This idea randomly came to me, and I couldn't let it go! :) My first Drake & Josh fic!

He smiled as he stumbled out of the club, glassy eyed and shoving a small plastic bag of powder into his pocket. The cold air hit him as he walked out onto the sidewalk, the buzz just starting to kick in. His vision was starting to blur as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down the street, spotting a blurry version of his car. He saw a woman approaching him; while she was still faraway and slightly fuzzy, he knew that silhouette anywhere, and his childhood was approaching him. He hadn't seen her in at least five years, but the haunting sound of her voice still plagued his nightmares.

"Drake Parker," she said as she neared him, a familiar sly smile creeping across her face.

"Mindy Crenshaw," he replied through gritted teeth. "What are you doing in this part of town?"

She nodded her head toward the direction she came from. "I was getting a late dinner with a friend at a restaurant a block away. What about you?"

"Just hanging out."

"Clubbing?" Mindy spat, smelling the alcohol on his breath.

Drake looked at the ground and shuffled his feet a bit. He opened his mouth to answer, but Mindy interrupted.

"I see not much has changed since high school, ignoramus. Still making horrible decisions. Did you ever get that record deal that Josh was always telling me you'd get? Cause I can't say I remember hearing any Drake Parker hits tearing up the radio airwaves…"

"Would they play my songs on Snobby Bitch Daily?" he asked, trying to come up with a better comeback but feeling inferior like he always did when talking to her.

She smirked, trying to stifle her laughter at the pathetic comeback that had just left his mouth. "What do you do now, anyway? Still trying to pursue that dream that'll never become a reality?"

Drake rolled his eyes so far back that she could only see the whites. "Yeah, I play gigs and shit. What do you do? Bitch at people for a living?"

"I'm a lawyer, so in a way, yes, but my 'bitching'" – she used air quotes around the word that made Drake seethe – "makes me a hell of a lot more money than you make playing hole in the wall joints like that," she replied as-a-matter-of-factly, pointing toward the bar she had correctly guessed Drake just walked out of.

"Ha," was Drake's only response. He was starting to feel the high from the coke he'd snorted before he headed out of the club, and he wanted to get home before he was unable to drive; he usually got high privately, but it felt so good obtaining the drugs that he dove right in a few minutes after he paid the dealer.

"What's Josh up to?" Mindy asked, brushing her short brown hair out of her face. She had an angled cut now, and under the streetlights, she seemed to glow. She was a lot prettier than Drake remembered, but he realized it could be the fact that he'd just done some really good coke. Whatever the reason, she was borderline beautiful, and that was a scary realization to him.

"Uh, you know, the usual," Drake told her, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. "He's hanging out, working…he's a science teacher at a middle school, so he's got that going for him."

Mindy noticed that something was wrong with the way Drake was acting, but she decided not to say anything. "Well, tell him I say hi. I'm sure you've gotta be off somewhere. Some new girl's bed to sleep in or something." She watched as he looked down and his hair fell in his eyes; she'd never thought anyone who looked remotely similar to him was attractive, but he had gotten better looking since she'd last seen him years ago. His features were more defined, and his chin was covered in stubble.

Drake managed a laugh before brushing past her. "Something like that. Later, creature."

Mindy stood on the sidewalk for a moment as she watched him stumble to his car. She sighed, knowing that she couldn't let her harsh feelings for him that had somehow remained strong over the years win over her better judgment. "Drake!" she called to him, watching him slowly turn around on the heel of his boot. "Let me give you a ride home."

One eyebrow sprung up, getting lost under the sea of auburn bangs that adorned his forehead. "You do want to sleep with me," Drake chuckled with a shrug, walking toward her again.

Mindy shot him a serious look. "I don't want to sleep with you. You are high. You are not driving home."

"Pssh, I'm not high," he answered with a wave of his hand.

"You are high as a kite," Mindy scowled, grabbing his hand and dragging him in the direction of her car. "I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I suppose I can't think highly of a lowlife musician, huh?"

"I'll be more successful than you one day."

"No." There was a bitterness in her voice that made Drake's heart ache. She almost apologized at how unintentionally angry she'd sounded, but she decided he didn't deserve an apology.

They walked silently down the street until they reached a black Lexus. Mindy started toward the driver's side and watched as Drake started incredulously at the vehicle. "What are you waiting for? Get in!"

