The first time it happens, Josh assumes it's an accident. After all, he and Drake are sitting comfortably together on the couch, and he knows Drake isn't interested in the documentary currently on TV. And Drake has been leaning, sort of on his shoulder, sort of on his chest for the past hour or so. It's not a big leap to think that, at some point, Drake had fallen asleep. Josh isn't doing much better himself, only catching parts of what the narrator is saying as he not-quite-dozes.

So, when Drake presses his face into Josh's neck and flutters his eyelashes against the skin there (which tickles, by the way), Josh figures he must just be waking up. His theory seems to be supported by the fact that Drake gets up then, muttering a quick "Gotta pee," before heading out of the room. Josh finally does doze off himself, and he doesn't realize until much later that Drake had been saying something to him not more than two minutes before he 'woke up'.

Josh doesn't worry about it, though, because really, there's nothing to worry about. In fact, he actually kind of forgets about the whole thing until a couple weeks later, when Drake comes running into their room and grabs his shoulders, spinning him around and practically cowering behind him. Josh tries to turn in Drake's hold, about to ask just what Drake thinks he's doing, when Megan comes stomping into the room.

Josh's focus is immediately completely on her, because she's holding her favorite pair of boots, which appear to be splattered with red paint, and looking murderous. Josh hadn't even noticed that one of Drake's arms had slid down and around his waist, but he does when it tightens and brings their bodies flush together. Josh really doesn't appreciate being put between Megan and the focus of her anger.

"You," she begins menacingly, "are so dead. When you least expect it, BAM!" They both jump, and Josh grips the arm around his waist tightly, since that's the only part of Drake he can reach at the moment. She shakes her boots in their direction and stomps back out of the room.

They both just stand there in silence for a moment, digesting the fact that danger is going to be lurking around every corner for the foreseeable future. Josh is just about to pull out of Drake's grasp, to turn around and figure out just what Drake did that Megan ended up with paint all over her boots, but before he gets the chance, Drake presses against him more firmly and flutters his eyelashes on the back of Josh's neck, just above his shirt collar.

Josh can't help but shiver at the sensation, and he's sure Drake must feel it, but Drake just pulls away and shows no sign of realizing he did anything that affected Josh at all. They do, however, get into an argument about being more careful around Megan, because actually, Josh likes Drake intact, thank you very much. He doesn't say anything when sixty bucks disappears from his wallet the next day and a brand new pair of boots appears outside Megan's door.

Josh doesn't forget about the whole fluttery eyelashes after that, but he does kind of push any thoughts related to the situation out of his head. It's not exactly like he's minded when Drake has done it, and frankly, he has plenty of more important things to worry about where Drake is concerned. The fact that Drake is failing English, for instance, or that he's got an important gig at a shitty bar downtown in just two days and Josh still hasn't hammered out payment details with the owner of the bar.

It doesn't come back to mind at all until right after Drake finishes his set at the shitty bar, which is when Drake rushes off-stage, primed for a good 'hug me, brotha!' (which they are so good at saying in unison, anymore, especially after Drake's shows). Josh picks Drake up and spins him around, really excited about how well the show went, even if there weren't that many people there, and when he sets Drake down, Drake doesn't pull away immediately.

That in and of itself isn't weird, but the fact that he leans in and flutters his eyelashes against Josh's cheek before letting go kind of is. He smiles up at Josh a little shyly and turns away to help the rest of the band tear down their gear. Josh has no idea what to make of it. The whole thing seems kind of...innocent, which Josh would be a lot more inclined to believe if he didn't know Drake, because nothing Drake ever does is completely innocent.

The thing is, though, that it's not just that it feels innocent, but that it's also weirdly intimate. They've touched and hugged and fallen asleep cuddled up to each other a thousand times, but Josh is hard-pressed to think of anything that's felt quite like a simple flutter of eyelashes against his skin (butterfly kisses; Josh knew there was a name for it he just wasn't remembering).

And he kind of wants to ask Drake what it's all about, but by the time all their stuff is stowed away safely in the back of the van they drove there, Drake is just his happy, excited self, any traces of shyness he'd shown earlier now gone. Josh can't quite bring himself to impinge on Drake's happiness by talking about something he's not even sure Drake would be able to explain, so he lets it slide.

