FIC: Relations and Revelations
Title: Relations and Revelations
Author: SP
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nickelodeon and Dan Schneider and whoever else own everything.
Rating: PG
Summary: Drake brings his new boyfriend home.
Author's Notes: This one’s for Tay for Christmas. It’s a little (or a lot) late…
Some people bite their nails when they’re nervous. Some people jiggle their legs. But Spencer Shay? He wasn’t just some person.
Which is why he was annoying the hell out of his boyfriend by playing a hand clapping game against his knees.
“Would you relax?” the aforementioned boyfriend, Drake Parker, said from the driver’s seat. “They’re going to love you.”
Spencer shrugged and continued his clapping. “Maybe. Or maybe they’ll hate me and you’ll be under so much family pressure to break up with me that you do.”
Drake sighed and reached over with his right hand, catching Spencer’s left and threading their fingers together. “They’re going to love you,” he repeated, squeezing Spencer’s hand.
Spencer squeezed back, and started drumming out a rhythm on his knee with his free hand.
-
The house where Drake had grown up was first on the “meet the family” tour of San Diego. Drake pulled into the driveway, cut the engine, and turned to look at Spencer. Spencer looked back, unconscious of the fact that his hands had started doing double-time against his knees in the past thirty seconds.
“Ready?” Drake asked.
Spencer took a deep breath. “Are you?”
Drake nodded. “Yeah. Come on.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, opened his door and stepped out of the car, then turned and waited for Spencer to do the same. When it didn’t happen, Drake rolled his eyes and opened the passenger door himself. “Come on,” he repeated.
Spencer looked up at him before slowly unbuckling his own seatbelt. “I’m nervous,” he confessed.
“No shit.”
Spencer pouted.
Drake sighed and tried to smile reassuringly. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You’re going to go in there and impress my mom, be awkward with my dad, and possibly have your life threatened by my little sister. After an hour of that, someone will in invite us to stay for dinner. I’ll say no, and then whoever invited us will start the hugging and tell you that you’re welcome anytime.”
“You think so?”
Drake nodded. “Absolutely.”
As they walked up towards the front door, Spencer reached for Drake’s hand. Drake squeezed Spencer’s hand for the second time that day, then gently disentangled their hands and rang the doorbell.
The moment the door opened, things started to go just as Drake predicted.
Audrey greeted the two men with a smile and ushered them in. She hugged Drake, and then moved to hold her hand out to Spencer. Before she could, though, Spencer had his own outstretched. “Hi Mrs. Nichols, it’s great to finally meet you. I’m Spencer Shay,” he said, with his most charming smile.
Audrey smiled back and shook Spencer’s hand. “You too, Spencer. And please, it’s Audrey.”
“Thank you, Audrey,” Spencer replied immediately. He grinned at Drake when she turned to go into the kitchen. Drake grinned back and prodded Spencer to move further into the living room.
Megan looked up from the dining table, where she was working on homework. “Hey, boob. Long time, no see.”
Drake opened his mouth to reply, but then Megan added, “Make it longer next time,” before returning to her work.
“Yeah, missed you too,” Drake muttered. Then, louder, he said, “Megan, this is Spencer.”
Megan looked up again and glanced at Spencer appraisingly. “Hm. You look sort of intelligent. So that begs the question of why you’d want to be with this idiot.”
Apprehensively, Spencer suggested, “Maybe I love him.”
“Well then, I guess I’d better reevaluate my assessment of your intelligence,” Megan replied.
“As long as you don’t do anything else to me, that’s fine.”
Megan smirked, while Drake ushered Spencer onto the couch.
Audrey reappeared and took a seat next to Drake (conveniently missing the exchange between Spencer and Megan--she still thought she was innocent). “Walter, Drake and Spencer are here,” she called in the direction of the spare room/Walter’s train room.
“Okay,” Walter called back. A moment later, the man himself entered the living room. “Drake, good to see you. And you must be Spencer. It’s good to meet you.”
