Drake And Katherine

When Drake was in elementary school, he met Liam Rhys. Liam was the new kid, he came from money and his dad was now the Dean of Cordonia High School. Drake, in his 8 years of life, had learned from early on that people who came from money were corrupt and disgusting. His father, Jackson Walker, had served many years as a personal bodyguard and had protected countless wealthy assholes in his time. All of his stories that he had told during family dinners, had stuck with Drake, making it easy for him to be prejudiced against the rich.

His opinion started to change one recess, when a kid had fallen off the jungle gym in the field behind their school. Liam had seen, and immediately rushed to the kid to see if he was okay. He had helped him up, and offered to get the teacher for him. That was the first, of many instances, that drew Drake towards Liam, and expanded his views from what he was told as a child.

It wasn’t until one day, during lunch, that Drake had ever spoken to Liam. Drake had forgotten his lunch, and his family couldn’t afford to pay for the school lunches, so he sat at his table that he had always sat at, alone and starving. A brooding look on his face didn’t sway Liam from walking over to him though. Liam had offered half of his lunch to him, noticing he didn’t have any. Drake tried to ignore him, but when Liam sat next to him and started to exaggerate how good his peanut butter jelly sandwich was, he caved. To his surprise, he enjoyed Liam’s company and the conversation he could offer, even if he didn’t realize that yet at 8 years old.

Liam was the only best friend he had, until one fateful detention where he had met three others. It wasn’t the first time he had seen the others, just the first time he had conversed with any of them. Maxwell, he had first noticed in freshman year of highschool at the homecoming game. He ran onto the field, during halftime, just in his underwear and had started to breakdance. Soon, a few others had joined him in what apparently was a flash mob. Literally on the flash part, someone had gotten suspended for streaking afterwards. Drake had thought it was hilarious, but also thought that it was embarrassing to anyone who knew Maxwell. It wasn’t surprising when Maxwell was in detention when they met, he was notorious for causing trouble ever since that game. He had a couple classes with Hana, but never spoke to her. He did, however, admire how smart she was. She was always the first person to raise her hand in class when the teacher asked a question. She always had the right answer.

The first time Drake had noticed Katherine, was the first day of freshman year. Katherine was the new girl, and didn’t seem like the type to pay attention to others. That was proven true, as Katherine had stayed away from others and never seemed to have a friend with her. Drake couldn’t help but notice her, and countless times had wanted to talk to her. The only reason he had stopped himself was because of the crowd he was hanging with at the time. They would have teased him relentlessly and looking back on it, Drake hated himself for giving in to their pressure. Eventually, he noticed she started hanging out with Hana and the two were never apart.

The same detention that had him meet Hana and Maxwell, also had him meeting Katherine. When Katherine invited everyone to her house, he was ecstatic. He thought she was beautiful, and it was the perfect excuse to hang out with her.

8 Years Ago

“This is your grandma’s? It feels so cozy!” Maxwell exclaimed as he walked through the front door. Katherine was a little anxious, she had never had friends over before except for Hana. Not that she had any other friends, until today.

“Yeah, it might be small but it is cozy and warm.” Katherine smiled, pushing her anxiety down. Her eyes roamed over towards where Drake was standing and immediately flushed. The first time she noticed him was in her geography class last year. They had never spoken to each other, but she would always sneak a peek at him during class. She couldn’t believe that he was at her house right now, that they had actually spoken to each other. Deciding to focus on something else, she went to her grandmother’s liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. “Who wants a drink?”

A couple hours later, Katherine wandered outside to the back porch, and leaned over the railing, breathing in some fresh air. A moment later, she heard the sliding back door open and close, Drake appearing beside her a second later. “Thanks for having me over.” He said.

“Oh, it’s not a problem.” Katherine felt her face flush, and didn’t look at him. “Hana keeps saying I should make more friends, I guess this is my way of trying.” They stood there in silence for a couple moments, then Drake spoke again.

“Can I tell you something?” Drake said, causing Katherine to look at him, a slight panic in her eyes. “It’s nothing bad!” He had noticed the panic and tried to calm the anxiety down. Katherine wasn’t sure how she felt about how easily he could read her within just a few hours of meeting. Reluctantly, she nodded.

“I think I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year.” She froze, not sure if she really heard what just came out of Drake’s mouth. Drake thanked the stars that it was dimly lit outside, so that she couldn’t see the slight blush on his cheeks from his bold statement.

“W-What?” She stammered.

