sheâs barely able to keep above water  , her chin dipping under freezing hues of azure . a loud laugh , and sheâll dip under the water to wet her hair , and push it back out of her face with fluttering lashes . his words however , didnât drown out with the glacier water . they sunk deeper in the corners of her mind , burrowing , puddling , and if she werenât careful , theyâd freeze over , and sheâd slip . when he comes back up from the canonball , she does her best to push back the thought of him tripping over his pants , but the giggle is still cascading through parted lips . âby the way  ââ  i donât plan on marrying the first guy that treats me right ..â her words brushed with closeness , swallowing harshly as she swims closer to the shallow end , head back , practically floating .  âpart of me wants something real , and then â- i have this tendency to just .. push it away .â her back his the corner of a tiled pool , brown hues finding his from across laps of ripples . âitâs better to just , have this âŠâ instead .Â
âand is that what you want?â she didnât mean it , the way it sounded , the way it came out before she could catch . so she swallowed her pride , and drowned out that litter of insecurities she would never let the world know she had .  âi mean ââ her gaze is elsewhere , averted , focusing on the way her hands swayed under the water , goosebumps chilling the tanned skin .  ânevermind-â it was brushed under the rug , with the flirting , pretending that it hadnât happened at all . god , if she could just â-  open herself up again . but instead , sheâs locked herself away in a steel castle , or so she thought . she had been so careful , how in the world did he get a key ? at what point had she closed her eyes , and opened , and he was there ? or â- had he been there the entire time ?  the realization is record setting , itâs a home run , out of the ballpark . so much , she barely hears the next set of strung together teases . her gaze flickered over her shoulder , brows narrowed playfully , and her chin tilts with a challenge for him .  âif you can catch me .â she grinned , pearly whites luminescent in the basking glow of the pool . catch her saint ââ   thatâs all you have to do . Â
sheâll sink further in the pool , and she can touch the bottom now . sheâs not floating , sheâs not unaware of the distance closing between them . one foot at a time , sheâs inching , until sheâs just in front of him ââ  practically begging to be caught . the moment comes , and it passes , brown hues matching the gold in his . her heart is beating faster and faster , and ââ   nothing . her gaze faltered down , and sheâll tug her lower lip between pearly teeth . with that , the silence is echoed in a sudden splash , playing their closeness as a toy of distraction , as if she didnât want something from him , as if â even for a moment , she wasnât curious . they couldnât , ariana reminds , tugging the thought back to the surface . they were friends .  âha , gotcha !â but really , this wasnât a game she was ready to play .Â
bobbing under then above, under then above. blue swallows them whole, taking their breath away, only to bring them up to oxygen once more. what is it that he wants? heâs not sure anymore, all he knows is that this has to be enough. this sudden breathlessness and then breathing again, the friendship that existed between them, would have to be enough â he had settled on that long ago. if nothing had happened between them after all these years, what hope did he have now? besides, thereâs truth to her claim that itâs better to have this. he wouldnât be the one to ruin them. âi want you to be happy.â eyes that are normally so full of laughter flicker serious, even if just for a moment.Â
legs kick and heâs still floating, the scent of chlorine burns his nostrils as he watches her fall under, succumbing to the water below. and suddenly sheâs there, rising up from the depths in front of him. this was as close as he could ever get. an arm extends â ready to wrap around her waist to pull her closer but stops short, settling on her arm instead. but now theyâre close, so close. jawline tilts downwards and lips part, any closer and they would be kissing. time stands still his head is buzzing with alcohol and memories and the past and the future. but no, saint needed to make this stop â the hard, physical longing, like a craving for air underwater, the no, no, no of it all. they couldnât do this. this was not allowed. head is quickly thrown back in laughter and then heâs swallowing his feelings up again, forcing them down his throat. heâs searching for something to fill the air between them, but all he can come up with is âha, gotcha!â hand releases from its grip and he splashes her. âthought you might play harder to get than that.âÂ