Author's Notes: I do not own Drake & Josh, I'm making no profit from this, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story contains strong sexuality and homosexual situations; if that's not your thing then go check out another story. This story also takes place after "Eric Punches Drake" just to give you an idea of a timeline. Enjoy!

Them & Us
Drake/Josh, 2720 words

Late one night as Drake sat perched on his bed, with his favorite acoustic guitar in hand. He had finally worked out a useable melody, but writer's block pained him as the blank notepad stared back at him. Drake threw his chewed pencil down in frustration as Josh opened the door and walked into the room that they shared together.

"Hey man, where've you been?" Drake asked, idly plucking at guitar strings. "You missed dinner."

"Uh, yeah. Yes I did," Josh replied, making his way down to the couch. He looked nervous, almost agitated as he walked back and forth and turned himself around in circles as though he was looking for something.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Where were you?"

"Oh – I had dinner over at Mindy's house."

"Josh, what's wrong?" Drake asked as he set down his guitar. Climbing down from his loft, he continued. "You're running around like a chicken with its head cut off." He paused and chuckled to himself as that image played out in his head. "Man, wouldn't that be cool?"

Josh ignored Drake's musings and dropped to the floor, landing hard on his hands and knees as he looked under the braided rug and the worn couch. He reached under and answered Drake's original question. "Nothing's wrong, dude, quit worrying."

"I'm not worried, I'm just asking," Drake replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "What are you looking for?"

As Drake asked, Josh finally found what he was looking for and closed his hand around the object, pulling it out quickly. Josh swiftly hid the item as he scrambled to get to his feet. He let a wide, somewhat fake smile stretch over his features as he made eye contact with a very confused Drake.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Josh said, shifting uneasily. Drake narrowed his eyes at him; obviously, something was up. But what?

"Josh, what's behind your back?"

And there was that look again. That twitchy, agitated look he got in his face when something was wrong; there was no denying it this time. But he hesitated in answering, which made Drake even more frustrated than before (he hated being out of the loop).

"C'mon man, why are you acting all weird and twitchy?" Drake asked as he sighed irritably. Tonight was just not his night; first his writer's block and now he couldn't even count on Josh to provide entertainment.

"I am not acting all weird and twitchy," Josh informed him with a particularly haughty tone in his voice. "Dude, what's with all the questions? Why don't you just shine a light in my eye or something?" He turned on his heel and bent over to pick up the remote control from the coffee table when something caught the other boy's eye.

"Hey man, what's that in your back pocket?"

Josh was quick, but Drake was faster. They became a tangle of arms and legs, one fighting while the other resisted. Somehow, the two of them lost balance and fell against the couch, but it didn't deter them from their struggle. Ignoring the sting in his thigh as Josh slapped him, Drake finally was able to get a hold of whatever was in the other boy's back pocket and he scrambled off the couch, leaping up victoriously.

"Ha!" Drake exclaimed, holding the object high over his head in a tight fist. Bringing his arm down, he held the coveted item in his hands; stretched the elastic between his fingertips and raised his eyebrows questioningly as Josh groaned. "Panties? Why on earth are you stuffing little pink panties into your back pocket?"

Josh couldn't make eye contact with him; he already felt ashamed enough as it was. But Drake was standing there, holding the offending underwear in his hand and he knew that the situation was turning into something like ripping off a band-aid. The quicker he did it, maybe the quicker the pain would disappear. But Josh had never been good at that, so he just felt trapped. He mumbled out of the side of his mouth, leaving his brother confused.

"What?"

"They're…they're Mindy's, okay?"

Shrieking as though he'd been burned, Drake flung the panties at Josh and wiped the back of his hands on his jeans as a thousand mortifying thoughts ran through his head.

"What on…how did….when did….why…"

"We got back together," Josh said quickly, taking the final plunge in ripping his own proverbial band aid.

Drake took a step back, as though Josh had punched him the gut, because he felt like his stomach was going to burst into a million tiny pieces. The words replayed themselves silently in a repetitive loop in his head as the other boy sat in front of him, unable to make eye contact and come to terms with the bombshell that he'd just dropped on both of them.

"You got back together? You and the Creature?"

"Don't call her that."

Shock was replaced with anger and Drake felt a fire light somewhere deep within him. He wanted to punch and scream and make this all go away, but he couldn't. The realness of the situation was slowly sinking in and he found that he couldn't, wouldn't cope with the aftermath.

