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

A/N: Drake and Christine have not yet cleared things up between them. That'll happen next chapter. They are acting civil to each other, but you know, it was Drake who stormed out and now he's gotta be the one to fix it, but you'll see. Also, I am bringing up the idea of two teenagers thinking about having sex...at least one anyway. No, I will not write any descriptive scenes like that. There will only be conversation. There are reasons I gave this a "T" rating and the discussions are one of them. It will come up in other chapters as well. But don't worry, not too much. Simply someone freaking out and then trying to explain the baseball metaphor in this one, so it will all only be conversation. ;)

Chapter Seven: A Frightening Discovery

Drake sat in Christine's living room. They were working on their project that day. He was supposed to be doing calculations, but it was a problem. Drake didn't understand it much. Craig walked by him.

"Drake, have you finished that yet?" he asked.

"No," Drake replied.

"You've been at it for twenty minutes. It's only two problems."

"I know," Drake responded.

"Well, what's taking so long?"

Christine walked into the room.

"Something wrong?" Christine asked.

"Drake's slow," Craig replied and walked out of the room.

Drake felt like wrapping his arms around Craig's scrawny little neck. Christine came and sat down next to Drake.

"You going to bug me about not getting this too?" Drake asked. Eric had been reluctant to give Drake the problems to do. Craig had told him to do it, and now Drake was letting him down. Drake hadn't even asked to do it.

"No," Christine replied. "Craig just can't seem to figure out why some people don't do well. It's hard when his head's that thick."

Drake smiled slightly.

"You want some help?" Christine asked.

"Yes, I would love some help," Drake replied. She hadn't forgiven him for getting angry with her. Drake was being nice as pie to her. She was acting pretty kind toward him for someone who had just been yelled at by her best friend. Drake hoped the plan he was forming in his head worked out well.

"Here," she said. She leaned over and did her best to help him. She didn't want to do it for him, but he managed to finish it with her guiding him.

"Thanks," he said. "It's not easy when your group members think you're dumb."

"You're not dumb," she said. "Forget about those two."

"Well, if I go to college, they know I'm going to community college. They think I'm dumb for that."

"Well, I'm going to community college too," she replied. "No sense wasting my money if I don't even know what I'm going to do yet. It does not make you dumb." She gave him a peck on the cheek and left the room. Drake sighed. As much as he loved it, he didn't want a quick kiss on the cheek from her. He didn't want to give her a quick kiss on the cheek either. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her like he meant it. However, that wasn't happening. He hated the thought. He was still going out with Melissa. It was now November and things were going pretty well. Pretty well. That's how things had always been going. Drake didn't want them to go pretty well, he wanted them to go great with the girl he wanted. Of course, he was in hot water with Christine anyway at the moment. They were probably only getting along this well because Eric and Craig were in the other room. Then again, it wasn't like a kiss on the cheek would have been to make them think nothing was wrong. Not all best friends did things like that. He had to do something to make sure she'd forgiven him and fast.

Christine walked back through the room.

"Where are you going?" Drake asked.

"I've got to get a book for the project," Christine replied. "Oh, before I forget, will you tell your mom that my mom and I were already invited to David's family's house for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Sure," Drake replied.

"Christine!" yelled Eric. "Get in here!"

"But I need to..." she began.

"I need help!"

"Oh for...Drake could you get it? It's a brown book and it's on my desk in the row with all the other books. The lovebirds need me."

"Sure," Drake replied, laughing a bit. He got up and headed up to Christine's room. He was a bit upset. His mom had invited Christine and her mom to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. Apparently, David's family had asked first. This made Drake jealous. No, he wasn't jealous, just disappointed. There'd be other times.

Drake opened Christine's door and headed toward her desk. He saw the book she was talking about. He pulled it out of the little row of books. He accidently knocked one of the smallest books over and it fell open.

Drake realized he'd accidently opened her diary. Drake knew he should close it and forget about it. However, he glanced at the page and saw his name. He couldn't help it. He had to read it.

Why is Drake so upset with me? I only tried asking him what was wrong. He's been acting strange for a while now. I can't understand it. I wish Drake would say or do something about what happened. If he hadn't gotten so angry with me maybe I would have told Mom I'd rather cancel on David's family for Thanksgiving. Then again, that doesn't make me look good in the eyes of my boyfriend's parents either.

I don't think I've ever had a better boyfriend than David. I even think I might be in love with him. And now we're going to his family's house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. That's quite a huge step. I've really only met his parents. I guess it will be interesting to meet everyone else.

There's a thought that's been running through my head a lot lately. I do feel that I may love David. I wonder if he loves me. Maybe we're ready to take things to the next level.

Drake felt his face grow hot. He knew he should stop, but he continued reading.

I think I want to lose my virginity to David.

Drake slammed the book shut and placed it where it originally was. He didn't need to read anymore. All of his hopes that maybe she didn't care about David as much as it seemed were dashed on the rocks. Drake felt his heart ache. She wanted David to be the first guy she had sex with? Drake felt his stomach twist into knots. He felt sick, but he didn't feel like throwing up. This was a new feeling for him. Drake picked up the book Christine had asked him to get and slowly made his way downstairs.

