Title: Change of Seasons
Rating: overall T: for language and adult situations
Pairing: Drake/Mindy
Spoilers: General series spoilers.
Summary: Sequel to "Shake the Glitter Off." Every relationship has a honeymoon period and the honeymoon must come to an end sooner or later. At least Drake and Mindy have love—or something like it—to keep them strong over the months and years ahead.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or locations (unless otherwise noted) or songs referenced; title and intro lyrics taken from the Sweet Thing song "Change of Seasons" (which you may know from the title sequence and various parts of one my favorite films in recent years, Easy A).
Note: Again, so much thanks to all the readers & reviewers of "Shake the Glitter Off." I still don't understand the drug that is Drindy or how I became addicted.
'Cause our love ain't easy
It changes with seasons
Yeah, where we're going I don't know
Ohh, so baby, won't you let it go
(Don't you worry, won't you let it go?
Baby, don't worry, just let it go, let it go)
The beginning of the New Year brings an enhanced sense of hope and anxiety for Mindy Crenshaw and Drake Parker. This year they are going to become parents, this year their child will be born, this year is the beginning of the rest of their lives. Reality hasn't slapped them in the face yet.
Mindy is wearing her pregnancy well. She glows, in part due to her pregnancy, in part due to how insanely happy she feels being with Drake. There are times when she doesn't understand how she can be so delighted during this upheaval of her life. It goes against every five and ten-year plan she's ever drafted and yet she is caring less and less by the day. Her brain and her heart are growing in discord with one another; there are moments when she worries that she might lose herself in the whirlwind of emotions.
Drake is spending more and more time at her apartment, more nights, than he does at his parents' house; if he could, he would spend every moment, waking or otherwise, with her. There are mornings when he wakes up, before she does, and he wonders if this is actually real; he's afraid that one day he's going to wake up and this will all turn out to be some elaborate, fantastic and unbearably vivid dream. He knows lust and this isn't it…well, it is but it's not all that it is. There's no way that this is not love that he's feeling. If by chance that it's not love, he doesn't want to know. It has to be more—it has to. He sees the way that Mindy looks at him, ardent fire and emotions, and over all these years he can't recall ever seeing her look at Josh the exact same way (but, as he reminds himself, he was never paying that much attention before last year). If she asked, he would give her everything. Part of him hates that he's becoming such a fucking sap and that Mindy Crenshaw is the cause. And part of him does not give a damn. He is so screwed—and he loves it. He loves her.
He loves her.
They haven't even officially been a couple for a month but it just makes sense for Mindy to give him a key to her apartment, to clear out a drawer for some of his clothes, and make a little space for his toiletries in the bathroom.
Drake starts recording his new album for the concert series, which means that he spends long days in L.A. at the studio. There were already numerous meetings for him to attend. There are more and more nights that he sneaks into her apartment when Mindy's already asleep and he quietly slips into her bed, scooting close to her. Always, instinctively, she snuggles closer to him; sometimes she stirs ever so slightly, blinking at him, her eyes unfocused, a small smile gracing her lips when she recognizes him and the warmth of his body, before falling back asleep.
Mindy's next ultrasound is a couple days away. After dinner, they're flipping through apartment guides and real estate magazines on the sofa, Mindy's legs draped over Drake's lap. They are both unaware of their mutual nagging fear due to the comfort and ease with which they have become a couple.
"I can't wait to find out what we're having," Drake says excitedly, folding down the corner of a page.
"You already know that we're having a baby," she says, not looking up.
"You know what I mean. I want to know if we should start thinking about names for a boy or a girl and what colors to use for the nursery when we move."
Mindy lifts her head, an eyebrow raised. "Oh. Drake, I decided that I don't want to know until the baby's born. Besides, there's no need to assign gender roles and their prescribed stereotypes to our child before it's even born.
"Okay, well, then, I won't tell you."
She focuses back down at the listing of amenities. "Of course you won't. You can't tell me if you don't know yourself. Oh, and we will use neutral and soothing colors when we decorate the nursery."
"What?"
She looks up at him again; she knows that he's not questioning her about interior design. "I don't want either of us to find out if we're having a boy or a girl until he or she makes its entrance into the world."
"Why not? That's not fair."
"Drake, if you find out, what are you going to do?" She doesn't wait for him to answer. "You're going to tell your family. Including you, five people will know. Then you'll probably mention it to your band and everyone else you cross paths with at Spin City. It'll get back to me Drake, probably accidentally but nevertheless, someone will let it slip and then I'll know and I don't want to. Not yet."
"What if I promise not to tell anybody?"
"No."
"Mindy," he starts with a pout.
"I'm not going to change my mind."
He's heard her use this determined matter-of-fact tone with Josh numerous times in the past and he knows that there's no use trying to argue his case. She is not going to let him win. If anything, she will break down any argument he sets forth and point out every flaw and weakness he provides to support his stand.
He kind of wishes that he could hate her still. Or at least get in a good insult or two. Stupid heart. Stupid baby. (He doesn't mean either.)
Drake grumbles, acquiescing. He continues pouting, giving her the silent treatment for the next hour, responding with non-committal grunts at every apartment she shows him. After the fourth time, she rolls her eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh, swinging her legs off of his lap.
"That's mature, Drake," she says, tossing the apartment guide onto the coffee table. "Resorting to juvenile antics just because you're not getting your way?"
"Maybe it's because I don't want us to fight."
Well, she can't be irritated with him over that.
