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🏄🏻
Louis can feel the sun beating down on the backs of his legs, and he makes a mental note to put on another layer of sunscreen when he gets back up to the tower. Summer at Bondi is often intense, but today has been brutal. They’re in the middle of a week-long heatwave, according to the weather forecasters, and it’s only going to get worse. It’s barely 10am, but it’s already 35 degrees outside, with the temperature set to soar into the 40s by the afternoon.
He smiles at the little girl in front of him, who’s got a bright pink rashie on underneath her neon floatie vest. Her mum’s got her in a big hug, and Louis can hear the relief in her voice as she gently admonishes her daughter for walking off on her own.
“I was so worried about you!” she says, pushing up her sunglasses to wipe away a stray tear. “I didn’t know where you’d gone!”
The little girl tucks her face into her mum’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” the woman says to Louis. “I really appreciate your help, you’re an angel.”
“No worries at all,” Louis says. “That’s what we’re here for.”
And it is, it’s all part of the job. Some people might not realise, but the lifeguards at Bondi do so much more than just rescue people from drowning. They work to keep everyone on the beach safe, and while they might spend most of their time monitoring swimmers and pulling tourists out of rips, they also help reunite lost children with their families, deal with bag thieves, help to treat people’s injuries and illnesses, deal with sharks and blue bottles and drunk beachgoers. One thing’s for sure, Louis’ job is never boring.
After a few more grateful thank yous, the woman and her daughter head off along the beach, and Louis smiles as he watches them go.
“Another happy family reunion,” Liam says from his seat in the Rhino. “Well done, Tommo.”
“Tommo to Central,” he says into his radio, elbowing Liam in the ribs as he jumps in next to him. “Mum and daughter have been reunited successfully. Payno and I are coming back up now.”
“Roger that,” comes Sammy’s crackly voice through the radio.
“Come on, Payno,” Louis says, pulling his cap off to fan his face. “I need some more sunscreen, and there’s a new pack of Zooper Doopers in the freezer that’s calling my name.”
Liam cheers, startling a tourist spread out on a towel nearby, and puts the Rhino into motion, navigating between umbrellas and beach towels to speed back up to the tower. Louis grins as he feels the summer breeze whipping his hair around. It’s been a great day so far, the kind of day that reinforces why he loves being a lifeguard and making a difference to people’s lives, and even the excessive heat can’t get him down.
Louis has been a full time professional lifeguard at Bondi for a few years now, after joining the team as a trainee back when he was a teenager. He and Liam had both started out as trainee lifeguards at the same time, and they hadn’t gotten along very well at the start. They were both naturally competitive, and they were both desperate to prove themselves to the senior lifeguards. Louis had thought that Liam was too uptight and too much of a perfectionist to be any fun, and Liam had told Louis on more than one occasion that he didn’t take their job seriously enough. Eventually, as they’d been forced to spend more time together and work as a team during rescues, what was initially a rivalry had evolved into a fierce friendship.
It’s busy in the Tower when they finally get back. Sammy and Chips are up the front, binoculars in hand as they monitor the swimmers out on the beach. Benny’s in the first aid area, handing cold water bottles to two teenagers who are slumped on the seats. There’s a third person laying on the stretcher, arm over their face, and Nollsy is on the phone, requesting the ambos, by the look of it.
Louis quickly puts on another generous layer of sunscreen, and pulls his own drink bottle out of the staff fridge when Benny reminds him to make sure he drinks extra water today. On days like this, they see so many cases of heatstroke, and it’s crucial that the lifeguards look after themselves so they can look after everyone else.
Liam comes round the corner, a blue Zooper Dooper already in his mouth and a pink one in his hand for Louis, who makes grabby hands at it.
“Thanks, Payno,” he says around a mouthful of icypole.
They sit up the front for a few minutes, watching Maddie head down to the water with the megaphone to try and get a group of people that are swimming outside of the red and yellow flags to move.
“So,” Liam says, and Louis groans.
“What?” Liam protests. “You don’t know what I’m going to say.”
“I know I’m not going to like it,” Louis says, resting his chin in his hands. “You’ve got that tone.”
