Chapter 11

I'm Sorry But I tried…

Troy, the on duty lifeguard for the morning shift didn't expect to see what he did once he opened the doors to the swimming pool.

Troy, who was the average college student working off the last days of summer in order to pay his next years tuition was the least to say stunned when he saw the teenager sleeping in a mess of towels on the ground.

He dropped his book bag on the floor and questioned what to do for a few seconds; it was either go and tell his manager or wake the boy up. He decided on the later, seeing as he'd done his fair share of things like this and he knew that he'd never want to get caught after having sex at a hotel swimming area.

"Dude you might want to get up." Troy said as he nudged Drake.

"Where the? What the hell?" Drake stumbled as he stood up forgetting he wasn't wearing anything.

"Dude…you might want to uh…" Troy gestured as he blushed. Drake quickly picked up the towel and blushed too.

"Shit, I'm so sorry, this is never going to happen again. I swear on my face." Drake stated as he picked up his clothes. It was obvious that Taylor had gone and changed. At that moment she walked out of the bathroom fully clothed. She saw Troy and Drake and her hand covered her mouth.

"Dude, don't worry about it." Troy said. "I've done crap like this before. You two can go."

Drake quickly pulled on his clothes and he and Taylor left the pool and walked into the lobby. Once there both broke out in laughter.

"You should have woken me up when you got up." Drake laughed as he started to head towards the elevator.

"Well sorry. I didn't expect that guy to show up while I was gone."

"Come on let's get back to the room." He suggested as he grabbed her hand.

"You can, I've got to go get a new toothbrush from the gift shop." She lied as she kissed his cheek and walked off.

"Okay see you in a few." He stated as he walked down the lobby.

Taylor walked to the gift shop, thank god it was open. She walked in and browsed around for a few moments. She stopped at the personal care shelf. She knew what she needed but she didn't need the look the elderly cashier would give her when she bought it. Maybe she'd lie and say it was for her mother. She held the box in her hands. She didn't really need to buy it, but she would regret it later on if she didn't now, chances were that one of the boys would always be with her.

She sighed, it wasn't like it was Drake's fault he hadn't remembered to use it, and it was equally their own faults. It was her responsibility as much as it was his. She picked up the box hoping she wouldn't need it, praying she wouldn't need it.

She placed the box on the counter and looked away as the cashier placed it in the bag. Taylor left the shop quickly. Should she even tell Drake that they'd forgotten? Was it worth the headache now? He had enough to think about, he didn't need another 'maybe' hanging over his head. Chances were she wasn't even pregnant. She opened the box and pulled out the test and instructions and shoved them deep into her jacket pocket. She'd make sure he didn't find out until it was a certain yes.

She walked into the room to see Drake sitting on the edge the bed playing one of the many video games that Josh had brought with him to college. Taylor sat down next to him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So are you going to visit your Father or not?" Taylor asked as she placed her hands in her lap.

"I suppose. I mean if he really wanted to talk to me over the past 10 years he would have at least sent a card, or called, or something to that extent. He doesn't care about me, my mom, and my sister. He just doesn't." Drake explained as he paused the video game.

"How do you know that he doesn't care? How do you know that he didn't try sending you things or calling you? He probably had no idea what to say. What would you have said to him?"

"I don't know what I would have said then, but I know what I'm going to say now." Drake stated as he turned off the console. "I'm going to change and tell Josh what we're doing today." Drake said as he got up and pulled out a clean pair of clothes. He walked into the bathroom leaving Taylor alone on the edge of the bed.

"Morning brother." Josh greeted enthusiastically as Drake entered the bathroom.

"Hey can I tell you something?" Drake asked as he took off his shirt.

"I know what you and Taylor did last night. It's pretty obvious." Josh replied assuming that was what Drake was going to talk to him about. "No hard feelings. I never really liked her like that anyway."

"Josh, it's not about that."

"Oh, well, then what's it about? You can tell me anything." Josh said supporting his brother with a pat on the back.

"I met my step-mother yesterday."