"Drake, where are you going?"

"I can't…I can't deal with this right now," he answered, even surprising himself a little when he reached the cold windowsill. Drake pushed the window up with both hands and had a leg out when he felt the other boy's hand on his shoulder.

"Don't do this," Josh pleaded with the slightest trace of panic haunting his eyes. "You're already grounded for skipping out on detention." It was a lame excuse to keep him in the room and they both knew it

Drake looked up and flashed him a bitter smirk. "So, what's one more day?"

All Josh could do was stand helplessly as he watched Drake climb the rest of the way out the window. The band aid had been ripped wide open and he felt the numbing pain envelop him as he made his way over to his bed and flopped down, stretched out on his stomach. Sighing, he thought about how it was Drake who usually screwed up and he would have to clean the mess. But now that the roles had been reversed, Josh wasn't sure how to get himself out this time.

--

He was angry, cold, and a little tipsy as he climbed back through the window an hour and a half later. The digital clock next to his bed read out 1:30, but it had felt so much later when Trevor had dropped him off near the back of his house. He hadn't meant to get drunk when he punched in Trevor's number in his cell phone, but the words had tumbled haphazardly out of his mouth when his friend answered.

"Hey man, got anything left over from that party last week?"

Trevor was surprised, but he didn't question Drake when he came to pick him up a few blocks from his house with a half empty bottle of coconut rum. They'd driven to the elementary school playground and sat on the freezing bench as Trevor watched Drake drink straight from the bottle, unusually quiet.

They sat there, letting the wind bite at them as they watched the swings move back and forth. Trevor would tell Drake stories about his girlfriend Sally and how he was probably going to dump her soon if she didn't stop sleeping in other guys' cars. Drake would nod along at all the right parts between swigs from the glass bottle and it's not that Trevor was i worried /i about him - the two boys were certainly familiar with alcohol from the parties their friends would throw when their parents were out of town. But for one of his closest friends to call him up in the middle of the night asking for some alcohol and someone to talk to was a little weird. He finally got up the courage to ask and Drake sighed as he took another sip and stared at the black pavement.

"Josh and Mindy got back together."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything, man, everything."

"What are you talking about? You've handled Josh and Mindy before."

"It was different then."

"Hey, slow down with that rum buddy. Maybe I should take you home."

And now here Drake was, standing back in the warm bedroom and contemplating his next move. Thoughts from earlier flooded his head and the bombshell Josh had dropped still didn't hurt any less. But he stood in front of his loft and the ladder seemed like much more of a struggle than usual.

Light glared suddenly at him, coming from the desk by the window and Drake turned to see Josh clad in his pajamas with an interesting look of worry and anger on his face. He'd seen the look so many times in his parents, but with Josh the look held so much more weight behind it.

"How'd you get there?" Drake asked blinking as his eyes adjusted to the dim lamp light.

"Where were you?" Josh ignored him and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his desk chair.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"Not here."

"Drake!"

"Hey, I don't have…" Drake started and then steadied himself against the loft when he felt himself lose a bit of balance. "…to answer to you. I was just out; none of your concern anymore."

"That's not fair," Josh said, pursing his lips. He watched as Drake grabbed for the ladder railing and a thought began to dawn on him when he started noticing things; like how unsteady Drake's steps were or how red his cheeks were. "Drake, are you drunk?"

He didn't answer as he dragged his muddy green t-shirt over his head, threw it in the general direction of the laundry basket, and missed by a long shot. Drake began pulling at his belt buckle and Josh got up quickly and helped him stand upright when it looked like the other boy was going to bang his head on the couch on the way to the floor.

"Don't touch me," Drake mumbled as he pulled the belt out of the loops of his jeans. "Mindy wouldn't like…I'm still mad at you."

"God, your skin is like ice," Josh commented with his palms covering Drake's bare freckled shoulders. He knew the other boy was furious at him, but it didn't stop Josh from pulling him into a hug. Warm and strong, they stood in semi-darkness as Josh held him tight, breathing in the mixture of clean shampoo and outside while trying to erase the cold. His cheek rested against Drake's head and he could feel the steady pattern of the rise and fall of Drake's chest and he couldn't help himself when he kissed the sensitive skin at his temple.