“I was just going to ask if you’d thought about my suggestion,” Liam says.
“I don’t need you to match make for me, Payno.”
“I think you’d really like Blake,” Liam continues, ignoring Louis’ eye roll. “He’s got nice teeth, and he was very interested when I showed him your photo - ”
“You showed him my photo?”
“Of course,” Liam says. “I showed him your Instagram.”
“Oh god.”
“And he was very interested. He – well, I’m not going to repeat exactly what he said, but he wanted me to ask if you’d be up for going out on a date with him.”
Thankfully, Louis doesn’t have to answer, because Niall chooses that moment to burst through the door of the tower.
“Hey!” he cheers. “Your favourite ambo is here to save the day!”
“Hi, Niall!” Louis says, rushing over to pat him on the shoulder. “Always nice to see you.”
“Okay,” Niall says. “You’re enthusiastic today. What’s up?”
“I’m trying to - ”
“Oh, nothing,” Louis says, cutting Liam off quickly. “Let’s get you over to your patients, hey?”
Liam rolls his eyes and goes back to the front of the tower to help monitor the beach, and Louis follows Niall over to the first aid area.
Two of the girls have recovered a bit, and after being checked over by Niall, they’re free to go with a promise that they’ll keep drinking water and stay out of the sun. The third patient is still looking worse for wear, and Niall decides to take them up to the hospital for further treatment.
Benny and Louis help him get the patient into his ambulance safely. Niall gives them both a hug after he’s got the ambulance ready for transport, and then he grabs onto Louis’ elbow.
“Listen to Liam, mate,” he says. “You need to take a chance.”
Louis can feel the confusion on his face, and Niall just laughs at him, which just makes Louis more annoyed.
He loves his friends, he does, but he doesn’t need them trying to interfere with his love life. He’s a big boy now, and he’s doing just fine on his own. Or, he isn’t, not really, but he’s fine with being single. He is.
He manages to put the thoughts out of his mind, completing three rescues in a row. A dangerous rip has formed, and unaware swimmers keep getting caught in it, being dragged further and further out to sea before they realise what’s happening.
Louis is exhausted as he paddles the last swimmer back to shore, a middle aged tourist who’s panting when he climbs off Louis’ rescue board. “Thank you,” he says. “You saved my life.”
“You’re welcome, mate,” Louis says, patting the man on the back as he tries to catch his breath. “Just remember to stay in between the red and yellow flags, yeah? That’s where it’s safe.”
Louis heads back to the Rhino to retrieve his shirt from where he’d hurriedly tossed it before heading into the water. He puts it back on, and runs his hand through his wet hair.
“Phew,” Liam says, suddenly appearing next to him and dropping his rescue board onto the sand, narrowly missing Louis’ foot. He’d been right behind Louis in running into the water to help rescue the rest of the swimmers in trouble. “Looks like it’s going to be one of those days, huh?”
“All safe and accounted for, though,” Louis says, putting his hand up to give Liam a high five. “That’s the best outcome.” He watches as a group of the rescued swimmers sit together on a picnic rug, looking out at the surf in disbelief.
“So,” Liam says, taking a sip from his water bottle. “Have you had a chance to think about Blake?”
Louis huffs. “I thought you might have forgotten.”
“Is that a maybe, then?”
“No!”
“Come on, Lou,” Liam says. “You’ve been single forever, I can’t even remember the last time you went out on a date. Or even went out looking for a nice bloke.”
“I’m too busy to go out looking for Mr. Right,” Louis says.
“Well you’ve got to do something,” Liam argues. “It’s not like your perfect guy is just going to suddenly appear right in front of you.”
“Central to Tommo,” his radio crackles. “There’s a guy who looks like he might be getting into trouble directly in front of the tower.”
Louis and Liam both immediately turn to their left, and squint out into the surf. After scanning the waves for a few seconds, Louis spots a guy bobbing around quite a way away from the shore. He hasn’t got his hand up waving for help, but from what Louis can see, he’s right in the area of the rip that’s been causing drama all day. It’s only a matter of time before the swimmer might be in serious danger.
