Flashing Lights.
Title: Flashing Lights
Rating: PG
Fandom: Drake and Josh
Pairing: Drake/OC
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own any of these characters...boo :-(
Summary: Hey Mona Lisa, come home, you know you can't Rome without Caesar...
Notes: Inspired by Kanye West's "Flashing Lights". Thanks to ms_lupin for tips on getting through the writers block!
FLASHING LIGHTS
As you recall you know I love to show off…
*FLASH*
Smile
*FLASH*
Blink
*FLASH*
Smile.
Justine smiled as she walked the red carpet with Drake Parker. They were in town for the MTV Video Music Awards. They were the perfect definition of a couple. The hottest up and coming rock star, this was a big year for Drake. He had two hit singles and the number one album in America for eight weeks. Tonight he was up for three moonmen and hell, any girl right now would just die to be in the position Justine was in. Wearing a short, sexy Marc Jacobs dress while having your arm draped around his amongst a sea of photographers…
All the girls wanted it. They wanted it, alright. But Justine wasn’t sure she wanted it anymore.
If somebody woulda told me a year ago it’ll go get this difficult…
It was only a year ago that Drake was virtually a nobody but a staple in the San Diego local music scene on the verge of super stardom with a song in a nation wide shoe commercial. With the help of his step-brother/best friend/manager Josh Nichols, he played school talent shows, street festivals, and parties. It wasn’t till Josh booked him to play The Brew Note’s benefit to save the fallen coffee shop since it had been under new management that he met Justine.
Drake was backstage tuning his guitar and getting himself ready when Justine came backstage to give him a bottle of water.
“Hey, I’m Drake and if we haven’t met before then that’s quite unfortunate”
Justine stared blankly at him and lied “I have a boyfriend…” she walked away leaving him confused. Normally, a girl would have broken up with her boyfriend for a chance to be with him. But Drake didn’t let it distract him for too long. He shrugged off the low blow and went out to the stage to play.
As he played his guitar and sang his songs to the crowd, he could see Justine from the corner of his eye looking rather bored as she served coffee and watched him time from time. Taken or not, he just had to win this girl.
Everyday after that night, Drake frequented the Brew Note just to get to know her but she kept on giving him the cold shoulder. Josh thought he was crazy and he was. One day, he stopped playing the sly Drake card and let the desperate side show.
“Okay” he came busting through the front door and towards the counter “I’m not gonna lie to you, I’m desperate here! I’m dyin’ to get to know you! Just tell me straight alright? If you tell me to go away this last time, I promise I will go away forever!”
Justine looked into his eyes. He looked like he meant it “I’m not gonna tell you to go away…I want you to wait.”
“Wait? What do you mean?”
“You heard me. Wait.”
“For how long?”
“Go outside and wait.”
Drake ended up waiting till the coffee shop was closed. He sat outside on the lounge chairs as the lights went off and all the baristas were leaving the place. He watched as Justine purposely walked passed him.
“Hey!” he yelled out “What about me?”
Justine turned around “You’re still here?”
“Hello? You told me to wait…”
“Oh. Well you could go home now if you want to…”
“Okay, what is the deal with you?”
Drake would not give up and somehow Justine saw that in his eyes and decided to go ahead and give him a chance. The first date took place at the Premiere. Drake made sure he made a great impression this time and he did. It led to a second date, a third, a fourth, and a fifth. And by the tenth, both were surprised when they actually found themselves falling in love. That night, Drake declared Justine the one girl who changed him. The girl who made him never want to look at another girl again.
Coincidentally, that night was also the night when Spin City Records finally called him back and came through with his record deal.
But I never thought that you would take it this far. But what do I know?
Justine had big dreams. Dreams of majoring in Dance at SDSU. Dreams that she knew she had to wait on when Drake practically begged her to move down to Los Angeles with him while he was working on his debut album. Like a lovesick fool, she agreed. Although Josh thought it wasn’t fair to her.
“Drake, do you realize how completely selfish you are by telling her to let go of her plans and follow yours?” he said just as Drake was packing.
“But Josh, I love her…” it was the only logical response he could come up with.
