Summary:
My Christmas Drake & Josh Story. Same characters as my other fic; "Party in a Box". One shot, Completed.
Disclaimer:
For Christmas, I would like the rights to Drake and Josh! But… Santa told me no… so I STILL don't own them.
Note to Readers:
This is my little bit of Christmas spirit. I haven't really felt like this has been the holidays, this year, so I decided at the last minute to try and get in to the feeling with this short story. I have no storyline whatsoever, but I'm coming up with it as I write. Hopefully it isn't completely stupid and pointless, and you guy will enjoy it instead of cringing in disgust. LOL. I was inspired a lot by Midie's "Christmas Shoes" story, to write a Christmas fic of my own, and Midie, if you read this—YOUR FIC ROCKED THE WORLD! LOL, it was perfect. Mine isn't as inspiring, but I think it'll be pretty fun to read. Anyway, here it is— my second Drake and Josh fic; "Rocking Around The Christmas Tree". I know it's a bit late, since this IS December 28th, now, but hey, I tried to meet my deadline. –wink--
Story: "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree"
Chapter: "Love me at Christmas, Brother"; One
Written By: Ginger
Extras:
Italics in "quotation marks" symbolize thoughts of
Drake's.
Dedication:
This story is dedicated to my best friend ever—Brittney. I love you girl. I hope reading this story might make your Christmas just a glimmer brighter. Thanks for being there.
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"Josh!" Drake called up the stairs, shutting the front door and shivering when the nice warm air from the indoors hit his face. The boy was dressed in a dark colored coat and a red scarf, valiantly decorated with the image of a flying v guitar, and his silky brunette hair dropped in front of his sparkling coffee eyes as he set his packages on the hardwood floor. "Josh!" he repeated, pulling the scarf from his neck and trudging quickly up the stairs.
He reached the top and took a running slide down the hall, grabbing the doorknob of he and his brother's room, then yanking the door open with a quick jerk.
A dark haired, hazel eyed boy sat at his computer, leaning in close to stare at the screen. "Yo!" Drake exclaimed, slipping from his heavy jacket and throwing it on to the back of the couch, as he stepped a few steps across the room. The other boy didn't look up from the screen, but simply deepened his frown and gazed harder at the screen. "Hello?"
Suddenly, after he remained silent for a minute more, Josh saw something fly at him from the corner of the room and everything went black. "Ugh!" he finally winced, grabbing his step brother's jacket from his head and tossing it back to it's owner, with a highly annoyed roll of the eyes: "What. Do. You. Want?-!" "Aw, come on! You can do a lot better than that! It's almost Christmas! You're supposed to be nice, not all grouchy!" the other teen ager laughed, flinging his slip on shoes across the room and flopping down on to the couch.
"Not now that I found out what Meghan did!" Josh growled, crossing his arms and spinning the chair around so he could look at the brown eyed boy. "What'da ya mean? Did she rig the shower head to spray vinegar again?" Drake asked, adjusting the pillow behind him and laying his head back, as he watched Josh's face. "No! She used my account to buy a hundred dollars worth of junk off of eBay!" he growled, in an almost shrill voice. "Oww… a hundred? That's steep. What did she buy?" Drake replied, shaking his head. "That's just it! I dunno! She changed to password and forwarded the confirmation emails to her email address!"
Drake began to chuckle and then finally gave in to a full-blown laughter attack. "She—she blocked you out of your own account?-! Seriously?" "Yeah." Josh glared; "But instead of laughin', Mister Parker, maybe you ought to be praying it ain't another sheep!"
"Boys!" Audrey called from downstairs, interrupting Drake's chance to retort against his humorously argumentative brother, "Come down here!"
"Great. I wonder what we're gonn'a get grounded for this time." Josh grouched, looking toward the door in disgust as he rose, along with the other boy, from his seat. "Dude, don't be such a Scrooge! Get Christ-mas…sy!" Drake rolled his eyes, with a chuckle as he pushed past his ill mooded step brother and toward the stairs.
It was maybe a minute and a half later before both of them where downstairs, and finally when they reached the front door's landing, Audrey met them there with not a look of discipline or a frown, but a smile. "Hey Mom! What did you call us for?" Drake said, still waiting for Josh to make the arrival to a happier outlook. "Well, Drake, there's somebody on the phone for you-- and Josh, I believe you have a few Christmas cards on the dining room table!" she dimpled, patting Josh on the back after noticing his dreary demeanor. Drake on the other hand, ignored his brother and rushed in to the kitchen to pick up the phone that was waiting for him, sitting on the counter.
Josh managed a little smile to his step mother and then walked slowly and a bit un-interestedly across the floor, toward the stack of envelopes of the table. With a sigh, he picked one up and said in an almost whispering murmur: "One from Mrs. Schaffer… I better not let Drake find this." There was another from his friend James, and another from Mindy. That made him a little happier, but even Mindy couldn't cheer him completely up at the moment.
He glanced at the very last, slightly larger, white envelope, but frowned in confusion, this time, not annoyance. It had no return address and his name was printed neatly across the front of it in tiny, typed letters: "Mister Josh Nichols". He subconsciously allowed a questioning smile cross his face as he slit the back of it open with his finger and pulled out an eight by ten thick paper.
In the next few seconds, as Josh realized what it was, even Meghan who was in her room with her door closed, could hear him scream: "WHAT THE--?-! OH YEAH, BABY!" Drake winced as the loud shriek bounced off his ear drums and had to hold the phone a bit closer to hear the person who was speaking on the other end of the line.
"What is it?" Audrey laughed, taken aback by his suddenly gleeful shout, back in the living room. "WHAT ISN'T IT?-!" Josh yelled, clutching the paper to his chest in an embrace. "WHAT'S WRONG?-!" Walter yelled, running in from the garage with a hammer held high over his head. "Dad, chill! It's just spaz having one of his freak moments." Meghan replied, grabbing the 'weapon' from her step father's out stretched arm and stepping out from behind him: "But what is the big deal?"
With all the excitement, nobody noticed Drake creep in to the room and settle in to a chair near on of the room's corners, quietly staring on. "Oh, it's nothin'! JUST A--" Josh stopped to flip the piece of thick paper over for all to see: "EXCLUSIVE OPRAH CLUB PLANTNUM MEMBER SIGNED CHRISTMAS CARD!" Meghan rolled her eyes and let out a moan, and Drake continued to sit silently as Audrey and Walter grinned. "Why, Josh's that's great!" his mother exclaimed, reaching out and touching his arm. "I got it! I got the Christmas card! CHRISTMAS CARD!" he nearly screeched, throwing his hands up and holding on to it tightly as he began to do a jig around the medium sized couch.
