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Leo groaned as he drug himself through the gates of the pool where he was a lifeguard; he hated opening in the summers. He hated opening in general, but summer opening days meant he had a six-hour shift guarding and then three hours of teaching swim lessons before he could go home for the day. He wished that he could at least have even half an hour to grab some food, but he knew he’d just have to eat what he could in between classes, and in the small gap where the pool was empty after swim team practice and before open swim began.
“Perks of being a lifeguard,” he mumbled to himself as he pulled the gate closed behind him. “Way to go, McCoy.”
But Leo was organized, methodical, and dedicated to the job, so he drained the last of his coffee from the tumbler and put his bag in the locker with his name across the front before he punched in and began his opening chores: retrieving the vacuum, sweeping the deck, cleaning the drains, checking the chemicals, and making sure everything was ready for the swim team and his coworker to arrive in fifteen minutes.
“McCoy, there better damn well be a pot of coffee brewed in that office,” Geoff yelled as he came through the gates, and Leo laughed.
“Of course, G! You know I can’t live without my caffeine,” he called back, and heard a replying laugh. “T-minus ten minutes until the swim team starts arriving,” he reminded, sticking his head into the office to find Geoff halfway through the pot of coffee. “And stop it with the coffee, you’re just going to have to pee an hour into the shift and then spend the entire swim practice slot complaining.”
Geoff flipped Leo off as he finished drinking the cup he was already on. Leo merely laughed before ducking out of the office to finish putting the lane lines back into the pool before the team arrived.
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I must be dreaming, Leo thought happily to himself as he saw the attractive blond boy on the swim team climb into the lane nearest to the lifeguard stand, where Leo had a perfect view of the excellent ass in the racer suit that the blond was wearing. I love my job.
Over the course of the two hour swim practice, Leo learned from observation that the boy’s name was Jim and particularly excelled in butterfly, but had terrible form in breaststroke and was a slow sprinter. Leo learned that Jim was often the only motivated swimmer in his lane, and pushed himself maybe a little too hard for the first practice of the season. Leo learned that Jim was truly beautiful to watch in the water, and that the blond was by far one of the best swimmers that he had ever seen.
When the practice was finally over, Leo climbed down from the chair and stretched. Only four hours left to guard, he thought, and dropped his tube so he could start removing the lane lines while Geoff wheeled the turning rack back to the poolside. They had the lane lines out in record timing, and Leo greeted Janice, today’s front counter worker, as he went back into the office to reapply his sunscreen.
“Oh, Leo. I’m glad you’re here, I need to talk to you about swim lessons this summer- hello, Janice, nice to see you again too,” Leo heard his boss and the team’s swim coach, Philip Boyce, spill out all in one breath, and Leo frowned.
“What’s up with swim lessons, Phil?”
“Oh, nothing to worry about,” Phil assured, waving a hand as he started digging into the bag he carried with him. “But we’ve over-scheduled you- you’ve got six or seven kids in every class, if not more. But I asked if anyone on the team wanted to help out with lessons, maybe start teaching next summer, and I got you a helper. Jim’s going to be volunteering with you, he offered when he got to practice this morning.”
If Leo had been drinking anything, he might have spit it out. “Jim? He was that blond boy this morning, right?” He tried to sound casual, but he could feel his face turning red and reached for a cool bottle of water as Phil nodded.
“Yep, that’s him. He’ll be here around one to help you, he said. He can be a goof at times, but just remind him what to do and he’ll be right on it. I think you guys will work well together,” the older man said, checking his watch. “Almost time to start letting people in. Janice, you should probably get out there and start taking admissions; boys, get the lifejackets out and sunscreen up. Christine’ll be here in an hour, and Pavel’s coming in to relieve you at 12:30, Leo, so you’ll have a little time between guarding and lessons,” Pike rattled off.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Leo said at the exact same second Janice complained about working the counter.
“At least you have A/C,” Geoff said as he picked up the bucket of haphazardly arranged lifejackets, and Janice turned bright red.
Leo pointedly said nothing and started to reapply his sunscreen, making sure to lather his arms thoroughly before returning to the deck that was already blazing hot under the sun’s rays, thankful for his new sandals.