The next day they were off to Los Angeles. When they landed, they were whisked away to a limo by the record company. On the way to the studio, Josh stuck his out on the sunroof as Drake held Justine close as she looked out the tinted windows.
“Flashing lights…” she said looking out to some paparazzi who were taking pictures of some celebrity she couldn’t tell who.
“This is going to be the start of something new” Drake said as he kissed her.
Things were fine for awhile. They lived under one roof. An apartment in the Hollywood Hills to be specific. Drake and Justine in one room and Josh in the other. Everyday was like clockwork. Drake went into the studio while Justine and Josh followed. She watched as recorded his tracks and Josh aided. They would have sushi for lunch and dinner. Once, they passed by the Wiltern Theater and looked up at the marquee
“That’s gonna be you up there, babe” Justine said.
Right there, Drake swept her off her feet and gave the kiss of a lifetime.
There was a few more days of sunshine. Drake’s album was almost finished and now they were working on marketing him. Justine and Josh would tag along on Drake’s photoshoots. They made him put on really tight pants. And the pants Drake always wore were tight but these ones were ass hugging. They made Drake pose as some kind of over sexed rock God. Something he was before he met Justine. Honestly, it worried her a bit. With every flash of the camera she could see his soul being sold little by little.
She don’t believe in shooting stars..
The record company was getting to launch Drake Parker mania. They had him embark on a mini tour opening a few dates for Cuddlefish just for promotion. And for a whole month, Justine got to tag along with the boys and watch her boyfriend every night on stage doing his thing. It was exciting. Everyday was something new. Justine didn’t think any of this would get to her but it wasn’t until she over heard some groupies talking about how Drake was such a gentleman and so. Such personal compliments. Things they would’ve said only if they have spent some personal time with him. And she didn’t think they were saying those things just to irritate her. Drake’s emerging fan base didn’t know he had a girlfriend. Something the record company wanted to keep hidden.
Durring soundcheck, Justine over heard Drake and Josh talking about some of the females in the crowd the other night. After five minutes, she decided that she wanted to confront him. So she asked him to follow her to the dressing room.
“Drake, are you cheating on me?” she said bluntly.
“What? No! You’re crazy! I know all of this is crazy…I’m still trying to get over it. But no matter what, Teenie…I will always love you. Nothing will change that…”
When they got back to Los Angeles, Drake was booked for a few radio interviews. Spin City already released his single and it was in the Heatseakers chart at number 10 and generated some great buzz. MTV had played his single on an episode of the Hills and in about an hour, people were logging on to the website to download it. The next day, he went to do the video and it was Josh who had the responsibility of telling Justine that she wasn’t allowed on the set.
“Why?” she asked trying her best not to cry “You’re his manager, Josh! Tell me why!”
“Look, J, its not up to me.”
“Make them change their minds! Please!”
“Drake will be fine. I’ll watch him for you. He loves you, remember that…”
That was the start. A few months later, Drake’s celebrity blew up like no other. He was no longer opening for bands and they were opening for him. He was a staple of gossip blogs, went out to clubs almost every night, and was the new paparazzi darling. One of the biggest things about him people were interested in hearing about was his love life. He was too gorgeous not to have a lover. There was some speculation over if he was gay or straight. Justine watched at home as he was on the Tyra Banks show.
“So Drake, we have to know…are you single?” Tyra smiled.
Justine kept her eyes glued to the TV waiting eagerly for his reply.
“I’m single” he smiled as he replied. The girls in the audience went crazy.
A few hours later, Drake came home ready to explain. Justine was furious “How could you do this to me, Drake?”
“I had too! Look, this is just for awhile. We gotta see how the album sells after I went on Tyra. I swear, J, I really didn’t want to do it….”
And just like that, Justine fell back into him. A few days later, Drake started to do appearances at events. Justine walked the red carpet with him with her gorgeous dresses. She stayed in the background as he did his interviews and lovingly smiled and held his hand as the cameras snapped up pictures.
“And who is your date tonight, Drake?” a reporter asked.
“My girlfriend Justine” Drake smiled holding Justine’s hand.
