He almost completely forgets about the swimming lessons. He's helping Niall do laundry when Eleanor comes in and slips him the keys for the pool. "Just put them in the front desk when you're done," she says on her way out.
"God she's hot," Niall breathes when she's gone. "Think she'd go out with me?"
Liam's never really considered it, but Eleanor is sweet and Niall's great. "Probably."
Niall grins. "Awesome. Everyone's getting together for a bonfire down at the beach on Monday. Think I should ask her to come with me?"
"We're having a bonfire?"
"Oh, shit," Niall says, slapping his forehead. "I was supposed to tell you and Harry at dinner."
Liam rolls his eyes. Niall is the kind of person who lives in the right now. Rely on him to relay a message, and you can bet that he's going to forget what you said about as soon as he says, "Sure, I'll tell them."
"What'd she give you the keys for, anyways?" Niall asks suddenly.
"Um," Liam says, bending down to pull a few sheets out of a dryer. He folds them slowly. "Just something Malik asked me to do. Shouldn't take long."
"They're working you hard, mate," Niall tells him.
Liam shrugs. "I don't really mind," he lies.
By the time he and Niall are finished, he has just enough time to run up to his room and grab his second pair of swim trunks. He passes Harry on the way down the stairs, and he's glad that he thought to put them in a bag to avoid questions.
"Where're you going?" Harry asks, but Liam just continues walking.
"Work," he says over his shoulder. "Also, I think Louis Tomlinson might be in love with you."
He added the second part just to distract Harry from asking him questions again. It works, too, because just before he ducks through the door he turns to see Harry gaping at him, eyes wide.
When he gets to the pool building, Zayn isn't there waiting for him. Liam looks around twice and then decides to just head inside. He turns on all the lights, hoping that the trees surrounding the building are enough to keep them from being seen by anyone, because Malik had been pretty adamant about the fact that no one is to find out about this.
Liam doesn't wait for Zayn to show up, but instead heads into the change room to put on his swimming trunks. He's just closing his locker when Zayn walks in. Liam has no idea what to say to him, but Zayn just heads to a locker at the other side of the room anyways.
With his back turned to Liam he asks, "You going to sit and watch, or what?"
Liam hurries out of the room as Zayn pulls off his shirt, closing the door loudly behind himself so Zayn will know that he's gone.
He gets into the pool because he doesn't know what else to do. The water is a bit warm and Liam wonders, not for the first time, why there even is a pool. They're so close to the lake that it seems redundant, but some people are afraid of fish or swimming in public water or something. He doesn't know.
Personally, he prefers the lake. Prefers the seemingly endless amounts of water. Once, when he, Niall, Harry, and a few other employees went down to the beach at night, he and Harry tried to see how far out they could swim. They just kept going, until Niall started waving them back, apparently worried about them drowning or getting eaten by a gigantic fish.
When Zayn comes out of the change room he's wearing a pair of black swim trunks that fall low on his hips. Up close, Liam can see that his chest is covered in tattoos, and he's got one on his hip, too, as well as the ones on his forearms. His skin looks smooth, and it's a rich tan colour a few shades lighter than his father's.
"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.
He uses his other hand to gently push on Zayn's shoulder, and Zayn slowly sinks back down to the water. This time, when he arms flail a bit, Liam is there to keep him up.
"Just relax," Liam coaxes. "The harder you freak out, the harder this is going to be."
He figures Zayn would be glaring at him if he didn't have his eyes closed. Somehow he still manages to pull off the same look with just the set of his mouth, though, which is actually fairly impressive.
Zayn's legs come up and then Liam's holding him there, just above the water. His arms are no longer moving at his sides, but instead float a bit until they're stretched out beside him, the way Liam's were when he did it.
"I'm going to let you go, okay?" Liam asks, because he feels weird all of a sudden, looking down at this beautiful boy with the horrible personality, eyes closed almost peacefully as he drifts on the water.
Zayn's hand darts out and encircles Liam's wrist in a vicelike grip. "Don't you fucking dare."
"You're fine," Liam tells him. "Just don't freak out."
"Liam," Zayn warns.
