You are sitting on the edge of the pool, dangling your feet over the edge. It’s a hot August afternoon and all you want to do is dive in the water and cool off. But you promised your boyfriend Geno that you’d wait for him. He said he had a surprise, and for you to wait by the pool for him. As the minutes ticked by, your mind raced as you tried to think of what it might be. He had just returned from Russia after spending the summer in his homeland, and you were glad to see him. You didn’t realize how much you would miss him until he was gone. It was like a major part of you was missing, like an arm, or a leg, and now that he was back you felt whole again. You felt complete and content, but whatever his ‘surprise’ was, was taking him forever to get.
“Y/N!” He said and you turned around, eager to see what he had for you. He was standing in his bathing suit with ‘The Little Mermaid’ themed arm floaties (the kind kids use) strapped to his arms. “Sorry it took so long, had to blow them up myself.” He shrugged and came over to sit with you. You were laughing hysterically, and he gave you a questioning look. “It’s your favorite movie, right?”
“Yes, Geno, ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my favorite movie,” you said, still laughing. “I just wasn’t expecting this,” you motioned to the floaties on his arms, and giggled again.
He wrapped his arm around your shoulder. “Y/N, you are so cute when you giggle like that.” He leaned in to kiss you, but pushed you in the pool instead.
“Geno!” You screamed when you surfaced. You splashed him with water, but he just laughed and jumped in after you. He flailed his arms for a minute and pretended he couldn’t swim, splashing you even more.
“Oops, did I splash you?” He teased and winked at you, sparking a full-on water fight.
As the splashing died down, you pulled yourself back up onto the side of the pool and watched him play with his new ‘Little Mermaid’ floaties in the pool. He was almost like a kid, so happy to have a new toy, and proud to show it off.
“Geno, you’re so lucky you have a pool,” you reflected, thinking of your hot, stuffy apartment and how nice it would be to just dip in the pool every time it got hot like today.
“Yeah? And how would you like to have pool too?” He asked, swimming up to the edge near you.
“I’d love to have a pool, but I don’t think that’s in my lease,” you laughed.
“No, you can have this pool,” he smiled.
“You want to give me your swimming pool?”
“You use it when you live here.”
“When I live here?” You thought for a minute. His English got progressively worse when he was nervous, and right now, he was definitely nervous. “You want me to live here?”
He nodded and grinned. “With me.” He took your hand in his. “Because I love you.”
You slipped in the water next to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, leaning your forehead against his. You were speechless, and tried to think of something to say, but kissed him instead.
“I love you too,” you whispered.
-Lila