"What'da think, Drakie?-!" he exclaimed with an overly hyper and ecstatic grin as he finished his dance and whirled to show his step brother. "It's really cool." Drake answered, managing to sport a half smile, but looking more like he didn't want to speak to anyone. Josh only half took note of his down attitude and turned back to show the print off to his parents.
Drake seemed to feel more invisible every second and really not wanting to be around anybody at the moment, he stood up and snuck up to the hide away of he and his brother's bedroom, where he could try and think clearly and perhaps play his blues away on the guitar. But when he reached the room and picked the cherry red treasure up off of his bed, strumming a finger over the strings, he knew immediately that playing it now would only do the opposite of cheering him, because it would remind him of the thing he wanted to do so badly but couldn't.
With a sad and highly disappointed sigh, he lay down on his mattress and stared at the ceiling, wondering if this Christmas would be as good as he'd hoped it would. It certainly wouldn't be as perfect as he imagined, but maybe just being home and celebrating the holiday with his parents and siblings would turn out okay, after all.
He must have been laying there for at least ten minutes, and after a while, Josh's loud boasts about his card seemed to quiet down and the was a rustling of coats and a jangle of keys. "Tell Drake we said we'd be back in about an hour or two, okay, honey?" the teenager could faintly hear his mother say to his step brother. With a blink of his dazzling brown eyes, he realized that they must be leaving to shop for last minute Christmas gifts for Meghan. He got up enough energy to jump down from his bed and walk down the steps of the stair case, a minute later, and when he met Josh in the living room; the other boy confirmed his theory.
"What happened earlier that transferred my 'Scroogeness' to you?" Josh finally asked, as he had given up on trying to make a successful go at a conversation with the quiet teenager that sat across from him. "Am I being that way?" Drake asked, looking up honestly. "Well not exactly… but something's the matter with you. What I want to know is--what?" the brother nodded, crossing his arms and waiting for the revelation of the truth: "Was it something about that phone call?" "Well… yeah, actually. It was the guy at The Cufflink-- you know that gigantic café and club?" Drake began. "Yeah! That place is awesome!" Josh said, urging him to go on. "I was supposed to play there tomorrow night, for a Christmas Rock special, but the place canceled me for Zero Gravity." "You told me about your gig, but what's wrong with Zero Gravity? Even if you did get kicked out of the concert book, you can still go see your favorite band live!" Josh replied, only a bit confused. "That's just it-- I wouldn't be so upset if I could go, but when I asked Jim the manager how much tickets were, on the phone just now, he said that the show was sold out and there was no way I was going to get any tickets with out paying like fifty dollars more than the original price, to get them second hand. So now… my Christmas is kind of ruined."
"Aww, dude, I know it stinks, but don't let it ruin your Christmas! You yourself just told me that like a half hour ago! Don't tell me you've forgotten?" Josh exclaimed, grabbing his brother's shoulder: "It'll be a rocking holiday any way, even with out Zero Gravity." Drake managed a smile and nodded: "As long as you're there to keep me up, it should turn out pretty okay."
All of the sudden, the door bell began to ring over and over and Meghan, who was heard running down the stairs, appeared in the door way and hurried to the front door's landing; "I got it." She opened the door and Drake and Josh watched as she looked up at the UPS man, clad in warm, brown clothing. "Miss Meghan Parker?" he asked. "Yes." Meghan answered, sounding more like a teen ager herself than Josh and his brother did. "Here's a package for you, just sign right here." the kind man said, handing her a clip board and a pen.
"YES!" Josh whispered excitedly: "Now we get to find out what in the world she ordered that cost so much!" "I can't wait to see this--" Drake whispered back, perking up noticeably: "A hundred bucks is a lot of cash!" "I wasn't to her on account that it was my money." Josh growled, narrowing his eyes before they both quit talking to look up toward the door.
The sight that beheld them next left both brothers slightly speechless. Two other strong, well built guys dressed in UPS uniforms brought in a long, tall box and set it on the floor. "Will you guys take that upstairs for me if I pay you twenty bucks a piece?" the girl asked, motioning toward the extra large parcel. "Of course, lady! Twenty dollars mean a lot to both of us." one of the two exclaimed, grabbing the box back up and lifting it through the hall, and up the stairs to her room, along with his friend.
It was maybe two or three minutes before they returned and when they did, the rubbed their hands and replied; "All done up there." "…Yo, boob!" Meghan yelled, not bothering to turn her head to specify which of the two brothers she meant. "Yeah?" they both spoke, standing and reaching her side a minute later: "Forty dollars, please." she grinned, looking up at them malevolently. "Meghan! No way are we going to--" Drake stated, pulling out his wallet and being interrupted by Meghan as she snatched the leather bound pocket to herself and began pulling out bills: "Oh, fork it over and pay the men, for goodness sake!" After a moment of digging in the stuffed wallet, she rolled her eyes and passed the twenty dollar bills to the delivery men.
"Thanks!" both of the men chuckled happily, stuffing the money in to their pockets and leaving Drake and Josh with a highly angered look on their faces as they left and Meghan closed the door behind them. She started to walk off toward the stairs, but Drake stepped a step forward and threw out his hand: "Hey, wait!" "Yeah…?" she shrugged, seeming aggravated. "You my money already—atleast you could tell us what's in that gigantic package!" he exclaimed, motivating a large nod from his step brother. "Well…" with a for once, sweet smile, she looked up at them, cocking her head to the side. With a quick drop of the innocent face, she raised an eyebrow and straightened her head, speaking with out even a single blink, before turning and leaving them: "No way, morons."
"WHY NOT?" Josh called after her, up the stairs. "Because it's your Christmas present, boobs! …Duh." She replied, with another staunch roll of the eyes before she disappeared in to her room and shut the door tightly after her. "Oh great… I wonder what it is this year." Drake sighed, sitting down on the couch and watching Josh walk slowly across the room: "Nothing explosive I hope. Or… deceased." Josh narrowed his eyes and brought his hands to his hips: "Oh, well, yes-- thank you, Drake Parker for that lovely reassurance!" "Whatever, man. Don't worry—I mean, this year Mom and Dad are gonn'a be home for Christmas eve and that's always when Meghan gives us our 'gifts'—she'll probably give up something nice to make a good impression on them." Drake said. "Yeah, like they need anymore impressions!" Josh sighed, looking at the ceiling and shaking his head.
