Summary:

Things turn bad when Drake ends up in the hospital because of Josh; a mysterious stalker from Drake's past returns, stopping at nothing to get revenge, perhaps even murder. Drake falls for a sweet girl, but is scared to let her in his heart because of old heartbreaks. Read and review it!

Disclaimer:

I hereby disclaim. Drake and Josh don't belong to me. Duh.

Note to Readers:

EXPLANATIONS! Dun dun dun…

Story: "Party in a Box"

Chapter: "Explanations and Expeditions"; Thirty - One

Written By: Ginger

Extras:
Italics in "quotation marks" symbolize thoughts of Drake's.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drake had been appreciative of the alone time while Josh was gone to get the others, because even if it was only a span of a few short minutes, it was still a few short, quiet minutes to try and clear his thoughts.

"What a mess this is. Ah… I can't think. My whole self feels numb like before, when I was at the house right after it happened. If only I could get away from all of this… and shut it all out for a little while."

He only stopped trying to think for a split second, to look at his watch on his pale wrist.

"Four - thirty almost. Well, atleast Mom and Dad will be here soon. And probably, Anita will get out of surgery soon. …Woah. That just sounds weird. I never dreamed that I'd have all this happen to me and my friends, a few weeks ago."

His more - calm thoughts were soon interrupted by the entrance of his brother, and the agents Barlow and Becker, through the doorway opposite him.

Greeting Drake again, quickly, Becker explained that Officer Keaton had gone back to the house to finish rounding up evidence for later use in the court in a few weeks, and to see that everything was tied up in that area of the whole situation.

"I brought back Barlow because being a fellow FBI man; I thought that he might be able to help me ask you a few important questions before your parents get here." he continued, nodding toward his co-worker and studying Drake's face.

"Oh, questions? …Right now?" the boy finally spoke, beginning to feel intimidated by the agent's manner and proposition, as he glanced over to his brother and then back.

"Only a few, don't worry about it." Barlow replied, in a radically less - professional and stark manner than his partner, at least being able to calm down the teenage boy's spirit a little bit.

"Well, I'll answer anything that I can…" came the short reply again, as Drake felt his stomach begin to knot.

"Uh, sit down?" Josh asked, motioning an offer to both of them of their former chairs a few feet away from the boys'.

"Thank you very much." James Barlow added, nodding a genuine smile, as they sat down.

"Alright, Drake, these questions are quite significant, so please answer as you are able."

Catching Becker's certain drift, James bent forward a little bit in his chair and replied to him in explanation: "It's nothing really fancy; we're just trying to learn as much as we can about the case. Don't freak out, we're not going to deprive you of water or put you under a hot flood light."

This lightened Drake's mood considerably and feeling the pressure ease up, Becker turned and spoke to the dark haired boy: "Josh, if you have anything you would like to interject during the questions, please do."

With an understand nod, both boys traded quick glances and said: "We're ready."

"Okay. …Well, let's see, I think first of all, you should just think back over all that has happened and see if anything pops out at you that you think might help us."

"Oh, gosh—I have so many things. Well… the first thing that pops in to my mind is how he'd apparently been stalking me ever since…" when Drake faltered in his sentence, Josh readily cut in.

"—Ever since the car wreck. Uh, see, Drake and I were involved in a car wreck about… oh, I guess about a month and a half ago, and Drake hurt his ribs. But the phenomenal thing was that as I was cutting donuts and spinning out in the middle of the road, the truck that I hit happened to be Drake's Dad's! "

"Yes! I know about that! I was one of the FBI agents that filed that accident! And the man who no one knew was Joe Parker fled from the scene of the wreck after you had spoken only a few words to him! Right?"

Josh's eyes widened at Detective Barlow's vast knowledge and he continued: "Yes, exactly! It wasn't until I described the man to Drake in the hospital, that any of us knew who he was."

"And I guess just slamming in to me and Josh, reminded him of me after all these years, and thinking that he might be able to get in some kind of foot - hold with me, he began stalking me all over town." Drake filled in.

"Here's a question—when did your Mother divorce Joe Parker, Drake?" Becker asked, thinking hard.

"When I was fourteen years old. Wait—no, it was thirteen, I'm sorry. See… my Mom used to have to work a job in the day - time, because Dad was always quitting his jobs or getting fired. So basically, all day I was alone with him in our house."