Liam moves his hand out from under Zayn without Zayn even noticing, apparently. He pries Zayn's fingers from around his wrist and then takes a step back, and then another. "Just stand up, Zayn," he says.
Liam thought they were making progress, but the moment Zayn realizes Liam had let him go, he flounders. His arms pinwheel and his legs kick out, and he goes under for a moment before resurfacing.
His hair sticks up around his head in a way that distinctly reminds Liam of a baby bird. His eyes are impossibly wide, too, and he looks both adorable and extremely pissed off. The best thing to do in this situation is probably not laughing. Liam can't help it, though.
"Fuck this," Zayn says, heading for the ladder to get out of the pool.
"Zayn," Liam says, moving towards him.
Zayn turns, hand curled around the metal pole of the ladder. He's gripping it so tight that his knuckles are turning white. "Go fuck yourself, Payne," Zayn snaps.
He doesn't head into the change room, but instead stomps right through the doors of the building, dripping water everywhere he goes. Liam stares after him for a moment, stunned, and then finally pulls himself out of the pool.
As he's changing he wonders if he'll ever have a conversation with Zayn that doesn't involve Zayn swearing at him.
--
The rest of that night was spent laying in bed, replaying the scene at the beach to Harry, and then listening to Harry bitch about Louis and deny any claims that Louis might actually possibly have a thing for him.
Wednesday is just as busy as Tuesday, but he doesn't feel as drained because he knows that once his shift is over he can just lounge about and not worry about seeing Zayn again. Mr. Malik never comes by to tell him that the swimming lessons have been cancelled, like he's waiting for him to do, and Liam realizes by Thursday that he's still expected to be at the pool next Tuesday.
Come Friday, Liam is grateful to head home. Their shifts end at eight, and Liam only has to do his surfing lessons and then two hours of cleaning. After that, he's free.
He occasionally doesn't have anyone signed up for his class, especially during the first two weeks, when the rooms are still filling up. When he grabs his list from his locker, where Eleanor must have taped it earlier, he finds that he does have someone signed up today. A single someone.
This is going to be either interesting or disastrous.
Liam carries two surfboards and towels down to the beach only to find Louis already there, waiting for him. He's in a full wetsuit, just like Liam is.
"Can I be honest with you?" Louis asks as Liam sticks one of the boards in the sand. Liam nods. "I don't actually need lessons. I may or may not already be a fantastic surfer."
Liam frowns at him. "Then why--,"
Louis shrugs. "I walked past the sign-up sheet on the way to Zayn's room today, and I noticed that no one else had signed up. Don't they just send you off to do something else if you don't have to give lessons?"
"Yeah," Liam says slowly, frowning.
"See? I'm doing you a favour, then. You don't have to work, and I get a surfing buddy."
"I don't know," Liam says slowly.
Someone might think he's bugging off work, and he could get in trouble for that. Plus, you're not supposed to just 'hang out' with the costumers. Mr. Malik reminds them of this every year, and he proved to be serious about this a year ago when Richard was caught sleeping with one of the guest's daughter. He was fired instantly.
"Come on, Liam," Louis whines. "I hate surfing by myself."
"Why didn't you invite Zayn?" Liam asks.
Louis laughs. "Like he'd get in the water," he says, shaking his head. "He'd screw up that perfect quiff of his, and I'd never hear the end of it."
Liam happens to know first hand that that isn't why Zayn probably says no every time Louis invites him to go for a swim. He also happens to know that Zayn looks just as good -- if not better, even-- with the quiff flattened.
Not that he says any of that. Instead, he says, "Okay."
It's against his better judgement, but he really can't see any reason not to. If anyone saw them, Liam had solid proof that Louis was signed up for his class. And, two hours later when he and Louis get out of the water and Louis uses one of Liam's towels to dry his hair, Liam has another secret to keep from his best friend.
He kind of maybe sort of likes Louis Tomlinson. As a friend, but still. That is more than enough to piss off Harry, and he knows it. But Louis is kind of funny, if a bit overwhelming at times. And he's surprisingly nice to Liam, which he never would have expected-- both because of Harry and because of his unfortunate choice of friends.
"Next Friday, then?" Louis asks, picking up the board he used. It takes Liam a minute to realize that he's actually going to help Liam carry it back.