"You what? The chick your Dad left your mom for?"

"Yep. I also met my half-brother and apparently I have another step-sister. Too many siblings now." Drake said as he put on deodorant.

"They live here?"

"Yeah, mind if we stop by today?" Drake asked as he began to mess with his hair. He had serious sex head and it wasn't a laughing matter.

"No, not at all."

"Thanks."

"Just so you know…" Josh started as he began to leave the bathroom. "If you need me for like emotional support, I'll be there." Josh said as he smiled and left his brother. Maybe this would be the last of their fighting; at least Josh hoped it would be. He was going to be at Harvard in two days. Two days.

Later…

The blue Pontiac Ventura pulled into the driveway of a blue cape. Drake turned off the ignition and let his hand drop off the key.

"I can't do this." He sighed as he placed his head in his hands. "It's been to god damn long. 11 fucking years and he never send one card. I can't just waltz into his life pretending nothing happened between us."

"Drake, just do it." Josh supported him as he patted his shoulder. "You'll only regret it later.

Drake breathed deep and opened the car door.

"We'll be right here." Taylor comforted as she grabbed his hand. "We'll be right here."

Drake walked up the brick pathway towards the house. He stood on the covered porch and knocked on the oak door with the glass windows. He stood there running his hand through his hair, mentally going through what he'd saw to his father. None of what he was thinking making much sense.

Drake saw the shadow moving in the door way. A girl a few years younger than him opened the door with a confused scowl on her face.

"Sorry I am not interested in you or your friends." She said as she began to close the door.

"Is that how you treat people you don't know?" Drake asked as he put his arm against the door so she couldn't close it. "I'm a friend of your mothers."

"Excuse me? You're like 17. You are no friend of my mothers. What do you want from us?" She questioned with an underlying tone of anger and defense in her voice.

"You want the truth or you want me to say I'm here selling Girl Scout cookies?" He stated getting cocky. He hated when people were rude to him for no good reason.

"Riana who's at the door?" Drake heard Carol ask as she walked into the front room. She saw Drake and smiled. "Drake, it's so good to see you, come in, come in." She said gaily as she hugged Drake. Riana scowled some more and sat back on the couch watching TV.

"Drake how's your stay in Hershey been?" Carol inquired as she led Drake into the kitchen. He took in the house carefully. Fully absorbing every picture, every couch, every minute detail. He memorized it. His father was able to provide for his new family. Too bad he had to leave a perfectly good one behind.

"It's been great." Drake replied as he remembered last night.

"That's nice. If you want to talk to Michael he's in the basement. It's the first door to your left down the hallway." She added as Drake walked down the hallway. He stopped when he spied Riana standing in front of him about to open the second door down.

"You pissed that I actually knew your Mom?" Drake asked just as spiteful as she had been towards him.

"No, I don't care if you like dating older, married women." She retorted opening the door a crack.

"Just so you know it's not your mother that I've had previous relations with it's your Father." He stated knowing full well that she'd misinterpret that.

"Thanks for the nightmares…You can go have your gay fest, just make sure you don't hurt my mom."

"We'll I'll see you later sis." Drake said as he opened the door and began to head down the stair case.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well go ask your Mom, but your Step Dad is my birth Dad." Drake said as he walked down the stairs and shut the door behind him.

Riana bit her tongue. This creep was related to her. She scoffed the idea of that and walked into the bathroom like she'd been planning to do.

Drake could hear the acoustic guitar being played. How could he have forgotten it was his father that had made him want to learn guitar in the first place. It was his father that had taught him his first chords. It was also after his father left that Drake didn't touch another guitar until he was 14 and realized it'd be cool to start his own band.

Drake reached the bottom landing and walked towards the small studio his father had obviously made in his basement. It was good to know that he still had his music.