“I can see him,” Louis says.
“In the pink tshirt?”
Louis nods. The guy’s too far away to see properly, but he doesn’t seem to have a board to keep him afloat. He’s looking around, like he’s just realised how far he’s gone. Louis has no idea if this guy is a strong swimmer, or if he knows what you’re supposed to do when you get stuck in a rip, but his instinct is telling him that it’s time for him to get out there.
“Payno to Central, we’ve got eyes on him,” Liam says into his radio.
“I’m going out there,” Louis says, already pulling his uniform top over his head and tossing it into the sand.
He’s got the rescue board and is jogging out into the water before Liam’s even finished conveying the message over the radio. He keeps his eyes on the swimmer as he paddles out into the surf. He looks like he’s getting tired, and only his head is visible above the water now.
“Hang on, mate,” Louis shouts out to him.
The waves keep crashing over them both, and he can see the guy getting pushed under water every time. He watches carefully to make sure that he resurfaces, and he does, coughing and struggling to stay afloat.
When he finally reaches the swimmer, he reaches down and grabs his arm, pulling him up to cling onto his blue rescue board.
“I’ve got you, you’re alright,” he says, sitting up on his board so he can hang onto the swimmer’s arm.
There’s another wave coming, and he doesn’t want him to get pushed under again. Once the wave has passed, he lets the guy catch his breath for a second before he instructs him how to climb up onto his board.
“Lying on your tummy, facing forwards,” he says, holding the board steady as the guy attempts to climb on. “That’s it, legs towards me.”
“Thank you,” the guy says, talking for the first time since Louis had plucked him out of the water. He coughs and shakes his hair out of his eyes.
“No worries,” Louis says, watching him carefully as he lies on the board. “You look pretty buggered, mate.”
The guy huffs out a laugh but doesn’t say anything else as Louis starts paddling them both back to the beach, carefully steering them away from the rocks.
He can see Liam watching them from the shore, and he knows that there will be other lifeguards watching the rescue from up in the tower as well. They all look out for each other.
When they reach the shallow water, Louis hops off the board, and helps the swimmer off as well. He’s a bit shaky on his feet as they walk onto the sand, and Louis watches carefully to assess him for any injuries.
“What’s your name, mate?”
“Harry,” he says, “I’m Harry Styles.”
“Well, Harry Styles,” Louis replies, patting him on the shoulder, “You’ve been very lucky today.”
“Oh, I know,” Harry says, putting his hands on his hips and squinting at Louis through the sunshine. This is the first time Louis has gotten a proper look at him, and he feels his cheeks flush when he realises that Harry is quite frankly gorgeous. “It’s not every day you get a hot lifeguard coming to save your life.”
Louis fishmouths, not sure what to say.
Right on cue, Liam appears, a shit eating grin on his face. “Hello,” he says, “I’m Liam. This is my friend Louis, he’s a regular old hero, isn’t he?”
“Shut up, Payno,” Louis hisses, elbowing Liam in the ribs.
“And he’s so humble,” Liam says, ignoring Louis completely. “How are you feeling, Harry? Did you swallow any water?”
“I don’t think so,” Harry says, looking from Louis to Liam and then back again.
“Well, better safe than sorry,” Liam says. “I think you’d better stay with him for a bit, give him a proper check over to make sure he’s alright.”
“Wh- ”
“You can take him up on the Rhino, Tommo, and I’ll stay here and watch the water,” Liam says, pushing them both towards the vehicle.
“Sorry about him,” Louis says once he’s got Harry sitting in the cart. “He’s very enthusiastic.”
“I don’t mind,” Harry says cheekily, “spending time with a nice looking guy like yourself isn’t exactly a hardship.”
“Oh, we’ve got a cheeky one,” Louis says.
“Sorry,” Harry says immediately, colour rushing to his cheeks. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Louis, I know you’re just doing your job - ”
“No, it’s alright,” Louis reassures him. “I was just joking with you.”
He clears his throat, and looks Harry over from head to toe. “How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Okay, now,” Harry says. “Just a bit tired.”
“Well, that’s to be expected after wrestling with a rip,” Louis says.