Drake added only a soft "Mm…" of agreement, as he let out a deep breath and settled back in to the couch pillows behind him. "Man… I can't believe my gig was canceled. I've been wanting to play The Cufflink for like two years and a Christmas Eve show would have been so awesome! I even had all of my songs picked." He said, after a minute, in a miserable mutter. "You know, those guys over there in the music department really suck that they dropped you! I mean, come on!" Josh retorted, almost speaking to the managers of the café, instead of Drake: "You dump Drake Parker?-! Like the best teen age musician in California? Get a life, people!" The other boy let out a little chuckle and replied: "Thanks, Josh, but I don't think that's going to change their minds any way."
Something began to buzz and vibrate in Drake's pocket after a minute, and he exclaimed: "Oh! Cellphone!" as he stood up to take it out to answer it. "I didn't hear anything!" Josh said. "That's because I have mine set on vibrating instead of ringing… I'm not gonn'a be a dork and let a whole mall full of Christmas shoppers hear my 'Oprah' ring tone, like some people!" Drake exclaimed, with a tooth, exaggerated grin and a nod as he held the cell to his ear to speak: "Hello?"
"Hey, Drake, it's your Dad…"
"Who?" Drake asked, straining to hear the voice on the other end of the line.
"Your DAD!" Walter hissed over the noise of a crowd.
"Walter…? What is it?" Drake frowned, raising an eyebrow and wondering why in the world his step father had called his cell phone.
"Look, I'm in Target with your mother, but I need you to do something for Me." he answered, back.
Drake stopped listening just long enough to realize that Josh's Oprah tone was going off, and turned to watch as Josh picked it up off of the coffee table and threw a glare back at him.
Drake tried to tune the other boy out as he answer him own phone, long enough to say: "What is it?"
"Well, the stores close in about an hour and a half and I won't have time to go again tomorrow, so I need you to get your Mom a really good present. You know, just a piece of jewelry or something. Can you do that for me, Drake? Please?" Walter said, in a purely compromised voice.
"Okay, I will. I'll just jump in to the car and run up to the mall and find something. I should have time to make it up there before it closes." Drake agreed, in a happier, kind voice.
"Oh, gosh, thank you so much, Drake! I can't even begin to thank you." The boy's step father replied, in an extremely relieved tone.
"Don't mention it." The teen grinned, looking down and gripping the telephone.
"Well, okay, your Mom's coming back—I have to go! Bye now!" the man on the other end, hurriedly hanging up.
Drake looked for a moment at the phone and then let out a muffled laugh, as he set it back down on the hook and turned to step out of the kitchen. Simultaneously, both brothers looked up at each other and began to speak. "Drake, Mom wants me to get dad a gift because—" "Josh, Dad wants me to go and get Mom a present 'cause he—" They both paused, in laughter and Josh shook his head, motioning to his brother: "You first." "I'm going to the Mall to go get Mom a present from Dad. …Wait, did you just say that you're—" "Yeah!" Josh interrupted: "Mom forgot to get Dad one, too!" "That's weird!" Drake chuckled. "I know! I guess now we can go together, huh?-!" Josh exclaimed, excitedly, with a huge grin. "Umm… yeah, about that—" his brown eyed brother said slowly, wincing and shaking his head. "Dude, I have to! We only have one car, and the stores close in an hour!" he argued back. "You can't! …Somebody has to watch Meghan!" Drake yelped, digging for any excuse he could think of. "I'll get Ronnie to come over to our house, from next door—he'll watch her for a few bucks." Josh said, pulling out his wallet and cell phone. "But he's so… lazy!" Drake shrugged, looking for the right word.
Josh stopped dialing the number long enough to stare and blink at his step brother: "…Now look who's talkin' lazy!" Drake rolled his eyes and exclaimed: "Fine, call him. I'm gonn'a go get my coat and Dad's credit card." With that, he left Josh to call the teenage neighbor and ran upstairs, to find the items.
Within only a few minutes, the doorbell had started to ring and as Josh opened it and let Ronnie in, Drake hurried down the stairs, with his jacket pulled on and buttoned up: "You ready to go, brother?" "I think so. So Ronnie, remember, if she ties you up in the hall closet again, just remain calm and try not to run out of air before we get home, okay?" Josh said. Before the wide-eyed teenager could respond, Drake grabbed Josh's arm and dragged him through the door: "Okay, thanks, BYE!"
About ten minutes later, they were quickly plowing down the San Diego highway and toward the down town mall. "Dude, slow down! You're gonn'a get in another accident!" Josh exclaimed, clutching the door of the passenger seat. "Umm, excuse me! I am not the one who was driving!" Drake said, rolling his eyes: "And anyway, we've gott'a hurry and make it to the mall in time to pick out stuff before it closes! …I'm only going seventy." "Exactly!" Josh motioned, in a growl. But Drake didn't listen to a word, and despite Josh's worry, they arrived safely at the mall in only a few minutes. It took them a while to find a parking place in the crowded parking lot, but after they found one not too very far from the entrance doors, they quickly ran in to the first half of the gigantic building.
The two brothers wandered through store after store for almost thirty minutes, and once Josh had to literally drag Drake from the music store. But he didn't get him out of it quick enough—Drake had a bag in his hand that held four or five CDs and a nearly foot-long credit card receipt. "Drake, you used dad's credit card on yourself?-!" Josh gasped, with an unbelieving frown. "Nooo, you did!Here—these are my Christmas presents from you." Drake explained, shoving the heavy bag at his brother, and leaving him with a wide open mouth.
They had walked around to Rich's and Drake had finally found a present for his mother. It was a 14 karat gold necklace with a little white diamond in the center, lined in tiny rubies, and a matching bracelet. It wasn't too very expensive, so Drake purchased it and met Josh over in the men's clothing section. His brother was standing at a display, near the door of the crowded store, and he was eyeing a long rack of ties and belts.
"Drake, what do think of this tie?" Josh asked, holding up a rather traditional looking one with black and grey stripes. Drake stared in disgust and shuddered a cringe: "That is… hideous." "Ugh. Well, fine! You tell me what Your Majesty thinks looks worth of a gift!" "Okay, no problem! Uh…" Drake looked with a frown across the long row of different styled ties and finally drew one from them, holding it out to his brother: "Aha. Perfect." Josh looked down at the bright red paisley printed tie with an almost twitching eyes and he shook his head slowly: "…Your style is so… perverted."