"Don't…" Drake whispered and Josh would've listened, really. But his eyes were pleading opposite of what he was saying and Josh pulled him closer when their lips met. He brought the other boy with him up the stairs, pulled him down onto his bed, and tugged at Drake's bottom lip which consequently drew a moan from deep inside Drake.

Josh moved his mouth down the other boy's neck and shoulder while Drake threw his leg over so that he was straddling Josh's waist. His hands tugged at the hem of Josh's red shirt and he yanked it off as Josh reached for the zipper on his jeans. But Drake paused and sat up, breaking contact between his collarbone and the other boy's lips.

"What, what's wrong?"

"Is this what we're doing?"

"If you don't know by now…" Josh smiled, his voice trailing off when he was met with a frown. "It's not like we haven't been here before."

"Do you love her?" Drake blurted out and immediately regretted it. He covered his eyes with his hand and sighed as he dragged his palm down the rest of his face. He opened his eyes to see the other boy looking hurt and confused. "Don't…don't listen to me. I'm kind of drunk."

"Yeah, I know," Josh answered dryly. "Look Drake, I never thought that Mindy…or any of the girls you dated were a problem. There was them and then…I don't know, there was us."

"Yeah, us," Drake whispered as he braced his arms on the cushy mattress, his chest hovering close over Josh's. He paused for a moment and then bent down to kiss him; slow at first, but more demanding as their tongues tangled together and Josh sunk his hands into Drake's soft auburn hair.

Drake slid his hand down the worn blue comforter and over Josh's comfortable flannel pants to the erection that had grown fast and needing against his thigh. He opened his palm and rubbed slowly, keeping his momentum even as Josh's breathing felt hot and ragged on his rum flavored lips.

"Mmm…geez, Drake," Josh gasped against his cheek. A faint sweat was starting to break out over his forehead and he jerked his hips in an attempt for more contact, but Drake held strong.

"You need this," Drake whispered back, his voice low and gravelly. "You need this and…you need me."

Josh could only whimper and nod in agreement as his hand dropped from Drake's neck to grab a fistful of comforter. Pressure was slowly, painfully building below the waistband of his pants and he used his other hand to work the zipper of Drake's jeans. He took immediate pleasure in seeing Drake visibly shudder when his hand dove into his blue boxers and made contact.

The sound of their uneven breathing filled the quiet room and when his eyes weren't closed, Drake appreciated the dark shadows that stretched across Josh's bare chest. He too slid his hand beneath the waistband of Josh's underwear and they began to fist each other – hot, needing, and fast with desire. Josh cried out when his orgasm came spilling out, setting off Drake's own release.

Drake allowed himself to untangle his legs and fall on to his back on the soft mattress. Before he passed out, the last thing he remembered was seeing the other boy's fading grin.

--

He awoke the following morning in Josh's bed, tucked under the covers, and pants-less. He felt warm and cozy for a few moments until the evil hangover headache began to pound dully at his skull. Shielding his face from the light in the window, Drake opened his eyes and realized that he wasn't the only one awake.

"I can't…I know I promised, but I can't go," Josh was saying, pacing in front of the couch with his cell phone in hand. He paused and raked a hand through his curly brown hair. "Mindy, you know I want to, but it's just not going to work out. …Why? Because I promised Drake that I'd help him with our chemistry test on Monday. …No, it is not a lost cause! …Look, why don't you go with Craig and Eric to the planetarium and I'll catch up with you guys at The Premiere later, okay? …Yeah, I'll miss you too. …Bye Mindy."

Josh threw the phone on the couch and sighed as he noticed Drake was sitting up in his bed, fully awake. "Hey sleepyhead. How long have you been up?"

"Ugh, loud noises," Drake complained, sliding back under the covers. Josh smiled as he climbed the stairs, making his way over to the bed. Drake felt the mattress dip as Josh sprawled out on his side, folding his hands underneath his head.

"Serves you right for disappearing last night."

"What was the phone call about?" Drake asked, ignoring Josh's comment. He couldn't muster up the energy to argue with him, much less fight - as they were prone to do.

"Uh, I just…blew off plans with Mindy to hang out with you," Josh said, his voice growing softer. Drake didn't know what to say; he gave his step-brother a grateful smile and twisted so that he lay on his side. Josh leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before sliding off the bed. "Just hold tight and I'll get you some aspirin. Then maybe we can go for some pizza later."

"You are so the best brotha ever."

FIN.