Drake stood outside the open door watching his father for the first time in 11 years. It was undeniable that he was Michael Parkers son; they had the same brown eyes, same hair, and the same features. Drake recalled the picture of his parent's senior prom. He had compared it to his senior prom picture. He'd taken a girl that he'd known since his childhood. Carrie, she was one of those originals on their block. He'd forgotten that she still lived next door to him until he saw her washing the mustang she'd gotten for her birthday. He'd never seen anything as risqué as that on their block, since the time Old Mrs. Johnson washed her dog…that was a day he never wanted to repeat again.

Mike finished his song and noticed the shadow in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" he asked as he put down his guitar and began to walk towards the door.

"It's okay Dad you can sit down." Drake said as he walked in, the light showing his face.

"Drake? Is that really you?" Mike stated in awe as he walked over and hugged his son. Drake didn't hug him back. "It is you, no doubt, you have my eyes, my hair, hell son, you have my face." He laughed as he held Drakes face in his hands studying his son. "What's it been like 5 years?" Mike asked sitting back down and taking a sip of water out of his water bottle.

"It's been 11 years Dad." Drake breathed as he stood there. How could his father go on pretending nothing had happened and he wasn't here in Pennsylvania, how could he go on like they were best friends?

"My god you've grown up. How old are you now 16?"

"19."

"Oh, so how are Audrey and Megan?" He asked.

"Mom got remarried 5 years ago."

"Really? Wow that's good for her."

"To the Weather man from KDJY, Walter Nichols. His son, my step brother, Josh is here with me now. We're on our way to Harvard."

"Wow, she loves Weather men, she's lucky. You got into Harvard. I always knew you'd do better than I did. And Megan?"

"Josh got into Harvard. I'm going nowhere. Megan's fine." Drake breathed. Why couldn't he feel the tension in the room rising. Why was his Father so comfortable hearing all this.

"Oh. You still playing guitar?" Mike questioned as he pulled up another chair for Drake to sit in. "Here sit down, stay awhile."

Drake sat in the chair but still maintained a malignant attitude towards his father.

"Yeah. I have a band. We played on TRL a few summers ago. I got a record deal with spin city records but we haven't had time to record anything yet." Drake bragged. His father still had no record deal.

"Drake, that's awesome." Mike congratulated his son. He really had made it farther than he ever had at least in music. "Keep up with your music. It'll get you places."

"How could you leave us like that? How could you leave Mom for Carol? What does Carol have that Mom doesn't? What does Riana have that Megan doesn't? What does Kevin have that I don't? What was so much better about all this than what you had?" Drake yelled as he felt the tears about to come. He wouldn't cry because of his father. He just wouldn't. He told himself 11 years ago that he wouldn't cry anymore.

"Drake… I know it's hard to understand but…"

"But what Dad, but what?"

"Drake I'd known Audrey since high school. When we had you, we were only 20 Drake. We got married because we thought it was the right thing to do. I think you're old enough to know this, but Megan was a mistake. We'd been planning to get divorced right before that happened, but she messed it all up. Your mother and I tried to work it out for the next four years. Drake it didn't work. We both knew it wasn't going to. I met Carol at a conference. You Mother and I made this decision together. She decided it'd be better for her to keep you and Megan…Drake it was a stupid thing for us to think we could make it work. We did the right thing. I hope you will realize it someday." Mike explained as Drake felt the tears begin to fall down his cheeks and the anger beginning to rage inside him.

"So what your saying is that Megan and I were mistakes and because you didn't know how to handle it you left. You figured the best thing to do was to leave. I remember Mom throwing a hair dryer at you when she found out you were cheating on her. She kicked you out of the house. I watched as she threw your things out the front door. I remember comforting her and Megan that day. You left me an 8 year old boy responsible for your fucking mistakes. Mom was right you are an ass hole. And I can't believe you just lied to me." Drake cried as the tears fell down his face.

"Damnit…" His Father whispered under his breath. "Drake I'm sorry, but I tried. I tried so god damn hard to be a good father to you and Megan. I tried to be a good husband to your mother. You won't understand how hard it is until you have kids of your own."

