Chapter Text
'two bros chilling in a hot tub, zero feet apart because they're literally gay!' pip sings as she kneels down, placing a drink for me and jason on the concrete.
how we're here, in a random public pool in the middle of a heatwave, with nobody else? who knows.
everyone else went to one of the nicest pools in the area, a private pool, but all durham students had access to it. me, georgia, jason, pip, and rooney, or at least mostly rooney, decided we would go to this random, small, worn down public pool that had a hot tub.
jason scoffs at the comment and gives pip an annoyed look, my face doesn't change.
'you alright, sunil?' he looks at me.
'i'm alright.'
'are you sure?' he asks. 'you were zoning out.'
i shrug.
i look over at pip and rooney, pip has got back in the pool and they're playing in the water, splashing eachother like children. georgia is sunbathing.
jason taps me on the shoulder. i look at him.
'd'you want your drink?' he asks.
'oh, yes.' i laugh.
'you can't be aware of everything for one second, can you?' he teases. 'down to earth, sunil.'
i laugh and he hands me my drink.
'thank you.' i say.
'of course.' he smiles. i stare down at the water. not the time to have a gay panic.
'are you thanking JASON?' pip scoffs, 'excuse me, I was the one that brought you your drinks.'
'thank you, pip.'
pip smiles.
'i'm going to go in the pool. you can come if you'd like!' jason says.
'i'm alright.'
jason nods before getting out of the hot tub, trotting off to the pool. i get out of the hot tub momentarily to grab my phone, once i get back i look at it. there's a few texts from pip from a few minutes earlier.
—
Pip Quintana
Dude I doubt you're going to see this bc you have your phone away but HOLY SHIT I don't know if you're noticing it but I think Jason is like, having a gay panic
I'm surprised you arn't realizing it tbh
He does not seem straight
HIS FACE WAS RED, SUNIL, TELL ME THAT ISNT A LITTLE GAY
maybe he was just hot??
i doubt he's gay
read at 14:11
I thought u were texting me lol
Okay but seriously. He was having a gay panic
HE WAS PROBABLY HOT, PIP, IT'S HOT AS FUCK IN THIS HOT TUB 😞
read at 14:15
Nah he's gay
Or bi
Maybe pan??
omfg pip he was probably just hot. if u don't believe me then come in here
read at 14:16
Nah
Hot tubs are for old men
are you calling me an old man
read at 14:16
Yep!
i am not old
read at 14:18
Yes u are
nope
read at 14:19
—
'PIP!' rooney yells. 'get off your fucking phone! this is a pool not a place to be on your phone!'
'ugh, i was texting a friend.'
'what friend?'
pip whispers something that i'm not able to hear, but i have a guess and jason looks over me and gives me a questioning look. i just shrug.
then, jason gets up out of the pool and walks over to the hot tub.
'get out of here, sunil, we're at the pool to cool off and you're in the hot tub?' he laughs.
'you were in the hot tub a few minutes ago.'
'i was also warming up and i was in the pool first, you just went straight to the hot tub.'
'the hot tub is nice though!!'
'just come on.' jason whines.
'ugh, fine.' i laugh, as i climb up the steps, he gives me a hand, which i accept, and he seems like he didn't expect me to actually take it because he flinches and i swear he turns a bit red.
'oh, sorry.' i laugh awkwardly.
'uhm— no it's — it's fine.' he looks at the ground.
i have no doubt that pip just saw this.
i sit down on the steps of the pool, jason goes and swims.
'you arn't going to swim?' he asks.
'i don't think so, i'm not much of a swimmer.'
'c'mon, you know how, right?'
'i.. think?'
'well if you drown i will save you.'
'and me!!' rooney says. 'my mum taught me how to do CPR.'
'your mum knows how to do CPR on people?' pip asks.
'yeah, i thought i told you she was a nurse??'
'oh god, i learn more stuff about you everyday.'
'so.' jason says as we walk into the deeper end of the pool.
'so?' i ask.
'what'd you do like, last summer? you said you weren't much of a swimmer.'
'oh, there were alot more pride soc events during summer so i mostly just went to those, and during heatwaves i just stayed indoors.'
'oh, so all of this is kind of stepping out of your comfort zone?' jason asks.
