Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

Slide Show Memories Passing Before Me

Roughly 10 years later

Promises had come and gone with the years that passed so quickly before the two brothers. Josh had completed medical school and was now a top neurosurgeon in Los Angeles at the age of 32. He had patients flying to him from around the country and even some from around the globe.

After he had completed med school he and Mindy moved back to L.A. where they could be closer to their family and they had realized that they liked Southern California more than they liked Northern California.

Lennon was now thirteen years old and Josh and Mindy had decided to have another child a few years back and she was now 5.

Drake and Lillah were still together and everyone had eventually left them alone because Drake had actually meant what he had promised her this time.

Their son Dylan aptly named after the singer Bob Dylan was ten years old and their daughter Melissa was 6.

Even though Drake and Josh had promised to stay in touch with each other over the years, they rarely talked for more than a few minutes on the phone every month, sometimes not even that often. Josh was living in the area but neither one could find the time to visit. Josh was busy at the hospital and Drake was busy with his career, he'd tried acting and his fan base grew even larger when they realized he wasn't half bad at it either.

Christmas day 2020 was cool and overcast a rare sight in San Diego. Drake and Josh were sitting next to each other on the blue couch that they'd spent so many times sitting next to each other on before, years and years ago.

They both had a can of mocha cola in front of them; Drake had made sure his wasn't diet this time. Megan was 25 and starting a life of her own. It was odd to think that this house was empty and their parents were in the process of selling it and had told their children that everything they'd left here was up in the attic and if they wanted anything they would have to take it home with them today.

"We should probably go look through that stuff." Josh said as he stood up off the couch.

"Yeah, you're right, we probably should." Drake agreed as he got up off the couch too and headed up the stairs with his brother. "God I hate going into the attic so much." Drake cringed as they passed their kids running down the hallway.

"Daddy what are you and Uncle Josh doing?" Melissa Drake's daughter questioned as she stopped chasing the boys with her older cousin Lennon.

"Yeah why are you and Uncle Drake going into the attic?" Lennon asked. "Can we come with you?"

Drake and Josh looked at each other and smiled because they were going back to their past up here and they could share the stories with their children.

"We're going up here to look through our things we had when we were in high school." Josh explained to the two young children. "And you can come with us." He added as they all climbed the stairs to the attic.

It was dark, chilly, and everything was dust covered with a slight smell of mildew. Josh flipped on the light switch and what they saw was the remnants of their old room. The ladder from Drake's loft bed leaning against the wall, the faded red couch covered with a paint splattered cloth from when they had to repaint the kitchen after the salsa explosion. The bag of sheep food from when Megan forced them to take care of Baaaaab, and the inflatable pool which once was filled with chocolate milk that the boy's wrestled in after they made that stupid bet. This attic was filled with one too many memories of their past and both the men standing there were thrown back to their High School days.

"Drake, god, remember all this?" Josh asked as he threw the cloth off of the couch and sat down and pulled a plastic storage bin towards him.

"Like hell I do. God, this is so depressing. More depressing than seeing our room as an office slash gym." Drake stated as he sat down next to his brother and opened the lid to the box.

The foam finger and the bobble head were on top of the pile and Drake pulled out the finger.

"Who would have thought that a stupid foam finger would make us fight like we did that week?" Drake laughed as he recalled that night.

"You two fought over a foam finger?" Lennon asked her eyes wide.

"Yeah, your father thought that I purposely bought the last one at a Padre's game when we were eight, just to make him angry. Aunt Megan threw a cookie at us and we got into this huge fight that day." Drake began.

"But it didn't end there, we realized that it was the other one who'd been in that fight 8 years later and we fought over the stupid finger and Drake moved out of his room. We refused to talk to each other and anything we said to the other was an insult." Josh added.

"Did you guys fight a lot?" Melissa asked as she looked through the box pulling out the dress that Josh wore to be Miss. Nancy.

