Drake was beyond tired, and in more ways than one. He had spent the past few days making Josh (and Megan, who had been oddly concerned about him) believe that he was okay as well as his parents, and it was beginning to take its toll on him.

It was finally Friday, and where Drake would normally be ecstatic to be going home, today that joy was tempered by the knowledge that he would have to go to his first appointment with a counselor. It wasn't that he didn't want to go, because in a way, he kind of did—he didn't want to talk about it with a stranger, but he knew that his family couldn't continue to be worried about him the way that they were, and if knowing that he had someone to talk to and help him helped them, then Drake was going to suck it up and do it.

Drake found himself sitting in front of a large desk, behind which was a woman, soft-spoken and kind of pretty. He was jiggling his leg impatiently as the woman spoke to his mother. Finally, Audrey left, and although Drake knew it was coming and tried hard not to flinch, he just couldn't help himself when she reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

"Well, I know that we already know each other, but sometimes a formal introduction can be helpful anyways," she said. "I'm Dr. Amy Tyson."

"Drake," he said, strangely having to stifle the urge to laugh because this really wasn't funny, when he stopped to think about it. She gave him a smile, and he felt relief shoot through him when he realized that she wasn't going to try to shake his hand.

"So, Drake, I'm not going to lie to you. I would like you to talk to me about what happened, but I understand if you aren't ready, but I still think it's a good idea for you to know that your mother already gave me the basics," said Dr. Tyson bluntly.

"Okay," answered Drake, feeling even more relieved.

"If you don't feel like talking about that yet, that's okay," she said again, reinforcing this. "I know talking about really personal stuff like that can be hard when you've just met a stranger. Why don't you just let me get to know you?" Drake shrugged and nodded. "Great. Who are you close to?"

"My brother Josh," Drake answered automatically. "Well, I mean, he's my step-brother, but he might as well be my real brother."

"Do you talk to him? Really talk to him, about important things," she clarified, and Drake bit his lip and nodded. Seeing that he was now uncomfortable, as they were edging around what she had promised they wouldn't talk about, she changed the subject. "What do you like to do?"

"I'm really only good at two things," he said sheepishly, "and that's music and girls." Dr. Tyson laughed, the unexpected admission lightening the tense atmosphere. Drake felt himself finally beginning to relax.

"Well, for right now let's talk about your music, and we can get to the girls later," she said. "What kind of music is it? Do you play an instrument, sing...?"

"I play guitar, and I sing," he said. "I write my own songs, too."

"That's great," she said. "It's an expressive hobby that you can use to work out your feelings—although I'm sure by now you've realized that music is a good outlet."

Drake hesitated for a moment before telling her what he wanted to. "Well, I mean, I haven't really touched my guitar since... you know." She nodded.

"Why's that? What's different about this time that makes it so that you don't feel that you can use your music as an outlet?"

"I was there because my band was playing," he explained, feeling sick.

"Ah," she said succinctly. "Do you have any other outlets?" Drake shrugged, then, and after a moment's consideration, went in for the joke.

"Girls," he said bluntly, and though Dr. Tyson smiled at the joke, he could see the question in her eyes. "What?"

"You tend to joke a lot, don't you?" she asked. "It's fine if you do, I'm just curious."

"I've always just been kinda silly," he said, "and I mean, so is Josh, a lot of the time, so we just kind of encourage each other." Drake laughed suddenly, and she raised an eyebrow, mutely asking for an explanation. "I was imagining your reactions if I told you some of the stuff we've gotten into together."

"So tell me," she said.

The rest of their time together flew by faster than Drake had known was possible.

X X X

When Josh finally got home that night from work at the Premiere, he immediately went to their room, eager to ask Drake about how his appointment with the therapist had gone. He had wanted to accompany Drake and Audrey, but the night before his brother had insisted that he go to work.

"Jo-osh," Drake had moaned, rolling his eyes, "you can't keep being a mother hen all of the time. Seriously, dude, you've already missed like a week of work 'cause of me."

"Well, I just think you're a little more important," Josh had confessed, and though Drake had looked pleased, he had gently punched Josh on the shoulder. In response, all Josh did was push him gently, afraid to just jump on him as he used to do. Drake bit his lip, then, and shook his head.

"Go to work, man," he'd insisted. "Seriously. I'll be fine—and it's not like they'd let you be in there while I'm talking to her anyways."

"I guess," Josh had ceded reluctantly, though he had only agreed and let it go when Drake promised to tell him how it went.

When Josh reached their room, he found Drake on his bed, lying on his back with one arm thrown over his eyes. Hearing the door close, Drake stirred, sitting up and giving him a small smile.

"How'd it go?" he asked. They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Drake patted the space next to him on the bed.

"Come up here," he said. Josh immediately shook his head.

"Nuh-uh," he said. "No way! I'll fall again."

"You will not," said Drake, exasperated. "I'll sit between you and the edge, if you want." Josh waffled one moment longer before sighing, shedding his Premiere vest and climbing the ladder to reach Drake.

"So how did it go?" repeated Josh.

"It was pretty okay, actually," admitted Drake. "She was cool, and pretty easy to talk to. I told her about the time when Mom and Dad signed us up for that stupid Steered Straight program-"

"-and we pretended we were going to kidnap the governor," finished Josh, and the two shared a grin at the memory. "Why did you tell her about that?"

