Flashback A Year Ago

 

It was Alexis’s fifteenth birthday and the whole family had gathered together at aunt Pauline’s house. Alexis’s school friends were invited as well. A few months back, after Annalise spoke to Alexis about concentrating only on her studies, she had stopped going to the club and with Nate as well. While Drake was happy for a change, Nate was frustrated and clueless as to what suddenly went wrong. So he confronted the birthday girl and demanded an answer from her for her actions. 

“You can’t just ignore me this way. I’m your boyfriend, for God’s sake!” reminded Nate angrily flailing his arms.

“If you are truly care about me, you’d wait patiently for me to grow up, Nate. At fifteen, my family wants me to only concentrate on my studies,” said Alexis. Nate scoffed at her words.

“I know plenty of couples who have done it all at fifteen, “ he said in a displeased tone. 

“I’m not them and neither am I in such a hurry,” she said, walking away towards her friends. It was her birthday and here was Nate who was interested only in getting into her pants. She had started hating his insensitivity lately and avoided him as much as she could. However, Nate was a jerk whom you cannot avoid if you want to. He forced his way up to her, kissed her against her will in front of the whole school and Alexis was disgusted with him. Drake was no better. Blind with jealousy, he threw angry insults her way making her life unbearable for her. So Alexis steered clear of them and tried her hard to avoid them. She was waiting eagerly for a year more when they would graduate and leave Westview High forever. 

The cake was cut and dinner was served. Everyone enjoyed it but Alexis was a little restless. Everyone had wished her except for Drake who seemed to have gone away somewhere. Did he hate so much? 

When all her friends and family went away, Alexis went up to her room. Drake was the only one who hadn’t attended her birthday and neither did he wish her. It hurt her more than anything else although she didn’t know why. With all the unopened gifts lying forgotten on her study table, she curled up on her bed and fell asleep. 

The next morning she opened her eyes and got up to go and freshen up for school when her glance fell upon a small red colored box. There was a tag which read,

 

Happy birthday, Alexie.

 

She understood that it was from Drake but how did it come into her room? Did Drake come in while she was asleep or did Aries bring it for her? She would need to find out. She didn’t open the gift and kept it in her closet. If he had wished her and had handed it to her personally, she would have been excited about it. It seemed more like a formality for him. Alexis went to school as usual and many times caught Drake watching her but she didn’t thank him. At the breakfast table Aries had told her that Drake had handed the gift to him since Alexis was already asleep. So she handed a thank you note to Aries instead of Drake. 

After waiting the whole day for Alexis to talk to him, Drake was furious when he received a thank you only via Aries. He stormed up to Alexis. “What’s the meaning of this, Alexie?” he demanded, waving the thank you note in her face. Alexis shrugged. 

“I don’t want a gift which needs a messenger. I haven’t opened it. You can have it back,” she said, walking briskly away, leaving Drake gaping at her. Was she hurt because he hadn’t wished her or given her the gift himself? He saw Nate hand her a bouquet of red roses which she accepted and gave him a kiss on his cheek in return. Furious at the two of them, he swore never ever to give her anything. 

Finally a year passed by and the boys were in their final year at school. The pressure of studies increased and so was the need to apply at colleges. Drake had started ignoring Alexis for the last one month. It was her sixteenth birthday and as expected, Drake had disappeared from the scene. Lately he had been avoiding all the family get-together and the whole family was worried. They all found out about the cause of the growing enmity between the two brothers and tried their best to make them see sense. Yet the boys didn’t see sense and continued just like before. 

Alexis fell ill day after her sixteenth birthday and needed to be hospitalized due to food poisoning. Seeing her in pain, Drake was restless but with the whole family present he didn’t get any chance to talk to her. Nate stayed by her bedside the whole time and Drake felt guilty for his past behavior towards her. The next two days, Drake felt more guilty that he hadn’t wished her on her birthday or given her any gift as well. The doctors diagnosed her with food poisoning due to intolerance of seafood. After two days she was released and Nate took special care of her. Drake saw them together and felt more jealous. It was then that he realized that they were really serious about one another. If Alexis was happy with Nate, he had no reason to feel jealous. He should step down and leave them alone. The next few weeks, he was busy applying to different colleges, far away from home.

