A/N: After a 3.5 year hiatus, this story is finally back. I bet y'all thought I'd forgotten about this or something lol. But nah, I am determined to finish all of my unfinished fics, and this is one of them.

If you're new to ACOMI, you can pretty much ignore this paragraph. If you're reading ACOMI because it was on your alerts list, this is imperative for you: I have retconned a lot of stuff in the first four chapters. The basic plot and premise haven't changed, but the backstories have changed a fair amount. You should go back and reread the first 4 chapters, or nothing else in this fic is going to make a whole lot of sense.

I do have a plot and plan for the rest of the fic. I'm anticipating about 15 chapters, give or take a couple, and I have 9.5 of those chapters written. My goal is to finish writing and publishing this fic by the end of the year, so I'm gonna try to post a chapter or two each week to keep myself on track.

Reviews will probably motivate me a lot, ngl, but I will never hold a chapter hostage for reviews. I do reply to all non-anonymous reviewers, if that's something you care about. Anyway, yeah, this'll be probably my longest A/N for this fic. Next chapter will be business as usual.

Chapter 5

Despite the chilly morning weather, Harry dragged Draco to a quaint ice cream shop several minutes away from campus. Eyeing Harry's thin tshirt with amusement, Draco spared a moment to be grateful for his own long sleeves that now served as a line of defense against the freezing interior of the shop.

He trailed behind Harry as the other boy deliberated over what to order, offering only a small shrug to Harry when he what flavor ice cream Draco wanted. He ended up asking for a scoop each of mint chocolate chip and vanilla in the same bowl, blushing slightly at his boldness when he placed it firmly on the table between him and Draco. He produced two spoons and waved one at Draco, waiting for Draco to take it before digging into the ice cream with his own.

Draco had to admit, he had been apprehensive even as he had felt his defenses physically crumbling that this date with Harry would be immensely unsatisfactory, a justification that he needed to listen to his head instead of his heart. But conversation flowed easily between the two of them, and Draco easily lost track of time, so engrossed was he in Harry. They bickered, they teased each other, they joked, they shared memories both fond and otherwise.

They left the shop a while later before they could be kicked out by the visibly irritated staff, who were no doubt upset the two boys were taking seats that could be occupied by paying customers instead. Laughing to themselves at the glares they were receiving, they fled to a nearby bookstore for lack of anything better to do.

"I knew this was an awful idea," Draco lamented to Harry in a mournful whisper. Harry's expression fell immediately, but Draco ignored it and powered on. "I actually liked their ice cream and now I can never go back to that shop."

"I'm sure we can find another ice cream shop," Harry placated, relief that Draco didn't actually regret going out with him evident in his tone. "It's not the end of the world, honestly."

"Might as well be," Draco said for the sole purpose of being contrary.

Harry only laughed, the sound much louder than was probably appropriate in a bookshop, and that was when the appearance of an aggravated employee prompted them to flee the bookshop as well for fear they would be ejected for their unruly behavior.

Draco felt he was punch-drunk on happiness and adrenaline. He couldn't remember having laughed this hard or for this long any time in the past several years, and yet after leaving the bookshop he and Harry hadn't stopped giggling like schoolchildren until they were two streets away. They walked aimlessly, paying no heed to where they went, until Draco absently checked his phone and was floored to realize it was already time for him to get to class.

Draco was loathe to leave Harry for the dreary monotony that characterized his next class, but he hadn't missed a lecture yet and he certainly didn't intend to now. He kissed Harry softly, lingering in the sensation. The emotional storm he had weathered this morning seemed as though it had occurred ages ago; his feelings toward Harry then were so disjunct from what they were now that Draco almost couldn't believe he had ever felt that way at all.

He forced himself to pull away finally, his work ethic taking precedence over his burgeoning feelings for Harry. "I'll text you," he said.

"I'll be waiting," Harry said flirtatiously.

Draco walked away with a smile on his face.

He lasted exactly thirteen minutes and twenty-four seconds from the start of the lecture before he broke down and sent Harry a text, though it contained little more than a simple "miss you." Harry responded a few minutes later, saying "miss you too." A second text followed the first, accompanied by a picture of Harry lying haphazardly on what seemed to be his bed: "wish you were here."

Draco couldn't suppress his quiet chuckle in time, but he managed to turn it into a fake cough instead. The students seated next to him glanced at him briefly, and he smiled apologetically at them before facing forward again and trying once more to pay attention to his professor.

His lack of response, far from discouraging Harry from distracting him while he was in class, instead served to inspire Harry to send a spate of texts ranging from the flirty ("thinking about you xx") to the utterly outrageous ("do you think aliens know what capitalism is?"). Draco eventually had to resort to silencing his phone, something he usually never did; there were only so many times he could feign a coughing fit to disguise his laughter before his peers grew either wary or suspicious of him. By the time his lecture ended, Draco had nearly twenty unread text messages from Harry. More importantly, to Draco's chagrin, he realized he had barely caught half of the lecture and would now have to borrow someone else's notes.

He called Harry as soon as he was able, on his way back to his dorm after his final lecture of the day. "You can't text me so much when I'm in class," he complained without preamble when Harry picked up his phone. "I get distracted."