Drake crossed the living room and headed into the kitchen, looking like he was a million miles away.

"Is something wrong?" Christine asked.

"No," said Drake, snapping back to reality. She'd never forgive him for reading her diary.

"Wow," said Craig. "It's almost seven o'clock. Eric and I have to go. We'll see you guys later."

Craig and Eric left.

Drake slowly began to gather up his things.

"Drake," said Christine. "Do you want to..."

"I have to go too," Drake replied. "See you later." He headed out the door, leaving Christine very confused. Something was wrong, but he was hiding it. She wanted to talk. She wanted to tell him she'd forgiven him for the other day. She'd have to do that some other time. He clearly wanted to be alone.

Drake lie in his bed. He was in a bit of shock. How could she? David? She wanted to make love to him? Drake couldn't understand his response. He should be over Christine by now. Maybe he was just feeling over-protective.

How could she choose David? Drake tried to find an answer. They'd been dating since last spring. About April. It had been about seven months. Drake couldn't believe he'd survived those seven months. Drake was still lost in his thoughts when Josh walked into the room.

"Check it out," Josh said. "The new game for the GameSphere!" Josh noticed Drake wasn't paying attention. "Drake? What's up with you?"

"Huh?" said Drake, snapping his head back. "What?"

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"This isn't still about that argument that you had with Christine, is it?"

"No, I think I know how I'm going to try to fix that anyway." Christine wanted him to say or do something. Well, he would definitely do something about it.

"Okay," Josh said. "You want to play the new game?"

"What new game?" Drake asked.

"The one for the GameSphere. Didn't you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry. No. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Well, let the ultimate gaming experience make you forget your troubles."

Drake sighed. He was willing to try anything to get this off of his mind. He didn't even care that Josh took the purple controller.

Halfway through the game, Josh realized Drake was losing. Very badly. It wasn't just falling behind a few points. No, Drake's score was rock bottom, and Josh couldn't figure out why. He leaned forward and shut off the game.

"What'd you do that for?" Drake asked.

"Because you're not into the game," Josh said. "Something is really bothering you. Now are you going to tell me what it is?"

"I can't," Drake responded.

"Why not?"

"It's personal."

"We're brothers. We know everything personal about each other."

"Not everything," Drake replied. He thought about it. How would Josh respond?

"Josh..." Drake began, "if you had a girlfriend, but you also had a crush, and you found out the girl you had a crush on wanted to, uh, round the bases with another guy, how would you feel?"

"But I'm dating Mindy, and I don't have a crush on anyone else. And what do you mean round the bases?" Josh asked, clueless.

"You know...homerun..." Drake urged.

"What? Are we still talking about relationships?"

Drake stared at Josh, incredulous. How did he not know the old baseball metaphor?

"How would you feel if she wanted to sleep with another guy?" Drake practically yelled.

"But I don't have a crush," Josh replied. Now Drake was losing his patience.

"Hypothetically, how would you feel?" Drake tried.

"I don't know. I mean, I'd have my girlfriend, right? What does this have to do with your game score, which only compares to that of a Detroit Lions' game by the way?"

Drake wanted to bang his head on the table. It was like pulling teeth.

"Do you think you'd feel insanely jealous or just over-protective because you were really good friends?" Drake questioned.

"I thought she was a crush," Josh said. "Wait a second...Drake, are you talking about Christine?"

"Um..."

"She wants to sleep with David? She told you that?"

"No, not exactly."

"Then how do you know that?"

"Well, see, her diary kinda fell open, and..."

"YOU READ HER DIARY?" Josh yelled.

"Only the half page," Drake replied.

"Only the...Drake, do you know what she'll do to you if she finds out?"

"Nothing good," Drake responded.

"She'll kill you. Then she'll throw your body to the wolves."

"Thank you for the reassurance of my gruesome fate."

"Sorry, but you read her diary. That is, like, the one place a woman bears all. It's sacred. You do not read it."

"I know, but I did. I didn't mean to...it just fell open."

"You could have closed it."

"Would you stop making me feel guilty? Oh, man, my dreams will be plagued by images of those two together. I don't think I can handle that."

"Then think about Melissa."

"Josh, we've been dating for two months! If I want to get beyond being that kind of guy..."

"No, not that. Just think about all the good things about her. Just how nice it is to kiss her and stuff like that. Maybe it will help. Meanwhile, if you don't want to become wolf feed, I suggest you not tell Christine about her diary 'falling open' in front of your eyes. She will not buy that."

"I know." Drake glanced in the other direction, the same way he had been when Josh found him in their bedroom about an hour earlier.

"Drake," Josh said.

"What?"

"I hope everything works out for you in the end."

"So do I, and I have to start making this work out on my own by getting her to forgive me for what I said and did the other day."

"How?"

"I've got a plan."