"This is nicer than my car."

"No surprise there. I get paid more than $2 per hour." She opened the door while he still stood outside, watching her fasten her seatbelt. She waved him into the car, rolling her eyes along with the gesture.

He sighed, knowing he was fighting a losing battle and got into the car, sinking into the soft seat. The streetlights were starting to blur together, making an interesting array of yellows and oranges in the sky. The buildings looked like they were in motion.

"What are you on, anyway?" Mindy asked, jamming the key into the ignition and backing out.

"Uh." Drake tried to speak, but he was startled by the fact that she drove fast. This was Mindy Crenshaw, the overly cautious, overly ambitious, overly intelligent menace from his adolescence driving him home like a speed demon. It had to be a bad trip. That was the only way he could justify the craziness of this situation. "Um, pot," he said, running his hand through his hair.

"And what else?"

"That's all."

Mindy took her eyes off the road for a moment long enough to give Drake a stare that burned his skin. "What else, Drake?" Her tone was serious. "And does your brother know? I'm going to assume no because there is no way in hell Josh would let you get away with this!"

"Fuck, Mindy, I'm a grown man. What's a little pot gonna do to a person?"

"You take more than that."

"I don't."

"Jesus, Drake, I'm a lawyer. It's my job to figure out when people are lying, and you've got it written all over your face. What are you on?"

"It's none of your business," he said sharply, sticking his hand in his pocket to make sure that his precious coke was still in his possession; he was sure that Mindy could get him to surrender it by telekinesis or something ridiculous like that. She was still so intimidating to him, and he couldn't figure out why. They were both adults now, but he still felt like a child huddling in the corner to get away from the enemy.

"Where do you live, anyway?"

"Turn left at the light."

Mindy let out a sigh of disgust as she looked over at him again. "I can't believe I'm being so nice and taking you home."

"I can't believe it either."

"You know, this is deplorable behavior, Drake. You're an adult, and if you ever want to make something of yourself, you need to…"

It was then the buzz set in. All her words started to slur together, and the only thing he really remembered her saying was, "Drake, are you even listening to me?" and him mustering up all the effort he could just to nod at her. He somehow got her to his place, but by the time they arrived, he was completely gone. "Sex?" Drake quizzed hopefully as Mindy pulled into the driveway.

"Absolutely not. God, how much of that stuff did you take?" Mindy had a few friends that would occasionally get high in college, but she had never done it herself; that was never anything she was interested in. For her, college wasn't about having fun; it was about being as successful as possible, making people jealous with her vast knowledge.

As she looked at him, his deep chocolate eyes were being eaten by his dark black pupils. His eyes were glazed over, and she was sure it was the scariest thing she had ever seen. She had no idea how to help him, and even worse – she had no idea what he had taken. Though Mindy originally had no intent of going inside, she knew she needed to figure out what he had taken and if there was any way to keep it away from him.

"I can take it from here," Drake mumbled, opening the car door. "Thanks for the ride."

"Uh, I'll come in," Mindy answered quickly, turning the car off and grabbing her purse in a fury. It was her turn to play detective.

After Drake had changed into his pajamas and Mindy made sure he was curled up on his sofa with a blanket, she took the opportunity to go through his pockets looking for a hint of what he'd taken. As she reached into the pocket of his jeans, her hand touched the bag. Scrunching her nose up in confusion, she reached in and pulled out the bag, seeing that it was filled with white powder. "Oh my god," she whispered, holding it away from her as if it were poison. "DRAKE PARKER!" Mindy stomped out into the living room, seeing that he was sitting on the couch practically vibrating.

"What?" he asked defensively, tapping his fingers on his knee that was bouncing up and down. He knew he hadn't taken anywhere near enough to deal with the wrath of Mindy Crenshaw, but this was something he most certainly hadn't been expecting.

"Cocaine? Cocaine? Do you know how dangerous that is? I knew you were stupid, but god, this is beyond belief!" She looked around the room for a garbage can, but soon wondered how to properly dispose of something like this. Mindy had never dealt with a drug so serious. At a loss for what to do, she tucked it into her small clutch, knowing Drake wouldn't dare go into her purse.

"So what?" Drake said nonchalantly, flashing her dark eyes. "I do a line of coke every once in awhile. It's not gonna kill me." He pointed at her purse sharply. "I'm gonna need that back."