'yeah.. definitely, but it's really nice being here with you guys!'
'awh,' he says. 'i like being here with you guys too, it's mice to finally have people other then pip and georgia. you're really nice to be around.'
'you,' i pause. 'you're nice to be around too.'
he smiles at me.
'i need to go to the loo.' i say quickly, not actually meaning it, i just need to get somewhere where i can text pip and scream about the fact i am probably having a gay panic right now.
he nods, so i get out of the pool and grab my phone, which probably seems suspicious as it is terribly gross to take your phone to the loo, but then again, it's sort of normal in our house.
i find the bathroom, which luckily isnt too far off, i go into a stall and lock myself in it and lean against the door.
—
Pip Quintana
HOLY FUCK I AM HAVING A GAY PANIC SEND HELP
read at 14:57
Well you have reached the correct person
Jason I'm guessing?
WHO ELSE WAS I TALKING TO THAT I COULD'VE HAD A GAY PANIC OVER??
read at 14:57
Idk
A ghost?
Ok stupid question
omfg
he's straight though
why is being gay so hard
read at 14:58
Felt
But he probably isn't tbh
I thought Rooney was straight and boom it's obvious she's not
one, he literally has never showed he's been attractive to any gender other then females, and two, that's rooney
read at 14:59
I swear he's bi or pan he's probably just closeted
I mean I could ask
I think he'd trust me
Hopefully
you don't have to do that
read at 15:00
I mean I could
I could just come into his room and say 'Hi do you like any other gender then females its for an essay'
pip we are on summer break
read at 15:00
So??
I could pass it off as a summer work essay
what class would even assign it in the first place??
read at 15:01
Idk
thought so
read at 15:02
What even happened?? Rooney was telling me abt her mum being a nurse so I didn't hear anything that happened
he was just being nice but i'm having a gay panic over it
i like being complimented
especially by boys i kind of like
read at 15:02
Kind of?? Seems like you have a massive crush on him
shut up 😭
read at 15:03
No
Ok but what happened what'd he say I need DETAILS
he said he liked hanging out with me
read at 15:03
Reasonable thing to have a gay panic over tbh
Especially cuz you're so in love with him
i literally just have a small crush on him i swear
i try not to fall for straight boys
read at 15:04
ROONEY IS TRYING TO STEAL MY PHONE
SO IS JASON
AAAAA
We will talk more about this later
Ok fuck bye
—
'hey.' jason smiles as i appear around the corner.
'hi!' i walk into the pool.
'me and rooney tried to steal pip's phone because she wouldn't get off it.' jason laughs. 'she put it away before we could see what she was doing.'
thank god, i think.
'that's too bad.' i laugh.
he nods.
'd'you wanna swim?' he asks.
'sure!'
me and jason go to the shallowest part of the pool, well not the shallowest, but the shallowest water you can swim in, and decide to race to the wall on the other side of the pool, jason swims really, really well, and i struggle and have to stick close to the side. i’ve never been a fan of swimming, so i never fully learned how to.
'oh my god.' jason laughs as i've finally made it to the other end of the pool. 'you suck at this.'
'i'm not a fan of swimming, remember?' i whine. 'i'm not active like you are.'
'you should try swimming more, it's fun.'
'i'll try it more, just for you.'
'really?' he asks. 'pip and georgia don't really enjoy swimming except for the fact it's a way to cool off..'
'i do enjoy swimming!' georgia yells. 'you've just never seen me actually do it for working out.'
'since when were you awake?' jason asks.
'i was never asleep??'
'i swear you were.'
'well, i'm not, i was just staring at the sky questioning my life choices and why i decided to be friends with you guys.'
'oh my god, shut up.'
they both laugh.
'but really.' he asks me. 'you'd try swimming?'
'i need to get outside more anyway.' i laugh. 'i guess i can't be spending summer break going to clubs and staying in the house. you'll have to teach me though.'
'i'd love to teach you!!' he smiles.
'great!' i smile back at him and jason wraps his arm around my shoulder.
‘stop being homos.’ pip scoffs jokingly.
‘since when is this considered homo?’ jason laughs.
‘well, according to the homoromantic agenda —‘
‘oh my god, not this conversation again.’ jason interrupts.
‘it’s true though!!’
