I'm Not Impressed
Title: I'm Not Impressed (Part of the "Love on Economy"verse/series)
Author: easybeing_green
Fandom: Drake & Josh
Pairing: Drake/Josh
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Drake & Josh
A/N: Inspired by the song, "Comfortable," by John Mayer. You can find links to the previous parts of this series below.
Summary: Feelings after several months...
I just remembered that time at the market
Snuck up behind me and jumped on my shopping cart
And rode down aisle five
You looked behind you, smiled back at me
And crashed into a rack full of magazines
They asked us if we could leave
Can’t remember what went wrong last September
Though I’m sure you’d remind me
If you had to
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in…
Drake woke up from the blinding sunlight coming in through the large glass windows of whatever hotel in whatever city he was staying in now. He squinted and adjusted to the light as he lifted his head a little to look down at the arm that was possessively strewn across his bare chest. He followed the dainty, nail polished hand up a pale, slender arm and found a deep sleeping, smudged make up, mussed hair girl beside him, naked except for a pair of long, dangling, green earrings with feathers in them. Her knobby knee was poking into his thigh and the sheet was just barely covering her ass. Drake groaned as he rubbed a hand over his face, slightly repulsed by the image, but not unaccustomed to it. He pried her hand off his chest and turned away from her, pulling the covers up over his head, wanting desperately to go back to sleep and the dream he was having.
It was more of a memory, than a fictional dream. It was last summer; he and Josh had just gotten back from their first grocery-shopping trip. Josh had just moved in, and there wasn’t much in the apartment. Even though Drake had been living there for a month, he hadn’t really furnished it, and he spent most of his time in Josh’s dorm anyway. Josh dropped the bags on the counter, while Drake was still laughing about how they had gotten a scolding from the fourteen-year-old boy at the register for misbehaving in the grocery store. Josh chuckled as he started putting the groceries away. Drake rifled through the bags to find the chocolate syrup. He tore open the cap and leaned back on the counter as he poured some into his mouth. Josh shook his head and smiled as he continued to put away the groceries. Drake smiled in return at how responsible Josh was. He reached out and grabbed Josh by the belt loop to pull him in for a kiss. When they pulled away, Josh licked his lips and smiled. “Mmm, chocolately.” Drake laughed. Josh could be so cute sometimes.
“Want some more?” Drake asked as he raised the chocolate syrup bottle. Josh opened his mouth expectantly, but instead of giving him some, Drake drew a line along on his own finger and then stuck it in Josh’s mouth. Josh sucked on his finger and wrapped his tongue around it to lick all the chocolate off. Drake pulled Josh forward so he was pinning himself against the counter. Josh placed his hands on Drake’s hips, and Drake was about to replace his finger with his mouth when the bright, intruding light interrupted and startled him from his slumber.
The figure next to him shifted, and Drake really didn’t want to be in this bed with her anymore. He carefully got up and found his boxers. He pulled on his tight pants, threw on his wrinkled t-shirt, slipped into his shoes, and was out the door. When he got outside the light hurt his eyes, and he really wished he had grabbed his sunglasses, but he wasn’t going to go back to the room and run the risk of having to actually interact with whomever that was in his bed. He began walking, without any direction. He’d probably just walk around the block for a while or grab something to eat. It usually was about an hour and twenty minutes before he could safely return to his hotel. He had it down to a science. When he left he would close the door loudly enough to wake up the girl, but not enough to startle her. It would take her a minute to come to and realize Drake wasn’t there. She would wait around for a while, hoping he would reappear and they could have a repeat or she could get his number or get breakfast and ask when he would be back in town. After about half on hour she would get dressed, and hang around, snooping through his things, still hoping he would come back and she would be the one Drake Parker actually remembered. Finally, after about an hour, she would sigh and leave, sometimes leave a note that he would promptly crumple and toss in the trash. He gave himself a twenty-minute leeway period, just in case it was a particularly clingy girl. Finally, he would return to the empty room and stare at his phone, opened to Josh’s number. The staring would go on for about fifteen minutes. During those fifteen minutes he would think about how stupid he had been, not working things out when he had the chance; he would think about how stupid he was being now, fucking the girl that was the most opposite of Josh he could find just to feel something other than Josh’s kiss, which he could still remember vividly a year since the last time it actually happened; finally, he would think about how stupid he was going to continue to be because he was absolutely clueless and heart broken, before he would snap the cell phone shut and toss it on the bed. He would then figure out exactly what city he was in, and immediately forget it; it didn’t really matter, because the answer was always just “not Boston.” Drake was extremely aware of the fact that, despite the offers, Josh had never booked Drake in Boston, or any city in a three-hour drive radius. He was also aware that Josh probably hated still being his manager. Drake had thought about getting a new manager, but that was the only connection he still felt he had to Josh, and he was going to cling on to it for dear life as long as he could. Josh hadn’t quit yet, so Drake hoped for the possibility that he wasn’t completely ready to let go yet either.
