safe in my arms | solangelo au | under editing

Chapter Three

tw: drowning

Will

I am unbelievably bored. I stare at the pool, watching for anything interesting, but there's nothing. Kids splashing around, parents alternating between trying to control them and ignoring them, the usual.

Then I catch sight of him. Raven hair, pale skin, and a slightly mournful expression. He walks in holding the hand of a taller boy, with short blonde-brown hair that has dyed-red tips. I barely glance at him, however, captivated by the shorter man's seemingly black eyes.

The blonde one dives into the pool seamlessly, but the smaller one hangs back. He resurfaces and speaks to the other one, who treats him like an annoying little cousin. I can see fear in his eyes, so I guess that he's scared of water. Why is he here, then?

Suddenly, the one in the water grabs the smaller boys ankle. He yanks it and he slips. With a crack that resonates through the whole room, his head hits the side of the pool, then he slips under the water, a small of red following his sinking body.

Without even thinking, I dive into the water head-first. I swim towards the boy, who is flailing wildly, and grab his waist. I pull him out of the water and he literally screams. He looks at me with wild eyes and stops struggling. I lay him down on the side of the pool and lean over him with concern.

He coughs water out of his lungs and takes a deep breath. On closer inspection, I see his eyes are actually a dark chocolate brown.
"Are you okay?" I ask him. He opens his mouth to reply, but before he can, somebody pushes me away. I land on my side and instantly get to my feet. Kneeling beside the boy is the guy who hurt him in the first place.

"Nico! Are you okay?" He gasps. So that's the boy's name. Nico.
"Excuse me," I fold my arms and step forward. "You hurt this guy."
"No, I didn't. He slipped."
"It didn't look like that to me." I raise an eyebrow.
"And who might you be?" He challenges.
"The lifeguard." I tell him. He glares at me and I hold his gaze.
"Well I'm his boyfriend." He shrugs, looking away.

He gets to his feet and pulls the Nico up, despite his protests. He fights back weakly for a moment, then slumps in his arms,
defeated. He looks at the ground and I see his chest rise and fall in a sigh.

We're going." The taller boy says sternly, as he starts to pull Nico after him. I rush after them, concerned.

Something is wrong. Nico looks terrified of this guy. He's visibly shaking, and it's not from the cold. He looks worn down, like he's used to taking orders from this man. Like he gave up fighting a long time ago. I feel my chest tighten. If that man is his boyfriend... I have to help him.

"You should take him to a hospital." I catch up to them and step in front of them. I gesture to Nico, who is shaking his head frantically, his eyes wide. "He might have concussion."
"Whatever." The man snaps, pushing past me.

He marches Nico outside and I stop following them, still desperate to help. I grab a piece
of paper from the reception desk and scrawl my number on it, under the message: If there's any trouble, call me. Then I run after them. I see the blonde boy push Nico into the car roughly and walk in my direction, so I duck behind a car. Now or never.

I tap on the glass and its rolled down a few millimetres. I smile at him.
"What?" Nico asks. He sounds broken. My smile slips off my face, replaced with a look of concern. I grab the slip of paper and push it through the gap in the window. He watches it drift into his lap, then looks up at me with confusion. I run off as fast as I can and hope for the best.

Somebody needs to save that boy. It doesn't have to be me... But I would like it to be.