Her shoulders sag but Mindy is emphatic, "We're going to fight. All couples fight—not just us. Couples fight, and then they work through their problems and make up." After a second, she adds, "Or they don't and they break up." She doesn't add that sometimes they still find their way back to one another. However, Drake should know that; he's seen her and Josh get back together enough times to know that a break up doesn't necessarily mean it's the end of a relationship.
He points out what he feels is obvious, "And we're more likely to break up."
There's a pessimism in his tone that causes her to look at him in disbelief as she pushes herself up off the sofa. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
He angles his body so that he's facing her completely. "You know what it means, Mindy. We both know our history. It was hard enough getting you to give us a chance in the first place; I want us to work and if we can't agree—"
"We can compromise," Mindy says, sitting down beside him.
"Yeah, except when you put your foot down."
"And then you will just have to live with my decision." She pats him on the knee.
After a few minutes of silence, Drake asks, frowning, "Will you ever let me wear the pants in this relationship?"
She thinks it over, a playful grin appearing, "Perhaps on holidays and special occasions."
Mindy's hand is trailing up Drake's leg. Her seduction techniques, not that they needed much work to begin with, are starting to rival his own. Sometimes, when Mindy looks at him and touches him, he can't for the life of him figure out how Josh managed to control himself around Mindy for all of these years. Drake doesn't know what hormones are affecting her sex drive or if it's years of pent up of sexual frustration but he's totally okay with helping her satisfy whatever desire she's experiencing.
Mindy stops moving her hand abruptly, grabbing his hand and placing it on her abdomen, explaining, "The baby's moving."
His face brightens as he feels the sensations under his hand. It's only been about a week since he first felt the baby move and he's still in awe each time he does. The baby's getting bigger and stronger, making its presence known. That's his kid, alright.
Mindy reaches up and brushes her fingers over Drake's bangs before dropping her hand so that it rests over his. "Still upset with me?"
"No," Drake says quietly, his hand following the baby's movement to the other side of her stomach.
"I'll tell you what, if in a few years we have married and we decide to have another child, we will find out its sex as soon as we can."
He raises both of his eyebrows, "You'd marry me again?"
She didn't mean to bring up the subject of marriage because it's really not a topic she's ready to discuss, not since all the years she and Josh spent talking, hinting, dreaming, and planning their own wedding have come to suddenly amount to nothing.
She tells herself that this is different, and it is. "Hypothetically, in a year or two's time, depending on how we feel about each other, if love is part of the equation, I might be open to legally marrying you for the first time."
Drake and Mindy sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Drake with the baby carriage….
First comes love.
Not in their case.
Mindy shakes her head then clears her throat. "But we are getting ahead of ourselves."
"Are we?" Drake laces his fingers through Mindy's. "Technically, we were married."
"Technically, yes; legally—for all real intents and purposes, we were not." She snorts, "I threw my ring away right after I left the courthouse."
Drake shrugs, "I tossed mine before I left the courthouse." It's a bit delayed when he says, "The make-up sex should be awesome." She raises an eyebrow; he amends his statement, "Not that the sex isn't already awesome because it is. It's just…make-up sex will be even more awesome."
She decides not to comment, instead rising once again. "I'm going to bed, if you'd care to join me."
He doesn't need to be prompted twice. A little later, spooning in her bed, Drake points out that they're going to need a bigger bed.
"I thought you liked having an excuse to cuddle," she says, her fingers drawing small, light lines on his forearm.
Why can't they just be like this? Now, always and forever. It doesn't have to change, this evolution of animosity, lust, friendship, parenthood, and love, after the baby's born (or before then—please not before then)—does it?
Drake squeezes Mindy tighter for a few seconds. "I'm not trying to get away from you but I like having room to move around. My bed's not really big enough for two and a half either." He pauses before asking solemnly, "You don't think that we're moving too fast, do you?"
She turns in his arms to face him, looking a little annoyed. "You are not seriously asking me that, are?"
"A little?"
"After all of your pushing, now you think—"
"I don't think that we're moving too fast. I'm asking if this is too fast for you. Buying furniture is a big step after all," he jokes.
She narrows her eyes at him, jabbing him in the chest with a finger, "You know there are still times when I don't like you that much."
"Yeah, but you lo—" Love me. The words die on Drake's tongue as he catches himself and there's a stillness in the air around them. She has yet to verbally imply, let alone declare, that she is falling in love with him or that it's even a near possibility. She's still vague when it comes to discussing her feelings for him despite her open acknowledgment of their present and the very real possibilities of their future together. Drake can only wonder if any of the girls he's dated, the criers, the ones who were so enamored with him, were just waiting for him to toss them an emotional bone to ease the tension of their heartstrings. He knows that Mindy's not indifferent as he was; like he said, they know each other's history—with each other and with other people.
Mindy gives him a quick kiss, anything to change the atmosphere. She can't tell him that she loves him or that there are things that she loves about him. Not yet. She wants to but she can't because he started this, with all of his feelings and wanting to be with her. She responds to him. She cannot, she will not say that she loves him—she's not even sure that she does yet—she can't say that she can love him because she remembers his rescinded admission. He hasn't said it since, that he thinks or know that he loves her. And maybe it's too much to expect or ask for that one of them be so sure of their thoughts and emotions this early in their relationship except that everything is moving at warp speed and there is no way that they can slow things down. They're having a baby and moving in together and now they've kind of started talking about marriage.
What the hell are they doing?
What in the world have they gotten themselves into?