"And two years after his Mom got a divorce, she dated my Dad and they got married." Josh inserted, trying to piece things together.

"Yeah—which kind of left dad out of the picture. Mom didn't need alimony or child - support anymore, so he just disappeared… until the day of the car accident."

"What kind of criminal record does he have? Has he ever been jailed in the past, that you know of?" Jonathan said.

"I heard of one time, before I was born. He got thrown in jail because he was caught with a friend in a Marijuana drug - ring. Thing is though, he pleaded that his friend was mostly responsible and that he, on the other hand had only been lured in to it. So the friend got a ten year prison - sentence and Dad went free." Drake replied, telling all he knew.

"Interesting… Has he ever committed any other court - worthy crimes?" Barlow asked.

"…If murder qualifies." Josh replied at last, in a boldly revolted voice.

Suddenly the eyes of the agents grew interested and they murmured a mixed: "What?-!"

"Well, sir… right before my parents left on their trip, I got a phone call in middle of night. …You both already know about his phone - harassment tendencies, don't you?" Drake began, looking up.

"We do."

"Right—well, this call was his voice, his breathing and the click and dial - tone like always, but the caller I.D. gave an actual number, unlike the usual 'Unknown Name' thing. So the next day Josh and I looked up the phone number on the white pages web site and found out who it belonged to." he continued, relating the tale.

"Go on." Becker prodded on.

"Well, my great Uncle died—in fact that's where our parents went; to his funeral. Gentlemen, the number my Dad called from belonged to my great uncle Gavin, and the doctors say he died suddenly around the exact same moment of night."

The law men shook their heads in a gaping amazement and Barlow found words to speak, first: "Was it… a warning to you two?"

"In a way, it was. But mostly, he was ready to do what ever he had to get Drake & I's parents out of state, so he could get to us—and so he did." Josh replied slowly, hardly believing all this had happened, too.

"That's so insane…" Drake muttered, to himself. After a moment, he realized it and looked up at the police officers, breaking his own stare at the floor: "Sorry—but I just can't get over it. It seems too crazy to be real."

"Don't apologize. All of these things do sound almost unbelievable." James nodded rationally.

"I know these questions have probably robbed you of a lot of your time and energy, boys, but do you think there is anything else major that could shed any special light on this?"

Becker's words made the boys think hard over the experiences, until Drake finally responded: "Oh my gosh! I know one of the biggest."

"Please, go ahead and tell us." came the words.

"Last night, or—rather early this morning, when it was still dark, he broke in to our house and when I heard him inside and went to go see, he threw me down the staircase."

To one outside of the situation, the way Drake spoke about this would confuse you, and you would think that he had become extremely emotionless and cold—but that was not the case, at all. It was simply that he knew it would be foolish and highly unwise to let himself go with his feelings and become hysterical and inconsolable.

"My God… house - breaking, assault and battery, striking a police officer, murder, harassment… this man is insane. No—more than insane. There's no way that the courts will lean in his favor with all of these charges, so don't you even start to worry about it." Barlow declared, shaking his head in unbelief and prompting Becker to speak, as well.

"Did he really throw you down the stairs?"

"Yeah he did! Here, look at the cut from where his forehead hit the spindles." Josh exclaimed in retort, turning to his brother and carefully brushing back his auburn hair with the palm of his hand.

"It's true, then." Becker said, shaking his head, as he glanced up at the bandage: "...It's very puzzling to me as to why a man would do all those things to his own son. …Did he ever love you?"

At this question, Josh quietly swept Drake's hair back over his forehead and added an understanding pat on his arm before settling back in to his own seat.

"Well… once when I was little, I thought he did. …He didn't, but you know, no little kid wants to face the fact that their Daddy never loved them in the first place—even though they never did anything that should have made him stop loving them. …I know it sounds unreal, but it's true. And I think it's more real for a lot of kids now, than people think it is."

Drake's soft and almost painful speech literally touched the hearts of all who heard it—even the tough FBI agents who saw crime every day of their lives. But it especially touched Josh's heart.

