ALL I ASK, DREW STARKEY

TWENTY NINE

surprise! i'm back

"drew, hurry up! we can't be late!" austin called out to drew from the kitchen

"dude chill, i'm literally putting on my shoes" drew walked out of his room, suitcase in hand "why are we the ones doing this and not dalton?"

austin looked up from his phone and gave him the most annoyed look imaginable, "because drew, we are lemon's friends and dalton has a busy schedule. she asked the whole group to move her in"

"i mean i get it, but doesn't her stupid boyfriend want her there"

"he may be a hockey player, but that doesn't mean he's dumb" austin defended. drew gave him a look, "okay, maybe he's a little dumb."

"yeah, a little" drew laughed

"arrived!" drew yells as he opens the door to maddie and lemon's apartment, seeing everyone waiting on them "why are you guys looking at me like that? we agreed on 10 am?"

"drew, it's 11:30" lemon rolled her eyes, grabbing 2 of her 6 bags

"fine, i won't give you the iced coffee we picked up on the way over. bails, you like caramel macchiatos?"

"whatever drew, thanks for the coffee" lemon smiled as she grabbed the cold cup from his hands. "i can't believe i'm going to new york!"

"i can" chase replied "you give me a new york city vibe"

"no, she's definitely a LA vibe" elaine argued

"hell no, she's most definitely alabama" rudy disagreed

"that's so not true, she doesn't even have cousins to marry" maddie joked

"can we just go, we are already way off schedule" JD reminded the group

once the group had arrived in new york city they got to a cab that was taking them to lemons new apartment. they all waited in the car as lemon went to meet with her landlord to get the keys to her apartment.

"okay drewseph, i'll make this nice. if you do anything to mess up lemon's relationship this trip, i will cut your balls off" maddie turned from the passenger seat to look at him in the back

"that wasn't nice though" he responded raising his eyebrows. chase leaned in and whispered "could've been meaner"

"why are you convinced i'm going to do something. i haven't the past however long they've been together, why would i pull that shit now?"

"because i know you drew, and i know that you aren't going to give lemon up. she's finally in a new city where it'll be harder for her to go and 'run' to her boyfriend if you try something"

"and you wouldn't in la because you are afraid that dalton could beat you up" madison added

drew scoffed, offended "no i don't!"

"yes you do" the whole group replied in unison. lemon gets back to the car "got the keys, lets go" she smiles as she jingles them for the group to see.

"holy shit lem, are you sure this place is yours!" austin called out in awe from the master bathroom. "yes austin, i'm sure this is my apartment" she rolled here eyes, walking into bathroom to put her toiletry bag down "now would you stop wandering and help unpack things?"

drew is helping lemon build her coffee table in the middle of the semi-empty living room. "we are going to walk to the restaurant and pick up dinner, we will be back in about an hour" chase informed the two who were very concentrated on trying to understand the instructions "see you" they mumbled, not looking up from the paper

"was it a good idea to leave them alone together?" JD asks as the door closes behind them. "i'm sure it's fine, what's the worst that could happen?" rudy shrugged

"i need a break, my back hurts" lemon heads to the kitchen, twisting her back. "good idea, i could go for a drink" drew followed "let's drink these on the balcony" he suggested, grabbing their glasses of wine

"this is nice" lemon spoke up after 5 minutes of silence and staring at the sleepless city

"yeah, you sure are lucky" he met her eyes for the first time in what felt like years. "i don't know about that" lemon frowned. "what do you mean by that?" drew was confused, who wouldn't want to move to new york city to film a huge tv show? "i mean, i'm in a new city without my friends, without you guys" she shrugged, frowning slightly

"look at me lem" he paused and waited for her to meet his eyes "i'm always here for you. give me a call, a text, hell, give me a freaking pigeon, and i'm on the first flight to you" lemon laughed at his statement "thanks drew, but i don't think you will be getting a pigeon anytime soon". they fell into another spell of silence.

"i'm going to be honest with you lemon. it's very hard for me to be here right now. the whole moving you into a new city and saying goodbye for god knows how long-" "4 months" "okay, saying goodbye for 4 months, and not being able to be with you the way i want. i just always imagined us going together." "no you didn't drew, that's literally the reason we broke up."

"no, i was never given a chance to explain myself. I overheard you talking to maddie a long time ago about how you don't feel comfortable enough to go back to charleston" "drew what the hell, why didn't you just tell me that?!" "you didn't want me to!" he defended "do you know how i felt when i heard you were in a relationship after you broke down to me and told me you need time to grow and heal before you could think about getting back together with me? that hurt me so fucking badly lemon. i was expecting to get back from charleston, show you how much i had grown and-" drew started to tear up

"i was working on myself, but then i met dalton and-"

"no lemon there is no 'and'. you don't love dalton. you can try and convince yourself as much as you want, but you cannot convince me"

"drew, you have no right to tell me what i do and don't feel" lemon stared into his eyes. "you are right, I'm sorry lem"

"gosh drew! why are you bringing this all up now. you had months to tell me the truth and how you felt, and you wait until i'm in a relationship and moving across the country. you have to make things difficult all the time" she put her head in her hands

"is it difficult or are you just trying to convince yourself that you are doing everything right by being with dalton?" drew's words made lemon take her head out her hands. she turned and stared straight into his eyes for what felt like the millionth time tonight. he stared back into her eyes as if he was in a trance and never wanted to look away. they both started to lean in. lemon could feel drew's breath against her lips, it felt so familar and comforting. but it was wrong, and she knew that. she pulled away before their lips could touch.

"i can't drew, i'm with dalton. i care about dalton. i love dalton"

"no you don't lemon. i know you, i know that if you truly loved him and did not care for me anymore, you wouldn't have done that, you wouldn't have leaned in" he exclaims

"you're right drew. but it's easier, he's easier to be with. it's different than it is with you" she said sadly "this is different, you are different"