She shook her head. "You're not getting it back. What else do you take?"

"Coke, pot, that's all."

"What else, Drake?"

"I told you, that's all."

Mindy glared at him, and he was sure it she had practiced her vicious lawyer stare countless times in the mirror until it was perfected. The truth of it was that she had, and she'd gotten it down to a science; she knew just how long it would take for someone to break. Five, four, three, two…

"Vicodin and Valium when I can get them." Drake said it like it was absolutely nothing, letting the names roll off his tongue.

Mindy's jaw involuntarily dropped in utter shock. "God. What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you want to get anywhere in life? Do you? Because you certainly can't go into the music business trying to be successful when you're so out of your mind that you don't even know where you are!"

"I'm perfectly fine!" He was still shaking as he said it and that scared Mindy.

"You tried to have sex with me," she hissed. "You stumbled your way out of that club – do you even remember that? Because I doubt you do. So, I drove you home."

"I remember that part," Drake mumbled, rubbing his head. "Your voice sounds so acidic in small spaces."

Mindy huffed and rolled her eyes. "You're a lost cause, Drake. I brought you home, and then you tried to have sex with me."

"I didn't do that."

"Yes, you did! You're too high to even remember what happened!"

"This must be a really bad trip." As he said it, he was sure that he was living in reality, but justifying all of this as a hallucination seemed easier to understand than Mindy Crenshaw actually standing in his living room and screaming at him about his drug use.

"You can't even tell what's real and what's fake anymore! Wait until I tell your brother! I know I haven't spoken to him in years, but it's worth it to tell him this!"

"Don't!" Drake yelled, holding his head as he felt the buzzing bounce around. "Don't you fucking dare, Crenshaw."

"Scared, are we?" she asked, a venom-filled smirk creeping its way across her delicate face. It baffled Drake how she could go from looking so innocently pretty to the spawn of Satan in only a few seconds. "The Mighty Drake Parker is scared of what his brother thinks?"

"You don't even fucking understand."

"Care to enlighten me then?"

"Like you'd listen."

She sat down in a chair across from the couch, leaning toward him and trying to look relaxed. "God, can you stop shaking?"

He looked at her with glassy eyes full of confusion, completely oblivious to the fact that he was virtually vibrating. Upon seeing the look of helplessness, Mindy shook her head and said in a softer tone, "then tell me what's going on."

Drake sighed and Mindy watched as his body visibly deflated. He sunk deep into the cushions as he began to talk. "Josh is a teacher. My parents are so proud of him because he got a job the second he got out of college. Everyone told him he wouldn't find work that fast, but he was sure he would, and he did. His students love him, and he's constantly being told how wonderful he is. I'm so happy for him, but…" Drake let his train of thought trail off. "Whatever. He's working on getting his master's now in some fancy science thing. Environ something…"

"Environmental science," Mindy explained, resisting the urge to roll her eyes and attempting to keep the sharpness from seeping into her tone.

"That's it," he said, pointing toward her as a way of thanking her for finishing his thought. "Megan just graduated from an Ivy League school top of her class, and she just got a job at some major corporation." Drake sighed as he realized who he was pouring out all his problems to; he wasn't sure why he felt so comfortable talking to her. "This must be really good coke because I have no idea why I'm telling you all of this."

"I asked. My fault for getting into the mess." She held her hands up in surrender and shot Drake a gentle smile. "Go on."

"So, Megan has that, and Mom and Dad are so proud of both her and Josh…and then there's me. At eighteen, I was supposed to be the pride of Spin City Records. I don't know what happened." Drake shook his head thinking about all that could've been.

"What do you mean?" Mindy asked, expecting to hear his sob story about how the record deal he had been promised back in high school fell through.

"My first record was a success. I had two hit singles off that one, bitch. Can't take that away from me."

Mindy almost laughed, but instead suppressed her desire to giggle with a smile. "Congrats."

"Yeah, but that was when I was eighteen. It's all over now. I'm twenty-six and a has been, I guess."

She sensed that he was leaving out important details. "Drugs?"

He had been avoiding eye contact with her, but quickly flashed his eyes toward her. "What about 'em?" Drake's fingers still nervously tapped the edge of the couch.

"When did you start using?"

"What are you im-imp-saying?"

"Implying."

"That."

"I'm implying that the drugs most likely wrecked your career. Is that what this is?"