After that, though, Josh definitely can't forget. Can't seem to stop thinking about it, in fact. He automatically perks up and pays more attention when Drake gets in his personal space, wondering if Drake will do it again. He doesn't - not for awhile, at least - but Josh starts to notice other things. Other things like the fact that Drake clings longer when they're hugging, takes much longer to leave if they wake up cuddling than he used to, initiates touches that really kind of go beyond the boundaries of brotherly affection (resting a hand on Josh's thigh throughout an entire movie, really?).

The more Josh thinks about it, though, the more he realizes that those things have been happening for awhile. And alright, Josh may be a little bit slow on the uptake sometimes, but once he figures out what's going on, he knows he's right. Well, probably right. Okay, so maybe he needs to test his theory. Because the last thing he wants is to decide that this has got to be some special Drake way of flirting with him for real and end up finding out (too late to keep from fucking things up between them, no doubt) that he's wrong.

He starts off small. Putting an arm around Drake's waist instead of his shoulders (Drake just leans into Josh like always), letting his eyes linger when Drake shows his tummy to get Josh to give him a free soda (Drake's eyes widen in surprise, and he actually blushes), pulling Drake into his lap before Drake has a chance to sit next to him (that one earns him a yelp and a very snuggly Drake).

The problem with it is that though all of these things are things they don't generally do, none of them give Josh any definitive information. Drake doesn't really act any differently than he might otherwise, which is just...frustrating. How can Drake be so casual about this when Josh is tying himself up in knots trying to figure out what's going on?

There's a simple solution, Josh knows, but he really doesn't want to resort to asking Drake. He can't exactly be sure that Drake will tell him the truth about what he's doing, anyway (assuming, of course, that Drake actually does know what he's doing), so he's not sure that's the best way to go. Short of that, Josh can't think of anything that isn't drastic.

So, drastic it is, though Josh doesn't decide right then; it's actually more a spur of the moment kind of decision (he can do spontaneous, too, thank you very much). It's a fairly normal evening for them, sitting on the sofa together while Drake watches TV and Josh sort of pays attention while working on some homework. Josh has been working for maybe twenty minutes before Drake starts trying to get his attention.

He resists the poking and prodding, the sighing, the elongated whine of his name, before Drake finally subsides into a pout. Which doesn't actually mean he's stopped trying to get Josh's attention because he's kind of perfected the art of pouting while cuddling. He'll cozy right up to Josh but still manage to make Josh feel like he's done something wrong; it's kind of ridiculous, really, but somehow it always seems to work on Josh.

He sets his homework down after another few minutes and slides his arm around Drake's shoulders. Drake sighs happily and turns his face into Josh's neck. Josh feels eyelashes meet his skin again, and he shivers involuntarily. He turns to look at Drake, and Drake obligingly sits up enough to make that possible. They're inches apart, and this is it; Josh just knows it.

He leans forward and closes the space between them, pressing their lips together softly. Drake makes a small noise in his throat and slides his hand into Josh's hair, holding him close. If Josh had been unsure of Drake's intent before, he definitely isn't now. They're at an odd angle to continue kissing, but luckily, Drake is on top of it. He shifts under Josh's arm until he can throw his leg over Josh's, settling himself on Josh's lap.

Josh doesn't know how long they spend sitting there kissing, but it feels both way too short and like it might go on forever. Drake finally pulls away, though, and he looks...well, he looks like he's just spent the last fifteen minutes making out with someone. Drake is looking all shy again, peering up through his bangs, and Josh has no idea how he didn't know that Drake had this shy streak in him.

Drake looks so adorable, and so edible, and Josh is just about to go in for another kiss when their mom yells for them. "Drake, Josh! Dinner!"

They jerk away from each other in surprise, and Josh steadies Drake before he topples onto the floor. Once he has his balance back, Drake slides off of Josh and extends a hand to help him up. They're pressed up against one another and Drake gives him a small smile before releasing his hand and heading down for dinner.

And Josh might worry about any or all of this, but the look on Drake's face before he'd turned away had said enough to calm Josh's fears. What took you so long?