“I feel pretty embarrassed, actually,” Harry says, laughing self consciously. “I had no idea that I was even in trouble until I was already starting to struggle. I really am very lucky that you were out there.”
“You’re welcome,” Louis says. “Now why don’t we head up to the tower and I’ll get you a Zooper Dooper before I let you loose on the beach again, hey? Lifeguard’s orders.”
Harry laughs. “Sounds great.”
🏄🏻
“So, are you visiting Bondi, or?” Louis asks, trying not to stare at Harry as he eats his blackcurrant Zooper Dooper.
“I just moved up to Sydney from Melbourne,” Harry says. “I figured I should check out Bondi Beach if I’m going to be a Sydney guy now.”
“Well, at least it was a memorable first visit,” Louis says. “Welcome to Bondi, here’s a lifeguard coming to save you from drowning.”
“Oh, it’s definitely been memorable!”
“So why did you move up here from Melbourne?” Louis asks.
“Uni,” Harry says, tipping his icypole wrapper up so he can drink the melted remnants. “I’m getting a law degree.”
“Oh, so you’re a smart one, then,” Louis says.
“Not smart enough to avoid a rip, apparently,” Harry says with a wink.
“And why Sydney? You didn’t want to study back in Melbourne?”
“Bad breakup,” Harry says lightly, and Louis winces. “Plus I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf, so…”
“I could teach you,” Louis says, surprising himself.
“Really?”
“Sure! I mean, I can hardly let you out there on your own, based on what I’ve already seen,” Louis teases. “It wouldn’t be very responsible of me, as a professional lifeguard, you know.”
“Oh,” Harry says, mock seriously. “Of course not.”
“But seriously, if you really want to learn, I could show you the basics,” Louis says.
“Really?” Harry looks hopeful, and Louis can feel all his resolve crumbling.
“Yeah! I’ve got tomorrow off work, we could have our first lesson then, if you’d like?”
“I’d really like that,” Harry says, grinning at Louis.
The moment is broken when Louis’ radio sparks to life again, and he has to get back to his duties. They quickly make arrangements to meet down at the beach again tomorrow morning, and Louis spends the rest of his shift grinning, much to Liam’s amusement.
“I guess I was wrong,” Liam says as they back up their equipment at the end of their shift.
“Of course you were,” Louis says. “About what?”
“I said that your perfect guy wasn’t just going to show up right in front of you,” Liam says, “and then your new boyfriend appeared.”
“Shut up Payno,” Louis says, “he’s not my boyfriend.”
“But you want him to be,” Liam says, looking down at Louis knowingly.
Louis focuses on putting his board away, and doesn’t say a word.
🏄🏻
Louis isn’t sure that he’d thought this all the way through. For starters, Harry is standing in front of him looking eager, wearing only a pair of tiny yellow shorts and some oversized white sunglasses sitting on the top of his head. He’s not wearing a shirt, and Louis now has a full view of the numerous tattoos he’d gotten a hint of the day before. It’s making it very difficult to concentrate.
He also hadn’t considered the fact that deciding to meet Harry back here at Bondi for his lesson would mean that he’d have all his colleagues watching him. Sammy had already driven by them twice, ‘on patrol’, and Louis was sure that there was at least one pair of binoculars up in the tower keeping an eye on him.
Thankfully, Harry seemed oblivious, and very excited to learn. He’d confessed to Louis that he had zero surfing experience, and that he’d barely even gone swimming outside of a swimming pool before.
They’re starting off in the sand, going through the basics there before they even get near the water. Louis has been surfing since he was a little kid, but he’s never actually really taught anyone else before, so this is a bit strange to him. He thinks back to all the exercises that his instructors had taught him all those years ago, and tries his best to project confidence, especially because the way Harry is looking at him is making his legs feel like they’re made of rubber.
“Alright,” he says, clapping his hands together. “I’ve introduced you to your board, so let’s start with some of the motions.”
