safe in my arms | solangelo au | under editing

Chapter Seventeen

Nico

"We'll have to go a bit deeper." He tells me. "We can't do anything here."
"Okay." I follow him reluctantly. The pool is cold, but Will assures me that I'll get used to it.

"First lesson: dunking your head under." He tells me. I shake my head.
"I'm not doing that."
"Please?"
"No."
"Fine." He sighs. "We'll move onto lesson number two: treading water."
"What's that?"
"It's like... Swimming upright. So that you head doesn't go under."

I frown, confused. "Wait there." He says. "I'll show you." He swims a bit deeper until he's not touching the bottom of the pool. He moves his arms up and down slightly.
"If you could see under water, which you can't," he says, "you would see that my legs are kicking, but like if slowly."
"It seems a bit confusing." I admit. Will swims back to me.

"I know." He smiles. "Stand on my feet and move your feet with mine."
"Are you sure?" I ask.
"Of course." He smiles, leading me to the deeper water. I do as he says, noticing that, even in the pool, Will is still so, so warm.

Our chests are millimetres away from each other's. I turn bright red and avert my eyes. This is so embarrassing! I glance up at Will and see that he's blushing too. Glad to know it's not just me who finds this utterly humiliating. Will bites his bottom lip nervously and I look away quickly.

"Right..." His voice is quieter than usual, and he seems to have trouble focusing. "So... Um.."."
"Keep my feet on yours?" I suggest. He nods and gives me a grateful look.
"Yeah." He slowly starts to kick his legs, and I try to keep my feet in place. His feet leave the ground and a small squeak escaped my mouth. "Relax." He says. "This works better if you're not all tense."
"Okay." I take a shaky breath and  try to relax.

Will gently takes my hands and starts to move his arms too. I follow suit, my head just above the water.
"Ready to try it on your own?" Will asks me.
"No." I whisper. He smiles slightly.
"Don't be scared. I'll be right here. If you feel yourself sinking, grab me. If you start to go under, I'll pull you up." He tells me gently.

"Okay." I slowly move away from Will and do it on my own. I'm doing pretty well! Will smiles at me and lifts one hand from the water to give me a thumbs up. The water starts to move slowly back and forth, and Will's eyes widen in panic.

"Shit!" He shouts.
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot to turn off the wave machine. It starts up every half hour..." The waves get bigger, and I start to sink.

Will grabs me around my waist and holds me up. I open my mouth to thank him, but then the pool surges and I get a mouthful of chlorinated water. I grimace and spit it out. Will laughs, but then a wave hits my back and slams me into him pretty hard.

He gasps and a strangled scream escapes from my throat. Panicking, I go to move away, but Will wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer. He swims to shallower water, where the waves are smaller, but still doesn't let go.

Gradually, the waves stop, and I exhale. Will realises he's still holding on to me and let's go.
"Um... I'll just... Turn off the machine."
"Okay." My voice is quiet and slightly raspy.

Will gets up and leaves the room. When he comes back, he looks more composed.
"So... Do you think you've mastered treading water?" He asks.
"No." I shake my head.
"Let's continue then." He clears his throat nervously, and gets back into the water.