Chapter Text
Only Magnus could come up with an idea like this, Isak thought, as he was pressing his foot down over and over again in a steady rhythm. At least they had a foot pump in the carage. If the inflatable pool would have been needed to be blown full this plan would have been rejected from the start. But they took turns with pumping and the pool was filling up nicely. It was the biggest paddle pool Isak had ever seen, about two meters across. They would all fit in it at once, just like Magnus had said.
Something landed on the grass at Isak’s feet in a brown flash. Isak looked down and saw a bottle of sun oil. He frowned, and looked up at Jonas who was walking to him grinning from ear to ear.
“Skin cancer is a thing, you know”, Jonas stated firmly and reached down to pick up the bottle. “Turn around.”
Isak didn’t want to. He would risk all the cancer in the world rather than let Jonas rub oil on his skin. He tried to tell Jonas to fuck off, that he was busy inflating the pool, but Jonas had none of it. Finally he just popped the cap and squirted the oil on Isak’s bare back. It splashed on him, wet and slick, and ran down toward his swimming shorts in a quick stream.
Jonas caught it with the side of his hand. Isak stopped breathing. All he could think about was that he could not, under any circumstance, let Jonas notice anything weird, and thinking about that made him almost miss out how it felt to have Jonas stroke on his bare skin with his hands. They felt so strong. Jonas smelled so good, he smelled like tanned skin and sunshine. Isak was going to break, he just knew it, he was going to crumble into the ground. Melt into a puddle. Why did Jonas have to rub him so vigorously?
“This shit needs to be really worked in or it’ll just sit on your skin and do nothing”, Jonas explained calmly. He sounded like he was soothing Isak, like many times before. But now, combined with this touch, with the slickness of the oil, it was nothing but soothing. Don’t shake, Isak commanded himself, don’t shake. And for the love of everything, don’t get hard.
When Jonas was done with Isak’s back and stepped in front of him Isak just stood there, waiting. Jonas laughed at him.
“Dude, I know you’re lazy AF, but I am not going to oil up your chest and abs for you.”
Isak blinked, confused. Shit. Of course not! He had been so busy worrying about what would happen if Jonas did, that it never occurred to him that Jonas wouldn’t. Isak grinned and grabbed the bottle. He squirted some oil on his hand and rubbed it sloppily all over himself. He was not doing as good a job as Jonas was. He wanted to get over with it fast, because it felt fucking weird to touch himself in front of his best bro.
While Isak was rubbing the oil into his chest Jonas did his own frontside. Then, to Isak’s horror, he turned his back to Isak.
Isak stared at the shoulders. The shoulderblades. The slight curve of the lower back. Jonas had been lifting a while back, and though the obvious muscle definition was gone by now, Isak could totally tell Jonas’ efforts had bore fruit. And now Isak was supposed to touch that back. With oil.
“Come on, mister lazypants! Get on with it before I develope melanoma!”
Isak made his best groan to disguise his inner turmoil. He squirted some oil on his hand and started spreading it on Jonas’ back.
His skin was so warm. It was smooth. It had a slight tan already, the summer was on its last leg by now. Isak held his breath, leaned in a bit and took a little sniff at Jonas as quietly as he could. He pulled back before breathing out. Jonas smelled wonderful. His scent mixed with the sun oil as Isak rubbed it in.
“Put your back to it”, Jonas joked. He had been giving Isak crap about him not hitting the gym. But Isak liked being scrawny and weak, in a way. It was easier to not catch any attention when you didn’t look like much.
“Done”, Isak said. He dropped the bottle like it was burning in his hands. He was, miraculously, not even semi right now. Excellent body control. Well done. Maybe he was too terrified to be turned on. It didn’t matter, as long as Jonas or anyone else didn’t notice anything.
“Oy! Is the pool ready?” Mahdi shouted from the front door. Isak rolled his eyes and got back to pumping.
“Almost!” Jonas replied to Mahdi. “Bring out the hose.”
Mahdi was grinning as he walked to the pool, carrying a canister in his hand.
“Sorry, guys. Magnus is bored.”
Isak and Jonas pretended to gasp. Magnus being bored meant interesting times. He had a vivid imagination, plenty of gusto and a very holey filter.