It was extremely hard on him to see his brother in so much mental pain. It was even worse than when he had been in the hospital after the accident, because no matter how bad the psychical pain had been, he could heal over time from that—and from this, Josh wasn't sure if he would heal or not, but he prayed that over time he would.

Josh knew that Drake had never had the man's love, and he knew that it would always leave a hole in Drake's life, but he also knew that with all that was within him, he was going to try and fill up that void with his own love for his brother. It may not be the love of a real father—he couldn't give that to him except maybe though his Dad—but a deep brotherly love that perhaps would over-whelm the emptiness.

Officer Barlow seemed to feel the deep emotions flowing through out the room and he sighed, looking up: "Well, boys, thank you. All your information has helped us immensely. We'll go now and leave you to try and calm down before your parents arrive. As soon as they do, we'll give them a little information and bring them to you."

Snapping from his thoughts with a grateful half - smile, Josh stood with the men and walked to the edge of the room with them: "Thank you, officers. We owe our lives to you, literally."

For the first time all day, Officer Becker seemed to momentarily snap from his professional air, winking and saying a quick: "Hey, what can I say? It's what we do." And in a second, he regained his staunch persona, turning and saluting Josh before exiting the room with his colleague.

Josh held on to his light smile until he turned to survey his brother, from across the large, dimly lit room.

He looked absolutely miserable, sitting huddled in his seat against the window, with his legs up in the chair beside him as he stared blindly out past the glass pane, in to the parking lot.

The dark haired boy walked over and sat down right next to him, restraining himself from scooping up his poor, tormented brother in to his arms and squeezing him hard, and instead he looked over and crossed his arms, speaking in a genuine voice: "…What are you thinking about?"

"Ah, I dunno… just stuff." Drake replied tiredly, shaking his head and still staring out the large window, and with a large sigh, going on: "I hope Mom and Dad get here soon."

They should. Then you can really rest."

"Yeah… I don't know."

Drake's reply made Josh look up from the floor, and he exclaimed: "Oh, no, come on—you have to rest, bro. You don't want to risk your own health. I mean, the very last thing anybody needs around here is for you to pass out or get sick of exhaustion.

"I… I know. But there's so much to do—and so much stuff to think about. I just have a ton on my mind… too much to sleep." came the reply.

"Well what about food? You haven't had anything all day and it's past five o' clock." Josh asked, frowning in worry and trying to entice his brother in to helping himself, a little.

"Nah, I'm not hungry." he replied with a sigh and pause before he looked over at his brother and laid and hand on his shoulder: "…Thanks for worrying about me, Josh. In a little while I might eat something."

"I hope so, 'cause you do worry me… you're already so beat up that you could pass out, and you're so thin that you can't afford to loose any weight." he sighed.

"I'll be fine. Stop worrying." Drake said again, squeezing Josh's shoulder as a sign of assurance and giving him atleast a half - smiling glance with his eyes.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was a long while they had alone, and no one came to bother them. They didn't talk much to each other for several minutes, until Drake let out a forced - sounding breath and Josh, being his naturally concerned self, immediately asked: "'You okay?"

"I guess. My back and shoulders hurt though." he said finally, shrugging his shoulders back to relieve his pain a little.

"Really? …What exactly did he do to your back and shoulders?" Josh asked, bending his brow.

"Not really anything, I slipped and fell on it hard, twice when he was… after me."

"Oww, man—you poor guy. …Here, turn around, I'll give you a massage." Josh offered kindly.

For once, Drake didn't refuse his kind proposition and instead, was glad to accept, turning around and trying to calm his tense muscles as much as he could.

Josh carefully tipped him to the side a little, so he could lean against the back of the chair and then he gently began to rub the back of both of his shoulders, at once.

"Gosh… no small wonder that it hurts you, Drake." His amazed almost - whisper came from behind him.

"Why do you say that?" he asked curiously, seriously having no idea why, himself.

"Well, you have totally rock - hard tension in your shoulders! You must have hit that floor hard. …And a bruise too."

"Well, I guess I did hit a little harder than I thought. I—I just didn't really think about it until now, because of…"

He didn't finish his sentence, but really he didn't have to—Josh read his mind and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Hey… don't think about him anymore, okay? He's done a lot of damage to you, but no body is going to let that evil man do anything more."

