Two Weeks Without Drew (Emblem3 Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

To Lauren, who made my day!

Also, uhm. This chapter, man. I'm excited to post it. Mostly because Drew's POV, but also because... well, you'll see when you read it ;)

Amber and MJ are truly amazing. They have that one thing, they make me want to stay up all night, and the way that they flip their hair gets me overwhelmed. I love you both!

OoO

Day Seven:

Drew stretched as he got back into the house, hearing his back make a cracking noise as he did so. It felt good to get back to nature and just muck around on his grandparent's property, helping out his grandfather with chores and then trying- keyword trying- to build a hut. It was good work that took his mind off the home sickness he felt.

It wasn't about home, though. He loved his mother and he loved his house but it'd always be about Wesley. It'd always be Wesley that he missed the most, wanted to see the most, wanted to hear the most.

His grandmother picked up on his thoughts almost as soon as he was through the door. "Why don't you call him?" she smiled as she pulled out some vegetables from the fridge to prepare for dinner.

"Are you sure?" Drew asked, already itching towards the phone. "I usually help you cook..."

"I'm fine!" Mildred waved away his feeble protest and gestured for him to go. "Just call him already."

"Thanks, Nana," he placed a kiss on her cheek before grabbing the phone and going into his room with it. He lay back on the bed and dialed the Stromberg home phone number, hearing it ring before there was a click.

"Hello?"

Slight disappointment. "Oh, hey, Keaton. What's up?"

"Drew?" Keaton sounded immensely relieved for some reason. "Thank god. Listen, Wesley won't come out of his fucking room and I'm not sure why. All I know is he went to see his counselor today and since he's been back, he hasn't spoken to anyone and I can't get into his room. I think he's barricaded the door or something."

Drew's mouth twisted into a frown, already worried about the eighteen year old brunet. What could have upset him so much that he'd actually barricade the door?

"What can I do? Should I call his cell phone and hope he answers?"

"I suppose that's all you can do, really," Keaton sighed.

"Alright, I'll try," Drew closed his eyes briefly. "Thanks, Keat. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

He hung up and started to dial Wesley's cell phone number, having memorized it ages ago. It rang for almost a minute, and just as Drew was about to give up, there was a click and a sniffle, but no greeting.

"Wesley?" he ventured, trying to keep his voice soft and warm.

"Yeah?" Wesley sounded stuffy, as if he'd been crying for a while. Drew felt a pang of hurt that the other boy had been upset enough to cry, and he felt guilty that he wasn't there in person to comfort him.

"What's wrong, Wes? What happened?" he asked gently.

"I don't want to talk about it," the younger boy said quietly.

"Wes," Drew coaxed softly. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

The brunet was silent for a few moments before there was another sniff. "Well, uhm, I went to see my counselor..."

"I know, Keaton told me," Drew rubbed the bridge of his nose. Weren't counselors supposed to make people feel better, not make them have a meltdown? "What happened?"

"I told her about... uhm..." Wesley's voice wavered a little. "About the past year, and you, and everything."

Drew frowned a little, not liking where this was going. Whatever had upset the other boy, it probably had something to do with him. He hated that. He was constantly causing Wesley pain, even when he was trying to do the exact opposite. "Go on, Wes."

"She told me..." there was another little sniff. "She told me it was unhealthy that I still talk to you and everything. And she said I needed to stay away from you."

"Wes..." Drew trailed off, feeling hurt and annoyed at this woman for even trying to break them apart. But this woman was most likely right- it probably was unhealthy for them to still be talking. And the fact that they were romantically involved made it worse.

"I told her to fuck off and then I walked out," Wesley said quietly. "I- she- she doesn't get it. Yeah it's kinda weird and unhealthy and whatever but... I need you."

Drew closed his eyes and let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. It had been extremely obvious from the start that Wesley needed him, but hearing the brunet admit it... his chest felt all constricted and weird, like he was about to cry, but he was happy as well.

"You know, the funny thing is, Wes..." Drew held the phone closer to his ear. "I need you, too."

Wesley gave a half hearted snort. "No you don't, Drew."

"Yes, I do," the blond argued softly.

"How do you need me, then?" Wesley asked, his tone making it apparent that he expected Drew to not be able to give an answer.

The older boy hesitated a moment, because admitting what he was about to admit was kind of a big deal for him. He knew Wesley felt the exact same way, and he knew that the brunet knew how Drew felt, but he'd never actually said it. He still had that fear of commitment, fear of his own feelings, but he figured Wesley was so much more important than those stupid fears.

So he took a deep breath and let it out. "Because I'm in love with you, Wesley."

He heard the other boy's breath hitch, and then there was silence for several long moments. Drew began to think he'd overstepped his boundaries, that he'd gone too far or pushed Wesley too far, but then the younger teen's breath came out in a rush and he heard the tiniest laugh. "I, uhm, I love you too."

They'd said it to each other before, back when Drew had pretended to date him for sex almost three years ago. But that had been different, because back then Drew hadn't consciously returned those feelings, nor had he been so anxious for Wesley to feel that way about him. Hearing those words, despite the fact it was over the phone and they couldn't even see each other, made him feel giddy and overly excited, like he'd had way too much sugar. "I'm glad," he said quietly, fighting to stay calm when all he wanted to do was get up and drive all the way back home. A huge grin was spread over his face. "I'm just... really, really glad."

"Me too," Wesley sounded the same, like he was trying to restrain himself.

After a short moment of comfortable silence, Drew asked, "did you barricade your door?"

Wesley let out a bark of laughter.