The Way I Are
Chapter Eight
"I love you, Harry. I have for quite some time now and I think it's time you know. I understand if the feeling isn't mutual, but I just thought I should get it off my chest before I implode."
The feeling's mutual.
"Potter? Potter? Helloooo? Earth to Harry," Draco says waving his hand in front of my face. "I tell you I have something I need to tell you and you zone out. That's not very polite."
Draco scoffs and rolls his eyes, taking a sip of the coffee in front of him. Meanwhile, I'm mentally kicking myself. Unfortunately, Draco didn't just tell me he's in love with me. Actually. He hasn't said anything yet.
"My apologies, Malfoy. I seem to have forgotten that Malfoys come with a portable spotlight that always shines upon them."
Draco laughs mockingly before he starts his speech, "Listen, Potter. There's no easy way to tell you this. But I think you should know. I mean, I'd want to know if you knew what I know. In the last two years, I've grown to really care about you. And that being said, I have a strange sense of protection over you. And maybe I shouldn't have done what I did today, but because of that sense of protection, I felt that it was what I needed to do—to protect you. Anyway I—"
"Spit it out, Malfoy. You're making me nervous," I press, wondering why Draco looks so flustered.
"I just—I um, I... Look outside," Draco sighs, ducking his head down to hide his face.
Who would have thought? Draco Malfoy, shy? I didn't think he knew the meaning of the word.
But, as instructed, I turn my head to the left and scan the block for whatever Draco could possibly be talking about.
I look and look and look until I see it. Or rather, them.
And in that very instant, I thought I could feel my heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. Although I'd already had an gut feeling that I wasn't the only person Bailey was seeing, I still hoped it wasn't right. But it was.
There, right across the street from where Draco and I sit in the cafe, stood Bailey, holding hands and kissing the woman from the picture in his wallet.
I pull my lips into a tight line and look back at Draco, "How did you know?"
"Pansy told me. I had to know. I'm sorry you have to find out like this."
I nod, pat Draco's hand lightly, saying, "I'll be right back, don't leave. We can walk back to the office together."
After that, I take a deep breath before deciding to go confront Bailey.
I knew it may not have been the best idea to confront him in front of his wife, as they had two girls to worry about, but I knew I had to do it.
That being said, I make my way across the street to where Bailey is standing, tapping him on the shoulder once I made it to him.
"Harry!" he shrieks, once he pulls away from the woman.
"Bailey. Care to introduce me? Actually, I'll do it," I roar, turning toward Bailey's wife, "Hi, I'm Harry, the man your husband has been shagging two or three times a week for the last few weeks. I only just found out today that you even existed."
"Bailey, I don't understand," the woman says, sadness in her voice.
"Tara, don't mind him. Go home, please. Tell Heather and Diane that I'll be home soon," he tells her, kissing her forehead.
Something tells me that this isn't the first time he's been confronted about being a cheater while his wife was at his side, if not for the fact that she listened to him and turned around to head down the street. That and the fact that his American accent that I found so endearing was gone, and in its place was a typical English accent that I knew well.
"Harry, please understand. Tara and I had gotten into an argument the night we met and I couldn't bring myself to tell you. The flat we went to, while it is mine, is one that I've only kept to keep my sex life from my wife. You see, I do love her. With all my heart I do, but sometimes I need a little something extra. Sometimes Tara just isn't enough for me. I'm a man and I do have needs."
"You selfish piece of dirt. You narcissistic scum. Bailey, at this point, I desire nothing more than to push you into oncoming traffic, but instead, I think I'll go back across the street to the cafe there, and I'll finish my coffee with my partner. Business partner, that is. I don't cheat on my partners, unlike you. Go home to your wife and pray that she doesn't leave you. And one more thing, never contact me again," and with that, I turn around and head back toward the cafe to return to Draco.
When I get there, I see, as instructed, Draco sitting in the very same seat at the very same table, waiting for me.
"How did that go, Harry? You seemed to get your point across pretty well there," Draco asks, a little weary.
And for the rest of the time it takes us to finish our coffees, which have long since gone cold, and walk back to the Auror office, I tell Draco everything. And he listens, truly listens. He adds input and praise when he's happy with the way I handled something, but above all, he listens.
For the rest of the day at work, things go surprisingly well for having just learned I'd been cheated on. I get my work done easily and Draco does as well. All was well.
As I walk back to my flat, my mind is swimming, running in circles. On one side of things, I think I should quite like to stay single for a while, but on the other side, I also wish to find a man to come home to every night.
Having already been married and divorced, I truly desire to find someone else to call my own. Someone to love and to love me back.
As I open the door to my flat and shamelessly head to my liquor cabinet to pull out a bottle of scotch, I can't help but think of Draco.
The way his hair falls lightly over his eyes as if he was some sort of model, the way his eyes are so expressive, but yet so cold as well. The way his nose crinkles up when he laughs, and the way his lips twitch when he's angry. The way the veins in his neck turn dark when he's in a mood and the way his shoulders roll back when he stretches, showing off the muscle he's worked hard to get since getting out of Hogwarts. The way his arms flex when he writes his notes on cases, and the way his hips move when he dances with strangers at the clubs.
And with that thought in my head, I down a gulp of scotch.
"This is pathetic," I say to myself, taking another swig of alcohol.
"What on Earth?" Draco asks himself, hearing the banging on his flat door at half past seven in the evening.
Although Draco had plenty of friends, few came to visit him, especially on week days, apart from Pansy, that is.
Draco shakes his head and gets up from his sofa to open the door for whomever was behind it.
And when he does, his entire mind goes blank.
If he thought Harry looked incredible earlier at the coffee shop, he looks utterly delicious now. Harry stands at Draco's door, clad in a black silk button up, unbuttoned until the third from the top, dark jeans and black trainers. He's also wearing a leather jacket and the same gray scarf from the coffee shop. His hair is even messier than before, which only adds to Draco's inability to form words.
"Care for a drink?" Harry asks, pulling a bottle of Jose Cuervo and a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey from behind his back.
"Came back for more, have we?" Draco laughs, stepping aside to let Harry inside.
"Pick your poison," Harry says, placing the bottles on the counter and searching the cupboards for two shot glasses and two drink glasses.
"Whiskey. Don't bother with the glass. I prefer taking it straight from the bottle. Hope you don't mind," Draco winks, uncapping the bottle and downing a good portion in one sip.
Once Draco's finished with his turn with Jack Daniels, I take my own turn, also taking the drink straight from the bottle. Why dirty glasses?
"Well, well, well, Potter. The only time I've ever seen you with alcohol it was beer. Never would have taken you for a fan of more hard drinks."
"Please, Malfoy. I can hold my own. In fact, I could probably drink you under the table."
"Wanna bet?" Draco drawls, stepping closer to me, looking down at me with hungry eyes.
"Definitely. What's the wager?" I ask in return, stepping closer to him, taking the whiskey again and taking another generous swig.
"You'll think of something."
I LOVE this chapter! It really gives ya'll a taste of what's to come! I won't give anything away, but get excited!
And btw, this chapter is actually out a day earlier because I wanted to post it SOOO badly!
Please review if you liked it!
xoxo,
K.J