"Yeah, we fought a lot but we always made up." Drake said as he noted the dress his daughter was holding. "Josh wore that dress to give advice as Miss. Nancy." Drake laughed. "He looked so freaky and that was the first time I'd ever met the kid."

"Yeah but it was Drake who told me that wearing that dress was stupid."

They looked through the box some more pulling out the porkpie hats, the narrow ties, and the Ray Ban Wayfarers from their Blues Brothers performance at the Belleview High's Talent Show, which Drake won three years in a row to be exact. They found the billiards cue that Drake bought Josh, the game sphere that caused them so much grief, a package of golf balls, the alien costumes, Roberto Roboto, the potato launcher, the posters from their room, the license plates that crowned the wall, fake notes from doctors that Drake had written, and last they found the contract that they had written when they decided to give up junk food and video games.

Lennon grabbed the contract and read it. "And whoever caves must dye their hair pink?" she questioned as she read the words. "What was this all about?"

Drake and Josh looked at each other and just laughed.

"Should you tell the story or should I?" Josh asked his brother.

"I'll start you interject when necessary." Drake laughed as he began the story. "It all started when one of us was supposed to go pick Megan up before it rained. I was too busy watching Josh play video games and eating whatever junk food I could find. At that moment it was chips and chocolate sauce. Then Megan came home wet because it had rained. Well mom, grandma, came home and she was angry and grounded us for the night."

"We were both so angry at each other that we bet the other that we couldn't give up junk food and video games."

"Yeah, we were doing alright there; well I ended up taking to junk food."

"And I ended up playing with things like the blender and the microwave."

"But then one morning I woke up with this hideous facial rash."

"It was pretty bad and the doctor said that he should eat junk food. And knowing Drake at that time he'd do anything to get his face back. I thought he was going to lose the bet."

"But then Grammy, great-Grammy, had sent Josh an early birthday present, the game sphere. We both sat there trying to force the other to cave."

"Yeah, then Megan came up with the brilliant idea to sabotage the other to make him cave."

"Josh turned our room into a candy land, complete with cotton candy pillows, chocolate pool, and every single form of candy ever made. I nearly died."

"But Drake had his own plan; he plugged in the game sphere and played it in front of me. He even bought the wireless battle pad."

"We both stood there so angry knowing we couldn't use what the other one was using. Our weaknesses before us." Drake laughed as he recalled that day so clearly. "Josh was eating gummy bears and then we both caved I grabbed the gummy bears and he grabbed the game sphere controller and at that moment we realized we had caved. Standing in front of that chocolate pool I knocked Josh's Willy Wonka hat off and we dove at each other falling into the chocolate pool."

"We were wrestling each other, chocolate milk flying, we were soaked but we didn't care."

"All we could care about was figuring out who caved first so we wouldn't have to dye our hair pink. Then mom and dad came in and broke us up. Megan being the demon she was back then made us both dye our hair pink."

"Yeah and mom and dad had to dye their hair too. They had bet on both of us. So we dyed our hair, well Drake didn't he had worn a wig." Josh laughed. "Hey look at this…" Josh trailed as he pulled out a torn up piece of paper. "It's the marriage certificate from when you married Yuka.

"That was your fault Josh."

"True but I got you out of it didn't I?"

"Only after I found out she had a billion dollars."

They sat there the box in front of them. Recalling their past, they had done so much, they had become brothers and best friends.

"Who decides who gets what?" Josh asked his brother.

"I don't know I mean I guess we just take what was ours then." Drake said as he loaded the Mexican robot, the potato launcher and the golf balls. Plus all the other stuff that he had used to decorate the room.

"Josh…" Drake started as they stared at the foam finger and the bobble head that was left. "Which one do you want?"

"The bobble head because the foam finger was yours."

"Deal." Drake said as he loaded the foam finger into the bag.

"Did you two really do all of that stuff?" Melissa asked as they started to head down the stairs.

"We did all that and then some." Drake stated as he looked at his brother and smiled. "And the whole time we were doing that Megan was torturing us."