It’s not quite as hot as it was yesterday, but it’s still easily in the 30s, and Louis can feel the sweat on his skin as he shows Harry how to stand up properly on the board. Harry doesn’t look like he’s faring much better in the heat, and Louis watches, mesmerised, as a drop of sweat travels down Harry’s side, following the curves of his body until it hits the waistband of his shorts.
“Is this right?” Harry asks, looking innocently at Louis as he holds his pose.
“That’s great, Curly,” Louis says. “I think you’re ready to have a go in the water.”
🏄🏻
Harry pops back up from under the water, clutching onto his board with one hand and pushing his wet hair back from his face with the other hand.
“That was awesome!” he cheers, and Louis laughs from where he’s sitting on his own surfboard.
“You fell over after half a second,” he says teasingly. “You didn’t stand a chance once that wave hit you.”
“Ah, but I did stand up!” Harry cheers. “Progress, Louis, it’s progress!”
“Of course,” Louis agrees. “We’ll make a regular Mick Fanning out of you yet.”
“But no punching sharks, thanks,” Harry says, and Louis nods seriously.
“No, let’s stay away from that,” Louis agrees. “You can be the next Steph Gilmore, then, she’s pretty awesome.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Harry says, huffing out a breath as he struggles to get back on his board. Louis holds out his hand to help him on, and blinks in surprise when Harry doesn’t let go.
“This has been really nice,” Harry says, endearingly sincere all of a sudden. “Thank you, Louis.”
“My pleasure,” Louis says, squeezing Harry’s hand softly. “I’m glad you’re having a good time.”
“This is the most fun I’ve had in ages,” Harry says. He lets go of Louis hand, but doesn’t move away. He lifts his hand up questioningly, slowly reaching to rest his hand on Louis’ cheek. “Lou, can I - ”
“Oh, hello!” Louis hears from behind him. “Fancy seeing you here!”
“Liam,” Louis says through gritted teeth. “What are you doing here?”
Liam’s paddling along on one of the rescue boards, watching them with a grin on his face.
“Just monitoring the beach,” Liam says breezily. “Lifeguard duties, you know.”
“And we’re monitoring the beach from the water, now, are we?” Louis asks pointedly.
“Oh, you know, got to be out with the people,” Liam says. “I didn’t know you were here, Lou, and Harry, is it?”
He’s not even trying to be a convincing liar, and if he wasn’t floating just out of reach, Louis would push him off his board. He does splash him, though, not that it seems to deter him at all. It does makes Harry laugh, which placates Louis a bit.
“Louis is teaching me how to surf,” Harry says proudly.
“Is that so?” Liam says exaggeratedly. “How very generous of him to do that.”
“Alright, Liam,” Louis says loudly. “I think you’d better go patrol on the other side of the beach now.”
“Okay, okay,” Liam says. “Have fun boys!”
He paddles away, whistling as he goes, and Louis rolls his eyes.
“Sorry about that,” he says to Harry. “He has a terrible sense of timing.”
“I think it’s sweet that he’s checking up on you,” Harry says. “It’s nice that Liam cares so much.”
“I’d rather not discuss Liam right now, if you don’t mind.”
“Oh?” Harry says cheekily. “And what would you rather talk about?”
“Let me rephrase that,” Louis says, grabbing onto Harry’s surfboard to pull him closer. “I’d rather not talk at all.”
Harry immediately jumps off his board.
Louis is startled for a moment, worrying that he’s misread the signals. His fears are assuaged when Harry pops up again, grinning wildly at Louis as he scrambles up to sit on Louis’ board. He settles on the board, facing Louis, his own board still attached to his ankle and floating off to the side.
Louis reaches out to put one hand on Harry’s side to steady him as the board bobs along in the surf, and Harry leans into the touch.
Louis can’t believe that this is happening. He’s in his favourite place, out in the surf at Bondi, the sun is shining down, and he’s got a gorgeous, lovely, kind guy out here with him.
They stare at each other for a moment, neither one of them speaking. Louis can see the happiness on Harry’s face, happiness that he is sure is mirrored on his own face, and he doesn’t want to wait anymore. He puts his free hand gently in Harry’s hair, and he leans in.
🏄🏻
In the summertime
Baby, in the summertime
That is where I'll be
🏄🏻