"She wanted to get to know me," he explained, shrugging, "and I think that's a pretty good example of Drake behavior, with all the lying, and the really bad quick thinking, and tempting you with churros." Josh shook his head, exasperated, and was about to reply when their door opened and Megan entered, carrying his computer.

"Megan, I thought I asked you not to take my computer," he said, but his voice lacked any real bite. Megan hadn't harassed them all week, and he was pretty sure that she only felt sick because she was thinking too much about what had happened to Drake—he got pains in his own stomach when he thought about it for too long himself.

"I was using it while I was sick," she said casually, placing it carefully back on his desk and even plugging it back into the charger. "I hope that's okay." She was laying on the sweetness just a bit thick, and so even though he was sure that she was up to something, Josh caved, and smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's fine," he said. Megan nodded, but didn't smile back at him. She switched her focus to Drake, who was looking back at her. After a long moment, she left without another word. "That was kind of weird."

"Yep," agreed Drake halfheartedly. "Man, I'm wiped out." Josh wavered, wondering whether or not it was too soon to broach this topic, but then Drake was tugging on his sleeve, deciding for him. "What's on your mind?"

"I was just thinking about how weird it is for you to be here on a Friday night, instead of out on three or four dates," said Josh, and Drake smiled.

"Six, man," he said. "It's usually six dates." Josh was startled by this glimpse of the old, confident Drake, and laughed. Drake was laughing, too, but there was something like anxiety and panic beginning to filter into his eyes, and so Josh quickly took care to change the subject.

Standing in the doorway, watching them through the barely-open door, Megan almost felt guilty for what she'd done to Josh—but, as Walter always told her, "almost" only counts with horse shoes and hand grenades, whatever that was supposed to mean.

X X X

The family spent a lazy Saturday lounging about, enjoying the opportunity to do nothing after more than a week's worth of stress. Drake slept in latest, and the general consensus was to let him sleep—he'd been having nightmares almost every night, and they all agreed that he could use the extra rest. Josh stayed in their room, even while Drake was asleep, loathe to leave his brother. He was on the couch, doing his reading for English ahead of time when he suddenly heard the familiar sounds of Drake tuning his guitar.

"Hey," he said breathlessly, and Drake returned his greeting with a casual "hey" of his own, although his sheepish, happy smile told Josh that he did actually understand the importance of it. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh watched Drake tune the guitar, the familiar action making him feel a little giddy, and he had to stifle the urge to run downstairs and announce to the rest of their family what he was doing.

"Mom said just to holler if we get hungry, and she'll make us pancakes," said Josh, just for something to say. Drake paused, and grinned.

"Cool," he answered. Josh pretended to go back to his reading, but when Drake really began to play only moments later, he abandoned the pretense and began watching Drake in earnest.

It was nothing special, really, considering what Drake was capable of doing with a guitar in his hands. He was just strumming lazily, playing around with different chords, letting himself get reacquainted with the instrument and its mechanics. Suddenly, he stopped and sighed.

"I'm already signed up to do the talent show again," Drake announced as though it explained his current problem. Which, in a way, it kind of did.

"What are you going to do?" asked Josh curiously. He knew that Drake had been planning on writing a new song for the show, but when it came to his own music, Drake was something of a perfectionist, insisting upon endless tweaking and revisions before anyone could hear it. Normally, this process could take anywhere from two weeks to over a month, but this year's talent show was only three week's away, and considering the break in his playing, Josh wondered if he was going to be able to write a new song.

"I don't know," admitted Drake. "I have a couple of ideas, but I don't know if I could get the songs finished before the talent show."

"Have you even talked to anyone in your band?" Josh said, and Drake hesitated for only a moment before shaking his head.

"Not since that night. I've been ignoring their calls. I just... don't know if I could see them and not freak out," said Drake. Josh nodded in understanding, and changed the subject before Drake could begin dwelling on it and stop playing.

"What did you do about school?" asked Josh. "I mean, once Mom and Dad found out that you'd been ditching, did they call you in?"

"I don't actually know," said Drake, shrugging. "I think word got around about how I blew up in chem class, even with the teachers, because all of my teachers have been really nice to me lately. Except for Mrs. Hayfer." Josh laughed ruefully.

"I bet you could get hit by a bus and she'd still tell you how much she hates you," he said, and Drake grinned back at him. Josh's natural respect for authority figures coupled with his boy-scout nature tended to make him rather leery of insulting any adults—or anyone, really—and Drake was the only person with whom he ever would (although sometimes, he wasn't sure whether or not that was really a good thing).

"Yeah, she—oh," Drake cut himself off abruptly, turning to his notepad and beginning to write excitedly, his tongue held between his teeth as his face screwed itself up in concentration. Josh smiled, suddenly overcome by the feeling that Drake would not only finish the song, but that it would be his best one yet.

X X X

Author's Note: Sorry for the unexpected update lag time, but I've been sick. :( Anyway, the story's starting to wind down now, believe it or not, so enjoy the next few chapters as we near the end and answer some Very Important Questions: does Drake have an STI? Will Drake win the talent show again? And what did Megan do to Josh? Unfortunately, none of those are answered this chapter, so stay tuned. xD