"I think you're right…" Drake sighed again, leaning in to the comforting massage, and looking out the window at the windy trees.

"Well, I know I'm right, so that's that. Now is the time to relax as much as you can, and enjoy this massage, not to think about bad things that you couldn't have helped, anyway."

Josh's loving little scold brought a weak, pale smile to Drake's lips for a minute and right then, he did just what his brother has said to; to try and relax. And anyway, Josh was giving him a nice, soft and gentle massage and it was indeed making his neck and back feel better, not to mention what the boy's extra caring attitude was doing for his spirit.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It had been a long while since Josh had finished his thoughtful massage, which had infact soothed Drake almost to sleep, and they both had resumed their spots at window where they'd been sitting before the two policemen had come with the news of the voicemail.

His eyes looked extremely heavy with the need to close and his silky, rich brown hair began to slowly fall toward them. When his bangs finally did wisp in to his chocolate brown eyes, he barely even stirred enough to reach up and brush them back. Finally, after another long bout of staring in to space, he spoke up in a lulled voice: "Man, I feel like somebody put a rock in the middle of my chest."

"…What do you mean?" Josh asked, in confusion.

The quiet, barely - hearable voice went on to explain: "I mean my ribs hurt so bad that it feels just like somebody took a big rock and jammed it…"

"—Shouldn't you go ahead and take some more of that medicine the doctor gave you, then?"

"…No, I can't—" Drake murmured, glancing at his watch with out hardly moving: "Not for a little while, anyway."

"Oh. …Are you okay?" Josh replied, slowly, frowning and trying to figure him out.

"Psychically, I'm tired. But mentally, I'm… messed up." he finally answered, closing his eyes for a minute and laying his chin on the back of his chair.

"How?"

"I just feel like a gigantic black cloud has swallowed me up. That's… the only way I can think of to come close to describing it."

The voice with which the boy said this is what disturbed Josh the most because it was so, so sad.

"…You really depressed, aren't you?" he finally asked back, getting only a weak nod in the form of reply, and a single word:

"Extremely."

"…I am pretty depressed myself." Josh sighed: "But mostly because you are."

"Really?" Drake said, putting forth effort enough to turn to look at him, instead of the soft glow of the window.

"Oh, yeah, totally. But we'll both be feeling better soon."

"…I hope." Drake added, in a tiny voice as he choked back his tears and fell again in to a deep gaze.

Josh knew his brother was beginning to feel the repercussions of the whole ordeal, and even though on the outside he seemed okay, inside he really wasn't. He was foggy and confused, and felt as if he needed to cry—but he wouldn't, because he wouldn't let himself be anything less than perfectly stable and strong. That's how he had had to be for so long to go on with his life, and now when he wished he could cry… he couldn't.

At last, after a long while, Josh felt himself hurt for him, and he spoke up in a gentle, quiet voice, reaching over and patting his back softly: "Drake… you can cry. I mean, nobody's here—nobody's going to blame you for feeling upset and used up. I'm the only one who's here, and with all of my heart I wish you would let your pain out. I'm here to help you. I'm here to protect you and take care of you and hold you when you're sad… so you can lean on me, and I'm not gonna just let you fall."

For the longest time, neither of them moved or said anything in the stark silence, but finally it came again.

"…You're—you're the best ever." Drake finally exclaimed, turning his tear - filled eyes toward him and nodding gently.

"…No, I'm not… I should have stopped him from hurting you. I… I could've stopped him from hurting you, but I guess I was too stupid to realize that such a nightmare could actually be reality…" Josh spoke, shaking his own head at himself in disappointment, but finally looking back up: "But I'm ready to cover up for my shortcomings, now by trying to help you through this thing."

"You don't have anything to cover up for, Josh—" Drake began, laying a soft hand on his brother's shoulder and then continuing on in the most earnest, truthfully honest voice Josh had ever heard him use: "You did the right thing. …You saved me."

Bringing two big tears to his own blue – grey eyes, Josh looked straight at him and smiled as if he were only trying not to cry out of his own gratitude, and spoke slowly, in the sweetest of tones: "…Thanks—Drake."

The two stared at each other for a moment longer and then instead of grabbing one another in a deep hug like they wanted to, they turned back to look out the window and try to compose themselves, because they knew if they had even embraced for a moment, they would both burst in to unstoppable tears and become virtually inconsolable.