Spencer jumped to his feet and held out his hand. “You too, Mr. Nichols.”
Walter shook Spencer’s hand, a bit more enthusiastically then was strictly necessary. “Oh, call me Walter.”
“Su-re, Wal-ter,” Spencer answered, his whole upper body shaking along with his hand.
-
About an hour later, as Drake predicted, after Spencer finished telling Drake’s parents about how he was taking care of his little sister Carly (impressing Audrey), Walter turned to Drake. “So, are you boys staying for dinner?”
Drake shook his head. “Sorry, can’t. We still have to head over and see Josh. Actually, we should get headed.” He stood up and pulled Spencer with him.
“Oh. All right,” Walter said, then stood as well. He gave Drake a sideways, one armed hug, then held out his hand to Spencer. Spencer took it warily, but Walter seemed to have learned from last time and the handshake was brief and not overly vigorous.
Meanwhile, Audrey had hugged Drake again and then moved to Spencer. “Come back and visit soon,” she said as she hugged him too. “Don’t let Drake make excuses.”
Spencer smiled. “Sure thing.”
Drake led Spencer towards the door, then stopped and called goodbye to Megan. She waved from where she was still working at the dining table.
“It was nice meeting you,” Spencer added to Drake’s farewell.
“You too,” Megan replied. “Too bad I was doing homework. Next time, we’ll have to get to know each other better.” The accompanying evil smirk made Spencer gulp and retreat behind Drake--which didn’t really help, since he was a half a foot taller.
“Bye,” Drake said to the family in general as he and Spencer walked out the door.
Back in the car, Drake grinned triumphantly at Spencer. “See, I told you they’d love you.”
“Okay, you were right,” Spencer admitted. “So, where are we going now?”
“Not far--my brother Josh has an apartment about a little ways away. On the other side of San Diego.”
Spencer nodded. “Okay. And you think he’ll react the same way your parents did?”
Drake shrugged. “Well, more or less.”
“Okay,” Spencer repeated. “Let’s go.”
-
By the time Drake pulled up outside of Josh’s apartment building, he was the nervous one, gnawing on his left thumbnail. He turned off the ignition, then turned to Spencer and confessed, “You know how I said I called my family and told them about us?”
“Yeah,” Spencer replied slowly, not sure where this was going.
“Well, I uh. Kind of skipped telling Josh.”
Spencer’s face fell. “Drake…”
“I’m sorry!” Drake wailed. “I’m just afraid of how he’ll take it and he’s my best friend and I--”
“Hey,” Spencer interrupted firmly. “Look. From everything you told me about him, I don’t think he’ll feel any differently towards you after you tell him than he does now.”
Drake gave Spencer a small smile. “You think?”
Spencer nodded. “Definitely.”
With a deep breath, Drake got out of the car and led the way to Josh’s door. He knocked on the door, seven quick little raps drumming out a beat, then stepped back.
Josh pulled open the door, looking confused. He probably wasn’t expecting anyone. When he saw Drake standing there, he grinned widely and grabbed him up in a huge hug, the “hug me, brotha!” coming out during it, not preceding it. When he set Drake down again, his gaze moved to Spencer and he eyed him curiously.
“Um, Josh, this is, um. Spencer Shay. He’s…he’s my, uh,” Drake switched to mumbling. “Mabuffern.”
Josh frowned slightly as he tried to figure that one out, and then his eyes widened. “Drake,” he chided. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I was scared,” Drake admitted in a small voice.
Josh shook his head and hugged Drake again. “What did you think I was going to do?” He turned to Spencer without waiting for an answer and held out his hand. “I’d hug you too, but I don’t think you’d appreciate it. Come on in.” He spun around and led the way inside.
As Drake and Spencer followed, Spencer leaned down and pecked Drake quickly on the cheek. “I told you,” he murmured.
“I saw that,” Josh teased, as the door swung closed behind Spencer.