Water

Aaron sat straight up the bed, sweat blanketing her face. She could feel her heart heavy in her chest. Her breathing was quick, rushing in and out of her throat. Beside her, Bethany slept peacefully, curled up in her blankets. “Are you okay?” asked Jace, standing in the doorway to their room. Aaron felt her heart leap and then drop, remembering her dream. “Ye-yeah, I’m okay,” she sighed. “You seem a little shaken,” he whispered. He waved a hand, indicating that she should join him out in the living room. Quietly, Aaron slid out of the bed and crept out without waking Bethany. She glanced down at herself, noticing for the first time that she was wearing a pair of pajamas from her suitcase but she didn’t remember dressing herself. “You woke up,” he said, noticing her confusion. “But you were kind of out of it.” She nodded and followed him into the kitchen. The fridge was fully stocked when Jace reached in and grabbed a carton of orange juice. “So I woke up, walked all the way to the bedroom, dressed myself, and ended up perfectly tucked into the bed?” she asked, smiling. “Well, you had a little help,” he admitted. She cocked her head, waiting for an explanation. “I carried you into the bedroom and you woke up. Bethany helped you dress and helped you into bed.” He handed a cup of orange juice to her and watched her sit across from him at the breakfast bar. “I see,” she said, taking a sip. He watched her across the thin counter. “So what is in Maine besides vacation?” he asked her. “I don’t know. Bethany and I have gone since freshman year with a few friends. We always call it camping but it’s really not. We stay in hotels or a resort or something.” She said, watching him. He nodded his head and smiled at her. “Do you want to go swimming?” he asked. “Out there? It must be freezing,” she said, glancing at the window and the outdoor pool. “There is an indoor pool too,” he laughed. “And I’m willing to bet that it is heated.” Aaron considered, watching him. “Okay,” she relented. He smiled and they made their way back to their bedrooms. Aaron unzipped her suitcase and pulled out one of her swim suits, a simple red one. She slipped it on, pulling a pair of jean shorts on over top of the bottoms. Walking out of the bedroom she slipped into the bathroom and snatched a fluffy, white towel off the shelf. “Ready?” Jace said, standing behind her. She jumped and spun around. He smiled and reached past her shoulder, grabbing himself a towel. “Yeah,” she gasped and followed him out the front door and down the elevator. When they entered the lobby they spotted the new on duty receptionist and walked over to him. “Hello Mark,” said Jace, reading the man’s name tag. Mark glanced up at them, lingering on Aaron. “How may I help you?” Mark said, tearing his eyes away from her and looking bored up at Jace. “We just wanted to know if there was an indoor pool.” The man took another second to look at Aaron, approving of her swim suit choice. “No, there is no indoor pool,” said Mark. “But the outdoor pool is heated daily. It should be about 82 degrees.” Jace gave him and nod and turned away, lazily throwing an arm around Aaron’s shoulders. To his surprise, she didn’t move away, instead she leaned into him. They walked out to the outdoor pool, throwing their towels on a white chair. Jace stripped off his shirt and waited for Aaron. She slipped off her shorts and walked with Jace around the side of the pool to the deep end. “Ladies first,” Jace laughed, waving a hand. Aaron shook her shoulders and dived in head first, arms above her head in a perfect swan dive. The water rushed in around her, filling her senses. Underwater it was completely silent, no noise from the world above leaked down. Aaron spread her arms out, propelling herself through the water. Light filtered through the crystal blue water around her. Pain pushed at her lungs; she pushed off the bottom and launched herself to the surface. Her head broke the surface and she turned to look at Jace but he wasn’t there. Warm hands wrapped around her ankles, dragging her down into the water again. Jace stood on the bottom in front of her, hands on his hips. She shook her head, staring at his black hair floating in the water above him. He cracked a smile and shot forward, arms wrapping around her waist and lifting them both to the surface. Immediately she pushed against his chest, sending herself across the pool. She broke the surface and stared at him, but he was too busy laughing. “That wasn’t funny,” she cried, hugging her arms to her body, still feeling warm where he’d had his arms. “It was hilarious,” he sputtered. “You should have seen your face, I scared you.” She shook her head, turning her back and swimming across the pool. “Hey, hey. Don’t be mad,” he said, catching up with her. He put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around. She ducked her head, throwing her hair between them. A hand cupped her chin, turning her face back to him. A tear escaped down her cheek, his thumb reached out and wiped it away. “I didn’t mean to scare you that bad,” he whispered, moving backwards to where they could both stand. “You didn’t,” she sighed. “I didn’t sleep very well.” “You have a nightmare?” he asked, honestly concerned. She shakily nodded her head. “Do you want to talk about it?” She shrugged, putting her arms around his neck and just leaning into his chest. He didn’t say anything, just put his arms around her waist and waited. She just sat there with her eyes closed with the warm water moving around them. “You don’t have to tell me,” he whispered into her ear. She hugged him tighter, nuzzling against his neck. “Come on.” He dislodged her from around his neck and led her to the side of the pool. They crawled out and wrapped themselves in their towels, sitting on the slotted white chairs. “I dreamt that my ex-boyfriend showed up and he kept telling me that nobody loves me because I don’t love anybody,” she choked out, swallowing her tears. “He said that that was the reason why my dad left, is because I didn’t love him enough.” Jace just watched her, eyes wide. “He said my dad left to find a new daughter that would love him.” Jace wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. She rested her head against him, tears leaking down her face. “It’s okay,” he whispered, hands running up and down her arms. The wind brushed past them, sending goose bumps up her arms. “I know that James loves you. We he came home and you left, he felt terrible about giving you that bruise.” He rested his cheek against her hair, breathing in slowly. “We should get back to the room,” Aaron sighed. Jace stood up, grabbing her hand. Together they walked back to the hotel room. He slid a key card from his pocket and swiped them in. To Aaron’s surprise, neither of the two in the room were awake yet. Quietly, they snuck into the room and changed out of their bathing suits. Aaron pulled on a pair of black shorts and a yellow tank top and skipped over to the bathroom to brush her hair. She shut the door behind her and leaned against the wall, remembering how Jace’s muscles had felt when he hugged her. Blushing, she shook the thoughts from her head and ran the brush through her hair.