Drake let out a growl and then nearly threw the tie back on to the rack, looking up. "Drake, seriously, I can't give Dad some crazy tie! He's the weatherman; I mean come on—" "Holy snot!" Josh's brother suddenly exclaimed, interrupting him: "Holy… holy… holy SNOT!" He slowly stepped back from the rack of clothing and his eyes widened in to large circles. "What?-! What's the matter?-!" "JOSH! THAT GUY OVER THERE IS—IS THE DRUMMER FROM ZERO GRAVITY!" "What? Where?" Josh gasped, looking up. "Right there, near the door! Aww, no-- he looks like he's leaving! Let's follow him!" Drake shrieked in a shrill whisper, beginning to shake from head to toe. "Wait!" Josh exclaimed, removing Drake's dragging arm from his own: "I can't leave! I have to get Dad a present!" "Well hurry up!" Drake nearly shouted, in a snappy voice.
"But, I can't decide which one to get him! I mean, there are so many colors, and styles, and sha—" "JUST PICK ONE!" the boy exclaimed, very, very impatiently. "But—" Drake cut off Josh, throwing back his head and rolling his eyes, beginning to walk off and muttering: "I'm following him by myself. If I can't find you later, wait in the car for me." Before his step brother had time to reply, the other teenager was running off, in quick pursuit of the Christmas shopping band member of his favorite group ever. Josh managed a sigh, and then began to look at the ties again.
Meanwhile, Drake was pushing past people quickly in the overly large crowd, trying to keep the drummer in his view. Every now and then he'd run in to a pretty girl as he hurried along the long, wide hall of the mall, and raise his eyebrows saying an "Excuse… me." But, of course, he didn't pause for too long because the band member whom he was following was walking pretty fast.
Josh had finally given up on finding a suitable tie and instead picked out a nice watch, for his father. He had made his way across the large store and walked casually up toward the check out counter. It was a few moments before he realized that the young, maybe 22 year old guy in front of him seemed pretty upset. After listening hard, Josh heard him say: "My wallet is gone! Aww, man, and this is the last chance I'm going to have to buy any gifts for Christmas… oh, well. Go ahead and put this stuff back, cashier. My wallet's missing. It must have fallen out." The girl at the check out started to pick up the stack of items, but Josh stepped up and said: "Wait! Excuse me; I couldn't help over hear you're problem. If you wouldn't mind, I'll pay for your stuff—you don't have a lot, and tomorrow's Christmas Eve, anyhow." "Oh, my gosh, would you actually do that? I can pay you back whenever I find my brother in this huge place." The blonde guy in front of him asked. "Of course! I don't mind at all! Here," Josh said, handing the cashier a 20 dollar bill and waiting for her to give him back his change.
"You have no idea how thankful I am to you for doing that!" the guy laughed, taking his bag and turning to Josh. "…Oh my gosh! You're then new lead singer from Zero Gravity, aren't you?" the hazel eyed boy gasped, popping his eyes. "Hehe, I started to wonder if you'd notice. What's you're name?" the band member chuckled. "Josh! I'm Josh! And my brother is like… the biggest fan of you guys EVER. His name is Drake." "Wait… you mean the Drake that played with the band last year?" he asked, his own eyes becoming a bit big. "Yeah! Before you joined and the other guy dropped out!" Josh nodded, with laughter as the two stepped over to the side so other shoppers could check out. "And you're the guy who smashes hands!" Josh winced and nodded slowly, biting his lip: "Yeeep, that'd be me."
"Well, man, how weird is it that we happened to be shopping in the same city, the same day, the same store, at the same moment?" the lead singer asked. "I know! It's kind of creepy!" the younger boy replied. "Where's Drake? I'd like to meet him." came the smiling question. "Oh, well he went off in some other part of the mall to chase after your drummer. He tried to get me to help stalk, but I was busy." Josh shrugged, with a muffled laugh. "Oh, that's terrible! I'd really like to meet up with him, but I don't have time—we have to practice for the gig at the Cufflink, in like 45 minutes. …Wait! I have an idea! Here—" the star drew out a blank slip of paper and jotted down a number: "You go ahead and call us at the hotel whenever you get the time, I know it's busy with the holidays and all, but that number will put you through to one of us." "Oh boy! Thanks a lot! Drake's going to flip out when he sees this." The boy shook his head with a wide grin. "Just remember to not give out that number to anybody else, okay?" "Of course! No problem! I had better find Drake, now, but thanks so much! I'll call you later!" Josh exclaimed, with a content look on his face. "Great! And thanks to you, too! See ya' later, Josh!"
Josh and the famous lead singer parted ways and Josh paid for his purchases and then drew his cell phone from his pocket, dialing Drake's number.
--
"Hello?" Drake asked in a sighing voice, as he pressed 'talk' on his cell phone and held it to his ear.
"Drake! Where are you?" Josh replied, as he walked from the Rich's store and toward the up and down escalators. "I'm just in the candy shop downstairs, near the exit doors. ...I tried to follow Richie, but I couldn't keep up with him fast enough, in this crowd." Drake said, referring to the drummer of the band, his mouth clearly stuffed full of some sort of Christmas candy. "You're not gonn'a care when I tell you what happened to me!" Josh said, in an almost- squeal, stepping on to the step of the escalator going down. "What?" the other brother questioned, hearing his brother's tone.
"Okay... I met... the... new LEAD SINGER OF ZERO GRAVITY! I had to pay for his gifts, 'cause his wallet was lost! ... LOST!" Josh exclaimed, hopping up and down on the moving staircase. "A...ha. And 'then they all lived happily ever after in Josh's little brain!' Um, yeah, Josh, you're mental calendar is off like... four months-- April fool's Day is in April." the brown eyed teenager said in an annoyed voice as he paid for his candy purchases. "No, Dude! I mean, SERIOUSLY--" Josh began, being cut off by his brother: "Whaaaatever. What did you buy dad?" "Ugh, fine, don't believe me. I'll show you when we get in the car. Meet me there in like a few minutes, okay?" Josh growled. "Can do, Ebenezer." Drake said pertly, shutting off his phone with out even a single "good bye". Josh sighed again, and closed his flip phone, putting it safely back in to his pocket.
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Drake and Josh had gotten dressed in their pajamas when they'd gotten home at around ten o' clock, and Ronnie had returned home, but not with out forcing the two boys to fork over twenty dollars.
Not long after they'd settled in to their comfy clothes and sat down to watch TV, their Mother and Dad had pulled up in their car and come inside, making the brothers shiver slightly when the cold breeze from the open doorway drafted in and nipped their skin. The two had already wrapped and hidden their parent's gifts under the large, well lit Christmas tree in the back of the room, near the dining room table.