"Yet, you left her for another family. You left us for another family. Dad Riana is not much younger than me. She couldn't have been more than four when you met Carol. You left one family for another." Drake yelled some more standing up and walking towards the door. "You're weak and I can't believe that I'm related to you. I can't believe that I'm your son. I hope you don't fuck up with Kevin. I hope he doesn't turn out like you." Drake spat as he turned and left.

"Drake…there's something I need to show you." Mike said as he grabbed his sons shoulder and walked towards a hall closet in the basement. He pulled down a shoe box. He opened the lid. The box contained all sorts of Birthday Cards, Christmas Cards, for Drake and Megan. "I said I was sorry, but I tried. It never felt right sending you cards. I have all the ones you sent me. Drake I'm sorry." Mike confessed as he placed the box into Drakes hands.

"You can't undo all of the shit that you wrecked with a box of unsent greeting cards." Drake muttered as he gave the box back. "I don't need your excuses or all your lies."

"What do you want?" Mike begged.

"I want you to realize what kind of mistake you made. I want you to realize you left us for something else but ended up with what you already have. It's not fair to Mom what you did to her. It's not fair what you did to me. You left me alone to take care of a broken woman when I was only 8 years old. You let me grow up without a father figure in my life. Not like it's been all that bad. If you never had left us Mom would have never met Walter and I would have never gotten the chance to meet Josh Nichols, the most amazing step brother a guy could ever hope for." Drake shouted in a loud whisper as the tears fell down his face. "Sleep on that." Drake added as he ran up the stairs wiping away the tears that were on his face. He pushed open the door and went into the kitchen hoping to find Carol. He was relived when he saw her fixing lunch for Kevin.

"Drake! What are you doing at my house?" Kevin asked excited to see his friend again.

"Here to see you." Drake said back as he patted Kevin's hair.

"Cool."

"Carol, thank you so much for letting me stop by today." Drake began.

"No problem your welcome here anytime." She stated as the basement door opened and Mike came into the kitchen.

"Daddy, my friend Drake is here." Kevin exclaimed as he ate a bite of his macaroni.

"I see that. Drake you still live in San Diego right?" Mike asked as Drake nodded and turned away.

"Carol thanks again." Drake stated as he walked towards the front door.

"No problem, keep in touch, the numbers on the card."

Drake walked down the hallway and out the front door. He closed it behind him leaving the family to themselves. He knew it wasn't going to be all laughs and giggles meeting his father for the first time in 11 years. Even though Mike wanted it to be a trip down memory lane, it could have been if his father wasn't as much of an ass as he was. Maybe what happened between his parents 11 years ago was worth it. If he and Megan hadn't been 'mistakes' he wouldn't be here right now and neither would Josh. Once everything was boiled down to its original idea, it was all right, in its own little microcosm Michael Parker leaving his wife and two children was all for the better. It made Walter and Josh Nichols all the more happier.

Drake opened the car door and slid into the driver's seat. He turned on the ignition and backed out of the driveway. Taylor and Josh not having to ask how it went, they both knew Drake well enough that they could read his emotions like a book. His body language and his eyes spoke the words he didn't have too.

Once out of sight from the house, Drake pulled over onto the side of the road and cried. He let all the emotions he kept bottled up over the past 11 years out. He cried for everything he never cried about. Josh knew that he shouldn't say anything, he knew it would make matters worse, Taylor knew it too. Both just patted Drake on the shoulder and left the car for a while.

The Blithe-Parker Household…

Mike Parker held the phone in his hands. He knew the number by heart, countless were the times he spent dialing then hanging up on the first ring.

He dialed the number, he wasn't going to hang up this time.

"Hello?" an adult female voice answered.

"Audrey?"

Okay, so there you go another chapter. At least this one didn't take me a month to write. Though I would expcet another one soonish seeing as Spring Vaca is comming up. WOOT but then again so are AP Exams...cries BTW, random input my cousin Lily who's two she looks like she could be the offspring of Drake and Josh, if they were to have one...She got this curly brown hair which very closely resembles Josh's and this huge brown eyes...like Drake. I noticed this at easter and had to tell someone who'd appreciate that.

Lol...enjoy

Mo