But Drake was equally well aware that Josh had seen every picture of Drake in any magazine or website, and a part of him really hoped it hurt. The first one wasn’t intentional, he was just a little too drunk to realize that there was a photographer, and he wasn’t even aware that he had reached the level of fame when he needed to start looking out for things like photographers. The ironic thing about that picture though, was that he never even did anything with that girl. He was drunk and unaware of what was going on. She had come up to him, all sultry and drunk and horny and incoherent, and the photographer just happened to get that exact moment caught on film. If he had caught the next moment, it would have been Drake pushing her off him, accidentally touching her butt in the process, and running to the bathroom to vomit. After the picture appeared though, Drake figured, “well, if everyone’s going to think it anyway,” and he started spinning out of control. He was back in high school again, except it wasn’t innocent fun this time. It was “I need to fuck everything in sight to make me forget about Josh and hurt him like he hurt me” this time. He wasn’t sure if it was working, or if hurting Josh would make Josh want him any more, but he figured things were pretty shitty right now, so what harm could it do?
I sleep with this new girl I’m still getting used to
My friends all approve
Say she’s gonna be good for me
They throw me high fives
By September Josh had been able to pull himself out of his funk. He called Mindy and talked to her about everything, and he was really happy that despite everything, they had been able to remain friends. He left the house for the first time all summer to go out to lunch with her and Craig and Eric, and he called Benj back, first thanking him, then asking for the help he desperately needed. Benj was more than willing to help, and overjoyed that Josh had finally decided to do something.
He was back at school now, and he was more himself than he’d been in over a year. He stopped looking at magazines altogether and tried only to think about Drake when he had to do something related to his career. By mid-October, he was doing well. He had even met a girl. She was strangely like Mindy, except less uptight and never had any evil, diabolical plan against Drake. They had met when Benj had a date with some guy, but that guy had a friend who needed a date, so Benj brought Josh along. They all went out to get coffee, but ten minutes in and Benj and his date “went to the bathroom,” which really meant they had left and were now back in Benj’s room. It should have been an awkward situation, but Meredith, Josh’s date, turned out to be amazingly cool. They were able to laugh about Benj and her friend and they ended up talking for hours in the coffee shop. From there, things just blossomed. It happened naturally and Josh thought, “Now this is the way it’s supposed to happen.” Benj was extremely happy for him, and congratulated him often. He really liked Meredith. Everyone did.
Life of the party
And she swears that she’s artsy
But you could distinguish Miles from Coltrane
Josh was truly happy by November. He was doing well in school, he had good friends, and he had an amazing girlfriend that everyone adored. He wasn’t discontent by any means, but sometimes, something just felt a little off. He didn’t have the feeling always. It would come about when something like an old Zero Gravity song came on and he’d instinctually say something like, “oh! Remember when we went to that show and…” He would trail off as Meredith looked at him strangely and he remembered that he wasn’t talking to Drake. He often forgot that Drake wasn’t around anymore, and he wasn’t sure why suddenly this was a recurring thing.
There was one thing that bugged Josh about Meredith, though…music…she didn’t like it. Not any. Josh couldn’t fathom this. He couldn’t imagine his teen years without the constant strum of Drake’s guitar or a soft humming of a new tune he was writing. It was just part of his life, and Meredith didn’t have a musical bone in her body. This discomforted Josh in an odd way. Wasn’t it just human to like music? But he liked her, so he usually overlooked it.
He still couldn’t help but miss the soundtrack to his high school days sometimes, though.
