A/N: So I know it's been a hot second since I've posted anything new or anything at all in that case. I'll apologize for that. Part of the reason is that I've been working on this little piece here for Draco's Den Your Secret Admirer Fic Exchange. The other is that Grad School and life, in general, has literally run me ragged. The good thing is that I'm still writing.

This piece was beta read by Grammarly so I apologize for any glaring errors. It is rated M for Draco's language at the beginning of the piece. I hope you enjoy!

SquarePeg, I hope that I was able to do your prompt justice!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Lots of love to you and yours!

Love always,
~starr

Ron shook his head as he watched yet another girl with tousled hair coming from the direction of Draco's apartment. That was the seventh or eighth different girl he had seen leaving this week, and he knew that didn't include all of the ones who snuck out before the crack of dawn, not that he could blame them, however. From the brief glimpses he had seen into Draco's apartment, no one would want to spend a lot of time there anyway.

The part that baffled Ron was why Draco insisted on lying to himself and bringing a different girl home every night. Everyone could see the truth in Draco's eyes except for him. All of these different women were just a waste of time because he was too afraid of what the rest of the world might think if he admitted the truth. It was all meaningless.

While he stood in his doorway, sipping on his coffee, Ron heard the sound of Draco's door opening. Curious, he leaned forward and glanced down the hall.

"Get the fuck out, Parkinson," a voice shouted as the door slammed against the wall behind it. A few other profanities were used, but Ron couldn't quite make out what was said. This was just about to get interesting.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Malfoy. I wasn't looking to do the cute couple thing in the morning. Just thought we could both benefit from getting ours this morning. Not my fault you can't get it up," she hummed, taking one step out of the door into the hall and crossing her arms over her chest. She shook her head as she watched him open and closed his mouth a few times before deciding it was best to keep it shut.

"I swear to Merlin, Parkinson if you don't get away from me," Draco grumbled, pushing the door closed.

Pansy reached forward and pressed the door back open against Draco's force. "It would do you a lot of damn good if you'd just admit the truth to everyone and yourself, Malfoy. Just saying." With a smirk on her face, she spun quickly on her heels and made her way toward the stairs, passing Ron as she went. "Hope you enjoyed the show, Weasley. I'll catch you next time."

Ron shook his head and smiled. If Pansy was good for anything, it was definitely her smart mouth. He was just happy that none of her comments had been directed at him. At least, none of the crude comments anyways.

With one more glance in the direction of Draco's apartment, Ron sighed and made his way back inside. There had to be better ways to spend a day rather than watching Draco from the shadows and continuing to go unnoticed. Just once he wished that instead of wasting his time, Draco would just notice what or who had been waiting in front him all along.

Just as he collapsed onto the couch, he felt his mobile buzzing in his pocket. It could only be a few people who were texting him at this hour, and secretly his heart hoped that it was a particular neighbor who had finally had it with women and was ready for something real. Slipping his mobile out of his pocket, he smiled when he saw Draco's name flashing across the screen.

DM 9:57 AM - Drinks tonight? Need to wipe away some memories.

Draco exhaled sharply as he tossed his phone onto the other side of the couch. There was only one person who would understand the way he was feeling and hopefully Weasley was willing to meet with him. It was Ron who had saved him from himself in their eighth year, and he would forever be indebted to him.

After that nasty break-up with Harry, Draco hadn't been the same, and it was the last time he ever followed who his heart wanted him to pursue. He had locked himself in the dorms and refused to see anyone. It wasn't until he started finding sweets left outside of his door that he felt inclined to come outside. He wasn't sure who had been leaving them at the time, but it didn't matter. The gentle reminder that he mattered to someone was enough to Draco.

It was one night at the Three Broomsticks that Draco finally found out who was leaving him those sweets. When he walked in that night, he spotted Ron sitting at the bar. It appeared that he was a few drinks in and needed a friend, so Draco joined him at the bar and ordered them both around.

"You look like hell," Draco said, sliding the drink in front of Ron with a smirk on his face.

Ron glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye. "You don't look much better. That lack of sunlight is making you look like a ghost."

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head, flipping his middle finger up to the air in Ron's direction. "Fair. What happened to you?"

"'Mione and I broke up. Told me I wasn't really into her or something along those lines. Kept insisting I was into someone else," Ron mumbled, sliding his thumb along the edge of the glass. "Who cares what she thinks though. It's her loss."

"Who'd she think you were into?" Draco asked, shrugging his shoulders. He had heard rumor before about Ron so Granger's suspicions may not have been too far off.

"You," Ron chuckled, lifting the drink to his lips and downing the entire thing.

"Me?" Draco's brow furrowed at the comment. That wasn't the rumor he had heard floating around. In fact, the rumor he had heard was part of the reason that he and Harry hadn't worked out. Although, maybe the gossip mill was wrong. It wouldn't have been the first time that had happened.

"It might have been the chocolate frogs I kept leavin' outside your door that made her think that but doesn't make it true," Ron huffed, signaling the bartender for another round. He downed that drink again as well as Draco's as he shook his head. "What does she know anyway…"

Taken back by Ron's honesty, Draco furrowed his brow momentarily and shook his head with a smile. He would never have guessed that it was Ron leaving those chocolates outside the door. If anything, he would have pinned it on one of the first years.

Draco thought back on that conversation with a smile on his face. It was the first time that he felt like he had a friend in Ron and from that moment on there was a silent peace between them. When something would go wrong in the other's life, all it took was one text message, and they'd be waiting at the bar with a drink in hand for the other. He noticed Ron's reply on the screen and shoved the device in his pocket.

Maybe tonight he'd finally admit the truth. Maybe…

. . . . . . . . .

