Requested by: Moondragonice
Theme: Angst
Ships:
Drew x Jake
Authors Note: TW⚠️Slight mentions of death(?)
***
No one's POV
Early the next morning, Drew woke up to the sound of Jake's alarm clock beeping. Jake flinched in his arms, staying asleep. Drew sat up, then reached his arm across Jake and pressed the snooze button on the clock. He propped himself up with his arm, and looked at Jake who was asleep still
"Jake...?"
Jake's eyes opened a bit and he looked up at Drew, who smiled at him
"Morning.." Drew said.
"Hi.." Jake smiled at him, then asked "What time's it...?"
Drew looked over at the clock. "6:30..." he said. "What time does your bus pick you up?"
"7:00..." Jake said "sorry, I must've set my alarm a bit later than normal..."
"Don't worry about it..." Drew said as he got up out of bed. Then he realized something
"Ugh, crap..." he sighed. "What's up...?" Jake asked as he sat up
"I don't got any clothes of my own I can wear..." Drew said. Jake thought for a minute, then said "you could just...wear something I've mine for the day...?"
Drew turned red and looked at Jake. "U-Uh...what?"
"W-We could pick something that I don't wear too often...I-I don't think anyone would notice..."
Drew thought for a minute. "...can I have your coat?" he asked. Jake nodded, and got up to find some stuff for Drew to wear
---
Once the two boys were dressed and ready for school, they headed out the door
"Thank god I brought my school stuff" Drew said. Jake nodded
Jake closed the door behind them, then stopped and stared at the ground. "Are you okay..?" Drew asked as he turned back to Jake. Jake hesitated before shaking his head no
"...I don't wanna go..." he said
Drew raised an eyebrow at Jake, then realized what the issue could be
"...you thinking about last night...?"
Jake nodded. Drew put a hand on his shoulder. "Jake, don't worry about what you went through last night..." he said "it was just a nightmare...it won't come true...alright...?"
Jake smiled a bit then nodded, and him and Drew headed toward the corner nearby to wait for the bus. When the bus got to the corner and both boys got on, Drew say in the window seat and Jake sat next to him. He looked exhausted
"Mind if...I sleep for a bit...?" Jake asked as he sleepily looked at Drew. Drew turned to him. "No, I don't mind at all..." Drew smiled. Jake smiled back. He then put his headphones on, layed his head on Drew's shoulder, and fell asleep
---
Drew and Jake arrived at school and as they stood in the doorway of the entrance, something felt....off...
At least to Jake it did. He hadn't gotten any texts from anyone in the music club, but he figured that would've happened. Although it felt like...something more than that was going on. It felt like everyone in the halls was staring at them both. Mainly Jake
"You okay, Jake?" Drew asked, looking at Jake. Jake hesitated before nodding. "Uh...y-yeah, yeah...I'm....okay...."
Drew gave him a concerned look before holding his hand
"Don't worry about that dumb music club, okay?" he said, making Jake look at him. "You're really talented....they don't know what they're missing out on..."
Jake smiled at Drew. "Thanks..." he said
They looked at the time on Drew's phone, seeing they had about 25 minutes to get their stuff in their lockers and then head to their classes. As they headed to Drew's locker, since it was closer, Jake looked around at everyone around them. He had never felt so paranoid in his entire life. Every time someone was looking in his direction or whispering, he thought they were looking at or talking about them
Eventually they got to Drew's locker, and saw Liam and Henry standing there
"Sup, guys!" Liam said as he saw the two arrive. As soon as they walked over, Henry was intently staring at Drew
"You okay, Jake?" Liam asked "you look pretty wiped"
Jake panicked a little
"Wh-Wha? Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'm fine! Totally fine! Everything's fine! Who's not fine...?! Not me!!"
Liam raised his eyebrows at Jake, confused and mildly concerned
"Oooo....kay?" he said. Jake smiled. So far everything seemed fine. Liam and Henry were acting as goofy as they normally would, and not rude like in the dream he had. So maybe the day would be okay?
Meanwhile, Henry had continued to stare as Drew swapped items in and out from his locker. Eventually though, Drew noticed
"....Henry, why are you looking at me like I have centipedes coming out of my ears?" he asked
Henry made eye contact with Drew
"I just was wondering..." he said "....since when did you get clothes that look exactly like Jake's?"
Jake froze. He got the panicked look in his eyes again. He looked at Drew, as if telling him to please not tell Liam and Henry that he had a nightmare and needed Drew to be with him. Drew got the look, and decided to just leave the whole nightmares part out of the story
"I slept over at his house last night." Drew said as he turned back to Liam and Henry "And I forgot to bring extra clothes of mine with me, so Jake said I could borrow some of his."
