It doesn't really play into that fantasy if there was no cop involved, Jesus... but Drake tugs on his beard for that grin anyway, expression thoughtful.

"I'd never really had friends before. Either not for long or not that I could trust, so I figured it'd be the same inside. Keep my head down and nobody would notice me or care what my deal was, just like always. That mostly worked for about a month? Then one dinner Vic comes over to my table and sits right across from me, tosses a candy bar on my tray, and says if that doesn't cheer me the fuck up he's gonna stab me so I get a vacation to medical and he doesn't have to see my mopey face for awhile."

Drake's lips quirk up in amusement at the memory. "He was joking. And the rest is kind of a long story, but he's the first person I can remember that gave a shit at a point where it didn't matter anymore what I admitted. And he was ripped... at some point I figured out that wasn't just a platonic observation."