Drake continued to stare out of the window for a long time, watching something in the distance and then suddenly his eyes widened a little and he gripped the back of the chair as his weak voice spoke: "…Their here."

"…What?" Josh exclaimed, scooting up behind Drake to peer out of the tall window.

"Look—there they are…" he replied, finally, grabbing Josh's hand and pressing his brother's finger up against the glass of the pane.

Below them, far across the packed hospital parking lot, both of their parents where walking toward the entrance to the lobby.

For a long time, Josh and Drake watched them make their way toward the building. At first they both looked about the size of little ants from such a distance, but finally as they came closer, the boys could begin to clearly see them.

"Oh my God… I'm so glad their here." Drake whispered in a distraught tone: "I—I almost thought when he had me pinned to the floor that last time, that I'd… never see them again."

Josh rested his gentle hand on his back, keeping his tears back, feeling his brother's pain, and said assuringly: "…It's okay."

"Yeah…" he replied at last, blinking his pending tears back and letting out a deep, throbbing sigh: "It is. It's just all so hard. …And what am I supposed to say to Mom and Dad? How can I—"

The dark haired boy quickly interrupted him and shook his head, as he rubbed his shoulder: "Hey, look, you don't have to worry about that, 'cause Barlow and Becker are going to give them the headlines before they get here. …I'm sure they're not going to bombard you with useless questions the second they walk in the door, because they'll just be relieved to see you alive—I know I was."

Silence reigned after the two grown adults below disappeared from view and entered the building, and feeling that he had really done all he could for his brother, Josh leaned back in his chair and let him have a while to think in the quiet atmosphere.

Time dragged by so torturously slow that both of the teenagers almost began to wonder if it had actually been somehow stopped. Seconds felt like minutes, and the hands on the clo0ck hanging high on the wall drew so slowly across the face, that Josh could nearly swear that he could have lived an entire lifetime before another minute passed.

Drake felt a drop of anxious perspiration draw a damp line down his pale face and he blew out a breath, realizing how much he needed to just take a deep, slow breath of air. Behind the bland exterior that those tired brown eyes held, lay an even more anxious and tired blur of feverish thoughts.

Thoughts about everything—Josh, Meghan, his parents, his house, his father, court, the doctors, the surgery, the hospital, his great uncle, the police and the newspapers. But… most importantly forefront in all these thoughts was the same question that threatened to drive him mad for repeating so often: "What about Anita?"

Josh was just as worried about him as he was about Anita, but he couldn't think of what to do about it, or how to help him. He really didn't realize about how much he had already helped him, and he didn't know that without him, all of this would have been too much for Drake to handle. But he did know how much he was willing to do for him, and that was simply that he was going to stand behind him and hold up weight no matter what happened. And though he barely knew the extent of it, Drake remained very thankful to him, and didn't want him to leave his side for a moment.

"Josh—" Drake's quiet, fearful voice cut like a sharp knife through the silence, as he stopped to look up for reassurance.

"What is it, bro?" he responded, returning a kind and genuinely worried little smile.

With a reluctant frown, Drake bit his dry lips and then sighed as his eyes filled with fearing question: "Josh, will…"

A long pause came until a quieter voice found the words to speak.

"Will Mom and Dad… hate me?"

This question made Josh's heart quiver in sympathy for his dear friend and he bent his brow, quickly grabbing his hand and staring at him: "Drake, why in the world would they hate you?"

"…Because, Josh. …It was my fault that great uncle Gavin died—I could have stopped it by just telling Mom and Dad about his calls to me and then the police could have…" he didn't finish his explanatory sentence, and let it trail off in to nothingness until Josh picked it back up.

"Have done what? Unless they were psychic, Drake, they couldn't have anything about that. It was completely out of the blue and nobody expected this."

"Ah, I—I guess you're right." he finally gave up, looking down at the worn converse shoes that an officer had brought him down from his room to wear, before they left the house in the police car.

"Of course, I am. Just sit back and let other people worry about this for you. …I know you're used to doing everything by yourself, but for once, everyone else is going to do it for you."

Josh's firm, blunt statement actually put Drake's mind in the right perspective for a long while, and he realized that it was okay to need help, and to take the help that was offered to him.

