Disclaimer: All Drake & Josh characters copyright their proper owners. I just wrote this.

Author's Note: Well, you're going to find out why Christine's been acting bitter.

Chapter Seven: Josh, Think About It

Josh began taking notice of many more things. As time progressed, Drake began hanging out with Christine more often. Eventually, he was with her more than his other friends. Anyone who didn't know could mistake them for a couple. Drake was also playing the charmer with girls less and less. In fact, he hadn't had a date since the Cambrie twins incident. Josh was concerned.

He was sitting at lunch one day with thoughts running through his head. He barely heard Mindy.

"Josh...Josh? Didn't you hear me?" she asked.

"No, sorry," Josh replied.

"What's the matter?"

"Drake, I guess."

"Why?" she questioned.

"He's not acting like himself," Josh replied.

"Oh. How so?"

"He hasn't been dating. He spends more time with Christine than anyone else. This is all happening gradually, but I'm a bit concerned. It's not like Drake at all."

"No, it's not," Mindy agreed. She thought about the conversation she had with Drake a couple weeks ago. "Well, I'm sure there's some explanation."

"What, though?" Josh asked.

"Well, think about it. He's hanging out with Christine more than anyone else."

"They've been catching up," Josh replied.

"As often as they're together, I'm sure the catching up ended about two weeks ago," Mindy responded. "Besides, he hasn't had a date for a while because he's too preoccupied with her."

"Hmm," Josh said. He thought about what Mindy was saying. What was she getting at? Drake and Christine had been best friends. It was obvious that he would want to spend time with her. Then again, Mindy was right. He spent a LOT of time with her. He hadn't dated in a while either, this was true. Wait, Drake didn't...no, he couldn't. Christine was his best friend. But, was it possible? No, that was crazy.

Drake walked up Christine's front porch. It had been about a month since she came back to San Diego. They'd caught up and spent a lot of time together, just like they did before Christine moved. Drake rang the doorbell, and Christine answered it. He stepped inside.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked.

"Fine," she replied, not looking at him, as she picked up the mail off of the coffee table. Something about her voice worried him. She carried the mail to the kitchen and tossed an unopened envelope in the trash. She came back in the living room, still not looking at Drake.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"N-no," she responded, her voice shaky.

"Christine..." he looked carefully at her face and realized she'd been crying. "What's the matter?"

"My mom and I had a little argument before she left. It's nothing."

"Christine, if you're crying, it was something."

She sat down on the couch in silence.

"Will you please talk to me?" Drake begged.

Christine sighed and finally began to talk.

"She found out I haven't been reading the letters my dad keeps sending. He asked her why I didn't respond and she asked me, and well, you can figure out the rest."

"Why won't you let your dad know you? I wish my dad would know me."

"I don't want to know him. Not after what he did."

"I don't know what he did, so I'm not sure whether to agree with you or not."

Christine stared straight ahead. She hadn't told Drake this story yet. Why her parents had divorced. She hated that it happened. She realized, she needed to tell someone, or it would only depress her more than it already had.

"My dad had an affair. When my mom found out, they just couldn't work through it. He threw his marriage away. He threw our family away. That's why I don't want to talk to him."

Drake couldn't believe what she'd just said. He recalled how Josh felt when they assumed Walter was having an affair. Your dad was someone you were supposed to look up to when you were little. When he did something like this, it just completely killed the "father figure" image. When Josh thought their dad was having an affair, he'd felt depressed and hurt because he'd always looked up to him. Then he'd done that. Drake had been upset as well. After all, it had been his mom who was cheated on, if Walter had been having an affair. He hadn't taken that very lightly. He hadn't told Josh, but he was burning up inside when he thought it was going on, but he had tried to stay calm for Josh's sake.

"I'm so sorry, Christine," he said. What could he say? It was terrible.

"It's just...I always thought I could depend on him," Christine replied. She had tears in her eyes now. She hated crying. She'd done enough of it. She couldn't help it though. The tears just fell. She soon realized she was in Drake's arms. She didn't know how she'd gotten there, but she was thankful for the comfort of them. "My mom just doesn't get it. I don't get her. She wants me to know the man that broke her heart? The man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with? The man who promised to always be faithful?"

"Christine," Drake said. "I know you're upset now, but do you think maybe she doesn't want you to regret not speaking to him? What if one day you needed him and he wasn't there because you shut him out? My mom told me there's always times when a girl needs her dad. When the guys are jerks or even when you need to be given away on your wedding day." Why had he said that? He hadn't meant to say it.

"He really hurt me," Christine responded. "By cheating on my mom, he showed me that my own father can't be trusted."

"My dad doesn't want to know me at all. Christine, I'm begging you, don't let this go. If you do, you might regret it someday. You shouldn't have to live with that regret. It's only been a month. Tell him you need to cool down for a little while, and then see how you feel."

"Drake..."

"Please, do it for me?"

His words shocked her, and truthfully, they shocked him as well. He'd never asked her to do anything like this before. He stared into her eyes. They looked the shade of grass at the moment. While it was a bright green, it wasn't the dancing emerald green that he loved when she was happy. What she said next shocked him even more.

"Okay, I will."

"I know it's not easy, but maybe someday, you can forgive him. He is your dad."

"What about you? What about your dad?"

"What? I don't know. What am I supposed to do? He's the one who stopped writing."

"I suppose so."

"Look, can we not talk about this? Let's focus on other things. You like any guys here yet?"

Christine stared at him. What kind of a question was that?

"What?" she asked.

"You know...you want to date anyone?" He honestly couldn't believe he'd asked the question either. Why did he do it? What did he want to know?

"Why would I tell you that?"

"We're best friends, aren't we?"

"Well, yeah, but you're a guy."

"So?"

"That information isn't normally shared with guys."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

"How can I get this information out of you?"

"Oh, please."

"You do like someone," he said.

"Maybe," she replied, smirking.

"Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Describe him then. You can't object to that. You don't even have to tell me what he looks like."

"Fine. He's cute..."

"I figured that much. Normally there has to be some kind of a physical attraction." Christine threw a pillow at his head. "Hey!"

"You asked for it. He's smart, but he's not an honor student or anything. He's sweet and treats me with respect at least."

"He sounds nice," Drake said, glancing at the floor. Why did he feel slightly disappointed that she did like someone? He was feeling overprotective, that was all. He was her best friend, and he couldn't help but be overprotective. Whoever the guy was, he was lucky.

A/N: Tomorrow you get to find out what exactly is going on. Not all questions will be answered in this part of the trilogy, but you will get a basic layout of Drake's feelings because they play an important role.