Without Me

Swimming

Lunch hour rolled by and to Jonathan's surprise if he would ever stop getting surprised, Ares joined them. He sat down beside Jonathan while Chuck sat opposite him as always. The two stared at him for a bit before turning to eat their food. Ares caught them looking before they could pretend they weren't looking though and frowned deeper.

"Even I want some company sometimes, " he grumbled softly and Chuck grinned.

"Oh. Somebody is admitting something," he said jokingly, earning a sharp glare from Ares. Jonathan just laughed it off.

"It's cool. We don't mind, right, Chuck?" He said to help unnerve the other who still had his shoulders all tensed up. Chuck nodded.

"We don't. The more, the merrier. Unless it's the troublesome ones."

Jonathan gulped slightly from what Chuck said unintentionally. He had to hide it. He couldn't tell. So he just nodded half heartedly. Ares noticed it but didn't say anything about it.

"Thanks," was all he replied before eating as well.

After lunch, they had a bit of leisure time. Then it would be swimming or whatever activities you wanted to do. There were some made up clubs since there were no official ones so some students grouped up and just did whatever they wanted to do. Most of them were harmless surprisingly.

Jonathan was quite amazed to know that. People coming together with their own will. Especially them. Chuck and Ares weren't in any of the clubs though but Jonathan didn't think it was much of a problem. He doubted he would join any either so he told the two that he was going to go for a swim instead since they wanted to head inside to play board games that Chuck had stashed away in his luggage just waiting to see the light of the days again.

Chuck also told Jonathan his dorm room number so he could come by if he was bored of swimming. He nodded and headed to the swimming pool with his swimming trunks. He was quite excited to enter the water again, to be honest. He was part of the swimming club in his previous school as well and even entered competitions but he wasn't the best even though he got a couple of medals hanging around. He entered the pool and a small smile graced his lips. It had been so long since he felt the excitement he always had when he saw the pool. Or when he got into trouble but that was a different kind of excitement.

He headed to the changing room to change. The pool was all his for the time being since none of the other students were around. He started out with stretches and more warm ups despite his body still up and running from the earlier activities.

He tested the water and dove in, recalling the feel of the cool water that slid pass his body as he moved forward. It was always an exhilarating experience to him and he loved it a lot.

Maybe he did like the dangerous life but in moderation. Something like swimming was more than enough. He didn't need any other things to pump adrenaline throughout his body.

Especially not a kiss.

He submerged, going in for a deeper swim to clear his mind. He didn't want to think about that now. He couldn't afford to lose his excitement over some recurring thoughts. He surfaced once he reached his limit but stayed in the water, just relaxing and swimming from one end to the other. His worries slowly dissipated even though he knew he would think about it again later.

Time passed him by without him noticing as the sky slowly darkened outside. He could spend hours in the water even though it was bad for health. It was just his way of coping sometimes. He got out once he was a tad too worn out to continue. He sat by the side of the pool, just breathing in and out. He slid his hair away from his face and sighed.

Before he could start thinking again, a loud thunk sounded. He looked up to see Mark looking back at him with slightly widened eyes. He gasped softly and pushed himself up, fumbling a little. The other had dropped his stuff and quickly picked them up.

"Sorry. I didn't think you would be here," Mark said in an awkward tone. Jonathan just shook his head, unsure what to say too. He thought he would be ready to say what he wanted to say but he couldn't.

"Look... About that day," Mark started and Jonathan immediately lifted a hand up to stop him.

No. Don't want to hear it. No.

Mark stopped and looked at Jonathan with a slight downcast gaze. Yet he looked expectant at the same time. Jonathan had to collect his courage and tried to control his anxiety levels that were on the rise. A good dip should solve that.

"About that....," Jonathan whispered. Mark raised his brows and walked closer since he couldn't hear him. Jonathan flinched, gasping as he slipped since he was attempting to step back.

Mark grabbed ahold of him without hesitation but couldn't stabilise him in time as they both fell into the pool. Jonathan surfaced and gasped, totally not expecting that. He helped Mark up since the other was still in his clothes and he knew it was difficult to swim with clothes on even if you were a good swimmer.

They both sat down by the pool, breathing slowly.

"Sorry. I didn't think I would have slipped," Jonathan apologised. Mark shook his head and pushed his hair back. He coughed a little and rubbed his nose.

"It's fine. I didn't think I would fall in either."

"So... about that day. The kiss. I..."

"You hate it?"

"No! I mean. I didn't expect it of course. But I don't hate it."

"Then, what if I kiss you now?" Jonathan was baffled by Mark's question and extremely shocked to find the other leaning close to him, their faces were just inches apart again. Like that day.

"I. Mark. L-look." He was stumbling over his own words, unable to conjure a proper sentence as the other stared at him intently.

"Go on. I'm listening."

"We don't even know each other that well."