"I know this probably sounds stupid when I say it, Josh, but it feels almost like it's been… years since I've seen Mom and Dad, and I can hardly wait to see them walk through that door way." he said after a while in a small voice, as he sighed against for what seemed to be the millionth time that day.

"Oh, Drake—" Josh replied in a completely understanding whisper: "That's not stupid at all. You've been through a huge trauma, and with Mom and Dad away, it's just that much harder for you to deal."

"Yeah, but it's just 'that' much easier for me to deal with you helping me, so I think it's almost even."

In reply to that heartfelt statement from Drake, Josh smiled a little kind smile and nodded, looking up at him with a quiet chuckle: "Almost."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back and fourth Drake walked over the laminate tile covered floor only a few feet from the row of chairs along the windows. He hardly knew that he was pacing in such a way, because his mind was apparently focused on something that required greater concentration.

Josh, who was leaning tiredly against a nearby wall smile a worried smile and reached out to grasp his brother's shoulder when he walked within easy reach: "Hey—calm down and stop pacing so much! …You'll wear out the soles of those shoes."

Drake looked up and instantly seemed to snap from his partial daze, shaking his head and speaking quickly: "I'm sorry. I'm just… nervous. –Extremely nervous."

"Well don't be, bro. Mom and Dad are going to want to do nothing but hug you and thank heaven that you're still alive. And you don't have to iron out the details—that's the reason their coming home. Their the adults, and their going to take care of it all for you. 'Kay?"

"O—okay. I know that I just worry a lot. …I'm really sorry." He responded, breathing deeply and standing still for a moment, at last.

"No apologies, Drake, I get it." the dark haired boy said, with a knowing nod and a pat on the shoulder.

With out a moment more of time to "relax", Josh's cell phone suddenly began to ring and once again, after a genuine jump of start from both boys, he reached in to his pocket to retrieve it, at this particular moment feeling that the Oprah ring tone was almost annoying.

Flipping it open quickly to see who it was, Josh sighed and closed his eyes for a second and said in a calm voice: "It's Meg's cell phone."

"W—hat! Meghan? What will we tell her? J—Josh!" Drake exclaimed, spinning around and pressing a hand to his temple in exasperation.

"Shh—I'll handle it." he replied, waving a hand toward him with a convincing nod, as he pulled the phone to his ear and answered it promptly.

"Meghan?"

"What's up, boob." came her sly answer.

"What is it, why did you call?" Josh continued, trying to figure out what he should say to her and meanwhile, what to do to keep Drake from falling to literal pieces.

"Just thought I'd drop you line to see what you two lame - brains did all night by yourselves."

"Look, Megs, stop for a minute—there's been an… accident. Drake and I are okay, but—"

"What kind of an accident? Did you wreck the car again?-! …Or did one of you just loose your brains?" the snide girl replied, cutting Josh off and spreading her face over with an evil smile.

"No, Meghan—seriously," he began again, running a hand over Drake's shoulder for a second as he walked across the room and stood in the door way, to talk to Meghan in a quiet, sincere voice: "I mean it, there's been a serious accident. …Mom and Dad have come home though, so just stay at Charlise's house until somebody comes to get you, alright?"

"Wait. Mom and Dad are coming home? …What, is somebody dead?"

Though serious, Josh let out another sigh at the girl's blunt way of speaking, and answered quietly: "No, Drake and I are okay. But just don't freak out."

"… And why would I freak out? …Did somebody burn the house down?" the brunette preteen replied, raising a curious and slightly confused eye brow.

"No! I can't go in to it, but Mom and Dad will take care of everything. I'll talk to you after they meet us up here, okay?"

The irritated and uninformed voice of their sister rang out from the phone: "Up where?-!"

"I'll tell you later. 'Bye, Megs." Josh replied in final, forceful tone, waiting for her annoyed reply before he hung up.

"Fine! …Bye."

With a click, the two disconnected and replacing his cell to the space in pocket, Josh paused at last to look up, surprised to catch Drake staring right back at him from across the room, with his hands tiredly hooked in his belt.

"…She doesn't care, right?"

"She doesn't know." the dark haired teen spoke back, crossing his arms and stepping nearer: "I didn't tell her where we were or why. Just that something had happened and that Mom and Dad were back home a little early."