They were all gathered in the living room when Nate and Ryan's mom, aunt Patty came over. 

"Guess what? Ryan's got through into Baylor Medical College," announced Patricia Taylor proudly. Ryan was a very bright student and it wasn't any miracle that he had got admission into the state's most academically difficult medical college which consistently ranked among the top medical schools in the country.

"Congratulations, Patty. Give my best wishes to Ryan. Why didn't he come over?" Asked Hannah Taylor.

"Yes, ask him to come over. I'll give him his reward, " said Henry Taylor. 

"He will later. He's gone to Baylor with Benjamin to complete the admission formalities, " said aunt Patty. This Sunday, I'm treating everyone to dinner at my house," she said happily. After she left, Drake groaned while his family glared at him.

"No fighting, Drake. You're not a child anymore. You'll turn eighteen soon. So behave like an adult," said Sean. 

"I just wish I get through at Stanford and go away forever," said Drake, getting up and going to his room. He wanted to study Mechanical Engineering and was waiting for some colleges to accept his application.

"Why does he need to go to California? Why can't he study here? Nate has applied for Electrical Engineering at Rice University, here in Houston," said their ma, looking upset.

"Let him go, ma. It'll do him good," said Stuart. 

"I think Stuart's right. A new environment, new friends will make him forget this madness," said their dad. 

"I pity the girl. She's so confused between these two," said Sean. 

"They'll get over it in a year or two when they become more mature," said Allison. 

"Hope so," said their ma.

Denver had joined the Houston Police Department as a promising and capable officer. Finally he had proposed to Sapphire and their wedding preparations were going on in full swing. Drake was unhappiest of all since his best friend, his companion and pet, Timmy died after suffering a lot from arthritis. He had no reason to stay back in Houston any longer. 

Drake and Nate's exams were over. Nate got admission at Rice University to study Electrical Engineering and everyone was glad for him. Drake got through at the University of Texas in Austin, Cornell University in New York as well as Stanford with his brilliant performance at school. However, he chose Stanford University and announced his decision to leave after Denver's wedding. His ma wasn't happy with his decision but couldn't say that to him since everyone thought that it was the best thing for him to go away for a while. 

"Stuart, talk to him, please. Escaping isn't an option. He needs to be brave and face the reality. Nate and Alexis love one another. He's family and Drake needs to step down and accept it. He needs to end this war and move on," said his ma. 

"I'll talk to him, ma but you know how stubborn he is," said Stuart. 

The wedding preparations were nearly done and with five days left, they started packing up to go and enjoy at Bernie's ranch. Stuart didn't get time to talk to Drake. However, the night before leaving for Bernie's ranch, he went to Drake's room. "Are you done with your packing?" He asked Drake, sitting on his bed, watching him pack his stuff.

"Yes almost," said Drake. 

"There's still time, Drake. You can opt for Austin instead. It's just a two and a half hour drive away," said Stuart. 

"I want to go far away, bro. I don't want my feelings to hamper my relationship with Nate any more. I want to be able to get over this," said Drake.

"But escaping isn't a solution, " said Stuart. 

"Staying here isn't helping, is it? I want Nate to find his happiness with Alexis. Please don't stop me, bro. Let me go away and heal my heart. It's just a matter of four years. I'll be more mature and maybe I'll find someone who'd make me forget everything, " said Drake. Stuart sighed. He knew that Drake needed to go away. 

"Fine but please visit us when you get breaks, " said Stuart.

"I can't promise. I'll try, " said Drake. Stuart knew at that moment that his little brother isn't returning home for the next four years. 

End of Flashback