‘no it is not.’
‘jason is right, hugging isn’t necessarily considered to be romantic, it can be platonic too, you know.’ i say.
‘ugh fine!!’ pip whines.
i laugh. ‘stop shipping us so much.’ i look up at jason and notice his cheeks are tinted a light shade of pink, just from the heat, he’s probably just hot.
‘it’s funny though!’
‘it really isn’t.’ jason turns his head to look away.
theres silence for a minute or two.
‘shouldn’t we be heading out soon?’ georgia asks. ‘it’s almost 4:30.’
‘probably.’ i say.
we all get out of the pool, jason gets towels for the four of us, georgia didn’t need one as she’d been sunbathing over half the time we were here, we all go to the locker rooms to change into our dry clothes.
‘alright, are we walking or getting an uber?’ rooney asks.
‘i’m fine with either.’ i say. jason shrugs, and pip says she doesn’t feel like walking but she would if we have to.
‘how about if we book an uber, someone has to pay for it, and that person is not me, i forgot to bring my wallet.’
nobody seems to want to pay, but they do want an uber.
‘i’ll pay for it, i have some cash in my bag.’ pip looks at me like i have just done the biggest deed in the world.
‘yes!’ she shouts. ‘thank you, parent sunil!’
‘please do not call me parent sunil.’
pip laughs.
‘okay, our uber is gonna be here in like fifteen minutes.’ rooney stares at her phone. ‘god, this guy looks like a serial killer.’
‘if he’s a serial killer i’m blaming pip for wanting an uber so bad.’ georgia laughs.
‘isn’t sunil the one paying?’
‘sunil only is paying you because otherwise you wouldn’t stop complaining.’
‘i would not complain!’ pip scoffs.
‘explain the walk here then.’
‘that was different!!’
‘oh my god.’ georgia laughs, and everyone else does, including me.
we all get in a conversation about nonsense, a usual thing, jason sticks closer by me then he normally does, i don’t question it.
finally, the uber gets here, it’s a minivan so we’re all thankfully able to fit in without being squeezed.
we arrive back at our house ten minutes later.
‘so, whos up for netflix surfing, pajamas, and pizza?’ rooney says happily as we’ve all settled in in the living room.
we all say yes, so first we all shower to get the ridiculous amount of chlorine off of us, it takes a good hour for everyone to finish showering, but i can’t complain, in my second year i had to share a house with 6 complete strangers, except for jess, it’s nicer to be in a home with people who actually know me.
my pajamas have cats all over them and are quite soft, i bought them from a store in my hometown last christmas.
i’m the first person to get to the couch, jason follows.
‘can i sit here?’ he asks.
‘where?’
‘next to you.’
‘go ahead.’ i give him a warm smile.
he sits down and scoots close to me, wrapping one of his arms around my torso and putting his head on my shoulder.
‘hi.’ i breath, this is not something i’m used to and i’m fairly sure my face is red.
‘hello.’ his voice is quiet. ‘is this okay? i can uhm — just sit in in the armchair—‘
‘yeah.’ i put an arm around his shoulder. i look at his arm, then at him, and i can’t help but feel a sense of security.
then i look up, pip is standing a few feet away, but says nothing, instead, she just sits down on the other end of the couch.
rooney and georgia walk in a few minutes later, they both say nothing, thankfully, because i don’t know how i could explain the fact that holy fuck a boy i like is holding me because it actually hasn’t registered in my brain yet.
rooney picks the first show, and none of us take full interest in it, we all have very different tastes when it comes to shows on netflix but eventually we all find one we all like, which takes an hour, by now we’re all exhausted as hell, why does sunbathing and sitting in pools take up so much energy?
about thirty minutes into the third episode jason has fallen asleep, with his head rested against my shoulder, so it comes to my attention that i either have to wake jason or just stay here for the night, i’m not a fan of the first option as he is sleep deprived horribly but the couch is also uncomfortable, but i go with the second option, because i can’t help but feel a want to stay here with him.
it’s 12 by the time i actually decide to sleep, we watched 6 episodes, which were all 45 minutes long, i try to get comfortable, which is difficult when you’re sitting up, but i’m able to. i look at jason again and smile, and then i rest my head against the back cushion of the couch and fall asleep.