Floating in The Water

Chapter 4

"Do I just get in?" Zayn asks, raising his eyebrows.

Liam lifts his eyes to Zayn's face, only to find Zayn glaring at him. "Um-- yeah. Get in. The shallower end."

Zayn nods once, jerkily, and then sinks down to the ledge of the pool and gets in. Liam swims closer to him while Zayn stands up straight in the pool. The water goes to about his waist.

"I think we should start with...," Liam trails off. He has no idea what they should start with. He isn't equipped for this. He has no idea how to deal with someone who is genuinely afraid of the water.

Because Zayn is afraid of it. He can see it in his eyes, and in the way his hands are clenched into fists. He might be glaring at Liam, but that doesn't hide the tense set to his shoulders, or the way his lips are pulled down in a frown.

"First we should teach you to trust the water," Liam says finally.

"Trust the water," Zayn repeats, sounding as if Liam is speaking a different language, one he doesn't understand.

"Well, I can't teach you to swim if you're terrified of it," Liam points out.

"I'm not afraid," Zayn snaps.

Zayn both sounds and looks about twelve years old, despite the fact that Liam knows Zayn is (at nineteen years old) actually older than him.

"Okay, fine," Liam says, raising his hands defensively. He might not know how to teach someone to swim, but he is used to dealing with rude children. "Humour me, then. Try floating on your back."

"Floating," Zayn repeats. "How, exactly, do I stop myself from sinking?"

"I don't actually know," Liam admits, frowning. "You just-- don't. As long as you don't freak out, you'll be fine. Just-- here, I'll show you."

Liam feels Zayn's eyes on him as he falls back into the water and lifts his legs up. He breaths in slowly, forcing himself to relax and stay still. He has no idea how someone could not like this. Could not like the weightless feeling of being in the water, or the relaxing motions of moving slowly over it, or through it. It's one of Liam's favourite things.

Liam straightens himself after a moment. "See? Not so bad."

Zayn snorts and then, within the blink of an eye, he gets this steely, determined look on his face. Liam watches as he falls back into the water the same way Liam just had. Except something goes wrong when Zayn lets his feet lift up. His arms flail and his head goes beneath the water.

Liam moves toward him quickly, but Zayn pushes him away and brushes his now dripping, inky black hair off his face. He's panting, too; his chest rises and falls quickly with each breath. His eyelashes are stuck together with water, and Liam notes for the first time that his eyes are not pure brown, but have flecks of other colours in them that make them appear a bit lighter.

"You freaked out," Liam finds himself saying.

Zayn crosses his arms over his chest. "Fuck you," he says, lifting his chin a bit.

Liam is starting to get why this is so hard. It's not just that Zayn is afraid of the water, he's also afraid of looking stupid. It's always easier to teach kids something because kids don't care if they look stupid.

"Let's try that again," Liam tells Zayn. "This time I'll make sure you don't go under."

Zayn looks like he really doubts that. "What do you plan on doing?"

Liam shrugs and moves to stand directly beside Zayn. "I'll hold you up."

Zayn still looks extremely distrustful, but Liam lifts a hand and Zayn doesn't push him away when he puts it between Zayn's shoulder blades. He does not think about how warm Zayn is under his fingertips, or the fact that his skin is as smooth as it looks. He doesn't, because not only is that inappropriate, but he also extremely dislikes Zayn, and these things are not important.