The Truth About Drew

f o u r t e e n

Drew snuggled into his blankets, sipping his hot chocolate. His phone was clutched in his hand, the light illuminating his face as he scrolled down, completely engrossed in his virtual novel.

His finger grazed my face, the look on his face making my heart skip a beat. "Logan, look at me," he commanded.

I dragged my eyes up to his handsome face. "Why?" I whispered.

Drew squealed very uncharacteristically and dragged the blanket over his face, nearly spilling his not-so-hot-anymore chocolate everywhere. "Because he loves you, Stupid!" He yelled, beating his face into his pillow.

"Drew? Hunny, you okay in there?" Christie called.

"No!" Drew shrieked. "Christian's going to confess his love to Logan! I'm very emotionally unstable!"

Christie peeked into the room. "Really?" She climbed onto the bed and cuddled up next to Drew, taking the cup from his hand and setting it on the side table. "Do you think he'll really do it?"

"I don't know, maybe. He's been really stubborn so far."

Drew flipped the virtual page and read quickly before shrieking like a girl and tossing his phone into the bed. "He did it, dear lord!"

"Woo!" Christie cheered comically, waving a hand in the air. She gave Drew a side hug. "Don't stay up late, okay?"

"I won't," Drew said offhandedly, waving her off as he continued reading.

"I'm going to go make dinner," she said, ruffling Drew's hair fondly and planting a kiss in his hair.

Drew read the remaining four chapters--only crying once--and the epilogue before laying flat on his back. "It's done. What do I do with my life now?"

The doorbell rang, and Drew heard the pots in the kitchen clatter as Christie went to go answer it. Mail man? Did they come this late?

It wasn't terribly late: about five last time he checked.

Well, might as well work on my story, Drew thought, rolling out of bed, stubbing his toe and swearing like a sailor.

After hopping around on one foot as he massaged his grievously injured foot, he collapsed into his desk chair and opened his laptop.

He briefly scrolled through his new comments, smiling at the adorable ones and frowning at one who said his characters were about as interesting as a horse throwing up. Well, screw you, sir.

Drew rolled out his neck, wincing as it cracked quite loudly. "Okay, here we go," he breathed.

He put his fingers to the smooth keys of the laptop and stopped.

"Wow," he said out loud. "I genuinely have no ideas. That's never happened before."

It was true; Drew's head was always swimming with ideas, from scenes so sweet they'd rot your teeth to scenes that made Drew feel like dumping Holy Water all over himself.

He tapped the table, his head resting in his hand. Drew clicked over to his profile, dully browsing through the endless comments on his page. One caught his eye and he sat up straight.

Hi! I simply adore ur story, so I drew u something. Hope u like it!

There was a link attached leading to DeviantArt so Drew clicked on it, curious. Owing to the comment with the (admittedly cute) horrible grammar, Drew expected a simple drawing for him to go "aw" over.

Nope.

Drew's jaw dropped. The art piece was incredible. In it, Parker was holding Lance pinned between the wall and his body in a total role-reversal. The raw emotion on their faces was enough to make Drew swallow and rub his eyes. More than a little awe-inspired, he typed out a comment praising the artist and thanking them for the gorgeous piece.

He leaned in, absorbing all the details, from their clothing to how the lips were drawn. Lance's were fuller, while Parker's were thinner, but perpetually smirking.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked, right behind Drew.

Drew definitely did not scream, nope. It was a manly yell. The jumping six feet in the air was real though, so was the slamming the laptop shut with an immensely guilty look on his face, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.

"KAI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" He yelled, hugging his laptop to his chest.

"Hunny, Kai's here to see you!" Christie said cheerfully as she walked by the door.

"Oh, you don't say?" Drew asked sarcastically.

"Watch your mouth," she warned.

"Yes, Mother."

"Now, be nice," she said before disappearing again. Drew heard the creak of the stairs as she walked down them.

"May I help you?" He hissed at Kai.

Kai held up his hands as he stepped closer and Drew took a step back. "I came to see if you were okay, after this morning?"

Drew's hard expression softened ever so slightly. "I'm fine. It's not my first reaction. A nap and some of my mom's soup took care of that."

"What set it off, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm allergic to mustard. Apparently, when she was rattling off toppings like a machine gun I neglected to hear it." Drew shrugged.

"And you didn't double check?" Kai asked, fully aware that Drew wasn't screaming at him or trying to attack him yet.

"I forgot," Drew said, shrugging.

"About something life threatening?"

"Again, this isn't my first rodeo. I've learned to deal with it."

"I'm glad you're okay," Kai said honestly.

"Apparently you're the only one," Drew spat. "My fucking ride never showed his dumbass face, and he's ignoring my texts."

Kai winced internally; he'd turned off his phone after talking to his dad, and he hadn't checked his messages since Drew's reaction. Oops.

"Wow," Kai said drily, "what an ass."

"I know! Like, he insists on coming to pick me up, and then he ditches me! I had to walk home!"

"Well, to be fair, I did offer you a ride."

"Yeah, well, I'm bitter and full of regrets," Drew said. "And also extremely pissed at my good buddy Sir-Ditch-Alot."

"I'm sure he's worried about you," Kai defended.

"He's full of it. Next time, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind he's never gonna forget."

"You do that," Kai said. He'd noticed that he was really bad at planning to do things, and actually carrying those plans out because once again, things weren't going to plan. At least Drew was talking to him civilly, even if he was unintentionally bashing him.

"Hey, Kai?"

Kai straightened up, "Yeah?"

"You know pretty much everyone in your grade, right?"

"Do you happen to know anyone else who does? A beta? Probably really arrogant and obnoxious?"

Kai almost hit his head on the door. "Nope, can't say I do," he said, voice a good deal higher pitched than normal, not that Drew noticed.

"Are you sure? Ever heard it mentioned, even in passing?"

"Nope."

"Positive? Maybe-"

"Are you really that oblivious?" Kai blurted out, before looking horrified.

That was a blunder.

Drew froze. Kai prayed that he would have another moment of painful obliviousness, but the world decided to be a bitch, obviously.

Drew's eyes widened. "Arrogance?" He whispered.

"Shit," Kai mumbled.