Jake smiled a bit. He figured Liam and Henry would understand and not think much of it. If anything, even crack a few jokes. However, what came next was completely unexpected
"Seriously?!" Henry said "you slept over at his house again?! And without us?!"
Drew and Jack were taken aback by this reaction
"Why can't WE ever come with you guys?! Why do you ALWAYS have alone time together?!"
"Hey, we don't ALWAYS have alone time together!!" Drew said "and even if we DO want alone time with just us two, why is that so bad?!"
"Uh, because WE'RE supposed to be best friends!!" Liam shouted "All four of us are supposed to be tight best friends until the end!! Remember?!"
The arguing between Jake's three friends continued until suddenly, one of the last things he wanted to tell them spilled out of him
"I GOT KICKED OUT OF THE MUSIC CLUB."
Henry, Liam, and Drew all stopped their yelling and looked over at Jake
"Eh?" Henry piped up after a few seconds of silence
"What did you just say?" Liam added on
"Jake, maybe don't bring this up out here, it's super crowded.." Drew said putting his hand on Jake's shoulder
"I SAID I GOT KICKED OUT OF THE MUSIC CLUB!!!" Jake shouted at them as tears ran down his face. He flinched away from Drew, not even thinking about what he said.
"SOMEHOW A RECORDING OF WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE MUSIC CLUB GOT TO THEM AND THEY ALL HEARD WHAT I SAID ABOUT THEM, AND THEY GOT PISSED AT ME YESTERDAY AFTER SCHOOL AT THE MEETING AND NOW I'M KICKED OUT......!!!"
Jake stopped his shouting, and just looked down as he continued to cry. Most of the people around him and his friends had left. However, some people did hear it and we're still staring at the four boys. After a few seconds, Liam spoke up
"W-Woah, dude.....we're sorry, we had no ide-"
"Just leave it..." Jake interrupted him "I don't wanna talk about it anymore..."
They all went silent again. Henry and Liam looked around a bit
"....uh...." Henry started to say after a bit "should we.....go?"
"No. Don't." Drew said "you two need to stay here with Jake."
Henry, Liam, and Jake all turned to Drew
"What are you talking about?" Liam asked. "Yeah, Drew, what's going on...?" Jake added on
"I'm gonna go deal with that stupid club." Drew said, balling his hands into fists
"D-Drew, don't.." Jake said
"Jake, they hurt you!! Physically and emotionally!!" Drew said
"I-I know, but don't go screaming at them and stuff!!"
"I'm NOT gonna let them haunt you like this!!"
"I can handle this all by myself....!!"
As Drew and Jake bickered back and forth, Henry and Liam were watching them. "Should we go now?" Henry asked, glancing at Liam. "I think that might be for the best." Liam nodded
"Hey, uh...you two can continue have fun with whatever you're doing! But we're gonna go!" Liam said, his voice raising so he could be heard over the arguing. Jake and Drew stopped arguing momentarily and looked over
"We'll catch you two later!" Henry said, as Liam and him turned around and quickly walked away
"Wha- ugh..." Drew sighed "what a bunch of clowns..."
He looked back at Jake
"Drew, I really appreciate you wanting to help me..." Jake said "but please, try to not get involved with them....? I can try to talk to them myself..."
"What if they don't wanna listen?" Drew said. Jake hadn't thought about it
"Well...." Jake started to say. "If....they don't forgive me....or don't wanna listen, then.....that's that.....I-I think I'll be able to manage it...."
"Alright...." Drew nodded "just....let me know if you need me when the time comes, okay...?"
Jake nodded back, smiling a bit
---
This was it
Jake was standing outside the door to the music club room. At this time the day before, he was walked in excited and ready to rock, and left in pain and feeling like his world was crushed before his eyes. Today he was about to walk in feeling scared and sad, and hopefully leave feeling relieved and relaxed
"You'll be fine, Jake..." he said softly to himself "that nightmare that happened was nothing but that...a nightmare..."
Jake slowly lifted his hand, then knocked on the door. No answer. He then opened the door, and poked his head inside
"Guys...?"