"I don't see a problem with that," Harry said smugly. Draco exhaled loudly, not bothering to hide his exasperation, but he smiled softly to himself where Harry couldn't see. "You abandoned me far too early today; texting you was the only way I could communicate with you."

"I did not abandon you," Draco scoffed. "I went to class. We are uni students, Harry, and that means occasionally attending class and learning things."

"I much prefer spending time with you to that," Harry remarked, and Draco rolled his eyes in response.

"I suppose you think I should make it up to you?" he drawled. He had reached his room by now, and he slipped his key into the lock so he could open his door.

"Obviously," Harry said in full seriousness. "It's only right."

Draco snorted and pushed open his door. "Tomorrow, then? We can go to the cinema or something."

"No, I'm busy tomorrow. I'm hanging out with two of my friends, Ron and Hermione," Harry explained. "Although, if you wanted to meet them, I suppose you could join us? We're just going to the pub for a few pints. I know you said you weren't ready to come out, but they're good people, I know they wouldn't say anything."

Immediately, unease set in. Draco didn't know how to respond. Just the thought of coming out to people he didn't even know, much less know well enough to anticipate the reactions of, left him in a cold sweat. But evidently these people meant a lot to Harry, if Harry was so eager to introduce Draco to them just a day after they'd begun dating. Draco had made it clear this morning that he had no intention of broadcasting his sexuality to anyone quite yet; surely Harry wouldn't ask this of him if he had any misgivings about his friends?

As Draco opened his mouth to ask for some time to think about it, his gaze fell upon the neon yellow sticky note from where it had fallen to his desk that morning. He had forgotten to throw it in the bin during either his emotional crisis or his rush to leave the room, and now it glared at him accusingly. All of a sudden, reality crashed down upon him, reminding him how quickly he had moved into this relationship. This combined with the paralyzing knowledge of how serious Harry already was sent tremors ripping through his body, and he sank weakly down on to his bed before his traitorous legs could give way as they were threatening to do. "I think the day after might be best," he said shakily, hoping that Harry wouldn't hear the tremor in his voice.

"Alright," Harry agreed instantly, seemingly oblivious. "Let me know when to meet you."

"I will," Draco reassured him. "Listen, I have to go, I have a lot of work to do tonight. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He barely waited for Harry to say his own farewell before he hung up and let the phone drop heavily to his bedcovers.

What had he been thinking, making such a reckless decision as this? There was no way this relationship could work out for him. In fact, the past had systematically proven to him that selfish indulgences could only result in heartbreak. There was no reason to suspect Harry was any different. Just this morning, Draco had been warning Harry not to go out with such a broken man as Draco, and just last night, Draco had had a vivid reminder of why his fears were legitimate. How had he forgotten all of this so quickly?

Frantically, Draco scrabbled at his left sleeve, pushing it up to his elbow to stare at what lay below. A menacing skull was inked into his skin near his elbow, an intricate snake protruding from its mouth and winding its way up to Draco's wrist. The tattoo rippled ominously as Draco clenched his fist. Draco imagined the snake breaking free of its restraints and lifting off of Draco's arm, hissing malevolently as it aimed for Draco's jugular. Even now, inanimate though it was, its glittering eyes seemed to hold Draco in reproach not only for the horrifying acts he had committed in the past, but also for his attempt to run from them instead of facing them head on.

He had told himself he wasn't a coward this morning, and in fact had used that as a rationale for meeting with Harry. But wasn't his very presence at university a contradiction of that? He had chosen to run away from the memories that haunted them rather than undergo the confrontations he knew he would have to face eventually. Instead of making his peace with the person he had been, he had pushed those consequences an interminable distance into the future, reasoning that he would be better equipped to deal with them later instead of burdening himself with them now.

His decision was coming back to bite him now. He wore a facade when he was around Harry, pretending to be strong and confident and worthy of Harry's attention, but he couldn't maintain it forever. Sooner or later, Harry would discover the secrets hiding behind Draco's mask. He would learn about the deceit and guilt buried beneath Draco's skin like a second layer, eating away at Draco like an itch he couldn't reach.

Already the cracks were beginning to show.

Even as he agonized over the consequences of this decision, his phone buzzed with a text. Draco glanced at it, his heart rate speeding up when he saw it was from Harry. He unlocked his phone to find a short and sweet "can't wait to see you again" waiting for him.

A soft smile stretched his lips as memories of their date flooded back to him. Once more he felt the giddiness that had been buzzing through him all morning, and he remembered exactly why he had agreed to date Harry. Harry had the ability to convince Draco that everything would work out in its own time.

Draco had done some awful things in previous years, but he was done with them now. There was nothing for Draco to fear here. He would not let phantoms of his past haunt him in the safe haven he had created for himself.

He texted Harry late into the night, citing the excuse that he had misread the deadline for his homework when Harry admonished him to complete his studies. He didn't care that he would feel the exhaustion the next morning when he had to wake up for his eight o'clock class. It was worth it to know that Harry cared about him enough to stay up with him, and that knowledge sent him to sleep with a content smile on his face.