This is the Way I Fall

Author's note--Alright, so this is how I ended "This is the Way I Dance": Famous last words: (Like I said, another may be in the works...we'll see...) Thus ends the "This is the Way" series!

Or........not. LOL Yes, welcome to the third installment in the "This is the Way I" series. This story picks up about a month after the tango demo, which was the day before Valentine's Day. (How ironic...V-day is coming upon us now! *giggle* Aren't you curious as to how Harry and Draco celebrated?) You'll see...Happy Reading

This is the Way I Fall by Graballz

Chapter 1

Bear With Me…

Much to Harry Potter’s surprise, his boyfriend—the fun, the fleeting, the blonde whose attention span wasn’t much longer than a five year old’s—his boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, continued going to ballroom dance lessons with him after their spectacular tango demonstration. Of all the things Draco had tried since enrolling in the Muggle American college, he was steadily active in their fraternity, Gamma Alpha Upsilon, the Chemistry Club, and now, ballroom dance lessons. Harry, for his part, had taken a two-month break from soccer so that he didn’t injure himself before the big performance, but now that they were back to their regularly scheduled lesson, he went back to playing once a week on Saturday afternoons with the intramural team.

He had definitely enjoyed doing the tango with Draco (and doing the tango, as their fraternity brother and friend Todd had so eloquently put it) but Harry had to admit that he was relieved when it was over. His classes were slowly requiring more of his attention, which meant that Draco wasn’t getting quite as much, and Harry was hanging over the abyss, praying for Spring Break to arrive quickly.

Harry knew that logically, Draco understood his desire to do well academically, but he also knew that his hot-headed, emotionally charged boyfriend would make him pay dearly for choosing the books over the blonde. He remembered Draco’s excitement about the Spring Break trip when he was on his ‘religious’ kick and had gotten involved briefly with the Wesley Foundation. Of course, he had snickered privately at Draco’s pale, horrified face when they found out that the trip Draco was so excited about was of the ‘missions’ variety (and Harry had to have Mark, Scott, and Tina back him up on trying to explain to Draco that ‘missions’ did NOT involve the ‘missionary’ position) and that the Wesley Foundation team would be going to a small town in Mexico to build houses during Spring Break.

That had permanently solidified Draco’s absence in other Wesley activities, something that Harry couldn’t bring himself to lament. While he himself wouldn’t have minded going to do good work for others, he knew (and loved Draco anyway) that the blonde wasn’t as selfless. Draco would expect an exotic vacation, and Harry was more than willing to give it to him, if only to make up for his long hours shut up in his office, studying. Aside from hitting the books, Harry was also able to secretly plan their Spring Break without Draco so much as having a clue. Taking into account that Draco was as Slytherin as they come, Harry was quite proud of himself.

Over the course of the month between Valentine’s Day and Spring Break, Draco’s mood had gotten increasingly more negative as his boyfriend spent more and more time behind closed doors; “studying,” he claimed, but Draco hated the fact that he was either going to bed alone or falling asleep on the couch while waiting for Harry; the Gryffindor’s alarm went off at all kinds of ungodly hours of the morning, and by the time Draco was properly awake, he was once again alone in bed. Their schedules used to allow for a lunch date a couple of times a week, and now Harry was spending his lunch hours in the library with his psychology partner, working on their final project that wasn’t due until the end of the term. Draco would have been worried about infidelity, except that Harry’s psychology partner was a female; besides, he had met Sun at the tango demonstration and liked her. She was Korean by descent, but born and raised in the United States. Her parents emigrated from Korea ten years before she was born, and while they all spoke fluent English, they still used their native tongue at home. She was also engaged, from what Draco had heard.

When they did have a moment together, Draco’s mood was set to rights again. He hated feeling so needy, but he didn’t know how to change it. He was used to a certain amount of time with Harry, Harry’s schedule wasn’t allowing it, and Draco wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it. To the blonde’s credit, he had tried to be sensitive to his boyfriend’s busy schedule, but Draco was quickly approaching his limit of toleration of Harry’s absences.

It was the middle of the week before Spring Break, and Draco had just left the apartment, heading to dance class alone. Harry had actually looked AT him, though, while telling him why he wouldn’t be able to attend, but that Draco should go ahead. Two days before, Harry had been studying for a psychology quiz, and Draco had gotten the distinct impression that he was being looked THROUGH when Harry answered his question about being hungry with a glazed expression. Draco had had to plunk the plate down on top of the page Harry was reading to get the black haired boy to even realize that he hadn’t eaten since before lunch that day.

As he walked quickly through the balmy night, a slight breeze made him shiver. To his surprise, the class was less than half-full, which Stephen and Carmela had expected, but Draco hadn’t. The week before Spring Break, they said, was always low attendance, but they still held class for anyone that needed a time-out from studying. It felt weird to Draco to look around and not see Harry’s familiar face; it just made him miss his boyfriend all the more. He dropped by the fraternity house before heading back to the apartment. It, too, seemed deserted and gloomy since most of the brothers were studying. Draco curled up into a corner of the couch and watched the end of a cheesy romance movie.

