It All Comes Apart

Epilogue (*FINAL CHAPTER*)

Posted 17 January 2011

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It's been a few months since Drake's return. His parents had easily welcomed him back, but there were lots of tears involved.

It took Megan longer to come around. The loss of her brother had been hard on her. She'd often wondered if he was even alive, having never heard from him. And when he left, the family had had such a hard time sticking together. Eventually they were able to come together and move on. But Megan had always felt a certain amount of betrayal when he left. But eventually she was able to move past it as she was so happy to have Drake home.

Now it was christmas, the first one they would get to spend as a family since Drake had run away. Drake was sitting in Josh's lap. They'd told their family they were in love, and received no trouble about it. If anything, it brought the family closer.

Now, as they sat opening presents and enjoying each other's company, they were all so happy. It was a joyful celebration.

"Here, Josh, open this one." Drake handed Josh a medium sized box wrapped in yellow wrapping paper that had Oprah's face all over it. It was custom made. Because he loved Josh so much, and this was such a special present.

Josh tore the paper off the box and pulled the top off. Inside was a certificate. "What's this?" Josh asked, holding up the framed piece of fine paper for everyone to see.

"My GED certificate." Drake declared proudly.

"You got your GED?" Josh asked excitedly. "I didn't even know you were working for it! Is that why you've been being all secretive?"

"That's part of it." Drake said. "There's more in there."

Josh lifted a piece of tissue paper out of the box to reveal a thick document. "A contract?"

"A job offer contract. I'm a salaried employee, baby!" Drake stood up and did a little happy dance.

"Drake... I'm so proud of you!" Josh said with a wide grin.

"That's not it, Josh, keep going!" Drake encouraged.

"What? How many surprises can you pack into one box?" Josh asked, pretending to be annoyed while he was actually overjoyed.

The next two things he pulled out were a picture of a house he's never seen before, and a bank statement.

"Do you love it?" Drake asked, jumping up and down.

"Drake... what is this?" Josh asked, hoping he understood what Drake was trying to tell him.

"I got a loan. This," he pointed to the picture, "is our new house."

"This... this is amazing, Drake!" Josh stared at everything he'd pulled out of the box. "How did you do all of this?"

"Well, you don't survive on the streets without learning how to pull a few strings. But Josh, it's all good. With me working, we're going to be able to afford this house. And, I wanted to put one more thing in there but it didn't come in the mail yet, but I can tell you what I'm expecting."

"If you ordered wasps again, Drake, I swear..." Josh started.

"No, I got accepted into college!"

"No!" Josh couldn't believe his ears. "You? You're gonna go to college?"

"Yep. Community college, anyone can get in, but I don't care. I'm going, and I'm gonna get a degree in... well... something. I haven't figured that out yet, but I'm sure you can help me."

"I'd be happy to!" Josh yelled happily and stood up to hug Drake tightly. "Oh, Drake... this is so amazing, I'm so happy for you!"

Drake's life had been hard ever since he came back. He'd never finished school, so he couldn't really get a job anywhere. Josh was still in college, and didn't really have much spare cash. So they bummed off their parents a lot. Walter and Audrey didn't mind, they were happy to support them. But Drake knew one day they'd need to venture out on their own. And he didn't want Josh to be the only breadwinner. So he found a way to make himself useful and make Josh proud of him at the same time.

"So you like it?" Drake asked.

"Absolutely." Josh said, grabbing a long, rectangular gift and handing it to Drake. "Ok, now it's your turn."

Drake smiled and opened his present. He almost couldn't breathe as he unwrapped the shiny new electric guitar.

"You... you bought me a guitar?" Drake gaped, caressing the instrument.

"Yep. You sold all of yours when you ran away. I want you to start working on your music again, Drake." Josh said.

"But I don't have an amp." Drake said. Josh just grinned devilishly as he pointed to another large present. "No... a new amp too? Dude, how did you afford this?" Drake almost squealed with delight as he ripped the paper off his brand new amplifier.

"I've been saving up since you came back."

"I love you." Drake said, kissing him unashamedly in front of everyone.

"I know."

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A/N: Yeah, so this is a bit happier than I thought it was going to be. But I figured with all the heavy stuff going on in my other Drake & Josh story, I just had to give these boys a break. But that's the end of this story. You know what to do now: review review review! And, as always, I'm open to suggestions for new stories and am totally willing to check out other fandoms :D