It was awfully bright when he opened his eyes.

Oh gosh, he was stuck. His joints had stiffened up from sleeping on the old, ratty couch. And he couldn't even feel his left arm anymore, it was pinned under Kevin.

"Ow ow ow," Connor groaned as he lifted his head off the couch. His neck was protesting the movement of becoming upright.

Connor looked ahead to see Elder Church and Poptarts looking eating their breakfast while staring at the sleeping couple.

"What are you two up to?" Connor narrowed his eyes.

Poptarts shrugged, "You guys haven't moved an inch ever since we woke up. Just wanted to make sure if you were still alive."

"Ha!" Elder Church laughed.

"How very kind of you," Connor grimaced as he rolled his head around, "What time is it?"

"Ten thirty," Poptarts supplied, "So, what are you two going to do today?"

Connor tried to stretch his back, but he was immobilised by Kevin's arms across his chest.

He sighed as he resigned to being part of the couch, "I was thinking of spending the day at the lake. Once upon a time, I promised Kevin that we'd go swimming there but he never end up being able to. So…"

"Sounds sexy," Elder Church gave a thumbs up.

"Can you both just go somewhere else to eat your breakfast? The staring's making me uncomfortable."

—

"Ready?" Connor turned his head to the left.

Kevin smirked, "Ready to kick your ass!"

"Set!"

"Go!"

Connor and Kevin sprinted towards the edge of the lake. Connor was kicking up a cloud of sand and pebbles behind him as he ran. The waters glistened invitingly in the afternoon sun, and right before Connor reached the edge, he leaped and extended his arms forward.

He heard another splash a split second before his fingers broke the surface of the water. When Connor came up to the surface again, he could already hear Kevin ahead of him.

Dang it!

Connor kicked with his legs, his arms frantically driving him forward, towards the small islet, about half a mile away. It was where the both of them were racing towards.

They were close enough that water droplets flying from Kevin's strokes were landing on his face every time Connor turned his head to the side for air.

He didn't want to lose to Kevin. Connor was the one who had been diligently dragging his backside to the gym almost everyday, while Kevin only tagged along whenever he felt like it. Which ranged from once every three days to once every two weeks. Not to mention the whole two months Kevin spent recuperating. There was no way Connor was less fit than his boyfriend, after all the hard work.

After two hundred feet of swimming, Kevin started slowing down, and Connor was able to take the lead and began to steadily put distance between them.

Connor took some time to enjoy the moment. The temperature was perfect, the sounds of the forest cheering him on, and it was always nice to not have the smell of chlorine invading his nostrils as he swam.

The tips of Connor's fingers brushed against the rough surface of the boulder.

He won!

Connor lifted himself out of the water onto the tiny piece of land. The top of the islet was flat and sandy, and there were a few stubborn turfs of grass growing on the isolated piece of dry boulder in the middle of a massive lake.

Kevin reached the islet less than a minute after Connor did.

"Fine, you win," Kevin huffed grudgingly.

Connor laughed, "What do you mean 'fine, I win.'? You didn't let me win, Kevin Price. I won fair and square. You need to work out more."

Kevin grumbled under his breath as he slapped the surface of the water with his palms. He was always such a sore loser.

Kevin followed in Connor's footsteps and climbed out of the water.

Connor tilted his head up to soak in the glorious sunshine. There was a high change that he was going to get sunburned, but it would be worth it. They rarely have sunny days like this in London.

Kevin laid down onto his back beside Connor and closed his eyes. Connor took the opportunity to just drink in the sight before him, Kevin sunbathing in nothing but his speedos, still wet from the swim. The playful part of Connor wanted to climb on top of Kevin and straddle his boyfriend, and they could proceed to have a really hot make out session with nature as their backdrop.

Instead, Connor opted to lie down beside Kevin, their fingers intertwined, and continue to stare at Kevin's profile. Kevin's breaths slowly evened out, as he dozed off. Connor used his free hand to trace a finger over the faint scar right above Kevin's eyebrow. If not for the piercingly bright sunlight highlighting the thin whitish line, nobody would be able to tell it was there.

"Whatcha doing?" Kevin's eyes opened at the touch.

"You know, we have to swim back to where we came from," Connor reminded him.

"Maybe later," Kevin mumbled and went back to his nap.

The one on his right shoulder was a lot more pronounced. Connor shuddered as he remembered the time he saw the horribly bruised incision just a few days after the surgery, it made his own shoulder ache in sympathy.

