Collide is the sequel to Measure of a Man. If you haven't read that yet, I suggest you read it first. Took me long enough to post this story. Anyway, the title I originally had in mind for this was "Shadows of the Night." I think "Collide" is such a pretty song though and more current, so people would know that one before the other. In this one, Josh and Cassandra are worried about Drake because he's been acting weird. They want to know why. It's senior year, so a lot is gonna happen. Drake becomes more mature. Does anyone miss the old Drake? Oh well, there's still the laughable moments (I hope).

Let's just get down to the point: I don't own Drake & Josh characters or anything like that. "Collide" is sung and written by Howie Day.

Oh yeah, Drake's sick here, so don't read this chapter if you're eating. It picks up right where I left off with the last one.

Drake woke up Monday morning after Homecoming, feeling a bit sick. He climbed down the stairs wanting to just turn around and fall back into bed, or run to the bathroom and toss his cookies. He wasn't quite sure which he wanted to do.

"You look terrible," said Josh, glancing up at his step-brother.

"Gee, thanks," said Drake.

Audrey walked into the kitchen and looked at Drake.

"Drake, do you feel alright?" she asked.

"Not really," he replied.

Audrey felt his head and took his temperature.

"I think you should stay home," she said. "I'll give Dr. Glazer a call. Josh, could you take Megan to school this morning?"

"Sure Mom," said Josh, always the responsible one.

Josh and Megan headed out the door.

"Hey Josh, can you do something for me?" asked Drake.

"Sure what?" asked Josh.

At school Drake's girlfriend, Cassandra, walked up to her locker. She hadn't seen Drake yet that morning and didn't know where he was. She didn't call him in the morning before school, mostly because she knew how long it took him to get out of bed. She'd seen Josh, so she didn't know where Drake was. Oh well, she'd ask Josh during their cooking class. She opened her locker and got her answer.

She found a flower laying there and a note. She picked it up and read it.

Cassie,

I got a little sick today. I thought I'd ask Josh to help me leave you this little surprise. See you soon.

Love, Drake

Cassandra smiled and picked up the flower. Her boyfriend was so sweet, even when he was sick. She'd have to call him at lunch.

Drake sat in his bed. His mother walked upstairs with their neighbor, Dr. Glazer.

"Hello Drake," said Dr. Glazer.

"Hi," Drake replied.

"I'm going to go downstairs," said Audrey. "Call me if you need anything." She headed down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"What's the problem?" asked Dr. Glazer.

"I just woke up feeling sick. I don't know what's wrong. I've thrown up a few times."

"Hmm," said the doctor. He examined Drake and wrote a quick note on his tablet. "What'd you eat last night before you went to bed, Drake?"

"Uh, well I was kind of hungry, so I ate some of the chicken that was left."

"I see. How old was it?"

"How should I know?" asked Drake.

"I see. Okay, that's all. I think you have food poisoning. You should feel better tomorrow. You should even be able to go to school."

"Aw," moaned Drake, falling backward on his pillow.

"I think you also have to get your priorities in order."

"I just wanted to know if I was sick."

"Hey, I call the diagnosis as I see it. Even if it's not an illness."

"Gee thanks."

"Do I need to tell your parents about the sheep?"

"They already know."

"Oh."

Audrey came back up the stairs.

"Are you finished?" she asked.

"Yep," said Dr. Glazer. "Drake seems to have food poisoning. I recommend that he stay in bed. Once it's out of his system he'll stop throwing up. I also recommend that you throw out the rest of that chicken. Here's my bill." Dr. Glazer tore the page off of his tablet and handed it to Audrey. "Three hundred dollars." He quickly left.

Josh walked into the bedroom he shared with Drake. Drake was lying in his bed, looking pale, but better than he had that morning.

"Hey man," said Josh. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," said Drake. "Turns out I had food poisoning, still feel a bit sick though. I've been throwing up all day."

"Ew," said Josh. "Well, I brought something that might cheer you up."

"Oh really?" asked Drake, not too interested. Sometimes Josh's surprises weren't ones to cheer him up. Especially since Josh's surprises turned out to be magic tricks.

"Yeah," said Cassandra.

"Cassie?" asked Drake.

"Yeah," said Josh. "I'll leave you two alone." Josh walked out of the bedroom to go do his homework downstairs.

"Hey," said Cassandra. "How are you?"

"Alright," said Drake. "Once what ever I ate is out of my system, I'll be fine. That's what Dr. Glazer said anyway."

"That's good to know," said Cassandra. "I'm sure when my parents find out you're sick they'll be bugging me about whether or not you're still coming to dinner on Saturday."

"I should be there," said Drake. "Unless I die from throwing up."

"There goes my dinner."

"Sorry."

Actually, the thought of dinner with Cassandra's parents made Drake feel even worse. They had only recently lifted a ban they'd had on Cassandra. For three months she hadn't been allowed to date Drake. In that time he didn't date anyone else and was angry with her parents. He also realized though, that she meant a lot to him. Which was why, just a few days ago he told her he loved her. The best part was that she had told him she loved him too. Which was evident, as here she was, standing in the middle of his bedroom, cheering him up when he looked and felt like crap.

