I'll Protect You

Chapter 2

Oliver went to the pool every Thursday. He loved the feeling of the water pushing up against him. He loved being completely submerged, even if he didn't swim laps. Sometimes Oliver would just swim to the bottom of the pool, and then sit there until his breath ran out and he was forced back to the surface.

So several days after his nerve-wracking experience with the police, a Thursday, Oliver goes swimming in the pool. He does a few quicks laps before catching up with some people he usually hangs out with. The two girls, Sally and Faya, are Olympic level swimmers, but they always make time to play silly games with Oliver.

They raced each other, Oliver lagging behind and doubling back to beat the two girls, and then decided to play a diving game. Oliver grabbed a coin, and threw it into the deepest part of the pool and then everyone raced to get it. Of course, Sally and Faya got it most of the time, but one time Oliver did get it. He swam to the top triumphantly but dropped the coin once he saw what was going on.

"Hey!" Oliver called to the guy who was currently hitting on the two girls rather lewdly. Of course, the girls were trying to diffuse the situation calmly, although it was obvious they didn't like him.

"You dating them?" The guy asked and Oliver spluttered.

"Of course not, we're just friends, but it's obvious they don't want you either," Oliver said finally and the guy shook his head.

"Faggot," he spat before turning to the girls and continuing his earlier task. Oliver grabbed his hand as he reached for Sally, and ended up shoved under for his effort. As he came up he saw the girls beating the guy up, having finally snapped. Once the big guy swam off the two girls looked over at Oliver.

"You okay?" Sally asked and Faya nudged her.

"I'm fine," Oliver replied and the girls shook their heads.

"You got a black eye, hon," Faya said and Oliver raised a hand and pressed it against his eye. He hissed as pain bloomed there.

"C'mon, we'll go get first aid," Sally said.

"Yeah, we'll get that guy kicked out," Faya put in and Oliver shook his head.

"I'm fine," he tried to protest but the girls dragged him out of the pool, "what about your coin?"

"It's just a dollar," Sally said, helping Oliver out of the pool and leading him into the first aid room. Oliver let himself be manhandled by the two girls as they waited for the pool nurse.

"Did he hurt you guys?" Oliver asked before the nurse arrived and both girls shook their heads, almost laughing at the absurdity of it. Neither of them had a black eye. Oliver smiled at them as the nurse came in. She looked at him and went to get an ice pack.

"Just hold that there for a couple of minutes and then remove it, then put it back on after a couple minutes and repeat," she said, wrapping the ice pack in a tea towel. Once done she turned to the other girls.

"We'd like to file a complaint," Faya said and Sally elbowed her.

"What my friend was trying to say is; we want to know if the pool could kick the guy who did this out," Sally amends, glaring at Faya. The nurse nods and leads the two girls out, glancing back at Oliver and reminding him to remove the ice pack before leaving with the girls to make the complaint. While the girls were gone Oliver felt someone watching him. He shook it off and decided to leave the swim centre as soon as possible.

All in all the drive back home was quiet and calm. Faya and Sally joked about Oliver's black eye until he dropped them off at their house. As he drives himself home he noticed that not once did the feeling of being watched actually leave. Oliver locked his bedroom door before going to bed that night, something he hadn't done since he was scared of monsters in the cupboard. Now he knew the monsters were outside.