Title: Singing in My Sleep

By: Sarah Faye

Series: FAKE

Pairing: JJ and Drake

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Warnings: Hmmm...well, if you're upset by what happens in this fic...you sure couldn't have made it through the mangas without dying of offended vapors, so I think no warnings are needed at this point.

Disclaimer: I am not the owner of the rights to FAKE. I just really adore JJ and Drake, and like to think about them, and sometimes I write it down.

A/N: I've been tweaking with this one all day today. Hopefully it's not embarrassing. :) This takes place a little while after Like Like Love and contains reference to something that happens in it. If you haven't read Like Like Love, go find a scanlation and read it! It's good, and you find out who the author thinks will end up together, which should fill you with happy plotbunnies :)

"Man, I had the hottest dream last night!" Ted exclaimed, taking a sip of his Coke.

Dee rolled his eyes slightly, used to this strange sort of bragging from his fellow detective. "What was it about this time?"

"This super hot chick I met last week...man, she wanted me so bad, but she was with this loser of a boyfriend and couldn't come home with me." He grinned. "I got her good in the dream, though."

"You go on and console yourself with that," Dee said with a snicker, catching a glimpse of Ryo, beside him, shaking his head good-naturedly as though at the antics of children.

"Yeah, well, what did you dream about last night? I bet it wasn't half as cool," Ted shot back, voice slightly defensive.

"As you can see by the fantastically handsome man here next to me, I don't have to dream," Dee said pridefully.

"I have strange dreams sometimes," Ryo said, looking up from his salad. "The other night, I dreamt everything in my apartment was covered in ivy, and I was trying to cut it all down, and it grew thorns and tried to stab me and steal the cutting shears out of my hand."

"Sentient ivy, hmmm?" Drake said, cocking an eyebrow playfully. "You ever think of having him checked out, Dee?"

"Wiseass." Dee smirked. "I bet you dream about marshmallow Peeps dancing through a candy meadow or something."

Drake threw the wrapper from his Twix bar, missing Dee's head by mere inches. "For your information, last night I dreamed-"

He stopped short as the door opened, admitting JJ with his hands full of bags from the Chinese place up the street. Feeling the uncomfortable press of stares around him as the silence deepened, he stood up and gestured up the hall. "Let's go eat in our office, JJ, I have some new files that I dug up on that prostitute murder case to show you." He ushered his partner back through the door over his light protests, closing the door firmly behind them.

A few seconds passed in further silence before Ted spoke. "What the hell is wrong with him?"

Dee shrugged. "Who knows? He's been acting weird for weeks now. I keep trying to ferret it out of him, but he won't tell me anything."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll tell you in time," Ryo said, taking the last bite of his salad and putting the empty container back in the bag in which it had come, in preparation to throw it away. "Now, let's get back to work. I believe it's your turn to fill out the paperwork, Dee?"

"Awww, Ryo, you're killing me," Dee whined, following Ryo out of the room and down the hallway to their office.

"So, what's going on?" JJ said conversationally, placing a container of chicken lo mein in front of Drake.

"Hmmm? Oh, not much. Why?" Drake said, scanning the carpet with much more intensity than was strictly called for.

"Well, obviously you didn't actually have any files you desperately needed to show me." JJ sat down across from his partner, trying to make eye contact and settling for speaking to the side of his face when it became clear that wasn't going to happen. "So, as I said, what's going on?"

Drake sighed, running his hand through his hair absentmindedly. "They were talking about weird dreams they had and stuff, and I was about to tell them what I dreamed about last, but I decided I really didn't want to, so I had to get out of there."

"Oh," JJ murmured, swallowing a bite of sweet and sour chicken. "So, what did you dream about?"

Drake's expression momentarily resembled that of a cornered animal as he searched for words. "Ummm...well...it's kind of weird, and embarrassing..."

JJ put down his chopsticks and looked at Drake with amusement in his eyes. "Drake, it's a dream. I'm not going to think you're a freak because of a dream. They're all weird. Just tell me."

Ah, well, I guess it won't be so bad...at least he won't make fun of me like the other guys would've...

"Well, last night...I had this dream that you were singing to me," Drake said quickly, turning his attention back to his noodles immediately after the last word escaped his lips.

JJ chewed for a moment, an incredulous look taking the opportunity to form on his face before he swallowed and was able to speak again. "I was singing to you? What was I singing?"

Drake shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I don't know. I didn't really hear the words. I was just laying in bed, and you were sitting on the bed next to me, and singing something, and it was calming, somehow...like a lullaby, but also, it seemed to be convincing me of something. You know, that feeling you get when you finally decide that something you're about to do is the right decision...it was a feeling like that."

JJ locked gazes with him at last, and Drake almost gasped out loud at the strange seriousness that had come over his usually-exuberant, light-hearted friend's eyes. "Are you trying to decide something about me?"

"No, no," Drake said desperately, shaking his head. "I didn't mean it like that-"

JJ stood up, pushing his chair back from the desk. "Well, I'm going down to the records room. If you need me, you can find me down there."

Drake watched him going towards the door, a strange guilty feeling burning in the pit of his stomach. "JJ - wait, JJ, I am trying to decide something."

JJ turned, regarding him with interest. "About me?"

"About you," Drake confirmed, blushing light pink.

"What about me?" JJ asked, walking up next to Drake's chair and crouching down so that they were face to face. "You don't have to be embarrassed. Nothing you say is going to ruin anything."

Drake swallowed noisily, taking time to compose his thoughts before speaking again. "All the time we've been partners, I've liked being friends with you. I think of you as one of my best friends, actually." He looked down, his eyes focusing in on JJ's hand as he continued. "But even since you...kissed me that one time, I've been thinking, and I realized I sort of have these – feelings about you...for you, JJ, and I don't know what to do about them. I'm not really confused – I know what the feelings are. I know what they mean. But, I've been afraid to tell you. I think I'm sure of what I feel, but you can never be totally sure, y'know? And I didn't - I don't – want to be another jackass who hurts your feelings and lets you down."

He watched numbly as the hand on which he had been focusing his eyes moved upwards, but still managed to be a little bit surprised when he felt JJ touch his face, those small, pale fingers brushing against the rough surface of his stubbly cheek.

"How are you going to let me down by liking me?" JJ whispered, almost reproachfully, as he leaned closer and kissed Drake on the forehead. "You think too much about everything, Drake." He straightened up, smiling a little. "Now, I really am going to the records room. Send out the search party to retrieve me from the killer spiders if I'm not back in a little while." As he reached the door, he turned around and flashed a sly smile at his partner. "How about you come over to my place after work? I'll make you dinner. I have a new wok, we can test it out."

"S-sure," Drake said, returning the smile. "I'd like that."

A/N: Hope you liked it and that they weren't out of character. I welcome and crave constructive criticism. I'm an aspiring professional writer who has taken many writing workshops, so, believe me, any criticism you have to offer will not throw me into an offended snit or make me crumble to dust. :)