No one could help but notice the change in chemistry between the two, because for some reason Drake's laughs and grins seemed forced and faked, and he was suddenly a lot busier wherever Josh was not.
26. Insight
It was Megan who finally revealed the problem to Josh (who could really be infuriatingly dense sometimes), and as Josh prepared to talk with Drake that night, he made sure to have plenty of freshly-baked cookies and brownies prepared, just to show how much he cared.
27. Cliché
The line "I won't ever forget you" was cliché, but this simple promise was what Drake desperately needed to hear.
28. Understand
They didn't speak much, but Megan found them curled up together, fast asleep, on the couch in the morning, and knew things were going to be all right.
29. Mismatch
Josh organizes all his CD's like a library – first by category, then alphabetically by band and title – and he isn't too amused when he discovered that while the cases were in order Drake and somehow managed to put every disc in a mismatching case, but even he can't keep frowning when Drake grins his cute little sheepish grin.
30. Balance
Josh was the only one who could shake Drake's confidence, but Drake thinks that's okay since he was the only one who could give Josh a little confidence boost when he needed it.
31. Games
Chess was not Drake's game, but he was willing to play if Josh agreed to play Guitar Hero with him afterwards.
32. Windbender
Drake was careless, promiscuous, and impulsive, like the blowing wind, but for Josh, he always managed to come through when it mattered.
33. Charmed
Drake may live a charmed life, but the way Josh sees it, he doesn't need to be jealous because he got more than his fair share of good luck the day his dad somehow managed to convince Audrey Parker to agree to a date – because let's face it, his dad wasn't exactly the coolest guy around.
34. Bearable
Drake hates math but those nonsensical little numbers have become bearable ever since Josh started tutoring him.
35. Unchangeable
Even Josh can't keep Drake from flicking rasins at Mrs. Hayfer's back.
36. Nausea
Josh gags inwardly every time he sees Drake kissing one of his many girlfriends, not knowing that Drake has the same reaction every time he walks in on his and Mindy's private time.
37. Knowledge
Drake knows he isn't the smartest guy around, but Josh didn't need a smart guy to help after his break up, he needed a brother who knew what really counted.
38. Priority
Drake just can't bring himself to care about many things, but when Josh is upset, it becomes the center of his universe until there's a smile back on that face.
39. Misery
Josh's eyes were red and puffy, and he only managed to nod thanks through his gloom as Drake handed him another cup – it's his favorite drink, but he'll share it, just this once.
40. Recovery
Josh can't understand why Drake thought sitting and bouncing on a giant green rubber ball would help, or why it actually did.
41. Secret
Josh was the only one who knew (well, besides Audrey) that Drake's favorite snack was a freshly prepared peanut butter-honey-banana sandwich on white bread with peanut-butter covered celery sticks on the side, and surely that counts for something.
42. Sarcasm
After long and careful deliberation, Drake finally writes in an answer to the problem, and Josh says with a roll of his eyes, "wow, what a smart boy you are," and Drake merely socks him with a pillow in reply.
43. Mistake
Josh rues the day he bought Drake that graphing calculator – he should've known that it was only a disguised gameboy to his brother.
44. Genius
Josh can't figure out how Drake could be near failing in half his classes if he could manage to figure out how to download and program games into his graphing calculator in less than fifteen minutes.
45. Experiment
At Drake's suggestion, both turn in one of his song drafts for a poem assignment in English class, and Drake's point was proven when he got a D while Josh came home with another A+.
46. Confidant
Music would always be his escape, but maybe talking to someone isn't so bad – if that someone was Josh.
47. Past
Josh remembers life before Drake, and cringes.
48. Puzzle
Megan said they were like a jigsaw puzzle…whatever that meant.
49. Together
Their glasses clinked as they mixed their sodas, and it sang the music of friendship and brotherhood, of unity in differences and balance in contrasts, and of a deepening peace and understanding beyond words.
50. Defeat
Josh is having trouble breathing, doubled over with laughter and face half buried in a pillow as Drake tackles him, and though he may be losing this round of their wrestling match, Josh thinks this is the best kind of defeat.
The End
Comments and constructive criticisms always welcome! Thank you so much for reading!