Josh was still trying adamantly to convince his hard headed brother of his story's authenticity, and of the fact that he had really met the lead singer, but highly skeptical Drake would just laugh and remark on how Josh was crazy to keep on with such a ridiculous and unbelievable joke, leaving the other boy deeply annoyed and slightly miffed.
Their little sister and mother were very busy putting up a giant, lighted wreath on the front of the exterior of the house, with Walter's help, as Drake sat devouring his newly bought sweet food, on the couch as he stared intently at the flashing in front of him.
It was a long time before he stood up and started to leave Josh alone in the living room: "I'm going to go play a little guitar, Josh. I'll be back in a while, I guess." His light eyed brother nodded and was inwardly happy to get Drake out of the downstairs. He was planning on calling Brandt, the band leader he'd met tonight, and he didn't wish for Drake to over hear his conversation.
Slowly and cautiously, Josh stood up and walking across the room in his socks, toward the kitchen, he stopped all of the sudden at the sight of one single object. His special Christmas card was propped up against something on the coffee table. With a mooning sigh, he melted at the glossy portrait of Oprah, pasted on the front, and then finally snapped out of his thick daze, a moment later, continuing on toward the kitchen telephone, pulling the hand written phone number from his wallet and unfolding it.
Before hardly even a full minute, he had the rock star on the other end of the telephone and he explained again who he was, until Brandt remembered him, from earlier that evening. They both chatted casually for a minute, and then Josh formed up enough courage to begin getting to what he had called about. He wanted Drake to play in the ZG concert, tomorrow night. He wanted it bad. And he made that very apparent to the guy on the other end, being careful though to be kind and humble. "So you basically asking for a place in the show for you brother?" came the solid reply. "...Um, I was kind of... I mean, I was thinking that since he was booked there and then--" Josh let his sentence trail off in to the awquard silence that loomed over the conversation.
After a moment more, he looked down and shook his head: "...Never mind, man, I'm sorry I bothered you. I should have considered that it would really put you out to have to do that. But it's okay. Thanks anyway." "Wait! No, Josh!" Brandt exclaimed, yelling to the boy right before the phone reached it's cradle. "...Huh?" he asked, holding it back to his ear as the star's voice held a glimmer of hope for him. "I think it would be perfect. I mean, know from all the other band members that Drake is one of the best teen guitarists around here. And since he was already booked, I don't think it'd be right to entirely take the whole gig from him." came the affirmative reply. "You... you mean it, seriously?-!" Josh gasped, in a highly excited voice. "Sure, why not?" Brandt grinned a tiny chuckle to the teen across the wire.
"Gosh, you have no idea how hyped he's going to be! He so loves you guys! Anyway, I don't really have a present yet for--" Josh suddenly stopped, hearing Drake's slippered feet thud down the carpeted stairs quickly. Within about ten seconds, his handsome brother slid in to the room and pushed through the swinging door, leaning on the counter beside where Josh stood, on the telephone.
He didn't know what to do when Brandt began to speak again-- after all, if Drake recognized his voice, he might figure out his brother's surprise! "Hey, Drake! What are you doing here?" Josh said loudly, aiming his words in to the mic embedded in to the hard plastic receiver. "Brandt seemed to understand, but he still kept on, only lowering his voice to a loud whisper. Josh became frantic, afraid that his brother's keen ears would pick up the words of the top secret plan. Stuttering a bit and gripping the phone in a jittery clutch, Josh managed a horse shout: "I told you twice already-- I don't WANT any Girl Scout cookies!" "Oooo!" Drake gasped, suddenly, grabbing for the phone: "I DO!" "Uh, sorry little girl--BYE!" Josh nearly yelled, slamming the phone quickly down before Drake could get his hands on it. The brother rolled his big brown eyes and walked a few steps off, toward the next room with a: "Pfft... cookie hater!"
Waiting a safe distance of time, Josh looked out to see Drake lying out on the sofa, with blaring head phones strapped to his head. He turned back to the black phone and picked it up, quickly re-dialing the number and holding his quiet stance until the man answered with a: "Josh, what happened!" "Drake happened-- I'm sorry, Brandt." Josh sighed, with a single shake of the head. "Oh, no it's just fine! Except... try not to call me a little girl again." the rock singer chuckled, heartily in a teasing tone.
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"Man... I am BEAT." Drake groaned, flinging himself like an old rag doll, in to his soft, mussed up blankets on top of his elevated mattress: "Are you?" "Totally! And I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! It seems like it was just October like yesterday, doesn't it?" Josh always liked to answer questions with more questions. "It does. But... Mmm... I'm glad we don't have to go to school, tomorrow. Holiday break rocks." "Hush." mutter Josh, collapsing in to his fluffy pillow and clicking off the light to reveal the bright digital clock, in the dark, and surprising Drake when he read it: 3:33am.
It was almost as if seeing how late it was, made him suddenly feel even that much more tired, and in a matter of a small few minutes, he was thoroughly asleep, and wouldn't be able to awaken for quite a many hours yet.
How peaceful he felt, now, after such a hectic, packed full to - the - brim - day. The last conscious thought that he could remember having was simply of the well known and easy to guess fact of how nice it felt to be in the warm bed. Then a pleasant, hazy slumber overtook him and he almost felt as if he wanted to be there forever.
--
Suddenly a shrieking voice shattered the sweet darkness, only seconds, it seemed, after it had begun.
Both boys shot up on their elbows in their beds and glanced around the room, completely caught off guard and shaken, to the core. "WAKE UP, BOOBS! IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!" "Uhh... Meghan, it's only ten thirty! Go away and leave us alone to sleep! We didn't get to bed until three or four!" Drake exclaimed, falling back in to his little cocoon of bed covers and gripping them tightly around himself. "Well, sorry, but that's you own faults! ...Get UP!" she shouted, in a voice similar as one of a boot-camp sergeant. "NO!" Josh moaned, throwing a sock at her and covering his head with his pillow.
"Josh! Drake!" the voice made the two brothers freeze and look slowly up from their positions, to the door. Their parents stood in the door way: "Be kind to your sister! She is trying to show you the present she bought you for Christmas!" Walter said, in a bit of a rebuking tone. "She was just so excited to see your reactions, she couldn't wait until tomorrow." Audrey said.
As both brothers watched, Meghan stepped aside and revealed their present. Winces and unbelieving frowns covered their faces and each of the step brothers' eyes popped wide. "You... sure got a reaction." Josh muttered, through his clenched teeth.
