Lifeguards (a Drarry Story)

Chapter Twenty Nine- Conversations With An Old Friend

After a minute of tense silence, the short walk to the side of the building ends with Theo being slammed into the rough wall by an irate Draco.

"What are you playing at? Theo hasn't been seen in years, you expect me to believe it's actually him?" Draco asks his fists bunched up under the taller mans collar. Theo raises an eyebrow, his eyes still as impassive as they were before.

"Why are you so convinced I'm not me?" Theo asks rolling his eyes and trying to ignore the sharp pain of the concrete in his back.

"Because it's strange, you show up out of the blue and so happen to be dating my best friend," Draco growls lowly. His grip hasn't loosened on the shirt, he's probably stretching the collar slightly, but he doesn't care all that much.

"I didn't just show up out of the blue. If you're such good friends with Charles you would know I've been dating him for over a year!" Theo growls back, it's annoying.

Draco just shakes his head and releases Theo. Theo roughly fixes his collar, his eyes still narrowed and glaring at the blond.

"Why are you here, are you even actually Nott?" Draco asks crossing his hands over his chest, he doesn't feel intimidating wearing his bright red swim trunks and his hair is dripping in front of his eyes. He wonders when Theo had a growth spurt, last he knew Theo was shorter than him. It's slightly annoying, he's not short.

"Well, Draco, I'm here to see my boyfriend as it is our anniversary and I thought I would do something special. And of course it's me? Why would anyone pretend to be me?" Draco looks him over, he is wearing a nice button down shirt and dark grey trousers. Draco's lip twitches slightly.

"Wouldn't be the first time someone pretended to be Theo. You randomly show up and expect me to believe you're actually him, I know Theo, he didn't want anything to do with muggles," Draco says glaring at the brunet. Theo huffs and crosses his arms over his chest tightly.

"Are you the only one allowed to change their ways? That's a bit hypocritical of you, don't you think? Of course, no one else but fucking Draco Malfoy can see the flaws in their ways, right? You're the only one who realized they were wrong, right? The rest of us can't change!" Theo throws his hands in the air. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were the only one allowed to grow up. So sorry not all of us can date the Chosen One and automatically become saints like you. It's actually me, Draco! I ran away just like you did because of this exact reason! No one would believe I am changed!"

Draco stares at Theo, his voice is shaking slightly, his cool façade fading fast. Theo runs a hand through his hair, shaking his head in what Draco assumes is disbelief.

"You weren't the only one being forced to pretend to be the perfect Slytherin Pureblood heir, you know? Just because you went through more than most of us doesn't mean we don't deserve redemption too," Theo's voice sounds hollow and Draco frowns slightly. He didn't mean to come off that way, but he guesses that's what it seemed like.

"I didn't know," Draco says quietly.

"You didn't even ask," Theo bites back. "You're as bad as every other fucking wizard out there. You don't ask, you just assume."

"Well you come in glaring at me and take a jab at Harry, what else was I supposed to think?" Draco brushes the wet strands of hair back off of his forehead.

"You didn't exactly look too welcoming either," Theo says smiling emotionlessly.

"I haven't seen nor heard from you in five years. Pansy, Blaise and I thought you were dead, we sent you so many letters and got no response. Last we saw you was before the battle, so it was kind of a shock to see you in one piece," Draco sniffs, looking at the floor. "I guess I didn't know what to think. The last few witches and wizards I've run into have wanted to slaughter me where I stand or poison me with Love potions. So I thought it was maybe Tori or her fucking psycho sister pretending to be you to get close to me."