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It was exactly ten minutes to one when Leo stepped out of the office where he had been wolfing food to find Jim waiting awkwardly on the deck, a bag slung over his shoulder and a pair of black swim trunks hanging loosely from his slim hips, a loose blue shirt with no sleeves hiding the small waist that Leo knew the boy possessed. “Jim?” he asked tentatively, and the other boy spun around.
“Yep, that’s me. You must be Leo?” Jim inquired, and his blue eyes twinkled when they met the lifeguard’s.
“The one and only,” Leo replied easily. “Come on, you can put your stuff in the employee office. You sure your trunks are going to stay up?”
Jim answered by pushing the top of the garment down, showing that he was wearing a jammer underneath the trunks. “I’m good if they fall off,” he said with a smile, and Leo laughed.
“You certainly come prepared, kid. Um, there’s not really a locker you could use, but you can just put your stuff down there,” Leo said, gesturing to a chair, “And I can maybe work something out with Phil so you don’t have to keep doing that.”
Jim just shrugged and kicked off his sandals. “It’s no big, really. It’s not like I have my own locker at swim practice. Phil said he doesn’t even know if I’ll be helping you after this session, it depends on how many people sign up for lessons.” In the time it took for Jim to speak this sentence, he had neatly arranged his shoes, bag, and shedded shirt into a pile atop the chair, and Leo tried to stop himself from staring awkwardly at Jim by shoving his balled up shirt and sandals into the locker that held his own possessions.
“Well, guess we should go meet the kiddos,” Leo said with a sigh. “We’re starting with an advanced class, they can swim a full length or so and we’ll need to just work on building up their endurance and technique. You ever helped out with younger swimmers on the team?”
“Not on the club team, no, but I worked with the freshmen a lot during this year’s school season,” Jim replied. “Mostly just technique, fixing their stroke, teaching them to breath less, that sort of thing.”
Leo scrunched up his face. “They’re not quite that advanced yet, so I guess we’ll just have to see how well they do today. Looks like some of them are arriving, so we should probably head on out,” he said, moving towards the door before pausing and returning for his sandals. “Deck gets really hot, you might want to grab your shoes too. We’ll just leave them poolside.”
“Good point,” Jim acknowledged, digging his own sandals out and slipping them on. “Okay, kids now?”
Leo nodded and started talking as he walked. “We’ll do pool rules before we get in, just for today. First lesson of every class, every session. Forgot to mention that.”
“Got it,” Jim affirmed with a nod just as they reached a group of kids standing by their parents.
“Hey, guys! You here for swim lessons?” Leo greeted the kids cheerily, and they nodded. “Alright,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “How many of you are fish here?”
Six hands tentatively raised up into the air, and Leo nodded. “Looks like everyone’s here. Okay, guys, I’m Leo, and this is my friend Jim. Jim, can you go grab eight kickboards?”
“Oh, um, yeah. Be right back,” Jim stumbled over the words, impressed by how good Leo was with the kids, but rushed to grab the kickboards, walking quickly across the deck.
While Jim was counting out kickboards, Leo turned back to the helicoptering parents. “We’re going to start with just a fun exercise to learn everyone’s names, and then we’ll do pool rules, and get everyone used to being back in the water. Today should just be a fun day more than anything. We’ll be done at 12:45.”
“Got ‘em!” Jim said from behind Leo as he approached, and the instructor turned around with a sigh of relief.
“Okay, everyone grab a kickboard and sit down on it,” Leo instructed, taking one for himself and demonstrating by dropping it onto the deck and planting his butt on it, and Jim just stared as all the kids tentatively took a kickboard of their own and formed a loose ring on the ground, until Jim was the only person remaining standing.
“You’re lucky I’m flexible,” Jim muttered to Leo as he sat down.
Leo chose to ignore that comment, instead clapping his hands. “Okay, guys! We’re going to just go around the circle and say our names, how old we are, and what our favorite thing about swimming is. I’ll start; I’m Leo, I’m seventeen, and my favorite thing about swimming is how much fun I have in the water.”
