Notes: And here is the next chapter for those who are following along (silently or otherwise).

I honestly was stuck for a bit with this one, but I hope this is acceptable!

Drew staying with us had been more of a blessing than either of us would care to admit. It was no secret to anyone, old or young, that life would get monotonous after a while, no matter how much you otherwise loved your life and how much novelty you provided for it. We all always craved, longed, for something better, or for something more, even if we may never know what that 'something more' or 'something better' was.

Drew entertaining Max in his free time helped me a lot; as much as he lamented on how much Drew hadn't lost his touch with video games, he was happy to have a partner who didn't absolutely suck at them (see: me and the rest of our family . . . )

"Are you going to space out for the duration of us being couch potatoes, or are you going to strike up conversation at any given moment?"

I glanced down at Drew, who was laying on the floor against the couch, staring directly up at me with that stunning, dragon-like gaze. Magnetic and haunting as it always was, for as long as I've remembered them . . .

"Sorry," I chuckled, curling up on my spot. "You guys seemed very intensely focused on game play."

"I can multitask," Drew remarked, "Dunno about Einstein over there, but I would imagine he too could."

"Nah, I'd rather just focus on kicking your ass instead of being a third wheel."

"MAX!"

"Hey! I'm just stating facts here."

"That would have been an appropriate label for you had we been romantically involved," I scoffed, "But as of this moment there really isn't - !"

Drew piped up, raising a finger as if to point something out: "Don't I have a say on this matter or are we going to continue speaking like I'm not in the same room as you two?"

"Sorry," Max responded flippantly, then knocked Drew's player in the game out the second he was caught off guard. "Yes! Finally."

Drew shook his head. "That was a low tactic; I was distracted!"

"Hell yeah you were, by your beautiful crush!"

I glared icily at them. "Guys, knock it off!"

"He started it!" Max and Drew retaliated in unison as they jabbed their fingers at each other.

I rolled my eyes, focusing them back onto the screen. The 'Game Over' screen blinked on and off in orange text on a black background, and I scooped up the third controller.

"Maybe we can play some classic games."

"Like what," Drew started, as he and Max exchanged glances, "Like . . . Mario Kart?"

"I've only just now mastered Rainbow Road, years later!"

"You don't master that road. The road masters you."

"This has been the only time you've ever said something absolutely ridiculous." Max then paused for a moment, as if processing something and confirming it. "Ah wait, no actually, anything that ever comes out of your mouth is ridiculous."

Drew made a move to lunge toward him but I held him back. "We are not having you two become Rowdy Ruff Boys."

Drew's head snapped at my direction: "A Powerpuff Girls reference in this decade?"

"You guys have no right to judge me, especially you, Mr. I Have a Boner for Freddie Mercury!"

"But you like Freddie Mercury - " Drew held his hands up high in surrender. "Ehhh. Fine. I'll let you have this one."

I smiled brightly in triumph, messing around with the controls until I found the home screen with the various gaming options Max had installed over time. He had quite the collection!

"Uhh, so I'm not that well versed in the gaming community. Tell me something good that we can play."

"You and Drew can snuggle and play footsie with each other while we figure out what to do about May's stalker situation," Max scoffed, hopping off the couch and waltzing into the kitchen to prepare himself some snacks. "Does anyone have any munchies?"

"None for me, thanks," Drew murmured as I noticed him seeming a little zoned out. "May?"

"I'm okay."

"But you never refuse food."

"I know, but I want to play a game with you guys."

Max muttered something to himself that neither of us quite caught as he fumbled between kitchen utensils, supplies, and ingredients. "The only games you two are gonna be playing is in your beds or on that couch, and I'm not sure I want to be around for any of that. Besides, we have to work on keeping May safe here, not dance around your desires to get in each other's pants. K?"

I dragged out an exaggerated sigh, huffing as my arms crossed over my chest causing the controller to fall right into my lap.

"Max, subtlety is clearly not your strong suit!" I pouted, then glanced at Drew, who was more focused on inspecting his nails than on the conversation between siblings with chronic desires to get on each other's nerves.

Wait, that was a generic sibling dynamic - Drew and his sister were equally if not more obnoxious compared to Max and I.

"Speaking of annoying siblings, I should give Cordelia a call. She's probably wondering why I haven't checked in."

"You're going to leave me alone to bear Max in all of his annoyingness?"

"Sorry May, he's your blood kin, and I already have a naggy older sister to endure myself." Drew chuckled as he caught a lock of my hair between his fingers, twirling it and keeping his gaze fixed on me for a few brief moments before disappearing into another room of the guest cottage.

When it was just us in the main room again, Max cleared his throat. "And have you not jumped his bones yet?"

"Max, that's not the main reason why he's here."

"I'm just saying - if you guys have any pent up sexual frustration you need to release, I can easily just . . ."

I only stared. "Why is this such a concern to you? Just finish making your sandwich and let's just kill time until we get any more cryptic threats from an unknown aggressor."

I settled onto the couch again and picked up the nearest magazine to read, just some outdated magazine from the early 90's. I did feel that sudden shift in Drew's demeanor again, like I have been since he arrived, but neither he nor Max seemed to have made any comments about those odd character shifts. It wasn't just him being interested in me or what was happening with me - there was something else. Whatever that something else was was clearly bothering Drew a lot and no one had thought to step forward about it yet.

Eventually . . .