“Now what?” Jonas asked. Mahdi slammed the canister on the ground. Isak looked at the label.
“Who has a five litre canister of sun oil?”
“My words exactly. Magnus just asked me have I seen how white he is.” Mahdi shrugged. “Anyhow, he has three of these bad boys. And it just gets weirder from there.”
“I can imagine”, Jonas chuckled. Isak kept pumping because he didn’t know what else to do. He had a bad feeling about this.
“Found them!” Magnus exclaimed from the door and skipped to the other guys. He was holding two white tennis socks in his hand. His other hand had more interesting cargo - a bottle of vodka, straight from the freezer. The bottle was covered in white mist, and it made Isak lick his lips.
“Please, Mags”, Jonas said. “What is going on?”
“I am bored! We can’t just lay around in the pool all day, I’m sick of talking with you guys. No offence.”
“If you’re sick of us why did you invite us over?”
Magnus grinned.
“I have no other friends. I placed all my bets on you guys and I’m stuck with you now.”
Mahdi patted on his chest.
“Touching! Can’t you just feel the love in the air?”
Magnus dismissed Mahdi’s remark with a wave of a sock. He checked on the pool and told Isak to stop pumping.
“I saw this on Love Island. It was hilarious.”
Jonas, Isak and Mahdi exchanged looks. Oh boy. Magnus plugged up the pool and uncapped the canister. All three boys watched in disbelief as Magnus poured the sun oil into the pool.
“Okay I’m leaving”, Isak said. Magnus grabbed his arm.
“No. You’re staying, and you’re taking part, and you will get vodka for it.”
“Vodka is relevant to my interests”, Isak admitted. He sighed, rolling his eyes again. “Okay, what is this idea of yours?”
Magnus explained the rules to them. Two participants would enter “the ring”, each wearing a sock, and the goal was to remove the opponent’s sock before they managed to snatch yours. The winner would get to down a shot of vodka.
“And no dirty moves! No groping. No biting. And no licking!”
Jonas raised his brows at Magnus.
“No licking?”
“It could be a huge distraction! Right, Isak? You’re with me in this, right?”
Isak almost choked. Fucking Magnus! Did he want Isak to drop dead right there and then?
“Fine”, Jonas came to Isak’s rescue. “No licking. Gimme that.” Jonas grabbed the sock and pulled it on his bare foot. He stepped into the pool and almost slipped at the first step. “Fuck! That’s slick!”
“That’s what he said”, Mahdi cracked. Magnus thought it was hilarious, and even Isak smiled a bit. His mood was getting better. The vodka and the glimmer of the drops on the bottle’s side were really alluring. The rules had prohibited licking, otherwise Isak would have been licking that bottle already.
“Well? I’m not going to wrestle myself, and I’m really getting thirsty.”
Isak would not raise his hand. He was not going to wrestle Jonas in nothing but swimshorts and a sock. Hell no.
“Fine”, Magnus sighed. “It’s time I touch up my SPF anyway. Do NOT touch this bottle, Issy and Mahdi.”
Isak and Mahdi pretended to be offended, but everyone knew it was a fair remark. Magnus put the bottle down on the grass and pulled the sock on his foot. He got in the pool and grouched, ready to wrestle.
“Mahdi, will you be the jugde?”
“Sure”, Mahdi agreed and stepped closer to the ring. “Okay, wrestlers, I want a clean fight. No oral action, no naughty bits touched, no hair pulling or face scratching. May the best man win. Three, two, one, go!”
Magnus had been right. It was hilarious. Isak was howling with laughter by the time Jonas had locked Magnus down with his legs around his waist, and Magnus was squirming and slipping like some kind of greasy fish. A very pale one. To absolutely no-one’s surprise Jonas managed to pull the sock off Magnus. He waved it triumphantly over his head.
“Yasss! Issy, pour me a shot!”
Isak shrugged.
“I’m not allowed to touch the bottle.”
Mahdi giggled like a madman, exclaimed he was willing to take the chance and cracked the bottle open. He filled up the sun oil canister’s cork with the ice cold vodka and handed it over to Jonas. Jonas raised it on his lips, emptied it and grimaced.
“It still had some oil in it”, Jonas groaned.
“You’re covered in it, dude, it’s just you.”