Standing in the center of the floor was a chair. But it wasn't in the least the type of chair that you'd imagine. Not unless, of course, you would imagine a pointed, angled chair, in a mustard yellow, dingy, horrendous nineteen - seventies color. "Weeeell?" Meghan asked, innocently, with a happy little girl's smile. "What... is it?" "It's an authentic 1976, mustard yellow angle chair, made of rubber tree threads and whale hide!" she exclaimed, with a proud grin. "Yeah? Well the beach boys called and they said they want it back." Drake murmured, still staring in visible shock over this 'gift'.
"Drake! I'm surprised at you boys! You need to say thank you to your sister. She picked it out just for you." their Mother concluded, wrapping a protective arm around the little girl. A silent moment passed as both Drake and Josh climbed from their beds and stood in front of her. "...Ahem?" Walter coughed, signaling their words of thanks.
"Thank, you, Meghan, for such a lovely chair." Drake said, slowly and with a bit of undetectable anger in his voice. Josh sighed a mere: "Thank you." and then Audrey and her husband turned, to walk out of their room. Meghan turned to follow them, but swirled back around just in time to slither an evil grin before she passed the door frame: "Enjoy."
--
A while later, Josh began scurrying around the house as Drake sat in their room, playing his guitar and laying lazily on his bed. "Drake! Get—up!" Josh exclaimed, running frantically over to his brother. "…Why would I do that?" Drake asked, one eye opening a little more than the other, in confusion. "Because it's already six fifteen!" "…And?" the other brother, replied, sitting up and raising an eyebrow. "BECAUSEWE'VE GOT TO GO TO—" Josh barely stopped himself from revealing his secret surprise, and he began to stutter: "To… to an Oprah fans… conference!" "Oprah? Eh. I think I'll pass." Drake replied, shuddering and laying back down on the bed with his guitar. "YOU WILL NOT!" his brother shouted, loudly, then widening his eyes and hesitating: "I mean… no! You have to drive me there!" "Dude, drive yourself!" the teenage rocker, exclaimed, waving a flippant hand toward him. Josh bit his lip and tried to quickly think up a reason that he could tell Drake to convince him to come along.
"…They-- they're giving out free um… iBot shuffles?" Josh exclaimed, watching his brother perk up and snap in to a standing position. "I'm in!" he exclaimed, jumping down and running to the closet. He took out a deep red colored shirt and a pair of jeans, hurrying toward their bathroom to change from his pajamas as Josh followed him. "HEY!" he gasped, grabbing his arm and stopping him back he could shut the door; "Make yourself look your best!" "…Why? So you can impress old Op'ie?" he chuckled. Josh narrowed his eyes and turned, walking out of the room, muttering: "Just look good." "Okay, I really don't think that's gonn'a be a problem!" Drake answered, in a happy voice as he grinned at himself in the bathroom mirror and raised an eyebrow.
Josh sighed a weary sigh as he hurried down the stairs and then let out a little yelp when he came unbelievably close to running smack in to Meghan: "AH! Megs! What is it?" "Nothing, spaz! I was just trying to walk up the stairs. Is that a crime in that or something?" she asked, with a quick, snappy breath. "No. But I'm glad I ran in to you, anyway." "Well," she grinned in an antagonistic way: "I'm not, so buh-bye." Before she could take another step, Josh grabbed her arm and said: "Just listen to me!" "No, freak." She spit out, ripping her arm from him. "I need you to sneak Drake's guitar out of his room and in to the back of his car, okay?" She just blew out a "Pfft!" and began to step away from her brother, but he snatched something out of his pocket and then held it out, in front of him: "Fifteeeeeeen!"
The eleven year old stared greedily at the money in his hand, for a moment and swiftly took it: "Done." Josh started to walk off, but she stopped him: "BUT—" Turning around, he listened as she spoke: "I want to ask a question." "Shoot." "…Why?" she finished. "Why?" he repeated, in question. "Yeah. Why do you want me to sneak out his guitar?" "Don't ask me, I don't have time. I told Mom and Dad, so ask them. And get ready to go, too—Mom and Dad'll be taking you somewhere soon. But… anyway, just make sure to get that guitar out of the house and in the car, in the next like five minutes. AND DON'T let him see you." Meghan looked completely lost and she raised and eyebrow, nodding slowly: "…Sure."
It was maybe fifteen minutes later when Drake was combing his smooth brunette hair down over his eyebrows, that Josh ran back in to the room and said: "Come on, Drake, we gott'a go!" "Fine! Hold on a minute!" he replied, stepping back and looking at himself from his head to his toes, in the full length mirror, hanging on the wall. "We don't have a minute to hang on to!" his brother exclaimed, grabbing Drake's arm. "Dude, if you want me to go with you to the Oprah fest, let me atleast get ready!" he said, in an irritated voice.
Josh turned and leaned against the wall as he waited for his brother to get finished, if ever that moment would come. Suddenly, something across the room caught his eye—it was Meghan opening the door. He knew she was coming to get his step brother's guitar, and so he was ready to do almost anything to distract Drake and keep him form seeing their little sister.
She slipped through the cracked door and got down on her knees, as she made her way across the floor. "Well, I think I'm ready—" Drake began, starting to turn around. Josh grabbed him and turned him back around, running a hand through his brother hair: "No ya' not! Your… hair is messed up!" "But you messed it—" "Better fix it!" Josh exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking away, trying to figure out where Meghan was hiding in the room at the moment.
She scooted silently across the floor and reached up from behind the couch, grabbing a firm hold of the neck of the guitar and pulling it carefully back over the sofa, to her. Josh made sure Drake didn't turn around, as he stood VERY close behind his brother as he tried to re-do his wacked out hair. Finally, after about another minute, Meghan slipped back through the door and closing it back, with out a sound.
The very second she was gone, Josh exclaimed: "'Kay, it's fixed-- lessgo!" "Ugh! No it's not! It's all—" "COME ON!" the green eyed boy urged, grabbing Drake and picking him up, turning him around and putting him down, with a push toward the door. Drake glanced back with a disturbed and slightly frightened look on his face, and then grabbed his comb off the nearby dresser, slipping on his jacket and hurrying out the door, frantic that his brother might try to pick him up again.
They were on the road in only a few minutes, and Josh was flying down the road, worrying that they might be late. But when they reached the Cufflink, to Josh's elation, they were right on time. As they both got out of the car, Drake shut his door and glanced at Josh over the roof of the car: "Dude, we're at the Cufflink!" "Yep, I know. I wonder why Oprah picked here." Josh replied, walking with his brother to the door of the building.