"Does it really matter?" Drake asked her, a mix of anger and sadness clouding over his face. It was then she saw how broken he really was. "I'm what I am now. Doesn't matter how I got here because I can't change that. I'm a washed up whatever who gets recognized more often than you'd think, but still not enough, and gets attacked by paparazzi sometimes and that's the biggest ego boost I have. Oh, and they wanted me to go on Celebrities Underwater. I don't care how fucking irrelevant I am – I am NOT doing that shit."

"Did you screw yourself over, though?" Mindy tried, unable to believe that Drake had any ounce of fame at one point in time. She wasn't quite sure how she'd missed it.

He looked so vulnerable and confused as he tried to connect the story to tell her. "I got my hands on some pot once. It wasn't hard to get. Then some coke." He shrugged.

"You didn't have to take it, genius! You could've said no." Mindy shook her head at Drake's stupidity.

"I was nineteen, Mindy."

"I would've said no at nineteen."

"Do you want a fucking medal for being so perfect?" Drake raged. For the first time, he saw regret fill Mindy's eyes, and he wondered if she was hiding anything.

She shook her head. "I'm not perfect, Drake. Keep going."

Drake sighed again, his body still shaking due to the intake of coke. "When I was eighteen, it all seemed so simple. I thought I knew everything, you know? And I didn't. So, I signed with Spin City Records, Josh got me a new manager when he went off to college, and I was so excited about everything. I knew I was gonna make it big, and so did everyone at the record company. My first record, 'Makes Me Happy,' did so well, Mindy. 'Makes Me Happy' was the number one song on the charts, and I did a world tour…everyone wanted to hear my music. There's no better feeling than that…getting to do what you love and having people receive it so well! Then my second single was 'Leave It All Behind,' and it didn't do as well as 'Makes Me Happy,' but it still sold thousands of copies.

"Spin City wanted me to do another record, so I started writing stuff, but it became less and less about the music. They saw that people were really into me as an artist that they thought they could control me. I tried to fight back, but I guess it was a breach of contract or something. I talked to Josh about it, and he told me just to go with it and we'd figure it all out eventually. I would've broken away from Spin City at some point, but I didn't expect it to go like it did…

"They set me up with some mainstream writers, hoping that they could change the style of my music, and instead of making it better, they made my music worthless. It had no meaning, and I had no say. These guys were trouble, too. They were only a little older than me, but they had access to all different kinds of drugs, and by default, I did, too. I was reluctant at first, but I tried pot and wanted more pretty quickly, but I knew that was common in the world of drugs, so I didn't think much of it. Then they gave me coke, and I got addicted. I'm not a hardcore druggie, Mindy. I promise you that. I know they say that's denial or whatever, but I'm not as bad as you'd think. Yeah, I do drugs, but I don't need them every day to function. It's not like I'm snorting lines every five minutes. Once a week maybe, but not all the time.

"But that's beside the point. I got hooked, and we wrote some music. Spin City approved it all because they thought it'd be the next best thing, and it wasn't. My second album flopped and they dropped me. It was their fault, not mine. I was perfectly happy staying with what I was doing, but they didn't want me to. So, I told my family that I got dropped, but left out anything about drugs. They still don't know. Well, Megan might because that little bitch can find out almost anything." He laughed as he said it. "But really, they don't know. I always wanted to try to start my own record company, but that's not easy, so instead, I've been playing gigs around town for years hoping that someone will sign me again. I have a semi-loyal following, but nothing like it used to be."

"Wow." Mindy leaned back into the chair utterly stunned that Drake had just poured his heart out to her. She had no idea that he'd had it so rough. "The drugs, though – you can get cleaned up."

Drake shook his head before letting it fall back on the couch. "I got into shit. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have, but now I get high to make life easier every so often. Josh has his students, Megan has her high power job, and I have my three fans and memories of what was."

"It doesn't have to be that way," she told him gently, reaching out and putting her hand lightly on his knee. "You can go to rehab or meetings or something and get things cleaned up. You can do something to help yourself and maybe then you can work out that record company. You can't keep playing victim; you can't be that stupid, Drake. You can fix it."

"I can't," he told her flatly, looking into her eyes.

"That's bullshit," Mindy spat, pulling away. "If you wanted help, you could get it, but I guess you don't want to do anything for yourself. You caused this, you can get out of this."

