A/N – so I said I would update Sunday, but I got too carried away with this and finished it early ^^ I loved writing this chapter, and I will hopefully finish the next chapter by Sunday, maybe Monday. Enjoy :) Dani

After 5 minutes of ringing the doorbell, I decided to admit he wasn't in. I leant against the door to realise it was open. Well if he didn't want me to go in, he would've locked it, wouldn't he? So… being me I went in. It was just as I expected. A plain minimal furnished house that summed up Haru perfectly, the main feature being the shrine to his grandmother. In the corner was our trophy on display from our old relay team, with a picture of us all along with it. The thing that caught my attention the most though, was the second photo on display there. It was just Haru and me. I don't even remember it being taken. It was about as old as the other photo, in a worn frame, and we were still both young; we were both smiling. Haru was actually smiling… my heart started beating faster as I stared at the rare sight of Haru's smile. Why did he make me feel like this? What gave him the right to make butterflies flutter in my chest?

Damnit Haruka where are you?! I suppose I should try the swimming pool. It's a ten minute walk, but if I left my bags here, I could run it in about three. And it gave me an excuse to return to his house again at some point.

The gates to the outdoor pool were locked, but my water-loving freak would do anything to get to a pool so it was obvious that he would easily break into a pool in the early hours of the morning.

I saw a figure in the pool with raven hair, looking beautiful in the early sunrise. Why do you have to be so perfect Haru? Why did you have to steal my heart?

"Haru" he visibly froze, not thinking that I would actually have the guts to seek him out.

He swam to the edge and made his way to the changing rooms. No way was he escaping this, I wanted… no, needed… answers. I ran over to him, pushing him up against the chain-link fence behind. I was suddenly aware of how close we were. I could feel his breath on my lips, feel his chest rise and fall as his breathing sped up. I looked down into his glittering ocean eyes, blue meeting red. What do I even say now?!

"What do you feel for me Haru?" well… straight to the point I suppose.

He put his hands on my arms, pushing me slightly away to look me in the eyes better "swim with me."

"What? Here and now? But I have nothing to wear, not all of us wear swimming gear everywhere" I managed, knowing full well my eyes gave away that I did in fact want to be in a pool with him right now.

"I won't judge if you swim in just your boxers" he joked, whilst slipping out of my now weaker hold on him and diving perfectly into the pool. I pulled my jumper over my head and removed my trousers, following him in wearing just my underwear; but hey, it's not like it's the first time I've done it. Haru automatically turned it into a race, having the advantage of actual swimming gear and goggles along with a head start, so it was obvious that he would win. But swimming with him again is something I've been wishing for since our relay, so I wasn't about to stop. I followed the trail of bubbles from Haru's feet as my dolphin sped up, loving the feeling of being so free in the water… wait? Did I just quote him? Did I just say I was free? Oh god, I'm so in too deep. Loving Haru has become part of me; Damnit brain, I DO NOT love him!

My hand went to hit the wall but was blocked. Instead I made contact with a person's chest; standing up I realised I had my hand over Haru's heart and he was just as close to me as we had been ten minutes ago when I was asking him…. I had completely forgotten what I was here for.

Oh yeah. "Haru, are we friends?"

Haru's composure snapped. "Friends? Are we friends? Did you just ask that? Nagisa is my friend. Rei is my friend. Do you really think you're on the same level as them? We were best friends when we were children, we were together every second of every day. Then you moved a thousand miles away and destroyed me Rin! I cried for weeks, months, with no word from you! Then you turn up here, demanding a race and breaking my heart all over again! I quit swimming because of you!" tears were streaming down his cheeks now "when you came back for good, I thought I might have a chance to be close to you again, but instead you cast me out after beating me in the competition. You said you'll never swim with me again… are you trying to hurt me Rin? Is this some kind of joke to you, trying to break my heart over and over again to see if I'd ever give up?!"

I was in shock. He was fully crying now, jagged breaths escaping his lungs. I didn't know what to do. What was I supposed to do? I took his hand from my chest and moved it to his side, and wrapped my arms around him. His hair was starting to dry and was soft against my cheek, and I could still make out the sweet smell of Haru beneath the chlorine. He wrapped his arms round my waist, his tears damp on my shoulder. "I just want you to love me…" he whispered into my shoulder, snuggling further into my neck.

"Since we were kids, you've always ben special to me…" it was finally time to admit it. "I do love you. I always have…. I love you Haruka Nanase, and I always will." I hugged him closer "I thought you didn't care for me so I tried to hide my feelings, Hell I even moved to Australia to try to forget. But it was always you. Every time I saw someone in the pool after hours, I would run over, to realise it wasn't you, I would think I saw your face in a crowd and the butterflies would return to my heart. But it wasn't you; and it broke me again, every single time."

He looked up at me then, the shock clear in his eyes, but mixed with something else… Love? I had no idea how I looked, my cheeks felt like they were burning, and I felt close to tears. Haru's hands moved from my back where they were still placed and snaked up into my hair, pulling me towards him. I leant down…

And our lips met.