He hated being in the apartment when he felt like this; he was depressed and restless, and the only cure was being with Harry. However, his past attempts at said solution resulted in either annoying Harry by trying to sit in the office with him or putting up with a worried and stressed-out Harry because Draco was ‘taking him away from his studies’. In his heart, he knew that he was more important to Harry than any books or classes, but he wasn’t feeling like it. At times like this, though, he also sifted through his favorite memories of Harry, and that helped enough to get him past the worst of the depression.

His most recent favorite memory was Valentine’s Day. It had started with sleeping in and cuddling, followed by a late brunch of pink, heart-shaped pancakes complete with gobs of butter and syrup, orange juice, milk, and fresh fruit. Harry had grinned from ear-to-ear when he presented the tray to Draco in bed, and Draco’s heart had swelled when he saw the lopsided pancakes that weren’t perfectly shaped but obviously made with love. They had agreed to have a late brunch and an early dinner, with Harry in charge of the former and Draco planning the latter. They each also picked one activity to do with each other that day, in lieu of exchanging presents. Of course, they had also each fudged and gotten each other gifts anyway. Harry had given him a giant box of assorted chocolates and a basket of foot products that Draco made VERY good use of. Draco had (with Mark’s help) made Harry a mix CD of love songs that could also double as ‘study music’ and the latest psychology best-seller that he had heard Harry mention a time or two.

After breakfast in bed and a couple of rounds of morning sex, Draco had chosen horseback riding as the activity for that day. The stable was less than an hour’s drive away, and while it was still a bit chilly in February, they bundled up for an amazing first trail ride. They were introduced to the Western saddle, which was much larger and clunkier than the sleek English saddle used in Great Britain. Harry, as it happened, ended up on a gorgeous palomino mare, while Draco rode a deep-brown chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail. They had learned how to mount, walk, and post to a trot. Upon returning to the stable, they helped untack and brush the horses out, and then they joined the stable owner and his wife in the ranch house for a steaming mug of hot cocoa and entertaining stories about the elderly man’s former rodeo days.

They had gotten back to their apartment with enough time to shower, change, and head out to dinner at a fondue restaurant of Draco’s choosing. It was a leisurely affair of four delicious courses, finishing with a large vat of chocolate and an assortment of fruits, cakes, and marshmallows for dipping. After dinner, they went for a drive that ended them in the middle of nowhere; reclining on the hood of the car snuggled together while they looked at the stars. Draco remembered very vividly laying on the hood, his bum toasty from the engine, leaning back against the windshield with Harry’s shoulder for a pillow, feeling Harry’s hand on his arm and Harry’s lips brushing across his hat-clad forehead as he pointed out the constellations.

Upon returning to the apartment again, they cuddled some more in the living room, making out until their lips were swollen and they were so hard they could barely stand it. The gentle glow of the fire in the switch-on, switch-off fireplace gave perfect romantic lighting to several more rounds of traded blow jobs and sex. Remembering the happiness he felt that day (and the entire week after) was a double-edged sword, though, because while it brought a smile to his face, it also reminded him of just how far from that fantasy reality had taken them; from spending the entire day with Harry to being lucky to get a half-remembered peck on the cheek sometime between Harry’s last class and study time.

Draco heaved another sigh, realizing that he had spent well over an hour musing on the couch. He got up and left, arriving back at his apartment to find it exactly how he had left it: Harry’s office door propped open about halfway, his noble Gryffindor boyfriend inside, reading and scribbling down notes, pausing once in a while to sigh and rub his head or turn a page. Draco slipped his coat and shoes off at the doorway, made his way up the stairs, crept down the hall, and entered Harry’s office noiselessly. He was intending to kiss the top of Harry’s head and give his tense boyfriend a much-needed massage, except for the fact that Harry jumped out of his skin when Draco slid his hands onto his shoulders from behind. Harry’s books and notes went flying as he shrieked, violently wrenched from his study mood by the unexpected touch.

“God DAMN it, Draco!” Harry hollered, spinning around and catching sight of his guilty-looking blonde boyfriend cowering across the room. “You know I hate it when you scare me like that!” Harry glared, trying to recover his breath, pressing a palm to his chest where his heart felt like it was about to burst.

To Draco’s absolute horror, he crumbled in the presence of Harry’s anger. The urge to cry welled up and hit him so strong that he didn’t have time to react and shove it back. Tears blurred his vision as he struggled to answer, backing towards the door so that he could make a quick escape.

“I’m—I’m sorry, Harry,” he whimpered, briefly pressing his fist to his mouth to keep from breaking into open sobs. “I didn’t mean to scare you; you just looked tense, and I wanted to help. I’m sorry; I just…miss you.”