“Uh, I’m Jim, I’m also seventeen, and my favorite thing about swimming is swimming the butterfly,” Jim ventured when Leo bumped his shoulder. “You’re next, bud,” he said, looking over at the little boy next to him.
“Um, I’m Dakota, I’m eight, and I like jumping in.”
“I’m Sara, I’m nine, and I liked when we dove last summer.”
“I’m Morgan, I’m also nine, and I like floating on my back.”
“I’m Ben, I’m seven, and I like the frog kick.”
“I’m Kristina, I’m ten, and I like jumping.”
“I’m Kailee, I’m seven, and I like doing flips underwater.”
Leo nodded after every child introduced themselves, making eye contact with every one and trying to commit their names to heart. When Kailee finished and the circle was completed, Leo clapped his hands again and stood up. “Okay guys! Grab your kickboards and sit them by the edge of the pool, and then we’ll go over the pool rules, and then we can get in!”
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Jim noted that in every class, across all three and a half hours that Leo taught, the instructor was cheerful with the kids and never let anything other than encouragement leave his mouth, though he would mutter complaints to Jim not long after the classes had ended. Leo didn’t remember all of the names, like Jim did, but the important thing was that he was trying to get the names right and encouraging the kids.
“See you next time!” Leo waved off the last members of his final class, and sighed. “Finally done,” he said with a look over at Jim, who smiled.
“Yeah. It’s been a long day. I’m starving.”
“Want to grab a late lunch? There’s a great diner a couple streets over, serves breakfast food all day,” Leo suggested.
“Sunrise?”
“Yeah. You up for it?”
“Absolutely. I love waffles.”
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Jim and Leo became good friends very quickly. Leo didn’t think he had ever been friends with someone who had cared as much about his happiness as Jim, and he was enjoying being cared about for once. And as much as Leo complained about the nickname Jim had saddled him with it after discussing their future careers, he loved having someone around who was comfortable enough to actually give him a nickname.
“I’m glad I met you, Jim,” Leo mumbles one night when they’re catching a late night showing of the dumb summer movies on a Friday night. “You’re too pretty for me to have stayed away from.”
To be fair, Leo had been at work since 6:45 that morning, and it was closer to one a.m. on Saturday than midnight on Friday. But Jim was still surprised that Leo would say that, especially after all the stories that had been traded about ex-girlfriends, with no mention of a boyfriend of any kind on Leo’s end.
What the hell, Jim thought. “Me too, Bones. I couldn’t imagine this summer without you.”
“D’you jus’ wanna sleep at my house tonight? Don’ wanna make you drive home af’er you drop me off,” Leo mumbled sleepily as they started to stumble out of the theater, and Jim nodded, one hand on Leo’s elbow to ensure his friend didn’t fall.
“Sure, kid. That sounds great.”
That’s how Jim woke up with Leo’s arm flung over his side, clutching Jim possessively. When Jim looked over at the clock, he cursed quietly.
“Hey, Bones. Wake up,” Jim hissed, trying to maneuver his body so he wasn’t too close to his friend, who was stirring.
“Jim? Wha’s wrong?” Leo’s eyes cracked open barely enough to see the blond, his voice still scratchy from sleep.
“We have less than an hour until today’s swim lessons,” Jim said gently, and Leo groaned.
“Dun wanna,” he mumbled, burying his face back into the pillow. “Let’s jus’ skip.”
“I’ll make coffee,” Jim decided, and Leo grunted in affirmation.
“Good idea,” Jim heard mumbled into the pillow, and laughed as he slid out of Leo’s bed and padded into the kitchen in search of supplies to caffeinate Leo before they had to leave for swim lessons. Luckily, his parents owned a single-serve coffee machine, so Jim just had to pour in the water and wait for the cycle to complete twice before he could roust his friend from bed.
“Alright, sleepyhead, I come bearing gifts,” Jim said softly as he moved back towards Leo’s bed, and a hand raised up to take the mug that was gently placed into it.
“’hanks,” Leo mumbled, raising up to sip at the drink gratefully. “How much time until lessons?”
Jim glanced over at the clock that was partially hidden by the clutter on Leo’s nightstand. “Forty-five minutes.”