All the dates of the celebrities had to go inside of the party while they were still busy posing for pictures. Justine sat in a lounge area with a few girls.
“Hey, I’m Caitlyn. Ethan LaRoach’s girlfriend.” A leggy blonde greeted “You’re Drake’s girlfriend, right?”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.” Justine replied politely.
“So where did you meet Drake? Did you hang out at a lot of his shows? I met Ethan at a club. God, I was so lucky to have known his bodyguard!”
“Well, actually, I met Drake back in our hometown. San Diego.”
Caitlyn and the other girls gasped. “You’re an OG?”
“An ‘OG’?”
“Original Girlfriend…That’s very rare. None of them last very long. Well, not saying that you won’t last very long. You’re a beautiful girl…Why wouldn’t he want to keep you…” she then turned to her friends and snickered.
Having enough of it, Justine got up and got away from that little area. She went to find Drake. There was a special little area of the club where all the celebs were seated and she figured Drake was over there. But as she went close, she found Drake getting cozy with a few girls. He had his eyes closed as he kissed one of them but then looked up to see Justine standing there.
“Justine…”
She shook her head in disgust and stormed out of the party fighting back tears. As she opened the front doors, she was met with flashing lights of the paparazzi but they quickly stopped realizing she was no one. Justine hailed a cab and then went back to their home.
I know it was foul, baby. Aye, babe, lately you’ve been all over my brain…
By this time, Drake had it all. A hit album, adoring fans, money, and sex appeal. All that was missing was Justine. She had kicked him out of the house so he had been staying at a hotel. He tried calling her but she didn’t answer. He sent flowers and jewelry to her but she always sent it back. Even though he had to put on a brave face for the fans, he was falling apart emotionally. Drake was lucky for one thing, though. The tabloids had no knowledge of this whatsoever.
One day, with the help of Josh, Drake found out that Justine was heading back to San Diego today. He had canceled an appearance on Ellen and a Best Buy record signing to track her down at the airport. He knew what he was doing was crazy and out of a John Hughes movie and he liked it that way.
Flashing lights followed him as he got to the terminal. He found Justine in line to get her bags checked “JUSTINE!” he yelled.
“Drake?” she turned around and went to him “Are you crazy? What are you doing here?”
“I don’t want you to leave. Please, I’m a mess without you…”
Justine cursed her stupid heart because like that, she was right back in Drake’s arms. Flashing lights followed them out of the airport and he went back home with her.
The next day, Drake’s mad dashing love story made headlines. He was sitting with Justine in bed watching all the entertainment shows when Josh called him.
“Drake, are you crazy?” he yelled on the phone.
“Totally” Drake replied as he smiled at Justine.
Days were sweet again. For awhile at least. Justine walked the red carpet with him whenever there was an event, they were constantly chased by the paparazzi, and she was pretty sure Drake was cheating on her again.
Now they were at the VMA’s. Justine standing there with Drake almost feeling like a ghost. Every flash brought her close to reality.
*FLASH*
Smile.
*FLASH*
Blink
*FLASH*
And by the third flash, Justine was gone. She had walked away and Drake thought that she was going to the theater. Instead, she walked away from the fiasco and hailed a cab.
I know its been awhile, sweetheart. We hardly talk. I was doing my thing…
When Spring rolled around, Justine began her studies at SDSU. It had been a few months since she walked away from Drake Parker and Los Angeles. He had called her a few times after she left but she never returned any of his calls. She wanted her departure from him not to result into confrontation.
After a long day of ballet, Justine walked out of the studio and was on her way back to the dorm. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a familiar face but decided that it was best to continue walking. A second later, she couldn’t fight it. She had to know who it was. And as she turned her head, Drake Parker in all of his rock star glory was leaning on his car in the parking lot. Justine stood there speechless as a whole sea of emotions washed over her. She looked into his eyes and they pleaded “TAKE ME BACK” without even saying it.
“OMG ITS DRAKE PARKER!!!” a lucky witness yelled out.
Drake was now being surrounded by herds of fans wanting a picture or an autograph. While he was signing, Drake looked at Justine “Help me” he mouthed.
Justine just smiled and retreated back to her dorm room.
FIN