Jonas grinned.
“Probably. Who’s next?”
“There’s no point in pulling off a sock that’s still on. So either Mahdi or Issy, you’re up next. Can you beat the standing champion?”
Isak really, really didn’t want to wrestle with an oiled up Jonas. So he did his best to encourage Mahdi to take the challenge, and promised to fight the winner. He really, really hoped it would be Mahdi. But Jonas was already covered in oil, he would be hard to grab. Jonas handed the sock over to Mahdi, who pulled it on and immediately complained about how nasty it felt on his foot.
“You get used to it!” Magnus demanded. “Get in the ring, sissy!”
“That’s toxic masculinity, asshole”, Mahdi educated Magnus. But he got in the ring, and he attacked Jonas the second Magnus said Go. He dove down and went straight for the sock, and less than a minute later he was holding it in his hand.
“Yasss!” Isak cheered. He poured Mahdi his prize while Jonas whined that he thought Isak was his bro. Jonas stepped out of the pool, defeated, and Isak pulled the sock on. It really did feel weird and icky. Totally unsanitary, too. But it didn’t matter, vodka was a desinfectant.
The rush of the competition was getting to Isak. He was more and more comfortable with all this, it was just some fun in the sun, with his best friends. His bros. His squad. There was nothing to be worried about, was there? Isak stepped in the slippery pool and eyed at Mahdi. He was taller than Mahdi. He had longer arms and longer legs. This should be easy enough.
It was. Isak barely noticed his hands were gliding along some smooth, sexy boy skin, he didn’t care about the muscles right beneath it, all ne cared about was his target. The sock. Mahdi didn’t really stand a chance. Isak reached the sock, grabbed it and yanked it off Mahdi’s foot.
He was laughing so much his stomach was hurting. The sun was shining, he was together with his friends, having fun, and the vodka was still so cold he couldn’t taste it at all when it ran down his throat. It was just lovely.
Music started playing. Isak threw his head back and laughed.
“Eye of the Tiger?”
“Rising up to the challenge of our rival!” Jonas put his phone down and got up on his feet. He raised his hands in the boxing position and did a little dance with his feet. “Up for it, champion?”
“Isn’t it Mags’ turn?” Isak tried, but Mags was happy to let Jonas take his place. He said he was hungry for a rematch, and if Jonas had downed two shots before that he had an advantage. So, Jonas pulled the sock on and stepped into the ring. He was so close. Too close. Isak stepped back, trying to circle the ring, but he slipped and fell and when that happened, Jonas was on top of him.
Jonas with his hot, sun-kissed skin.
Jonas and his scent.
Jonas, pressed against Isak, slipping with the oil.
Isak had to get away from this pool. He had to escape before it was too late. The only way he could think of was to get that fucking sock.
Fuck, Jonas had nice thighs. His calves were beautiful, too. Jonas kept squirming, pulling his legs away from Isak, who kept his eyes fixed on the sock. He needed that sock. It was going to be his. Isak dug his toes in the ground through the bottom of the pool and pushed, as hard as he could. He slid forward on his belly, and as he passed the sock he managed to grab it and pull it with him.
“YES!” Magnus jumped up and did a little dance. “That was an AWESOME fight!”
Isak heard cheering and claps, too. But from the wrong direction. All four of them turned to look by the fence and saw five guys leaning on it, watching them. Isak wasn’t happy to notice they were all smoking hot. He was barely getting used to finding guys hot in general, he didn’t need five hotties in a row like that. Watching him squirm on the ground all oiled up.
“Hey”, one of them shouted, “that looks fun! Can we come?”
Isak bit his cheek so he wouldn’t shake his head. But when the strange guys raised their bags above the fence and presented the booze they were willing to share, Mahdi, Mags and Jonas got so excited Isak could just shrug and kind of slink back.
The guys told their names, but Isak missed them all. One of them was maybe called Adam? Was Mutta a name? It didn’t really matter, they were just some random guys who wanted to oil wrestle with them, because apparently life wanted to rub this gay thing in Isak’s face.