"I can't believe that instead of performing here, OR seeing Zero Gravity, I'm coming to see Oprah on Christmas Eve…" Drake muttered, crossing his arms, as they scooted down the aisle beside the wall, where hundreds of people crowded in the rows of seats and clamored. Drake heard a single voice say the words "Zero Gravity" and then he understood what they must of meant: "Poor guy… somebody must have made him opt out of the other concert to go to this boring old thing."
But when he followed his brother, on, even past the first row, he became confused: "…Josh, where are we going?" "Backstage. I got passes! Come on!" the boy walking in front of him replied, in a choppy voice. They took a turn down a short hall and stepped through a doorway. A security guard came up and said: "Can I help you boys?" "Yes, sir." Josh replied, handing him a slip of paper. The guard looked down at it and after recognizing the lead singer's hand writing, on the note that gave the boys permission to go back stage, he grinned up at them and stepped aside, waving a hand toward the next long hall that came out at the wings of the stage.
But when Drake looked on, past the door way and stepped in to the wings, he became speechless in a true stupor of amazement. "Oh, my g--" his sentence trailed off as he clapped a hand over his mouth and walked slowly forward. When he did, he was met by an eagerly awaiting crowd. All around him were people—Anita, Scottie, Trevor, Meghan and a ton of others. But when he turned to the side, to scan the rest of the crowd, his mouth nearly scraped the floor.
Standing there, beside him, was the whole Zero Gravity gang—most of them with familiar faces, whom he'd met before, but then, somebody special stepped out in front and grabbed his shivering arm. "Hey! Drake Parker?" "…Brandt Leonard?-!" he said, barely able to tear the words from his shocked lips: "What… what is all this about?" Drake mumbled, numbly reaching behind him and grabbing his brother's arm, turning around to gaze at him with glazed over eyes. Josh smiled a sweet, truly happy smile and looked down, grabbing him brother's hand: "We've been through a lot together, brother, and you've kept silent through out the whole time." Before he could say anymore, the crowd began to scream and cheer outside, in front of the open stage, and Josh looked deep in to the surprised chocolate eyes of his brother, with his own eyes beginning to glimmer: "You hear the screaming?" "…Yes." the soft, weak voice replied. "…It's for you, Drake." With a rush, Drake knew and understood everything, now and he held back tears of joy, reaching out and throwing himself in to the open arms of his brother, just hugging him until he could find the words to speak: "No, brother… it's for you."
Finally the two boys let go of each other's shoulders and backed up a few steps. Drake had simply glowing face and everyone could see the utter shock still in his dewy eyes as he turned back to his idol, Brandt. "Are you ready to rock, Drake?" he asked, with a deep chuckle. "I don't know if I'll be able to stand up!" he murmured, in a dazed giggle. Then it dawned upon him-- he was actually going to perform with his favorite band, again, and again, it was his step brother's doing. He was just completely overwhelmed. And with each and every single second that went by, the crowd got louder and more restlessly excited.
"Okay, well, I think it's about time to go out there. Are you ready?" Brandt questioned, glancing his younger performing partner up and down with a anticipating grin. "I... I am. Let's hit it." Drake said, in reply, as he bent his fingers in to two fists and beginning to look more and more every moment like a grown up musician ready to go, than a nervous teenager. He felt Josh' s hand rest carefully on his arm, turning him around to look up at him and Anita. The young girl smiled a smile full of affection and the way she was looking up at him, made goose bumps all over his skin. As she reached forward and put his precious guitar in his hands, and stepped closer, she said: "I'm proud of you, Drake Parker. Know that, won't you?" He just stared back at her for a second and then leaned forward, letting her place her arms around his shoulders in a little hug. "Do good out there, sweetheart..." she whispered in his ear, placing her hands atop his, that were clutching his guitar in front of him, and moving softly closer to land a warm kiss on his cheek, then stepping back with happy tears glittering against her blue - green eyes and a sweet smile across her lips.
"Now, get out there and play good, or I'll put itching powder in your bed, ya' boob!" Meghan growled from in the background somewhere, bringing them all back in to reality, with a laugh.
Drake took one last grinning look at his family and turned back toward the band members, and taking a deep breath.
But a comforting hand on his back made him stop himself before walking off. He didn't turn around, to see who it was, because he knew already, and after a silent minute, the genuine voice of his brother, behind him spoke to him, quietly: "Do awesome for me, brother. ...Make me proud." Drake said nothing, but reached back, over his own left shoulder and caught the hand of the boy behind him, just holding it for a moment, before letting go and walking off, toward the stage, with one last grinning glance at the crowd of friends and family, and his step brother.
--
Almost as fast as it had happened, it was over. The lights clicked off that had been shining in his face for thirty minutes, and the ruby colored, velvet curtains lapsed closed in front of him. He closed his eyes and just stood there, happily for a moment, just now beginning to take the entire thing in. He gripped the neck of his guitar and then finally relaxed his quivering hand, opening his eyes and turning his head quickly to spot his brother maybe only thirty feet away, watching from the wings of the stage.
Drake felt like running to him and throwing his arms around him, chattering on for hours on end about how wonderful he was, but from all the excitement, he really hadn't enough energy left. So instead, he removed the guitar strap from his tired, tingling shoulder and carried the guitar in his left hand, as he walked across the flat stage as quickly as he could muster. Anita was standing by when he arrived, as well, and understanding that Drake just wanted to have some 'alone time' with his brother, she reached out and took his guitar, walking off toward the other door with it. He hardly even noticed that it was gone from his hand, but when he realized that it was, he sighed in peace, knowing that it was very safe in her hands, and looked up at Josh. Smiles flashed across both of their faces and Drake began to laugh an "Aww--" as, with the last ounce of his strength, he took a running leap forward, the last few steps to Josh, grabbing him around the shoulders and letting his face rest against his collar, as Josh drew his arms around the other teen and yanked him up off of the floor, for a minute.
"Josh, I don't even know what to say to you!" Drake began, as they started walking toward the stage door and both of the teen aged boys put an arm around the opposite's shoulders: "You're the best brother EVER! In the whole US! Or... the whole planet! Or in the whole history of the universe!" This made Josh laugh and he winked as they neared the exit door: "Just call it my little Christmas present to you." "Praised be the present!" Drake laughed, hopping high in the air and shouting a "WAHOO!" as loud as he could.
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Then it was the day. Christmases had come and gone for Drake and Josh together a few times before, but this time-- out of the few that they'd had-- was particularly wonderful. Brandt Leonard had left a signed card in the mailbox that morning and Drake had quite a squealing fit over that, almost breaking Josh's Oprah-card record!