The music club was inside, not making as much noise as they normally would. Milly was tuning her guitar, Sean was checking things on his computer, Luke was twirling one of his drumsticks with his hand, and Zander was practicing some parts of different songs on his piano
"Where's Hailey at...?" Jake thought to himself
"Hey, Hailey. How you doi-"
Sean stopped his sentence short when he looked up and realized the person who entered the room wasn't Hailey. It was Jake. Everyone else had looked over and realized the same thing
"....what. the hell. are you doing here." Zander said coldly
"I just want to talk to you g-" Jake started to say
"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM US?!" Zander interrupted as he stood up. Luke put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from storming over to Jake
"I-I know you did, but please, hear me out.....!!" Jake said
"Jake. If you know what's good for you, you will turn around and leave, right. now." Luke said
"I-"
Suddenly Jake heard a voice behind them
"....what is HE doing here....."
Jake turned around, and saw Hailey standing in the doorway. She looked both angry, and like she was about to cry
"H-Hailey...!" Jake exclaimed
"Jake. leave. now." Hailey said. She stepped in, shoving past him. Jake stumbled a bit, but caught himself so he didn't fall to the floor. He turned back to the club
"Guys, come on...!! You all KNOW that what I said on the recor-"
All of a sudden, Hailey walked over to Jake and slapped him across the face. Ironically, on the same side Milly had slapped him the day before
"CAN'T YOU TAKE A HINT, JAKE?!" she yelled. Jake covered his cheek with his hand, taking a step back while shaking
"H-Hailey-"
"SHE DOESN'T WANNA HEAR IT, JAKE." Milly shouted. She then walked over, and kicked Jake in the knee
"AHH....!! OW....!! MILLY, WHAT THE HELL...?!" Jake screamed
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING A FILTHY TRAITOR." the pink haired girl yelled
"YOU'RE SUCH A GOD DAMN IDIOT, JAKE." Zander shouted "AND THAT'S JUST THE NICE WAY OF PUTTING IT."
Jake felt tears forming in his eyes. He figured this might be a bit hard to get through, but he never expected it to go this bad
"Oh, great. NOW he's gonna start CRYING." Luke said rolling his eyes. Hailey stopped her yelling for a minute, and smirked
"Why don't you go cry to your more fitting friends." she said "you know, the backstabbers who you fit right in with?"
---
Drew was walking down the hall, on the way to the music room. He figured he'd wait outside for Jake, just to give him a nice little surprise after the thing that was stressing him out. However, when he got to the door, he could hear angry shouting inside
"Well, that can't be good..." he thought to himself. He looked through the window in the door, only to see Hailey, Zander, and Milly all screaming at Jake. Sean and Luke were standing further back against the back wall, every few seconds shouting some things of their own at Jake. Not only that, but Hailey, Zander, and Milly were also repeatedly hurting Jake. Mainly Milly, who was slapping, kicking, and even punching Jake
Drew wasn't gonna let this happen anymore. He grabbed the door handle, and swung the door open
"HEY. LEAVE HIM ALONE." he yelled. But nothing stopped. Not the yelling or hurting, and no one seemed to hear or see Drew enter
"I SAID, LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" Drew yelled again, this time slightly louder. This time he was heard. The entire music club, and Jake all looked over. Jake was on the floor, shaking as tears ran down his face. Milly had her leg pulled back, about to kick Jake again. Hailey and Zander were on either side of her
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Drew shouted. "WHAT EVEN HAPPENED IN HERE?!"
"WE'RE SICK OF HEARING HIS STUPID EXCUSES." Zander shouted back at Drew "HE'S A BACKSTABBER AND A BULLY. HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN, AND HE ALWAYS WILL BE."
"SERIOUSLY?! THIS IS ALL OVER THE RECORDING?!" Drew yelled "YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE HIM A CHANCE TO EXPLAIN HIMSELF!!"
"THIS DOESN'T NEED EXPLAI-" Hailey started, but Drew interrupted her
"MAYBE IF YOU DID GIVE HIM THE CHANCE TO EXPLAIN, YOU'D KNOW HE DIDN'T MEAN ANY OF WHAT HE SAID AND THAT HE WAS PRESSURED INTO SAYING IT!!!"
Luke stepped forward and gently pulled Zander back, worried that if Drew lashed out at them all physically, that Zander would be one of the first people he went to
"Oh, yeah, NOW ya pull him away from Jake!!" Drew said rolling his eyes "NOW YA DO IT, after he screamed at Jake and hurt him."
"Drew, just get the hell out and leave us alone." Hailey sighed. Drew went over to Jake, and helped him up slowly. "Wait out in the hall for me, okay...?" he said. Jake nodded then left the room, still in tears
"I'd like to say a few things to you all before me and Jake leave." Drew said, turning back to the club. "Oh, and what's that." Zander asked coldly. Drew continued with what he was saying
"Hailey, get over yourself. You too, Zander. Both of you need to ACTUALLY give people a chance to explain themselves. Not just assume the worst of people."