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in
She’s perfect, so flawless
Or so they say
Josh isn’t sure when it happened, but at some point he started to feel really uncomfortable around Meredith. He couldn’t figure it out, because besides the music thing, she was perfect for him. She could also have her pick of any number of guys, but she chose Josh, and he was starting to question why. He would voice these thoughts to Benj, and Benj would say, “Dude, Meredith is awesome, why are you complaining?” Josh never knew what to say. She was awesome. But she wasn’t…something. Josh refused to fill in that blank with the name “Drake.” He had moved on and he wasn’t going back there.
She thinks I can’t see
The smile that she’s faking
Poses for pictures
That aren’t being taken
Josh became apathetic to his whole relationship by January, but he never ended it. Ending it would mean he would have to deal with why he was apathetic, and he didn’t want to go there. Meredith wasn’t stupid, though. She could tell Josh didn’t care anymore. But she never did anything about it either, so they just kept up the façade. In social outings she would laugh and smile at everything he said, and he would loosely drape his arm around her shoulder as she rested a hand on his knee. The truth was though, they didn’t really hang out alone anymore. Sometimes they would study together and it would end up with sleeping together, but more just out of a need for physical contact than any emotional attachment. Their interactions were limited beyond that, and Josh didn’t know why she still put up with it. Then again, he couldn’t end it either.
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in
By early March, Josh couldn’t ignore the screaming voice in his head telling him exactly why things with Meredith weren’t right anymore. Things with Meredith were forced and fake and while he thought she was a great girl, he felt nothing for her. He yearned for the love he used to have. The easy, always right even when it was wrong, unconditional, no boundaries, made for each other love he used to have. He hadn’t talked to him in over a year, but he found all he wanted to do was snuggle up on his bed with a kung fu movie marathon on and a comfortable Drake in his arms. He was no longer angry or depressed. He was still a little hurt, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed by a talk with Drake. At first he thought that he just wanted to go back, but then he realized that he didn’t want to go back, he wanted to go forward. With Drake.
He was about to break up with Meredith, but she beat him to it, and all he could do was smile when she did.
She’s perfect, so flawless
I’m not impressed
I want you back.
Previous Parts:
1. My Same (could also be standalone)
2. Love on Economy (could also be standalone) Part I Part II Part III
3. It Beats For You
4. He Said He'd Never Break Your Heart Part I Part II
Author: easybeing_green
Fandom: Drake & Josh
Pairing: Drake/Josh
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Drake & Josh
A/N: Inspired by the song, "Comfortable," by John Mayer. You can find links to the previous parts of this series below.
Summary: Feelings after several months...
I just remembered that time at the market
Snuck up behind me and jumped on my shopping cart
And rode down aisle five
You looked behind you, smiled back at me
And crashed into a rack full of magazines
They asked us if we could leave
Can’t remember what went wrong last September
Though I’m sure you’d remind me
If you had to
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in…
Drake woke up from the blinding sunlight coming in through the large glass windows of whatever hotel in whatever city he was staying in now. He squinted and adjusted to the light as he lifted his head a little to look down at the arm that was possessively strewn across his bare chest. He followed the dainty, nail polished hand up a pale, slender arm and found a deep sleeping, smudged make up, mussed hair girl beside him, naked except for a pair of long, dangling, green earrings with feathers in them. Her knobby knee was poking into his thigh and the sheet was just barely covering her ass. Drake groaned as he rubbed a hand over his face, slightly repulsed by the image, but not unaccustomed to it. He pried her hand off his chest and turned away from her, pulling the covers up over his head, wanting desperately to go back to sleep and the dream he was having.
It was more of a memory, than a fictional dream. It was last summer; he and Josh had just gotten back from their first grocery-shopping trip. Josh had just moved in, and there wasn’t much in the apartment. Even though Drake had been living there for a month, he hadn’t really furnished it, and he spent most of his time in Josh’s dorm anyway. Josh dropped the bags on the counter, while Drake was still laughing about how they had gotten a scolding from the fourteen-year-old boy at the register for misbehaving in the grocery store. Josh chuckled as he started putting the groceries away. Drake rifled through the bags to find the chocolate syrup. He tore open the cap and leaned back on the counter as he poured some into his mouth. Josh shook his head and smiled as he continued to put away the groceries. Drake smiled in return at how responsible Josh was. He reached out and grabbed Josh by the belt loop to pull him in for a kiss. When they pulled away, Josh licked his lips and smiled. “Mmm, chocolately.” Drake laughed. Josh could be so cute sometimes.