There was still gift wrap in assorted colors and textures lying around in torn piles, on the floor of the dining room, and partly on in to the living room. Bows and opened envelopes lay around, as well, and among it all, the tall green pine glittered with white lights and shining, sparkling Christmas ornaments.
Audrey and Walter had loved their presents from "each other" and expressed to each of the boys in private, how grateful they were to them for buying them and doing them a great favor. Meghan had been positively showered with gifts and was almost up to her armpits in clothes, toys and other random presents. Drake and Josh each had a few certain gifts they received that they were extra crazy over, but for Josh it was a box of twenty new game sphere games, from his Grammy.
But even through the frantic tearing open of long awaited presents and the excitement after the reveal of what they all contained, Drake and Josh still felt the peaceful bond between them. This Christmas had been extra special in that way, because it had shown both of them a side they had never seen of the other one. Drake had of course seen Josh do amazing things for him before-- get him in to the show with Zero Gravity last year, bringing Kathy McGin to see him and sign his special guitar a few months ago, after the accident and when he had been in the hospital-- but this gesture showed more selflessness, more love to Drake than he had ever seen in Josh. And realizing that these feelings were inside his brother, perhaps even made Drake consider what he was going to say before he said it.
To say the least, the last three days had taught them both a lot, and even though at the beginning of those days, neither of them had really felt like it was Christmas time, they found in themselves the true kindness and love of the season.
The two boys were sitting in their room, upstairs around maybe two o' clock, trying to re-arrange everything they had gotten in their gifts to fit somewhere about the room. It really wasn't that hard, because Audrey and Walter were not much of over spenders, and the boys didn't really have a ton of stuff, but all the same, it is always hard to make room for more, from the holidays.
"Hey, Josh?" Drake said, looking up from the closet, where he bent, moving around the shoes in side to have room for a new pair he'd gotten.
"Yeah, Drake?" Josh replied with a smile.
"...What are we gonn'a do about that... thing Meghan stuck us with?" his brother asked after a while, crossing his arms and nodding toward the hideous chair that stood in the center of the room. "Pfft! You mean stuck you with!" Josh chuckled, haughtily, as he stuffed a few more books in to his already – full book shelf. "Umm, excuse me brother, but I believe you can have it! Consider it an… extra present." Drake said, raising his eyebrows and bowing, extending a hand toward the gift from their sister.
"It's yours! Go ahead and go sit in it! Enjoy it!" Josh grinned, pointing toward it with his eyes. "Ha, um, no thanks, I don't think I'll—" Josh interrupted him, with clenched teeth: "No, really… I mean it." "Dude, I do not want to sit in it!" "You're GONN'A!" the two boys argued. Drake began to speak in a loud tone again, but was stopped when his brother grabbed his knees and threw him over his shoulder, lifting him off the ground and walking across the room, toward the chair. "No! NOO! JOSH, I WILL NOT SIT IN THE—" "YOU'LL SIT IN YOUR CHAIR, DRAKE!" Josh exclaimed, gripping his brother's waist and trying to drag him away, to sit down in the dreaded present.
Drake reached back at Josh tried to push him in to it and grabbed the pillow that had come with the chair, holding it in to his brother's face, which made him instantly snap back and back a quick bunch of steps away: "ARRG! That thing smells—so, SO bad! Don't ever do that again!" "Serves you right for trying to make me sit on… Moby Dick over there!" "Okay, okay… let's not fight about this. We both agree—this thing has to go, right?" Josh replied, smoothing back his curly, dark hair and sighing as he cautiously came back to his brother's side. "Exactly. But, the thing I don't understand is… WHY would anyone sell this thing on eBay?-!" Drake asked. "Yeah, I know! I guess maybe they just didn't want it anymore, or…" his brother's sentence began to trail off and they both let out an involuntary gasp, as they turned to grin at each other with wide eyes: "Of course!"
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"Okaaaaay, and… 'Confirm'!" Drake murmured as he sat at the computer, three days later, in his pjs, and Josh leaned over his shoulder, watching the screen. "Alright, Josh, now tell me how this sounds," Drake said, looking quickly over at his brother and then scrolling back up to read what he had just typed: "Dear high bidder, you have won the authentic whale hide chair previously owned by Mr. Elvis Presley! Thank you for bidding with us on eBay! Chair will be sent very soon and more than likely received by you before New Years day." "Peeeerfect…" Josh chuckled, as they both glanced at each other with slightly evil grins and then turned to look at the chair, still in the middle of their floor.
--
Maybe four or five hours later, Meghan had come upstairs and was planning on pulling a really ingenious prank on her two brothers, but stopped when she opened their door and saw them laying down on the couch, fanning themselves with folds of money and singing together, a little song they had concocted about the current subject on their minds:
"Ebay, darling eBay,
Forever I worship your charm,
You help me sell the things I don't want,
And will cause my bidders high alarm.
Ebay, oh eBay,
Forever I'll be true,
Ebay, my wealthiness is all owed to you!"
"Umm… okay?" Meghan exclaimed, loudly from the other side of the room, as she walked to were the boys could see her, and they sat up. "Oh, hey Megs!" "Where did you get that money?" she asked, still wearing a disturbed and annoyed face. "The bank." Josh laughed, turning to Drake: "Ain't pay pal rockin'?-!" "Yeah, it is, brotha!" Drake chuckled, clapping his brother with a high-five and looking down again, to finish counting the wad of green, printed paper in his hand: "Don't worry though, little girl, we got it legally." "I'm sure you did!" she replied, cocking her head to the side and rolling her eyes, as she went on, sarcastically: "What did you do? Return all those stupid Zero Gravity poster you made Mom get you from that concert?" "Nope. Hey, Josh, you know what I wann'a buy with some of this?" Drake said, shaking his head and then ignoring her, turning to his brother. "No, what?" Josh said. "A like five foot tall poster of Brandt, and like ten Beatles records!" Drake said. "Well ya' can't have it all! Half of it is mine! And I am buyin' myself a life-size, cardboard Oprah!" Josh retorted, throwing out a hand and making bills fly across the floor.
Meghan raised a highly confused eyebrow and then glanced over at the empty place in the middle of the floor, walking in front of the two brothers and exclaiming: "Guys! Where the heck is my chair?" Drake and Josh knew that this holiday had been even better than they had expected, and so with one final, happy grin and laid back in their seats and threw an arm around each of the other one's shoulders, gazing back at her and saying simultaneously: "Wisconsin."