Draco slammed the door behind him as he fled from Harry’s office to the safety of their bedroom, shutting that door as well before flinging himself facedown on the bed and giving over to his emotions. Their thick and comfortable pillows muffled his sobs, but Draco still berated himself for losing it like that, lost in his own world of self-recrimination when he felt the bed dip beside him. One hand smoothed over his back while the other caressed the back of his head. Harry turned his boyfriend over, pulling the blonde to him and wrapping his arms around him protectively.

“I’m sorry, love,” Harry murmured. He felt terrible; he hadn’t meant to yell at Draco, and he certainly hadn’t meant to make him cry. Just a few more days, and they would get a week of vacation. “Bear with me just a little bit longer, okay? I’ll make it all up to you, I swear. I’m just stressed, Draco, and I hate that I snap at you when I get like that. I love you; you know that, right?”

Harry put a finger under Draco’s chin and lifted the pale, porcelain face up. The wetness streaked down Draco’s cheeks, but the blonde met Harry’s gaze, anguished grey pleading with sorrowful emerald. Harry leaned in and kissed Draco tenderly, his hand brushing along Draco’s jaw line, tracing faint lines up the side of his face and around his cheek. Draco melted into Harry’s embrace, still embarrassed at having cried, but being in Harry’s arms was no comparison to his pride.

“I know, baby,” he sniffled, turning his face into Harry’s neck as they hugged. “I love you, too. I just wanted to help you relax. I hate it when you stress yourself out like this. I miss you a lot.”

“I miss you too, pumpkin,” Harry said, his fingertips running in light circles on Draco’s back. “But just think; soon, it will be just you and me for nine whole days in exotic Brazil!”

“Brazil? You mean, South America, Brazil?” Draco pulled back, not sure if he heard Harry correctly. “How the HELL are we going to Brazil for Spring Break?”

Harry reached into the pocket of the hoodie he was wearing and pulled out a brochure, handing it to Draco with a big grin on his face. Draco took it in wonder, dizzy with the news, and opened it.

“Rio de Janeiro for nine days, love,” Harry said. “I know I’ve been ‘out of it’ for a while now, but you did say you wanted to go somewhere exotic for Spring Break, right? Is that exotic enough for you?”

“But how? When did you—How did you—We’re really, truly going to Brazil?” Draco was still stunned.

“Pretty Slytherin of me, huh?” Harry bragged. “We leave on Saturday. I have everything planned. All you have to do is get us packed Friday night, okay, love? You’re good at that sort of thing.”

“Oh my god! I love you!” Draco flung himself at Harry again, nearly knocking the Gryffindor backwards with his enthusiasm. “Brazil! Really?”

“Really, really,” Harry answered, disentangling himself from Draco and kissing the blonde’s forehead. “But right now, I really, really need to get back to studying, lover. You’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be okay,” Draco managed a small smile. Harry chucked him under the chin affectionately and left the room. Draco huffed out a sigh, glad that he was able to keep the exploding disappointment hidden this time. He glanced back down at the brochure, and his lips twisted up into a slightly bigger smile. Harry had planned for them to go to Brazil for Spring Break! Deciding that a distraction was exactly what he needed to stop feeling like such a girl, Draco hopped off the bed and wandered into their shared walk-in closet. He pulled two suitcases down from the top shelf and opened them in the bedroom, putting one on either side of the doorway to the closet.

**********

Author's note--Well? Good enough for the Series That Lived? lol j/k Anyway, if you haven't read the first two ("Pray" and "Dance") then I recommend you go read those first. I hope you enjoyed, and this will be updated a chapter a day until complete (so 8 days, basically) while I keep working on the fourth installment.

Right now, it seems as if there will definitely be this third installment, plus a fourth one, and quite possibly a fifth.

Here's why. This started as a fluffy, funny, crackish oneshot in response to a challenge, and then it ended up with a sequel that was still fluffy and funny (hopefully). But I guess the fluffy bunnies and sunshine couldn't last forever *sigh* because while I was writing this, some major angst started to force its way in.

I agonized over whether I wanted to include angst in this series (since I have plenty of other angsty fics) but ultimately, I believe that I can pull out of the angst by the fifth installment and it will be happy-go-lucky hot gay teen sex again.

HOWEVER, the angst begins in this installment (but not until the cliffie at the end of Chapter 3) and will continue in the fourth installment, since this series has jumped from one chapter ("Pray") to six chapters ("Dance") to eight chapters ("Fall"). *sigh*

So if YOU don't mind that this story will get a little angsty, that would make ME feel better. If you DO mind...then fuck. lol No, seriously, if no one wants the angst, then I will make it go away. But we'll see...

And yes, there are still quotes/prompts that I've incorporated into the story, but I'll wait until the chapter of to give it to you because they're just THAT good! *wink*

"Review" policy is the same as always....if you want to....I always appreciate it, but you certainly don't have to. Thanks for reading!!