“I’ve had a crush on you since last year. Even though we never officially met until today, I’m pretty sure I had a crush on you. Or, well, I have a crush on you. Present tense.” He smiled softly at her. He didn’t know what came over him, but there was something about her that told him it was okay. Like he could tell her anything.

“You have a crush on me?” Katherine stared at him, still not believing what she heard. “I-I mean, that’s great! Wait, no, that’s wrong. Your crush isn’t wrong, I’m wrong! What I mean to say is, uh, is that, uh…” Katherine was shut up with a pair of lips on her own. Drake had leaned in and kissed her, shutting up her rambling. At first, she was frozen, was this really happening? Eventually, she found herself again and responded to his kiss, deepening it. It wasn’t until a few moments later that they pulled apart due to Liam coughing at them. Katherine jumped back, face red and embarrassed. Drake just gave his best friend a lazy grin.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Drake said casually, as if he hadn’t just been making out with Katherine two seconds earlier.

“Hana asked me to come find you guys, she wants to play a drinking game. She said now that there are three more people it will be even more fun.” Liam chuckled.

“We should get inside then!” Katherine said, quickly running inside.

–

After that night, Drake had properly asked Katherine on a date. Soon enough, they were in a full fledged relationship and were the talk of the school. Katherine and Hana had never been popular before, but now with Katherine’s relationship with Drake and being friends with Liam and Maxwell on top of that, their popularity quickly rose. Things had gone great for the better part of the two years Drake had been with Katherine, but everything changed the night of senior prom.

–

5 Years Ago

Katherine had gone to the bathroom with Hana and Olivia, no doubt sneaking a smoke. Drake hung by the table with little finger foods and various drinks, sipping on a spiked cup of punch. He’d have to thank Maxwell later for pouring a whole bottle of vodka in there.

“Drake?” A voice from behind him floated to his ears. He turned, to see Kiara standing behind him. She wobbled slightly, no doubt feeling the effects of the alcoholic punch. “Uh, would you like to dance?”

“Sorry, Kiara, I’m saving my dances for Katherine.” He said bluntly. Kiara had been known to try to break them up their junior year, her crush on him becoming even more troublesome, in the past year. She pouted and tried to take a step forward, but ultimately lost her balance and started to fall forward. Drake wasn’t a complete asshole, so he caught her instead of letting her fall to the floor.

When he straightened her back up, she pulled him in by the neck, bringing him down to her and putting her lips on his. Immediately, he pushed her away, unaware of the fact that in that split second of surprise, Katherine had seen and ran. “What the fuck, Kiara?!” Drake yelled, his face red with anger. “Get it through your stupid, two brain celled head! Fuck off. Are you fucking insane? What the absolute fuck is wrong with you?! Stay the hell away from me.” He stomped off, looking for Liam and Maxwell. A crowd had formed around him, but he managed to find them pretty quickly.

“Dude, what the heck just happened?” Maxwell asked, confused. He hadn’t seen what happened, but had heard Drake shouting.

“Kiara is a fucking psychopath. Let’s find the girls and get the fuck out of here.” They spent the next ten minutes searching for Hana, Olivia and Katherine, asking some female friends to check the restroom for them and searching in various parts of the school hallways. When they came up short, they headed outside towards the parking lot.

“Where the hell are they?” Drake asked, walking to his truck. He froze about five feet away, noticing that his truck had been messed with. The back window was broken, and a tire had been slashed. In the windshield wipers, there was a folded piece of paper. Slowly, he made his way to it and opened it.

‘We’re fucking done. Have fun with Kiara. -K’ was all it said. Drake paled, realizing what happened and how it could have looked if Katherine didn’t witness his screaming. When the initial shock wore off, anger quickly turned its head.

The next day of school was the final day, but when Drake walked into the building he was feeling anything but relief. He quickly found Katherine at her locker, cleaning it out.

“Katherine, you have to let me explain! You have to let me tell you what happened.” He had texted her multiple times over the weekend, but she never replied. He was still angry, sure, but he loved this woman and needed things to be okay.

“No. I don’t have to let you do anything. You were kissing the one person in this world that I hate with every inch of my heart, that tried to break us up multiple times. Guess this time, it worked. Never talk to me again, Walker.” Katherine slammed her locker closed, turning and walking away from him. That was the last time he saw her, and his heart shattered further.