Hailey's eyes went wide then she looked down, absolutely furious but not wanting to get in any more arguments
"YOU JACKASS!!!" Zander screamed "WHY I OUGHTA-"
Luke put a hand on Zander's shoulder. "Leave it.." he said softly "he's not worth our time..."
"Millicent." Drew said turning to Milly, who punched her fist into her hand
"Get ahold of yourself. Not everything in your pathetic life can be solved with violence. Maybe try using actual words rather than turning into the monster everyone knows you are."
Milly almost pounced at Drew, but was rapidly held back by Hailey and Sean
"DOWN, GIRL!!" Hailey yelled as Milly tried to pull away
"COME ON, LET ME KICK HIS SORRY PATHETIC ASS!!!" Milly screamed
"As for you two, Sean and Luke." Drew said. "The next time your little friends try to hurt someone, whether it be physically or emotionally, maybe you two should try to do something to stop them rather than standing back like a couple of pansies."
Luke and Sean both glared at Drew
"Well, my work here is done." Drew said, as he took a step back to avoid Milly's attempted kicks and swats at him. "And by the way, you all should be grateful Jake joined you. Because without him, none of you will stand a chance."
With that, Drew turned around and left the music club by themselves. By themselves to deal with the angry Milly, by themselves to think about what he said.
---
Drew stepped into the hall and saw Jake sitting on the floor against the wall beside the door. When he stepped out, Jake looked up with tears still rolling down his cheeks
"Well, I think my work here is done..." Drew said. He got down beside Jake. "You alright...?" he asked. Jake shook his head no
"Okay, where does it hurt...?" Drew asked
"Physically, o-or emotionally...?" Jake asked back
"Physically..."
Jake looked himself over for a minute. "My arms...and legs...and stomach- god, my stomach is killing me...and my face hurts pretty bad too..." he answered
Drew put an arm around him. "You wanna go to my place...?" he asked "you can even stay for the night if you want..."
Jake nodded. "Mhm..."
He was still crying and shaking. Drew hesitated before hugging him
"You can tell me everything that happened when we get to my house, okay...?" he said. Jake nodded again
---
"THEY SAID THAT TO YOU?!"
Drew was in shock from everything Jake was telling him. The club had called Jake a bunch of things including "backstabber", "bully", "traitor", "loser", and at one point they had even said to him "if anyone's a music freak, it's not any of us. It's you."
That last one was the one that had Drew the most shocked
"Yeah, they did..." Jake said looking down at the floor. He was holding an ice pack on his knee that Milly had kicked
Drew sighed, absolutely frustrated
"I can't believe those....those....those JERKS!!" he said, rubbing his forehead. He then went over to Jake and sat beside him
"....I-I didn't think it would actually come true...." Jake said, his eyes filling with tears again
"Your nightmare...?" Drew asked. Jake nodded
"Jake, do you remember what I told you last night....?"
Jake looked up at Drew. "Which part....?"
"That me, Liam, and Henry all know you're not a bad person..." Drew said, putting his arm around Jake. "We're your real friends, okay...?"
Jake nodded, leaning his head on Drew's shoulder
"Feel better at all...?" Drew asked
Jake shrugged. "My knee hurts super bad..." he said
"I'll bet..." Drew said. He kissed Jake's cheek, making Jake smile a little
"Hey...um..." Jake started to say. Drew raised an eyebrow at him
"...thank you for....for helping me today..." Jake continued "I-I knew trying to talk to them again would go poorly, but...I didn't think it would go this poorly..."
"It's not a problem at all, Jake..." Drew said. He pulled Jake close and hugged him. There was a few seconds of silence, then Jake laughed a little
"What's that for..?" Drew asked, a small smile on his face
"I just can't believe you said all that to them when I left the room..." Jake said "I can't tell which part of it's the most shocking..."
"You should've seen their reactions, it was amazing." Drew said "Hailey looked like she was gonna blow a gasket!! And Luke? Man, if looks could kill, Luke would've been the one to kill me."
Jake went silent again, then asked "...do you think they'll....ever forgive me....? And let me back into the club...?"
Drew thought for a minute on what he could say in this moment that wouldn't make Jake feel worse than he already did
"...for your sake, I hope they do..." he said "you're so amazingly talented, you deserve to be in that club no matter what anyone says...that includes me and the guys...and if they don't forgive you and let you back in, that's their loss..."
Jake smiled, then kissed Drew
"Thank you, Drew.." he smiled as he hugged him. Drew smiled and hugged Jake back
"You're welcome, Jake.."
End