"She was terrible with pranks. She pulled them all the time. Gluing our butts to chairs, spraying us with water guns, and getting us into trouble." Josh added. "But she did do some good things for us."

"She proved to the school that Mindy, your mother Lennon, had framed me by putting Mrs. Haifers car into her classroom. Man I hated her so much." Drake recalled, that girl had almost got him suspended.

"Mom almost got Uncle Drake suspended and she put a car into a classroom?" Lennon asked her eyes wide.

"Yeah, she went to a mental rehabilitation center for a year because of it. Drake hated her."

"But she hated me too."

"You sprayed her with a hose."

"She framed me."

"She helped you get back with Tory."

"True but because of that I kissed hott Liza. She is the worst kisser ever oh and not to mention that when we were on Dr. Phyllis because of that Liza Tubbard we got into a street fight with Dr. Phyllis."

"It wasn't because of Mindy that we were on that show."

"True. I don't hate her now if that's what you're getting at." Drake said as they stood in the hallway.

"Which room was yours?" Melissa asked as she looked around the hallway.

"Yeah which room as yours?" Lennon added.

"It was up those stairs over there." Drake said as they all walked towards the stairs that led to their room.

They opened the door to find the office/workout room that their room had become.

"This room used to be so much cooler." Drake said as he placed down the bag. "My bed used to be up here where Grandma and Grandpa made a bookshelf. It had a ladder and everything."

"My bed used to be here, Drake would throw things at me when it was time to get up."

"The couch that was in the attic was right here." Drake said as he stepped down from the ledge and held his arms out to show where the bed was.

"And we had a coffee table here with two recliners and a TV. The computer used to be where that desk is now. And I fell out of that window so many times." Josh added as he walked over to the window.

"This room is so empty now." Drake sighed as he and Josh stood there together. The memories flashing through their minds.

"If you had asked me back then as we sat on that couch, what I thought my life would be like I could never in a million years have guessed that this is what it would be." Josh stated softly as he jumped up to sit on the ledge that used to be Drake's bed. Drake leaning against the side of the bed, only picturing that time they were trying to get back at Megan and he came up with that brilliant idea to freeze her.

"I would have told you that I'd be a rock star." Drake said. "But I couldn't have told you that I'd be married with children. That was something that 17 year old Drake Parker never wanted to think about."

"I wake up sometimes thinking I hear you mumbling in your sleep."

"I think I hear you snoring like a hobo. Lucky Mindy has to deal with that now."

"You want to go to the Premier? I wonder if Helen still owns the place." Drake wondered as he and Josh looked at each other that devious smile crossing their lips the look of adventure in their eyes.

"Dare I say it?"

"Say it."

"To the Josh mobile." Josh yelled as the two ran downstairs as fast as they could dodging the glares that their wives gave them as they ran out of the house their daughters in tow.

"What happened to that dune buggy?" Drake asked as they drove down the street to the Premier.

"Probably still in the garage. Why?"

"Just wondering where it was. Stop sign." Drake laughed as Josh almost ran the same stop sign that he'd run 14 years ago.

"Stop that." Josh laughed.

They pulled into the premier parking lot and walked in. The place had changed and there weren't as many people there as they both recalled.

They walked towards the back office hoping to find Helen there. She was sitting in her office, age getting the best of her.

"Helen is that you?" Drake asked as he walked through the door and stood in front of her desk.

"Drake Parker?" She said excited as she stood up from the desk. "How long has it been since I last hugged you?" She questioned as she pulled him into one of her strangling hugs.

"It's been awhile."

"And you're a little rock star now." She smiled. "Josh." She added.

"Helen."

"What brings you two here?" She asked

"Just wanted to see if you still worked here. We've been going through our past all day and we just wanted to know if the Premier was still standing." Drake smiled. "And it is and you were still here."

"You two spent most of your time here." She recalled as she sat back down at her desk. "Lucky you guys came here when you did because I sold the place, it's going to become one of those coffee shops that everyone wants. I hate to see this place go." Helen said as her face fell along with Drake and Josh's.