–

He noticed her the second he stepped foot into the bar, and tried to get to the corner without being seen. He watched her, curiously, wondering why the hell she was here. He was no longer angry, part of him would always love her. So when she got up and started making her way towards him, he started to panic. What was she going to say? Would they end up making a scene in the middle of the bar? Before he could try and escape from the conflict he was sure was going to happen, she appeared in front of him.

“Hi, Drake.” She said, softly. “Do you…do you think we could talk outside?” She bit her lip and looked down, feeling like a complete asshole and regretting coming over to him.

“Katherine.” Drake stared at her, debating if he should talk to her. “I’ll meet you outside after I have my drink.” He said, and she nodded in reply before moving to order herself another drink. She would need liquid courage to get her through this.

She stood outside for a couple minutes before Drake joined her. “So, what do you want to talk about Katherine?” He asked, getting straight to the point. No need to beat around the bush, she guessed.

“I just wanted to say…” She took a big sip of her drink, then a big breath. “I wanted to say that I’m so sorry. I know it’s five years too late for this, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t accept it. I tried to contact you a few years ago once I found out what really happened, but you had me blocked I guess. I don’t blame you for that.” She looked down, tapping a finger against her glass in an anxious way. “I should have talked to you first, should have heard you out. I shouldn’t have damaged your truck the way I did. I’m just sorry for everything. I knew if I saw you here, I wouldn’t be able to not apologize.” Drake took in Katherine’s words, processing them. He had stopped being angry years ago, but was he willing to forgive her? He knew right away that the answer was yes, he could.

Letting out a heavy sigh, he said “It’s okay, Katherine. I know how it must have looked, and I don’t blame you for what you did. I probably would have done the same thing, in your shoes. I think the main reason I was so angry for so long was because you didn’t even give me that chance to explain. The last time I saw you and tried, you walked away. At that moment, I gave up and gave in to the anger and sadness I had.” He took a sip from his glass, the amber liquid burning his throat.

After graduation, Drake and Liam went off to Ruby College in northern Cordonia. Immediately Drake took to college life and all it had to offer. They ended up joining a fraternity, indulging in nightly parties and several hookups. Liam wasn’t one for one night stands, but he still partook in them a couple times throughout freshman and sophomore year. He met his now fiancee, Riley Brooks, during junior year. Drake started to slow down on his drinking and partying about halfway through junior year,  realizing he was tired of the same game every night. The last straw for himself was when he got into a bar fight one night, and had gotten a deep cut above his eye, the now scar going through his eyebrow. He still had an occasional hookup, but could never let himself try to be with someone seriously. His heart was still locked on Katherine.

“I was an idiot, Drake. Hell, maybe I still am, for even trying to apologize five years later. If I could take it back, I would. I know that I can’t though, and the only thing that I can do is this.” Katherine said, daring to look at Drake. His face was more rugged now, with stubble on his jaw and chin. A scar above his eye told Katherine he probably got into a fight at some point after she left, since it wasn’t there the last time she saw him. They had both grown, but he was still Drake Walker. He was still the one person she loved, even now. She would never admit it to anyone though. Not even to Hana.

“Well, even if it is five years too late, I forgive you Katherine. I stopped being angry years ago, but it still hurt to think about. I pushed it down as far as I could, and it worked for a while.”

“But then?”

“But then I saw you in the bar, and it came flooding back.” Drake gave her one of his rare, soft smiles. “I think I knew all along that if you were to come here for this, I’d forgive you. Even if you hadn’t apologized.”

“Drake, thank you.” Katherine said, lightly touching his arm. It sent a shock through his body, though he hid it well. “Do you think we could try and be friends?” Her question weighed on him, like an anchor sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He gulped down the remainder of his drink and set it on the railing. He turned to face her, and lifted her chin up so he could see her face.

“Katherine, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to be friends with you, because all I would think about is doing this.” Drake brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly and fanning the dim flame that had been in his heart for the past five years. Even now, years later, Katherine Delacroix had a hold on him. Kissing her again was like watching fireworks for the first time as a kid, a million colors and emotions all melting together. To his surprise, Katherine kissed him back. She didn’t know if this would be a regret later on, but she couldn’t care less at the moment. Drake Walker still had a hold on her as well, and though it was happening quickly, she couldn’t fathom this night ending without him.

She pulled away first, face pink from the kiss. Whether it was the alcohol in her system or the emotions that were surging through her, she couldn’t tell, but she knew she had to have more of him. “Want to get out of here?” She asked, a shy smile on her face.