Drake groaned, his head feeling heavy as the buzz began to wear off. "I didn't take enough of this to deal with you. I need a better high than this."

"If you expect me to willingly fork the drugs back over to you, you're more delusional than I thought."

"Don't do me any favors."

"Drake Parker, you are infuriating!"

"If I knew what that meant, I'd probably tell you the same thing. Why are you even here, Mindy? Go home."

She shook her head and her hair fell into her eyes. She once again looked beautiful to Drake. "I'm trying to be a good person." Her voice was low.

"Well, I'll call the president and tell him to nominate you for the Nobel Peace Prize then!"

"You think I've had it so easy?" she yelled, standing up from the chair and grabbing her purse. "I've had it so far from easy. Do you think that I wanted to have all that pressure put on me back when we were in high school? Of course not! Because my parents decided when I was three that I needed to be the first woman president, I lost out on a normal childhood. I made the best of the hand that I was dealt, and did you think I was always happy? Why do you think I ended up in that institution, Drake? It wasn't the feud with Mrs. Hayfer that made me eventually crack!

"Every single night my parents would make me do hours upon hours of homework…when I was a freshman in high school, I was going on college visits and writing papers and not getting to hang out with my friends. I had no one in high school until I met Josh, and even though for a long time I treated him like shit, he was the best thing to happen to me throughout my entire high school career. I don't think anyone knows how badly that break-up cut me, well, until now, I guess." She ran a hand through her hair looking completely frazzled, yet relived to be getting all of it out. "It was the same thing in college. I went to Harvard, and my parents moved out there with me so they could stay on my ass. I made a few good friends in college, but my parents were just so dominating. Do you know why I came back to San Diego? Because they're not here anymore. Because I get to be a lawyer and I get to do what I love and I get to finally have some control over my life. When my mother calls me, I don't even answer the phone anymore. I let her leave a message on my voicemail because I don't want to talk to her. After all she did to me, she still thinks we're perfectly fine. How can anyone be fine after that? That's what I want to know!

"So, why am I here, Drake, why am I here? Because when I saw you walking out of that club, you may have been high, but you looked like you were about to break any second, and you still do. You look like you'll shatter into pieces at the drop of a hat. And why am I here? Because I wished someone would've noticed when I was about to shatter because no one ever did. So I'm here, trying to help you out and let you break if you need to. But if you don't want me here, I'll leave. You just don't get it." Mindy fiercely dragged her finger under her eye, trying to wipe away her tears and keep her make-up in tact. "I'll let myself out."

Drake heard her heels click on his hardwood floor and sighed. "Mindy, wait."

She clenched her jaw and turned around, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

"You care?"

Mindy nodded, taking a step closer to the living room. "It doesn't matter how much time has passed or whether or not we were friends in high school. You're struggling, I'm here."

"Stay," he whispered, running his hand through his hair, trying to figure out why he was suddenly allowing the creature to stay in his house.

"Okay," she replied softly, setting her purse down on the table and sitting down on the couch next to Drake.

"I had no idea you went through all of that," Drake admitted, looking at her with sad eyes. He never knew the girl who had radiated an image of perfection and brilliance was actually a walking façade.

"You learn to keep things like that hidden," Mindy said with a soft shrug. "Pretending that nothing is wrong is better than having people ask you what's wrong all the time, although it would've been nice to have one person see through that act I always put on. I even fooled your brother."

"Easy target," Drake laughed, seeing a smile stretch across Mindy's face.

"I didn't know you went through all that, either. When I saw you on the street, I had you pegged as an addict. I didn't realize there was such a story behind it. With all I've been through, I'm surprised I never started drinking."

"Not once?"

"Never."

"You're more uptight than I thought."

"You're just as loose as I thought."

Before long, conversation turned into cuddling, and they were curled up together on the couch with her soft hair tickling his nose and his breathing slow and even against her neck. It did cross her mind that she was snuggled up against Drake Parker, the boy – now man – that she loved to hate all those years, and he realized that he was getting his comfort from Mindy Crenshaw, the woman he had previously looked at as a cold-hearted bitch. Neither of them made an effort to move after these realizations, however; Drake felt safer than he had in months, and while Mindy didn't want to admit it, she had been walking around for as long as she could remember feeling like a piece was missing – he made her feel whole.