Title: The Truth About Josie
Author: Tally/Live2TiVo/Musical_Junkie
Pairing: Drake/Josh
Word Count: 1,165 (I thought it was longer, but, oh well. I wrote it in, like, two hours.)
Rating:K+/PG
Summary: It had been two years since Drake invented "Josie." Josie, who exists solely to ensure no one discovers that all of Drake's songs aren't about the steady stream of bimbos he dates, but are, in fact, written about his step-brother.
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Promise.
It had been two years since Drake invented "Josie." Josie, who only existed to be his muse. Josie, who he thought of every time he struggled to write a bridge. Josie, who helped prevent him from writing what he really means in his songs. Josie, who, if anyone had found out about, could have ruined his life. Josie, who existed solely to ensure no one discovered that all of Drake's songs aren't about the steady stream of bimbos he dates, but are, in fact, written about his step-brother.
*
It started on a Saturday afternoon. Josh was working at The Premiere, and Drake was sitting on the couch writing a song. Scribbling furiously on the first paper product he could find, it wasn't until he finished getting all of his thoughts down on a King Burger napkin that he realized exactly what he had written. It was a love song…to a "him."
It took Drake by surprise, as he thought he was writing the kind of generic love song that everyone expected him to write. But, no, here, in his own, barely legible, write now-decipher later handwriting was a not-so-generic love song about a person of the male gender. It didn't take him long to figure out who said person of the male gender was—Josh.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how many of his songs were about Josh, and that scared him. Normal people didn't write love songs about their step-brothers on fast food napkins.
Drake found an actual piece of paper and copied the lyrics (changing the "he"s to "she"s and the "him"s to "her"s.) Worried about Josh finding the first draft, Drake attempted to eat the napkin. After chewing for a couple minutes, Drake decided to just spit the masticated remains in the trash can.
When Josh returned home that night, he asked Drake why his teeth were blue. Drake told him a pen exploded in his mouth. Josh accepted this explanation, and Drake offered to play him what he had written so far. As he strummed slowly, making sure that he was using all the right pronouns, Drake decided he didn't want another close call. That was the night Josie was born—a female version of Josh for Drake to think of whenever he wrote love songs.
*
The existence of Josie was Drake's secret for two years—two long years of dating dumb blondes and equally dumb brunettes to keep up appearances. Two long years of waking up at two in the morning to watch Josh sleep whenever he was suffering from writer's block. Two long years of "Hug me, Brotha!" hugs that never seemed to last long enough. Two long years that weren't long enough.
As time passed, "Josie" began to develop, changing from the image of Josh in his Miss Nancy dress to a female who looked very much like Josh, who was oddly hot. Josie walked like Josh (in heels), talked like Josh (in a higher pitch), and did things to Drake in dreams that he's only seen in videos (that were most definitely not labeled "Fruit and Vegetable Channel: Squash Surprises" and hidden in an old guitar case.) Josie helped Drake pretend that he wasn't in love with Josh but with Josh's hot female cousin. This, of course, would have worked if Josie didn't turn into Josh as soon as Drake's dreams began to get a little (or very) steamy.
Josie was Drake's dirty little secret until he "borrowed" Josh's history notes to write down random song lyrics that popped in his head. Distracted by a call of "Drake! Dinner!," he'd left the notes on Josh's desk and forgotten all about them as he ate pizza and tried to convince his mom that he was really trying to raise his math grade.
That night, as Josh sat down to read over his history notes, he was surprised to see that after the period of Radical Reconstruction, there were lyrics to a song about a girl named Josie.
"Who's Josie?"
Drake, who was "studying for math" by timing how long he could hold his breath, dropped his watch at Josh's question. "What?"
"Josie—the girl you wrote a song about on my history notes."
"Oh, nobody. Just some girl," Drake lied as he tried desperately to keep from hyperventilating.
"Come on, Drake. Who is she? There's no one at school named Josie. How did you meet her?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Why? What did she do to you?"
"Nothing. Just drop it, okay, Josh."
"But it says here that she's your 'reason for writing' and the 'smile behind your songs.' She has to mean something."
"She doesn't, okay. She's just someone I made up to write songs about."
"Songs, as in more than one. How many songs have you written about this imaginary Josie person, anyway?"
Sometimes Drake wished Josh wasn't so smart. If he wasn't, maybe he wouldn't be so inquisitive and this conversation would have been over a long time ago.
"Drake?"
"Huh, what?"
"I asked how many of your songs are about Fake Josie."
"All of them," admitted Drake. "Well, not all of them. One's about how I didn't want to fold my laundry."
"That doesn't count. It was two lines: I don't want to fold my laundry/Oh, Joshie, won't you fold it for me?—you sang it for fifteen minutes until I folded your laundry so you'd shut up."
Wow, even that one was about Josie, thought Drake.
"What?"
"Shit. I mean, nothing."
"How is the laundry song about Josie? Unless…oh."
"Yeah." Drake could no longer look at Josh.
"How long?"
"Two years," Drake answered truthfully, figuring it wasn't any use lying anymore.
"Why?"
And then it happened. Two years of well-kept secrets were spilled out in less than five minutes. Drake stared at the floor the whole time he was talking, hoping that, by not looking at Josh, it would all turn out to be a dream.
"Wow," said Josh when Drake finished his story.
"I'm sorry."
"Why?"
"Because, you were never supposed to find out."
"So?"
"So…I just told you I've been writing love songs about you for the past two years and you're taking the news like I told you Mrs. Hayfer hates me."
"She does hate you."
"I know."
"I don't."
"You don't what?"
"Hate you."
For the first time, Drake raised his head and looked at Josh. "Really?"
"How could I hate someone who writes songs about me?"
"I'm sure there's a way."
"If there is, I'm not looking for it," Josh replied as he walked over to the couch where Drake was sitting.
Taking a seat next to Drake, Josh turned to him and said, "Kiss me, Brotha?"
"What?"
"You heard me," whispered Josh, as he leaned in to touch Drake's lips with his own. Both were smiling as they pulled apart.
"Maybe we should stop calling each other 'brother' if we're going to keep doing this."
"Whatever you want…Josie."
If you have time to read, you have time to review! Please. It will help me make it through finals!