"So," said Drake. "I'm guessing I've got a lot of homework today?"

"Kind of," said Cassandra. "Nothing for health, but, and I know this isn't going to be your favorite topic this year, Mrs. Haifer is talking to us about college essays."

"I see," said Drake. He had told Cassandra he was going to go to college the next year, just because he had no idea if his band was going to make it or not. It's not that people didn't believe in him. It was just that music was a hard business to get into. He had to admit it. He was hoping he would make it, but then again, it wouldn't be easy. The thing that annoyed him about English though was that he had Mrs. Haifer, again.

"Yeah, so, she wanted us to have a list of the colleges we were thinking of going to tomorrow," said Cassandra.

"Oh well," said Drake. "Gives me something to do tonight...um...I don't know where I want to go."

"I see," she said. "Well, Josh and I can help you. Oh yeah, and there's a physics quiz tomorrow."

"Oh...I think I have the urge to hurl again."

"Drake, just be ready for the quiz tomorrow."

Josh was working at the Premiere and Cassandra was sitting at a table not too far away doing her calculus homework. She tapped her pencil against her notebook and erased part of her formula and rewrote it. Now she had the derivative. She continued working until she noticed someone standing near her.

"Hi," said a male voice.

"Oh, hello," she said. "Sorry, I didn't realize anyone was standing there."

"That's okay," he said. "My name's John. Your's is Cassandra right?"

"Yeah," she replied. "You're in my calculus class aren't you?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Oh, that's cool."

John sat down across from her. Josh glanced up and gave her a look. She shrugged her shoulders toward Josh before turning back to John.

"Well," she said. She needed to find out what this guy wanted. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Huh, no," he replied.

Oh man, now he thought she was interested. She sat there looking a bit worried.

"So," he said. "What are you doing here all alone?" he asked.

"My boyfriend is sick tonight," she replied. There, that should fix the damage.

"Oh," he said. "I see." He looked a bit disappointed, but Cassandra was not going lead John on. "I have to go," he said. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," she replied as he left. She gathered up her stuff and walked over to the counter where Josh was.

"What was that?" asked Josh.

"I have no idea," Cassandra replied.

"Hey, I know that guy. He was in my physics class last year. He mentioned something about liking the new girl with curly brown hair and...oh, um yeah," he said, staring at Cassandra's curled brown hair. "Maybe we shouldn't mention this to Drake."

"I don't like keeping things from him, but maybe you're right," Cassandra said. "I'd feel bad if he got jealous. John looked unhappy, but I think he just feels kind of bad. He seems like a nice guy. He probably understands."

"John?" asked Josh. "Yeah, he'd understand. He's a genuinely happy person. He should be over this by tomorrow." Josh made sure to reassure Cassandra. He knew she loved Drake, but he also knew she didn't like to hurt anyone's feelings.

"Anyway," said Cassandra. "I've got to go. I've got a physics quiz to study for."

"See ya."

Josh got home from work and headed up to his room. Drake was sitting on his bed, playing his guitar.

"Feeling better?" asked Josh.

"Yep, no more throwing up," replied Drake.

"Good. Because if you talk about throwing up anymore, that's what I'm going to have to do. Don't you have a physics quiz tomorrow?"

"Oh yeah. How did you know? You weren't here when Cassie told me."

"She was doing her calculus at the Premiere tonight. She mentioned it then. You know, she shouldn't go to the Premiere without you. Do you know how many guys were checking her out tonight?"

Drake slowly lifted his head, giving Josh an "why in the world would I want to know that?" look.

"As glad as I am that I have an attractive girlfriend, I'd rather not hear about how much other guys want to date her."

"I really shouldn't tell you about John then."

"Who?"

"Oops."

"Who?"

"No one..."

"What's going on Josh?"

"Some guy who liked Cassandra last year evidently still likes her this year, and I'm pretty sure he was trying to get a date with her, but I swear Cassandra made it clear she has a boyfriend!" All this came out in a rush.

"What?" asked Drake. "Who's John?"

"He's in her calculus class."

"He's smart, huh?" asked Drake.

"Yeah," said Josh.

"Hmm," replied Drake, looking back down at his guitar.

"Now, don't go thinking you're not good enough for her again. After what you told me about your conversation at Homecoming, I would hope that you have more faith in your relationship than that. She told you she doesn't care about your grades."

"I know," said Drake. "It's just hard when she's so smart."

"Yeah, I know what it's like to be second to your girlfriend."

"Yeah," said Drake rolling his eyes. "I'm sure it's hard to deal with getting only a ninety-nine percent when your girlfriend gets one hundred."

"Don't mock me. It's been a long day."

"Oh, Megan deleted those Oprah files from your computer."

"Why didn't you stop her?"

"Because. Dr. Glazer said stay in bed."

"And today just keeps getting better."

This story is longer than the last one, just letting you know ahead of time. Please review.