27: Problem

A/N--Content Warning. I decided to let Xander talk, and he’s a bit of a potty mouth. If you’re not interested in reading a good deal more than the usual amount of cursing, it might be wise to skip this chapter. I apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you all for your ongoing support!

XANDER POV

“Drake, man, c’mon. You gotta get up, or you gon’ be late for work,” Callum nags Drake, pounding on his bedroom door. Normally I’m the one who sleeps through three alarms, not Drake. This Nikki chick’s got him twisted, and I ain’t here for it.

On the other side of his closed door, Drake groans and mumbles sleep gibberish.

“I know it Sunday, man, but they got the new rollout of that software update and we gotta be online to run the online chat assistant to help customers adjust. Boss told us Friday this was happenin’!” Callum continues.

Ugh, enough is enough. “Dude, your office is in the living room! You don’t even have to put on real clothes!” I snap. Maybe that’ll get some sense into him. “How late were you up talking to that chick?”

Drake opens his door, the personification of a rough night. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was hung over.

“Didn’t text her much after we hung up last night,” he glares at me. “She said around 11 that it was her turn at the wheel and then she’d have to sleep to be ready for her next driving shift.”

“Wait. You said they’s goin’ to Montana, right?” Callum asks. That’s what I remember, too, but if that’s the case, as Drake’s sleepy nodding indicates it is, something’s fucky here. “An’ they just drivin’ straight through overnights to get there? Are they outta they minds?”

“They want to miss as little class as possible.” Drake snags a teeshirt from his floor and pulls it over his head, not noticing that it’s inside out and backwards. He’s got it bad. Worse than I thought.

“Where, exactly, in Montana, are they headed to?” I demand. Drake just shrugs and pushes past Callum and me into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Ugh. Fine then. I can still figure something out. I pull out my phone and start Google Maps for Columbus, OH, to Montana. “Depending on where exactly they’re going, we’re talking around 27 hours of driving, give or take, and not accounting for stops to get gas and stuff. They’re definitely out of their minds, and they’re definitely missing some class. Why couldn’t Nikki’ve just, like, FaceTimed her aunt or something?” I’m starting to get real skeptical of these chicks. Something about this ain’t right.

“I asked that, texting,” Drake mumbles around his toothbrush. Guess he’s not a complete idiot. “Nikki says her aunt isn’t super tech savvy. Apparently she just figured out online banking in the past year or so.” He shuffles out of the bathroom and down the stairs, still groggy as hell. Callum and I exchange glances.

“He’s gonna be worse than useless for work today,” I mutter. Like as not Drake won’t hear a thing, in his current state.

“I know it,” he sighs. “I’ll text Effie. Maybe she can tell us somethin’ that’ll help him snap out of it?”

Wait a second. “You’re texting her now? I didn’t think she was your type.”

“She ain’t, but she ain’t bad lookin’, either.” I arch an eyebrow. There’s more to it than that. “She’s the one who expressed an interest.”

“But you’re going with it. You into her?”

“Not like Drake’s into Nikki. Effie’s cool though, and nice. Might as well see where it goes, if we gon’ be seein’ a lot of each other anyway while Drake an’ Nikki figure themselves out. Maybe you and Angel could--”

“Not a chance,” I shudder. “She’s plenty hot, but I draw a line at putting my dick in undead.”

Callum snorts back a snicker. “Man, you somethin’ else.”

“Hey, even I’ve got standards.” You judgmental prick. “You gonna text that chick or what?” I’m not putting up with Callum’s bullshit this morning, and someone’s gotta keep an eye on Drake. He tends to do stupid shit when he gets mopey like this.

For now, though, he seems to be going through the motions of getting set up and logged in for the day, which is just as well; we’re cutting it awfully close to our mandatory start time, especially Callum, who’s just settling into his desk as I’m clearing the junk out of my inbox. Then his phone buzzes. Sonuvabitch, we ain’t getting shit done today.

“Just heard from Effie,” Callum informs us. “They’s somewhere in Iowa now.”

“They doing all right?” Drake asks, alight with hope and suddenly completely oblivious to his computer and his job.

“I mean, they must be, as much as they can be after driving through the night,” I point out. How the fuck is he so whipped already when he ain’t even kissed her yet?

“Nikki says hello, Drake. She’s drivin’ now,” Callum assures Drake, who visibly relaxes.

“Good. That’s, um. Great. I’m glad she’s--they’re--safe. Tell her, uh…”

I gag. This is too much. I can’t stand stupid mushy romantic crap.

Callum rolls his eyes at me before focusing on Drake again. “I’ll just tell her that you say hi back and you lookin’ forward to hearin’ from Nikki herself when she’s free to text.”

“Um, yeah. That works.” Drake rubs the back of his neck with one hand, looking hella uncomfortable.

“Man, are you blushing? What for? Ain’t like it’s a secret that you’re into her,” I tease him.

“I’m just...concerned.” Yeah, man, we all are, but if you’d fucking made a move like we’ve been telling you to do, we could have a lot more certainty at this point.

“Hey, man, try to relax,” Callum advises. “I’m sure she’ll text you later today.”

“In the meantime, maybe you can try to get some work done before the boss chews your ass out?” I suggest. I’m beyond done with this nonsense. Drake’s usually better than this.

“Since when do you give a shit about responsibilities?” Drake snaps at me. Let’s fucking go.

“Since you decided the only thing you care about is this Nikki chick. Someone’s gotta pick up the slack, and Callum’s already too responsible to be any fun, so I guess it’s my job to fill the gap until you pull your shit together.”

“Hey, man, how many times have I played wingman for you, and on girls you just wanted to bang and leave hanging? What’s your problem?”

“My problem is that you’re being a dumbass. You’re losing your mind over this chick, and for what? She’s gone out of town for a few days. Oh no, the world is ending!”

“Xander,” Callum warns, but I don’t give a fuck.

“You don’t even know her fucking species, let alone whether she’s your mate or not!” I fume. “And what if she doesn’t come back? What if she just fucking ghosts you and this supposed Montana trip is an excuse for her to get away?”

“She wouldn’t--” Drake protests.

“But we don’t know that, do we? You ain’t even known her a week!” Callum’s glaring daggers at me, and Drake’s not looking any friendlier. Maybe I let my temper get the best of me. “Look, man, I’m not saying that’s how this is gonna go down. I don’t want that to be how this goes down. But something about this whole situation feels off to me, and I don’t wanna see you get hurt. You considered the possibility that she’s a succubus or something?”

“Don’t have the vibe for that,” Callum mutters sullenly, but Drake doesn’t seem to hear him, which is just as well. By the look on his face, Drake’s thinking critically about this chick for the first time. Took you long enough.

“Not until just now,” Drake admits, glum and peevish. “But there’s nothing to do about it until she comes back. If she comes back.”

“Other than text her,” Callum adds. Apparently he woke up and chose optimism today.

“Just be careful,” I urge Drake. “You’ve been doing most of the pursuing with her. See if she’ll come to you if you let up.”

“That won’t prove anything if your succubus theory is on the money,” Callum argues.

“You don’t think it is, and if that theory’s wrong, if she comes after him when he lets up, that’s great news for Drake.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Callum’s computer starts pinging. Probably Boss. We’ve wasted more than enough time on this fucking mess.

“Guess it’s back to work for now, then,” Drake sighs, but he’s staring out the window, and I’d bet my savings account that in his mind he’s chasing after Nikki all the way to Montana.

He’d better get some clarity from her soon, or the next time I see her she’s gonna get a piece of my mind. No one messes with my bros like this.