"Sure," Liam agrees. "I might actually have to teach my class, though."
Louis shrugs as they start walking back towards the resort. "As long as I finally have someone to get in the water with me."
Liam's actually looking forward to it. He can't remember the last time he got to get out in the water with someone who actually knew what they were doing. It was nice to actually just surf, instead of spending his whole time making sure someone's not falling off their board or drowning or something.
They bring the boards to the pool building and hang them up in the supply closet, among flotation devices and pool noodles. Louis turns to him after he's done, and he searches Liam's eyes for a long moment while chewing the inside of his lip.
"Does Harry really hate me?" he asks after a moment, and Liam did not expect those words to come out of his mouth.
The thing is, Liam is pretty freaking sure that he does. But Louis' eyes are wide and he looks so nervous, just asking that, that Liam actually feels bad for him. And for the first time ever, he wonders if maybe Harry was wrong to hate him so much.
"I'm not sure," Liam lies. "I don't think he wants to strangle you anymore, if that helps."
Louis laughs, but Liam notes that it doesn't sound the same as his normal laugh. "That's kind of my fault, really."
Liam frowns. "He never really went into detail about it. What happened?"
Louis sighs and leans against one of the shelves, crossing his arms over his chest. His hair is a bit of a mess, drying in kinked strands that hang over his forehead. "You're going to repeat everything I say to him, aren't you?"
Liam hesitates, but he decides to be honest. "Probably."
Louis nods, accepting this. "Well, first of all, I think I should tell you that I've sort of had a crush on Harry since the first year he started working. The thing is, Zayn has this thing where-- I guess you could say he's sort of an asshole. And he makes it very clear that he doesn't approve of dating beneath our social status or whatever, and dating the 'help' is apparently doing just that."
Liam nods but doesn't mention the fact that he'd heard that directly from Zayn's mouth.
"So I sort of treated Harry extremely badly," Louis admits. "It was easier to pretend that I didn't like him if he didn't like me. And then that day when the incident happened, Zayn was hanging out with me at the bungalow, and Harry brought us our lunch. I sort of purposefully knocked my glass over -- and this was after complaining about the food, and how long it took, and telling Harry that I was going to definitely tell Zayn's father about all of that-- and then I said, 'Aren't you going to clean that, Harry?' You know the rest. He sort of dove over the table at me, hands going for the neck area."
The first thing Liam does is say, "Huh." The second thing he does is laugh so hard that he bends over with the force of it, tears brewing in his eyes. "Sorry," he gasps out, because Louis does not look amused. "I just-- sorry. It's not funny."
"No, it's not," Louis agrees.
"You know," Liam starts, wiping tears from his cheeks, "you could always just apologize."
Louis blinks at him for a long moment before saying slowly, "Apologize."
"Yeah," Liam nods. "Tell him you're sorry for being an ass. He's not going to forgive you right away -- he's a bit stubborn, to be honest-- but if you genuinely mean it, I'm sure he'll get that eventually."
"Huh," Louis says, looking genuinely surprised by this, as if the thought of apologizing never once occurred to him. "You're going to help me, Liam."
Liam takes a step back. "What do you mean?"
Louis comes over to him and throws an arm over his shoulder. "You're going to help me convince Harry I'm not a completely stuck up prick," he explains. "And I'll convince Zayn's dad to let you off for a few hours every Wednesday to come surfing with me. With full pay, obviously."
"Really?"
Louis nods. "You let me handle this," Louis says, guiding him out of the supply room, "and you just cover the Harry not hating me part."
It's only because Louis genuinely seems to want Harry to like him that Liam agree. It has nothing to do with the prospect of having a few hours off every Wednesday to just get in the water and ride the waves. Definitely not. He's a good person.
"Okay," he says.
Louis releases him and they head outside. Louis starts in the direction of the bungalow, while Liam heads towards the main building so he can get changed and get back to work.
"Oh," Louis calls, and Liam turns to look at him, "if Zayn is giving you shit, give it to him right back. He might threaten to have you fired, but he thinks you're way too attractive to actually do that."
Liam's still a bit stunned by the time he gets inside the building.
--