“Is your bag in your car?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Let’s grab some breakfast at Sunrise once I finish this mug. My treat,” Leo decided, and Jim smiled.
“Sounds great. Is everything you need in your bag?”
Leo shrugged. “Should be. Probably going to change quick before we leave anyway, and all I really need is my trunks and goggles.”
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The worst thing about summer ending, Jim thought, was not being able to go help with swim lessons every day and hang out with Leo for hours on end. He could go and help with Leo’s lessons at the Y in the winter now, but he wouldn’t have time, not with school and more swimming.
More importantly, Jim would lose the boy he was slowly falling in love with.
So he texted Leo one Sunday morning, before the last round of swim lessons was due to begin. ‘Breakfast at Sunrise in half an hour?’
The reply was nearly instantaneous. ‘I’ll grab our usual spot.’
Jim licked his lips nervously. Today was the day that he was going to ask his best friend out on a date.
He slid into the booth across from Leo exactly thirty minutes later, picking up the coffee that Leo had already ordered for him.
“Thanks for the coffee,” he said gratefully in between sips, and Leo smiled.
“No problem, kid. I already ordered your usual for you, hope that’s alright.”
“Yeah, thanks. Hey, so, I was wondering, do you maybe want to go see a movie sometime?”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “Like we do every week, you mean?”
Jim blushed. “Well, yeah, but... No. Like, a date, this time.”
Leo grinned. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Jim couldn’t stop the grin spreading across his own face. “It’s a date, then.”
"Good. Now, eat up. Don't want you getting hungry before you swim with me," Leo teased, and Jim knew that he'd be smiling for the rest of the day , no matter what happened.
And he was indeed. After swim lessons, the pool was closed for lap swim, and Jim was coaching Leo on his butterfly.
"Okay, keep your hands just a little shallower, and bring your arms our longer," Jim instructed. "And now, swim to me."
Leo bounced twice before pushing off from the bottom of the pool and attempting to follow Jim's instructions. One, two, three good strokes and he had reached Jim in the middle of the lane.
Jim frowned. "Okay, its getting better, but your hands are still going deep. Go grab a pull buoy and we'll try something new . Actually, bring one for me to," he called as Leo pushed himself out of the water.
"Got it," Leo called as he tossed the two pull buoys into the water and followed them in with a splash. "So what exactly are we going to do with these?" he asked, bobbing over to the blond.
Jim grabbed one of the floating aids and shoved it between his legs. "You're going to do a drill where you drag your thumbs as you stroke. Focus on your arms, not your torso or kick. Here, I'll show you," Jim said , pushing off the bottom and taking a few strokes, his thumbs never leaving the water. "You try. Swim to me again."
"Um, okay." Leo shoved the pull buoy into position and tried to recreate what Jim had done. While he was focusing on his arms, however, his head slipped back into it's ducked position, and he lost sight of Jim- until he crashed headfirst into the blond's torso.
Jim was laughing when Leo surfaced, bright red in the face and only inches from the blond's.
"Oh my God," Leo muttered. "I'm so sorry, Jim."
"It's okay, Bones," Jim laughed. "Shit happens. I guess I'll just have to get my revenge somehow."
Without warning, Leo felt a weight on his back and his head was sliding underwater. When he fought his way back to the surface, Jim toppled off of Leo's back, laughing too hard to maintain his grip, and the pull buoys had shot to the other side of the lane from being submerged.
"Oh, so that's how it is?" Leo asked accusingly, splashing Jim in the face and laughing despite himself.
"Oh, it's on, Bones!"
When they finally stopped splashing each other, they were both breathing hard and standing toe-to-toe.
"Truce?" Leo offered, sticking out his hand.
"Truce," Jim agreed, taking the hand and using it to pull Leo close. "Hi."
"Hi," Leo breathed, and then Jim closed the distance, bringing their faces together and sealing the peace agreement with a kiss.
"C'mon, Leo! Cut it out with the PDA!" he heard Geoff yell with a groan.
Leo instead chose to stick his middle finger up at his friend in the chair, never separating from Jim.
Yeah, Leo thought, there were definitely some perks to being a lifeguard.