“Want some more?” Drake asked as he raised the chocolate syrup bottle. Josh opened his mouth expectantly, but instead of giving him some, Drake drew a line along on his own finger and then stuck it in Josh’s mouth. Josh sucked on his finger and wrapped his tongue around it to lick all the chocolate off. Drake pulled Josh forward so he was pinning himself against the counter. Josh placed his hands on Drake’s hips, and Drake was about to replace his finger with his mouth when the bright, intruding light interrupted and startled him from his slumber.
The figure next to him shifted, and Drake really didn’t want to be in this bed with her anymore. He carefully got up and found his boxers. He pulled on his tight pants, threw on his wrinkled t-shirt, slipped into his shoes, and was out the door. When he got outside the light hurt his eyes, and he really wished he had grabbed his sunglasses, but he wasn’t going to go back to the room and run the risk of having to actually interact with whomever that was in his bed. He began walking, without any direction. He’d probably just walk around the block for a while or grab something to eat. It usually was about an hour and twenty minutes before he could safely return to his hotel. He had it down to a science. When he left he would close the door loudly enough to wake up the girl, but not enough to startle her. It would take her a minute to come to and realize Drake wasn’t there. She would wait around for a while, hoping he would reappear and they could have a repeat or she could get his number or get breakfast and ask when he would be back in town. After about half on hour she would get dressed, and hang around, snooping through his things, still hoping he would come back and she would be the one Drake Parker actually remembered. Finally, after about an hour, she would sigh and leave, sometimes leave a note that he would promptly crumple and toss in the trash. He gave himself a twenty-minute leeway period, just in case it was a particularly clingy girl. Finally, he would return to the empty room and stare at his phone, opened to Josh’s number. The staring would go on for about fifteen minutes. During those fifteen minutes he would think about how stupid he had been, not working things out when he had the chance; he would think about how stupid he was being now, fucking the girl that was the most opposite of Josh he could find just to feel something other than Josh’s kiss, which he could still remember vividly a year since the last time it actually happened; finally, he would think about how stupid he was going to continue to be because he was absolutely clueless and heart broken, before he would snap the cell phone shut and toss it on the bed. He would then figure out exactly what city he was in, and immediately forget it; it didn’t really matter, because the answer was always just “not Boston.” Drake was extremely aware of the fact that, despite the offers, Josh had never booked Drake in Boston, or any city in a three-hour drive radius. He was also aware that Josh probably hated still being his manager. Drake had thought about getting a new manager, but that was the only connection he still felt he had to Josh, and he was going to cling on to it for dear life as long as he could. Josh hadn’t quit yet, so Drake hoped for the possibility that he wasn’t completely ready to let go yet either.
But Drake was equally well aware that Josh had seen every picture of Drake in any magazine or website, and a part of him really hoped it hurt. The first one wasn’t intentional, he was just a little too drunk to realize that there was a photographer, and he wasn’t even aware that he had reached the level of fame when he needed to start looking out for things like photographers. The ironic thing about that picture though, was that he never even did anything with that girl. He was drunk and unaware of what was going on. She had come up to him, all sultry and drunk and horny and incoherent, and the photographer just happened to get that exact moment caught on film. If he had caught the next moment, it would have been Drake pushing her off him, accidentally touching her butt in the process, and running to the bathroom to vomit. After the picture appeared though, Drake figured, “well, if everyone’s going to think it anyway,” and he started spinning out of control. He was back in high school again, except it wasn’t innocent fun this time. It was “I need to fuck everything in sight to make me forget about Josh and hurt him like he hurt me” this time. He wasn’t sure if it was working, or if hurting Josh would make Josh want him any more, but he figured things were pretty shitty right now, so what harm could it do?
I sleep with this new girl I’m still getting used to
My friends all approve
Say she’s gonna be good for me
They throw me high fives
By September Josh had been able to pull himself out of his funk. He called Mindy and talked to her about everything, and he was really happy that despite everything, they had been able to remain friends. He left the house for the first time all summer to go out to lunch with her and Craig and Eric, and he called Benj back, first thanking him, then asking for the help he desperately needed. Benj was more than willing to help, and overjoyed that Josh had finally decided to do something.