They stood there in silence it was true that things changed, people changed, places changed, life changed. They just hated to see everything that they ever knew change before their eyes. They were no longer the incredible duo of Drake and Josh, they no longer had their bat cave as so to say, and now their hang out was changing.

"Well Helen, we'll see you around." Josh said as they turned to walk out the door.

"Good luck you two." Helen said as she watched them leave the Premier.

As they got into the car Josh turned to his brother who was obviously fighting back tears too.

"Sucks that the Premier is leaving."

"Yeah it is." Drake said softly as he looked out the window.

"How old are we now?"

"32."

"We're old aren't we?"

"Yeah."

Neither could fight back the tears that were forming and they both let them fall freely down their faces in silence.

"I miss it." Drake coughed as they pulled into the driveway like they had when they were younger.

"I do too."

"Is this what it's going to be like when we're 80? Two old men crying because everything they knew from their past is gone? We'll be sitting in our rocking chairs in the nursing home scarfing down meatloaf like Murray and Francine Boshwit, saying, 'When we were your age my brother and I hid a sheep from our parents.'." Drake said as he opened the door and he and Josh walked towards the front of the car. Mindy and Lillah standing on the porch watching their husbands reminisce about their high school years. Smiling because they'd both known that they missed each other because they were the ones that had to hear it, they were the ones that had to listen to the stories of their past a million times over.

"Life's a bitch isn't it?" Drake asked Josh.

"Yeah it is." Josh sighed. "Knuckle touch?"

"No way." Drake smiled as Josh caught the look in his brother's eyes.

"Hug me brother?" Josh asked.

"You bet." Drake laughed as he hugged Josh once more. Knowing that wherever the next 10 years took them they'd still be brothers. They were no longer step-brothers because step-brothers hated each other, they were brothers. They were there for each other; they were each others best friends.

That road trip they'd taken fourteen years ago was supposed to be their last hurrah before college. They were supposed to finish the bond that they had started. But they did so much more than that on that road trip. Drake learned the true meaning of love and what it meant to finally grow up. Josh had learned to let go of all his insecurities and learn that life wasn't meant to be played by the rules. They'd both let go of their past, of their differences and truly learned to appreciate the other. They'd never forget their four years of High School or that infamous road trip that had changed their lives. They'd never forget Taylor or what she brought to the table and they'd never forget the changes they saw in each other.

Too many years to count later

Drake Parker and Josh Nichols lived out their days in Beverly Hills, a house away from each other. Walking their children out to the bus stop, having their schemes as adults, and watching their children grow up and move out. Watching their grand-children grow as well, even a few great-grand-children. Never getting tired of repeating the stories of their youth.

Mindy and Lillah passed away long before Drake and Josh did and their families had placed the two of them in a nursing home like they had always known they would be. Still fighting over their oatmeal and cream of wheat.

It baffled the nurses when they both died on the same day as they were playing game sphere, their half empty cans of mocha cola in front of them. It was written on their death records that their cause of death was too much excitement, a death that was laughable for anyone that had known Drake Parker and Josh Nichols.

The funeral ceremony was led by their daughters who had known the full story of their fathers. There wasn't a dry eye in the church nor was there anyone without a smile on their face because the things they did together were just that funny and heartfelt.

They were buried back in San Diego in a plot near their parents, next to their wives. Only Drake was buried on the right and Josh on the left to that they could be next to each other.

Rumor carried on through the ages said that if you stood by their gravesite you could hear them laughing, but no one really believed it because it could always be blamed on the wind. But then there were the true believers who knew that death wouldn't separate those two.

-The End-

A/N: Okay so there you have it this story is complete. I hope the ending wasn't too lame because I couldn't find a good spot to just end it. I hope it wasn't too sad, but I was kind of going for that in a way. Oh well, I have more stories that I'm working on so that should keep you satisfied for awhile. Plus I'm taking creative writing next year in school so the stories should just keep flowing. Plus with the new season coming soon I should have more things to write about. Hope you enjoyed this story.

-Morgan