Isak realized too late he was still in the ring with a sock on. One of the guys took his shirt off and Isak stopped working at all. He had a body that looked photoshopped. Perfect abs. Definded pecs. His shoulders looked so strong, his guns were fully loaded and oh god he was stripping down to his underwear now. Isak stared at his bulge for half a second, and that was half a second too long. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I didn’t catch your name? I’m Elias.” The guy held out his hand. Isak forced himself to shake it, and that was when the guy yanked his hand. Isak slipped, he fell on his back, his foot up in the air, and the guy just pulled the sock off him while his mates cheered. Magnus tried to void the match, but Isak said it was okay and happily slithered out of the ring.
“I think I sprained something”, Isak said, with a pretend pained face. He walked a bit further away and accepted happily a beer that had appeared from the goodie bags the guys had brought with them. Isak sat down on the grass, still covered in oil, and cracked the can open. The beer was cold and crisp, and the show of Elias wrestling with Magnus was hilarious. Magnus was hell bent on avenging Isak, and no matter how Elias tried, he couldn’t get a grip on the writhing squirmy thing that was Magnus.
Isak had no idea who won that fight. Because someone else appeared on the yard. He was short of breath, from having to catch up his squad. His cheeks were flushed, his hair stuck on his forehead, he looked adorable and good enough to eat. Isak stared at him with his mouth open. He had rarely seen anyone taller than himself, and this guy made that height look incredible. He was like..a giraffe, but in a good way. The best way.
Isak’s heart was beating so loud. He just stared at the guy, who looked at the ring in an exhilarated disbelief. He wasn’t believing his eyes, and at the same time he was loving what he was seeing. That look really worked for him. But, if Isak thought about it, he couldn’t come up with a look that wouldn’t. That guy looked good no matter what.
That guy was walking towards Isak.
Shit. He really was coming to Isak, wasn’t he?
He had a killer smile. And at the same time Isak could see something else, just because he knew where to look, from experience. There was something behind that smile, something sad. A crack.
Isak tried to look at Jonas. Topless Jonas, all oiled up, glistening in the sun. But he didn’t -- Jonas was still hot, but the need was gone. His thirst was quenched. When Isak looked at the tall gorgeousness approaching him, the need rushed back. His every instinct was ordering him to jump this guy, immediately, and Isak was so lucky he had this much experience with holding back around Jonas.
“Hello”, the guy said and sat down. “Are these the cheap seats?”
Isak made a sound he hoped sounded like human laughter.
“The cheapest. But the beer’s cold.”
“I’ll take your word for it”, the guy said. Isak saw it again, the flash, the dark. It was pulling him in. Isak needed to know what that darkness was, so he could make it go away.
“You’re late to the party”, Isak said. The guy nodded.
“Yeah, I got stuck in a phone call. My girlfriend was -- well, I’m not sure if she’s my girlfriend anymore.”
Isak made a face. Of course. His luck, this was just typical.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
The guy shrugged.
“Yeah, well, it is what it is. I’m so sick of her trying to change me. I am what I am, and she should love me for it, right?”
Isak mumbled something and drank from his beer. He did not want to talk about this guy’s girlfriend with him. Literally, anything else, please. So, he held out his hand.
“Isak.”
The guy shook Isak’s hand. He had a nice, firm grip.
“Even. Nice to meet you.”
Wait. Did Even just run his eyes up and down Isak’s oiled up body? No, Isak must have been mistaken. But then Even moved his hand and touched Isak’s abs. He stroked at them, then rubbed his fingertips together.
“This is an interesting activity.”
Isak couldn’t speak. His skin was burning from where Even had touched him. His brain had turned off, but to his bad luck, his mouth hadn’t.
“What, touching oiled up guys unsolicited?”
Even laughed. His eyes squinted when he laughed.
“Well, let’s say touching oiled up guys in general.” Even nodded at the ring, where two guys Isak didn’t know were chasing each other’s socks. “You do this often?”
“Yeah, every Saturday. We’re aiming for the Dirty Olympics in Stockholm in 2020.”
There that squint was again. Isak was totally mesmerized by it.
“Dirty Olympics? I really should catch up with sports, it seems.”
“Yeah, it’s really rising up. I used to compete in bum balloons but I got allergic to the rubber.”
