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

A/N: The project grade is totally irrelevent to the story, but I thought some of you might want to know how that went. :P

Chapter Nine: Excuses Again

Congratualtions everyone, Mr. Danworth said to the group of Drake, Christine, Eric, and Craig. You all get A's. Yes, even you Mr. Parker. You actually did very well.

"Yeah, because Christine helped him half the time," Eric mumbled, leaning against the edge of the board that was decorated with holly leaves for Christmas. Christine jabbed Eric in the ribs. He shut up.

Mindy stared straight ahead.

"WHAT?" she cried. Josh opened a book and hid his face. He knew what was coming. "How did Drake get an A, and I got an A-!"

"Mindy," Josh said quietly. "Our report was on something much harder than their's was..."

Drake was actually satisfied with the A. Christine had helped him a little, but he had done a lot of the work himself. He was actually proud of it. Was he this willing to do that everyday? Maybe. Maybe not. He'd see how he felt about his homework that day.

Drake hadn't wanted to ruin Megan's holiday by bringing up Ford, so he didn't mention it. He knew their mom didn't say anything for the same reason, but Drake knew if they were ever going to get through this, they'd have to talk about it. He hated doing this. He didn't want to bother her on Christmas, which should be the happiest day of the year for a kid. He didn't want to bother her on New Year's either, especially since Josh had been walking around stressing that it meant a time for new beginnings. Josh also mentioned a chance to do certain things, which annoyed Drake. He knew what Josh wanted him to do, but there was no way he was going to do it. Anyway, here it was, a week after New Year's and Drake knew he had to talk to his sister.

Drake knocked on Megan's door, which she opened with her remote.

"Megan, we need to talk about Ford," Drake said.

"But..." she began.

"Look, if we don't do this soon it's only going to keep bothering us."

"Okay," Megan agreed. Drake knew this would be hard for her, especially since she'd barely known Ford.

Drake sat down on the edge of Megan's bed, where she had been sitting.

"I know how I feel about it," Drake began. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know him," Megan replied. "He left when I was six. There wasn't enough time for me to know him."

"I know," Drake responded. "Do you want to know him?"

"I don't know. What was he like when you saw him?"

"He wanted to explain, but his explanations were more like excuses. Like he was dancing around the truth. He'd blame Mom or claim it was too hard. I don't know. He broke her heart. He broke mine. And I guess he broke your's without really realizing it."

"Is it wrong that I want to at least talk to him?"

Drake looked a bit startled, but he understood.

"No, Megan. It's not wrong at all. I got to talk to him. You didn't. If you want to see how he treats you, you can."

"I don't want to talk to him alone," Megan said timidly.

This was a new side of Megan to Drake. She never acted vulnerable, unless she was pulling a prank on him and Josh and it was required that she at least act that way. This was very different.

"You don't have to talk to him alone," Drake replied. "I'll be there if you want."

"Thank you," Megan responded. Then she did something she didn't do much anymore. She gave Drake a hug. Last time they'd talked in her room, Drake had hugged Megan. Now she was hugging him. Drake sighed. Maybe this was a sign that Megan was growing up or at least thought she was. She'd taken to calling their dad Walter lately. No one knew why, but she had. Maybe it was because she was getting older and felt she needed to do it. Whatever the reason, Drake wished she wouldn't. Walter was Dad. Ford wasn't anymore. Of course, that would be for Megan to decide.

Drake and Megan got off of Megan's bed and headed downstairs to talk to their mom. Audrey listened to Megan and said she'd call Ford.

A few days later, Audrey had called Ford. She wasn't happy with his response. One night, when Josh was at the Premiere and Walter was also working, she asked Drake and Megan if she could talk to them. Drake and Megan sat on the couch, unsure of what their mom wanted. They knew she'd called Ford, but what had he said?

"Drake, Megan," Audrey began. "I called Ford today."

"And?" asked Drake. Their mom wouldn't be talking to them like this unless something was wrong.

"He can't come until April."

"What?" asked Drake, irritated.

"Why April?" Megan questioned.

"He can't leave his work until then."

"Excuses again," Drake said. He slowly got up and headed to his room. Why did this disappoint him? He'd already dealt with this. He'd already moved past it. Was he this unhappy because Megan hadn't had her chance yet? Maybe. How was Megan anyway? She'd just found out she'd have to wait a few months before Ford would see her. It was still January, so April was a little far off still. Drake left his room and went to find Megan. She was in the bathroom, holding Josh's toothbrush. Drake didn't even want to know what she had planned.

"Are you okay?" Drake asked her.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I guess I have a little more time to think about what I want to say anyway."

Drake stared at his sister. On the bright side, she was still pulling pranks, so he wasn't too worried, but he was going to keep his eye on her.

Later that night, Drake heard Josh come home and moving around in the bathroom.

"MEGAN!" Drake heard. As glad as he was that Megan's pranks showed she was okay, he really didn't want to know what she'd done to Josh's toothbrush.

A/N: Short, I know, but I said it would be. Tomorrow is the chapter on Valentine's Day...Drake is alone. Christine is going to drop a couple huge hints about things, so watch for those. Please review.