Title: Out Of Nowhere
Characters: Drake, Josh, random tech people, lol.
Pairings (if any): Drake/Josh
Rating: T
Word Count: 633
One-shot or Work in Progress: One-shot
Author's Notes: This was the result of an excerpt from one of the Drake & Josh chapter books in which it said that Josh would be the kind of guy to write Drake a note to wish him luck. Also, it's kind of based on what I've read and speculation about the last two episodes they're filming. It's got some very, very mild slash, but if that bothers you, don't read it. ;) Okay, now that that's out of the way: Enjoy!

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As far as Drake Parker was concerned, hiring his step-brother Josh Nichols as his manager was one of the smartest (and some would argue only smart thing) he'd ever done. Here he was in New York, he'd just signed a contract with Spin City Records, his band was sounding terrific, and in two weeks they'd be in the studio recording their first album! This is awesome!, he thought. The first step to being successful, according to Josh, was to build excitement for the band, so naturally, he'd said, the best way to promote yourself was to play for people. Normally, Drake would have shrugged off Josh's advice, but now that he was his manager and had gotten his band this far there was no way he'd wave it off. He'd rather take a risk here than have to go all the way back to San Diego and apologize to Josh should he ever leave.

"Twenty-five minutes, guys!" he heard the stage manager say. This was his first real gig with his new band (besides TRL last summer) in front of a lot of people and he was more nervous than ever. Sure, there was the time he'd played with Zero Gravity after Josh's unfortunate hand-crushing incident with Devon Malone, but this was different. Drake was no longer hiding in the shadow of just being a replacement. He was the star.

Drake's heart was pounding much more intensely than before. He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans (a habit he'd had since he was little) and felt something hit his fingers. He reached in and pulled out a piece of yellow grid paper.

"Josh..." he smiled as he recognized the paper from the notebook his step-brother had bought last week for his math homework. Drake carefully unfolded the paper and read it silently:

Drake,

I don't know if you'll find this, but I'll write it anyway. I know you're probably nervous and this might not help much but, just know that I believe in you. You've proven to me that you can do anything. I know you'll do a great job. You've made me proud before and you'll do it again. I love you.

Josh.

Drake was grateful that nobody was around him as he felt his face get hot. He was pretty sure that at this point he was blushing heavily. He sighed and smiled. If Josh hadn't have had to stay back at their hotel room doing his boring old homework, Drake would have jumped on him and hugged him tighter than he'd ever done before. He folded up the note and put it back in his pocket before making sure his guitar was tuned properly. As Drake walked toward the stage he heard a voice call out behind him.

"Hey, Drake!"

He turned around and found Josh standing by the curtain. He looked a little tired and it was clear to Drake that he'd just woken up. Suddenly, without even thinking, Drake ran up to Josh and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him into an unexpected kiss.

"What was that for?" Josh said afterwards.

Drake looked up at him, now blushing even more than he had earlier. "For this," he said as he pulled out the letter from his pocket and placed it slowly in Josh's hand, "Thanks."

"No problem," Josh said in between a series of small chuckles.

"Hey, Drake, we're on!" he heard his guitarist say. He turned and nodded to him before turning back to Josh to give him a small peck on the lips, then ran onto the stage, almost tripping over a cord. He laughed and shook the cable off of his foot and stepped into the open curtain, remembering everything the letter said.

THE END.