“Bum balloons? Is that -- wait, don’t tell me. I want to figure it out.” Isak didn’t tell Even, he just waited. And stared at Even. This was staring, wasn’t this? For some reason Isak didn’t care. He stared, and waited, and when it dawned on Even Isak was rewarded with the sight of light spreading across that gorgeous face. “You sit on balloons to pop them, right?”
“Yes, but competitively. There are mandatory moves and style points and all.”
Even was grinning.
“Really? Show me a move.”
Isak cocked his head and licked his lips. Fuck, he was so gone.
“I got injured when your mate Elias played dirty.”
Even nodded, knowingly.
“Ah. Yes. He does that.”
“If you were here on time you could have warned me”, Isak said.
“I’m terribly sorry about that. My bad.”
Isak forgave Even his mishap. He would have forgiven him anything. They kept on talking, joking, laughing, and the more Isak talked with Even the more certain he was of it. He was totally, irreversibly, gone for Even.
“Okay, now that is just gay porn”, Even laughed and pointed at the arena. The guys had got tired with the wrestling and were now cleaning themselves and each other up with the hose. Isak stared at them with his mouth open. The glistening abs. The wet hair. Hands rubbing on skin, trying to rinse the persistant oil off.
“Yeah”, Isak mumbled, “totally.”
It dawned on him too late. He wasn’t supposed to know what gay porn looked like, was he?
“I mean. I can imagine”, Isak tried to explain, but then someone turned the hose and sprayed at them. The water was cold, it made them shriek and scream and shout-laugh. Isak stared at Even, who was dripping with water, his shirt clinging to his skin, and he was - thank heaven! - speechless. When Even reached out and rubbed the oil off Isak’s skin, Isak didn’t have words to tell him to stop. He kept looking at Even’s lips.
“I’m so sorry!”
Isak looked up. It was Magnus.
“I didn’t realize you were still dressed! Come.” Magnus grabbed Even’s arm and pulled him inside the house. Isak missed him immediately, so he had to get up on his feet and follow them. They were in Magnus’ room, where Magnus was pulling things out of his closet. Even chose a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and thanked Magnus. Isak pulled back, hiding in the kitchen doorway, when Magnus returned outside. When Magnus was gone Isak sneaked closer to the door to his room.
Even was undressing. He pulled his wet shirt over his head, and Isak made a little sound deep in his throat. It was quiet, but it was enough for Even to hear him. He turned to face the door, smiling.
“Come on in.”
Isak shouldn’t have. But he did. He stepped inside and looked at Even, his eyes wide, his lips parted.
“I don’t -- I mean, I’m not -- I don’t know why I’m here.”
Even just nodded. Then he stepped closer. Isak swallowed,
“Is that. Is that okay?”
Even nodded again. He looked at Isak’s lips.
Isak looked at Even’s lips. They were so full and pretty. They looked delicious. Isak forced himself to look up from them, but then he saw Even’s wet hair stuck on his face, and his eyes, that were staring at Isak’s lips.
It was too late.
There was no stopping now.
Isak had stopped a million times before. He had stopped just before touching Jonas’ lips when he was sleeping. He had stopped just before speaking up, saying the words, telling Jonas how he felt. He knew what it was like to stop at the last possible moment, and now he knew he couldn’t.
Even leaned in and kissed him. He made it possible, just by doing it. Isak was kissing a boy. He was kissing a boy who was kissing him back, and it hadn’t been possible before this but now it was. For this kiss, for these wonderful seconds, it was possible and it was real and it was happening.
“Isak? Are you there?” Magnus yelled from the front door. Isak jumped back, and wiped his lips, and he saw that Even noticed him doing that. He saw the crack, for the briefest moment, and that didn’t do. Isak stepped forward and kissed Even, he kissed him as hard as he could, to seal that crack with the kiss.
“I’m not. Out.” Isak whispered hastily, still nibbling on Even’s lips. “Okay?”
“It’s cool”, Even said. “Tell them you were in the bathroom.”
“I feel like shit”, Isak whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
Even took his hand and kissed his knuckles.
“You owe me a date. Somewhere your friends don’t go.”
Isak nodded. Yes. That sounded good. That sounded perfect.
“Isak?”
“Yeah, coming!” Isak looked at Even from the room’s door. He hurried back to him and kissed him one more time. Then he had to leave the house and walk out into the sunshine, where his friends were waiting for him.