"Gosh thanks, Josh. This is awesome having you here to help me, I seriously couldn't do it by myself." Drake shook his head with a truly appreciative look in his eyes.

"Hey, you're totally welcome, bro. I mean, after all the stuff you've done for me in the last few years, I feel like it's the least I can possibly do… and anyway, I kinda like helpin' out my brother."

All the sudden, the momentary feeling of near - peace was shattered all at once and the flip phone in Josh's pocket began to go off once again, making him sigh deeply and roll his eyes, not bothering to see who it was before answering in a swift tone: "Hello?"

"Josh, its Detective Barlow. …We're planning on taking your parents up to meet you in a moment—is that alright?" the deep voice of the thirty-something year old police man spoke in his ear, lacking in any bit of delay.

"Hang on officer; you can talk straight to Drake." Josh replied back, turning and covering the phone with his hand: "Hey…"

"Who is it?" Drake said, with a single nod as he reached out, ready to get this over with.

"It's Barlow. He says… oh, well, never mind—here, let him tell you himself."

After Josh relinquished the phone to his weak teenage counterpart, he watched him put it to his ear and breathe out an answer: "Officer Barlow?"

"Hey, Drake. Becker and I have both of your parents down here and their very anxious to say hello to you. …Do you think you'd be ready enough to see them in about five minutes?"

"Uh… y-yes, sir, that would be wonderful. I think I can be very ready by then, to see them. T—thank you."

Josh smiled softly at the apparent eagerness that Drake felt for seeing their parents, but at the same time his heart hurt tenderly for him and his hidden fear and nervousness.

Drake felt again Josh's re-assuring hand rest sensitively on his arm and felt butterflies flutter apprehensively around in his stomach at the thoughts of actually having to see his Mom and Dad so soon and to having to tell them so many of the gory details. But… it was okay. It was going to have to be okay, because now, with Barlow's last response, Drake knew they were finally coming: "No problem. Alright, then, Becker and I will see both of you boys in a few minutes. Just relax until we arrive."

As much as he wanted to do that, Drake knew as he let Josh hang up the cell phone for him, that there was no possible way that he could make himself take the advice that had been given him.

"Josh… I feel like I'm going to—to just throw up." He finally said, shivering and pacing one lap along the stretch of chairs.

"You need to sit down?" his brother replied, jumping up from his place and stretching out a hand toward a seat.

"I… dunno. I mean, I won't actually throw up I don't think—I'll be fine—I just feel like it. I have all day long. Maybe… maybe only mostly mentally, though."

"Oh, I know the feeling, then. Just don't focus on everything so hard, you're going to make yourself withdraw. I'm still here with you."

Drake was thankful that he was indeed, and sent up a silent prayer of gratitude for his supportive friend, meanwhile let out an effort - filled smile and dragging a limp hand through his own messy, amber - brown hair, as he collapsed in to a chair beside the other boy.

And again, every moment began to feel a thousand years long for both boys, and both were only awaiting the sight of their parents in that high, arched door way… and what a relieving sight it would be. For the most part, neither of them felt as if they could find words to say what they wanted to, so they remained quiet, close beside each other for about five minutes.

But suddenly Drake remembered something else and he knew that his urge to speak was too great to ignore: "Josh… can I ask you a question? And will you sincerely answer me?"

"Go ahead and shoot, I'll answer anything." he agreed, wondering what the tired brunette wanted to ask him so seriously.

"What kind of surgery are they doing on Anita in there, honestly? Did he stab her… heart? I don't really want to think about it, much less ask it, but hardly anybody has told me anything." He slowly responded, as he gulped back lingering emotions and looked back at him with sad eyes.

"I wish I knew any more than you do, brother, because I would like to tell you, but truly I have no idea. It can't be all that bad though, and there are so many professional surgeons here that's I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. She'll be fine." came his also rather un-informed answer.

"I hope we all will." Drake added, before a noise of muffled voice and the far away clicking of heels on the hall floor, made him snap his head up and jump out of his seat, standing to full height.

In a gasp he breathed out a quiet and yet totally frightened sentence: "Josh! Josh, Mom and Dad… their here!"