When he arrived at the bar, Draco appeared to already be three drinks in, and it reminded Ron of that night during their eighth year when Draco had found him in much the same position. Maybe this time things would end differently in this evening that they had ended on that night. Perhaps he would finally be able to admit those feelings he had kept hidden for all those years.

"Funny finding you here," Ron said with a laugh, pulling up a stool beside the blond with a drink already in his hands.

"It's been a hell of a day," Draco replied, motioning to the bartender for another round. "Firewhiskey on the rocks for both."

The bartender nodded and walked away to gather the drinks, returning within a matter of moments and sliding the glasses to both men. He walked away, allowing the two to continue their conversation. From the outside looking in, it would appear that the pair had quite a lot to talk about.

"Do you remember the first time we were here?" Draco asked, dragging his thumb along the rim of the glass slowly removing the condensation as he did.

Swallowing heavily, Ron nodded his head slowly. "Aye. Wasn't one of my proudest moments I will say."

Draco chuckled to himself. "No, it really wasn't. Do you remember any of the conversations that we had that night?"

"Not a whole lot, but I remember certain parts." Ron furrowed his brow as he tried to remember more, but all that he could see what a fuzzy interpretation of the evening. For the most part, he remembers sitting at the bar, drowning his sorrows of Hermione and hiding the truth from himself and everyone else.

Intrigued by Ron's limited memory, Draco's lips turned into a smirk, and he turned to face his redheaded friend. "You admitted a secret to me that night."

"A secret?"

The surprise in Ron's voice made Draco toss his head back with a laugh. "Yes, a secret. One that you probably thought you'd take to your grave or a least into the next year."

"Oh," Ron chuckled, "I know what you're referring to. The chocolate frogs. Did you ever find them all?"

"All of them? Weren't they just left outside the door?"

Thinking back on it, Draco couldn't figure out any other place that Ron would have been able to hide them. It wasn't like he could get into his dorm without a key…

"The ones that I hid inside," Ron replied with a smirk, tossing back the last of his Firewhiskey and ordering another round.

"Like where first of all? And secondly, how the bloody hell did you get inside? You didn't have a key!" Draco practically shouted, slamming a hand down on the bar.

"Who needs a key when you're a wizard?" Ron replied with a wink, taking a sip of the cold amber liquid filling his glass.

Draco fought the ever growing urge he felt to roll his eyes at the cheeky remark because it was the truth. "Obviously I didn't find them all. Where else did you hide them?"

"Let's see here," Ron mumbled, lifting his glass to his lips and taking a swig. "I can recall this one time; I hid one in the quill holder on your desk. I took out all of the quills and tucked it down inside before placing the quills back. They didn't fit right, so I figured you would have found that one quickly."

Draco shrugged and shook his head. "Zabini or Nott must have found that one, or it's still there."

"That would be great. Imagine some eighth year sitting down to write an essay and can't figure out why his quill keeps falling out of the holder when he's not using it."

Draco chuckled to himself and downed the last of his firewhiskey. He took a deep breath and turned to face Ron. "That wasn't the secret I was referring to though."

Ron furrowed his brow and turned to face Draco. For the first time that evening he looked at Draco. He noticed a softness there that he had seen many times before, but only in hidden glances that Draco thought he was keeping hidden from everyone else. That softness reminded him of what else he could have told Draco that night and his eyes grew wide.

"You told me that Hermione dumped you because she thought you were into me," Draco replied calmly, resting his hand on the bar near Ron's, not touching, but close enough that they could be. "Was there any truth to her insinuation?"

Ron's heart dropped to the pits of his stomach at the question. He honestly had no idea how even to begin to answer that question, but at the same time, he knew that he would never truly be happy if he didn't admit the truth. Taking a deep breath, he slowly started to nod his head, diverting his gaze to the floor away from Draco.

Draco smirked to himself. If Ron could be brave enough to admit his inklings, then maybe he could admit the truth too. It would at least get Parkinson off his back.

"It usually helps to admit those kinds of feelings out loud," Draco cooed, reaching out and looping his finger under Ron's chin. When Ron's head lifted, and his eyes met Draco's, Draco smiled. "Or so that's what I've been told repeatedly."

"And what do you know about those feelings?" Ron huffed, pulling his head away from Draco's hand, but not looking away. "You seem to have no problem finding a new witch to bed every single night."

"You haven't seemed to have any difficulty in that department either," Draco hissed, stepping closer to Ron. "The hallways have ears in our complex."

"Trust me," Ron replied, standing up from the stool he had been sitting on. "I know how much the hallways can hear. Especially coming from your end. So why do you bring this up now?"

"Because those witches aren't making me happy. You heard the exchange with Pansy today, I saw you in the hall," Draco replied, closing the space between them.

"Then who would make you happy?" Ron asked, looking Draco up and down and slowly sliding his tongue along his lower lip.

Without another word, Draco reached out and cupped Ron's cheeking, pulling his face close and crashing his lips against Ron's. At first, he was met with resistance, but within a matter of moments, Ron relaxed into the kiss and Draco was able to slip his tongue inside. He smiled to himself when he felt Ron wrap his arm around Draco's waist, pulling him in closer to them.

They remained like that for a few moments, embracing one another and allowing time to explore the unfamiliar. Soon, Ron pulled back and took a deep breath as he rested his forehead against Draco's. The pair smiled at one another as they each took a half a step back.

"You never said who would make you happy," Ron teased, reaching for his glass on the bar.

Draco rolled his eyes and playfully pushed Ron's shoulder. "Why don't we get out of here, and I can show you?"

A smirk pulled at the corner of Ron's lips, and Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. He placed it on the bar, paying for their tab, and pulled Ron out of his chair towards the door.

It was finally time to allow the truth to set them both free.