Summer Savings [Byler]

Chapter 7

The two walked in silence initially, each not quite knowing what to say to the other. Will allowed his arm to slowly unlink from Mike's, and he put a little distance between the two of them, hoping it would ease the tension.

"Are you alright?" Mike noticed Will moving away, and his eyes slid over to look at him.

"Uh, yeah," Will mumbled back, not wanting to look Mike in the eyes.

"If there's something up or you changed your mind about hanging out, literally just tell me," Mike softened his voice so as not to come across as rude.

"No!" Will rurned red as he realised the ferocity with which he said the word.

"No. No, it's not that. I'm just still a bit hung up on, you know, our argument."

"Dude, seriously?"

"Yeah.. I guess."

"Will, we only just met, we're gonna clash a bit. And you were kind of right, as much as I hate to admit it. So that's why we're doing this. To start from scratch, get to know eachother. Okay?"

"Yeah, you were right too. I was a bit of a hypocrite."

"Okay, glad we've sorted that. Now let's stop talking about it, okay? We don't need to keep coming back to it, it wasn't even a proper argument," Mike looped his arm through Will's again.

"Have you managed to see all of the town?" He questioned, and Will shook his head.

"Okay, I'll give you a tour at some point then. But for now, we'll start with lunch," Mike's eyes moved back over to Will, and he smiled. Will looked over, and they temporarily locked gazes, before Will broke the trance, turning slightly red.

A few hours later, Will found himself back at Mike's pool, completely relaxed. Any tension left between the two of them had fizzled out of existence the second they entered the café and sat down, and they'd been talking and acting as if they'd known eachother for years, not less than two days. It felt like he'd known Mike forever.

"Hey, you wanna see something?" Mike broke the silence, swinging his legs out of the pool.

"Uh, is it something good?"

"Very."

"Then, yes."

Mike grinned and stood up.
"Do you have any swimming trunks or do you wanna borrow some?" He questioned.

"Oh- what? No, no I don't have any? Why would I?" Will's confusion was evident in his facial expression, which only made Mike smile wider.

"Come on then!" He dragged Will to his feet, causing water from the pool to splash onto them both as Will struggled to get out at the frantic pace Mike was moving at.

Once they'd both changed into swimming trunks, Will using some of Mike's old ones, Mike led him back down to the poolside.

"Okay, take a super big breath, follow me, and do not panic," He warned.

"What?!" Will made to protest, but Mike grabbed his hand and jumped in, plunging Will into the cold water.

Will lost his co-ordination momentarily, staying suspended underneath the waves still rippling above, watching the bubbles caused by his plunge fizzle out infront of his face. He blinked, and noticed Mike crawling through a hole in the wall of the pool. He swam to the surface to take a deeper breath, then propelled himself to the bottom of the pool and forwards, into the gap in the wall. It was small, but there was still enough room for Will to swim comfortably. Mike was out of sight at this point. The tunnel, for that's what it was, curved sharply and unexpectedly, causing Will to slam his face into the wall and then struggle to make it around the bend. The tunnel swerved a few more times, and Will began to worry he hadn't taken a deep enough breath as his lungs began to ache for air. The passageway suddenly came to a dead end, and Will felt panic set in, his lungs screaming for oxygen.