"I know." he nodded, standing up and shrugging back his shoulders to ready himself for this coming meeting.

Drake was so frazzled that looking up at his calm, logical brother made him that much more amazed.

He was beginning to feel genuinely afraid, and wondered if he could take this, but in a single instant, every fear spinning off in his head was momentarily put away, by the gentle protection of his brother.

Leaning close to Drake's ear from behind him, he clutched his shoulder and spoke comfortingly: "But I've got your back on this one, for once."

And before anything more could be said or done by either teenager, the moment which put an end to all anticipation had come, as the two detectives entered the room slowly and nodded: "…Drake, Josh."

Parting and standing aside, they revealed the boys' overly worried parents waiting in the door way: "I believe these visitors would very much enjoy if they could come in and talk to…"

Becker's quiet and un-needed words trailed off quickly as Audrey, Walter, Josh and Drake all rushed forward at once, not wasting any time in meeting.

"Oh my God, Drake! Drake… Drake you're okay…" his mother murmured in to his soft mane of brown locks as she clenched him tightly in her arms.

The feeling quickening through his body at that moment almost made his knees give out, and his heart seemed to suddenly loose a restricting, dark force that had shadowed him before.

"…Mom!"

Before he could do anything about it, the undependable tears rose back in to their place in his eyes and one rolled softly down his cheek, not stopping until it continued down his neck and soaked in to the collar of his shirt. But he didn't care.

Josh and his Dad left both the Mother and son alone for a moment while sharing their own emotional hug, being extraordinarily glad to see each other and at the same time understanding the need for Drake to feel completely secure. After all… his security had been mostly void of existence these past few weeks.

"Woah, I—I'm so happy to see you guys." Drake finally whispered as he pulled back from his mother, wiped his tear stained eyes and let out a wavy chuckle as he stepped quickly over to his step father to capture him in a hug as well.

"Are—are you alright, Drake? I can't believe you could have had all of this happen to you." Audrey whispered, feeling sobs blur out her eyes as he reached up and ran an incredibly thankful hand softly through his tousled hair.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm—I'm fine." he smiled, sniffing more tears back and glad to have both of his parents so near.

Josh watched from a few feet away, with a broad smile pressed across his lips for the first time in a long while. He felt almost even happier for Drake than Drake was for himself. No one actually knew how much pain it caused Josh to see his brother hurt or even emotionally wounded, and now that things were starting to get a little better, he felt nearly more pleased than any of them.

"This man, Detective Barlow told us all about Anita, and… and Joe, and a lot of what happened. …Drake, if he did that to her, what did do to you?" Audrey finally asked, taking in a deep breath and shaking her head in amazement and almost fear at the coming answer.

Drake lowered his head and became quiet for a moment at her question. It wasn't that he thought badly of any of them for mentioning it, because he knew very well that it would have to be brought up, but it was more the fact that it hurt to think about.

It didn't hurt because he still had feelings for his father, or even as if his heart was broken because he had come to the unrejectable conclusion that his father didn't love him, for that had happened long ago, during his childhood—but that his peace had been so bitterly disrupted now, and most of all that this man had hurt Anita so badly.

Josh instantly sensed his hesitancy, and stepped up closer from his place in the back, and surely as soon as the boy ahead realized he was still there, he seemed to loose the majority of his reluctance and began to speak, again.

"He really didn't do much of anything to me. Yeah, sure, I'm a little banged up—my ribs are bruised and I've got some muscle pain here and there. …And we did fight, but… let's just say that this guy certainly came to my rescue."

Josh's faded smile returned again and joyful tears gleamed in his bluish - pale eyes as his brother extended a hand to indicate him, and then rested it for once on his shoulder, drawing him closer to his side and giving him a soft nod.

One of the two police officers that were left standing in the door way spoke up and made Audrey and Walter turn to talk to them, but what they said, neither of the boys heard nor really cared about. Especially not Josh. …He had done everything for the other boy with out expecting any reward, and yet this time, alone was a reward to him.

Leaning in to Josh and speaking with a sweet voice just over a loud whisper, Drake smiled indebtedly back at him and felt happiness and near peace enter his tired heart too, along with the warm words he spoke: "…I love you, Josh. Seriously, I do. …You're the best brother I could ever have, and so just… thanks for being you."