He was back at school now, and he was more himself than he’d been in over a year. He stopped looking at magazines altogether and tried only to think about Drake when he had to do something related to his career. By mid-October, he was doing well. He had even met a girl. She was strangely like Mindy, except less uptight and never had any evil, diabolical plan against Drake. They had met when Benj had a date with some guy, but that guy had a friend who needed a date, so Benj brought Josh along. They all went out to get coffee, but ten minutes in and Benj and his date “went to the bathroom,” which really meant they had left and were now back in Benj’s room. It should have been an awkward situation, but Meredith, Josh’s date, turned out to be amazingly cool. They were able to laugh about Benj and her friend and they ended up talking for hours in the coffee shop. From there, things just blossomed. It happened naturally and Josh thought, “Now this is the way it’s supposed to happen.” Benj was extremely happy for him, and congratulated him often. He really liked Meredith. Everyone did.
Life of the party
And she swears that she’s artsy
But you could distinguish Miles from Coltrane
Josh was truly happy by November. He was doing well in school, he had good friends, and he had an amazing girlfriend that everyone adored. He wasn’t discontent by any means, but sometimes, something just felt a little off. He didn’t have the feeling always. It would come about when something like an old Zero Gravity song came on and he’d instinctually say something like, “oh! Remember when we went to that show and…” He would trail off as Meredith looked at him strangely and he remembered that he wasn’t talking to Drake. He often forgot that Drake wasn’t around anymore, and he wasn’t sure why suddenly this was a recurring thing.
There was one thing that bugged Josh about Meredith, though…music…she didn’t like it. Not any. Josh couldn’t fathom this. He couldn’t imagine his teen years without the constant strum of Drake’s guitar or a soft humming of a new tune he was writing. It was just part of his life, and Meredith didn’t have a musical bone in her body. This discomforted Josh in an odd way. Wasn’t it just human to like music? But he liked her, so he usually overlooked it.
He still couldn’t help but miss the soundtrack to his high school days sometimes, though.
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in
She’s perfect, so flawless
Or so they say
Josh isn’t sure when it happened, but at some point he started to feel really uncomfortable around Meredith. He couldn’t figure it out, because besides the music thing, she was perfect for him. She could also have her pick of any number of guys, but she chose Josh, and he was starting to question why. He would voice these thoughts to Benj, and Benj would say, “Dude, Meredith is awesome, why are you complaining?” Josh never knew what to say. She was awesome. But she wasn’t…something. Josh refused to fill in that blank with the name “Drake.” He had moved on and he wasn’t going back there.
She thinks I can’t see
The smile that she’s faking
Poses for pictures
That aren’t being taken
Josh became apathetic to his whole relationship by January, but he never ended it. Ending it would mean he would have to deal with why he was apathetic, and he didn’t want to go there. Meredith wasn’t stupid, though. She could tell Josh didn’t care anymore. But she never did anything about it either, so they just kept up the façade. In social outings she would laugh and smile at everything he said, and he would loosely drape his arm around her shoulder as she rested a hand on his knee. The truth was though, they didn’t really hang out alone anymore. Sometimes they would study together and it would end up with sleeping together, but more just out of a need for physical contact than any emotional attachment. Their interactions were limited beyond that, and Josh didn’t know why she still put up with it. Then again, he couldn’t end it either.
Our love was comfortable
And so broken in
By early March, Josh couldn’t ignore the screaming voice in his head telling him exactly why things with Meredith weren’t right anymore. Things with Meredith were forced and fake and while he thought she was a great girl, he felt nothing for her. He yearned for the love he used to have. The easy, always right even when it was wrong, unconditional, no boundaries, made for each other love he used to have. He hadn’t talked to him in over a year, but he found all he wanted to do was snuggle up on his bed with a kung fu movie marathon on and a comfortable Drake in his arms. He was no longer angry or depressed. He was still a little hurt, but it was nothing that couldn’t be fixed by a talk with Drake. At first he thought that he just wanted to go back, but then he realized that he didn’t want to go back, he wanted to go forward. With Drake.
He was about to break up with Meredith, but she beat him to it, and all he could do was smile when she did.
She’s perfect, so flawless
I’m not impressed
I want you back.
Previous Parts:
1. My Same (could also be standalone)
2. Love on Economy (could also be standalone) Part I Part II Part III
3. It Beats For You
4. He Said He'd Never Break Your Heart Part I Part II