Connor pressed a gentle kiss onto the scar on Kevin's shoulder. When Connor lifted his chin up, he saw that Kevin was looking at him with a contemplative expression. Connor gazed back. He took in Kevin's features, his lashes, his eyes, his nose, his lips. Connor rarely say it out loud, but Kevin was a very good looking guy. And Kevin was well aware of it.

Kevin closed the distance between them and caught Connor's mouth in his. They have been getting better at this lately. It wasn't a brag, but compared to the first few times when they almost took each other's front teeth out, this was a significant improvement in Connor's opinion.

Usually Kevin would slow down after a while, and Connor would take it as his cue to ease off and pull away from Kevin. But instead of putting on the brakes this time, Kevin was stepping on the accelerator, pushing his tongue into Connor's mouth. Connor was surprised. It was a pleasant surprise. Kevin's hands roamed down from behind his neck, to his back, and then his hips.

Connor took this as an invitation to do the same. Connor had always been mindful of what he was doing, always keeping an eye out for any signs that Kevin was uncomfortable. So this was new, to be able to let his guard down and let himself get lost in the sensations.

They've never gone so far before. It was exciting, and very hot.

Somewhere along the way, Connor ended up on top of Kevin. Looked like Connor's wish was coming true after all. His lips migrated from Kevin's mouth, to his jaw, and then to his neck.

All he could think of was how much he wanted Kevin.

More Kevin.

Connor had never wanted something so badly. All these years of trying it turn it off had culminated in this desperate hunger Connor hadn't realised that he had inside of him.

Kevin suddenly froze beneath Connor, and everything stopped immediately, as if a switch had been turned off. Connor blinked open his eyes, "Kev, what-"

An iron grip was enclosed around Connor's right wrist, where his fingers were digging into Kevin's upper thigh.

Connor withdrew his hands from Kevin at once when he realised. He had completely lost track of where his hands were in the heat of the moment. Connor frowned. It wasn't like himself to lose control like that.

"I'm uh-," Connor was still breathing harshly.

"It's-," Kevin shook his head.

"Sorry."

"It's not- you don't have to-," Kevin ran a hand down his face.

Connor wasn't offended. Okay, maybe a tiny part of him had been irritated by the interruption. But he had shut the thought down the second it had surfaced. That was his brain down south. That wasn't Connor.

Kevin sighed, "Shall we go back?"

—

The swim back was less pleasant that the first lap, seeing how both of them had already expended their energy racing to the islet. Connor was also starting to feel the sunburn on his neck. Ouch. He was already longing to do that with Kevin again, what they did on the islet. What if Kevin never initiated it ever again? Connor would be very disappointed, but he had gotten the impression that Kevin had enjoyed it as much as he did, despite the hiccup at the end.

They swam slowly, side by side.

"I'm tired," Kevin complained.

"Yeah well, it's not like we can stop."

Kevin sighed loudly.

"You don't think there are any crocodiles in this lake, do you?" Kevin asked, out of the blue.

Connor scrunched his face, "Now, why on earth would you say that?!"

Kevin looked confused as he shrugged.

Connor forced himself to think about anything but crocodiles. Absolutely anything but a mental image of a big, long creature swimming below them.

Half a mile left to go.

There weren't any crocodiles? Connor would have spotted them if there were, and he had been to the lake tens of times. There were never any crocodiles.

Something brushed against the sole of Connor's feet.

He yelped, and almost jumped out of the water.

"What?!" Kevin startled.

Connor squinted at the calm waters around them, "No I...nothing. Just a fish. I just kicked a fish."

Kevin chortled.

"It's not funny, Kevin," Connor scowled at his boyfriend.

"Yes it is!"

Connor picked up his pace. He just wanted to get out of the water as soon as possible. Abandoning the slow breaststrokes, Connor surged forward ahead of Kevin.

Think about anything but crocodiles. He started singing 'A whole new world' loudly in his head.

'Shining, shimmering, splendid'

No crocodiles.

'I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder'

Connor's muscles burned with the exertion. Just keep swimming.

The rhythmic splashes were helping to drive the paranoia out of Connor's mind.

'Over sideways and under'

Finally. Land!

Connor heaved a breath in relief, as he climbed up onto dry land. He turned around, to wait for-

Connor's heart stopped.

Kevin was just…not there anymore.

"Kev?"

Connor steeled himself to jump back into the lake. He didn't hear anything. Kevin would have yelled out for Connor if he had been in trouble, right?

A couple more seconds passed without so much as a ripple on the surface of the lake.

This wasn't happening right now. This couldn't be happening-

"Kevin!" Connor screamed.

Where would he even begin to look?!

What the heck, what the heck, what the freaking heck?!

"I swear, if this is some dumb prank," Connor's voice wavered as he scanned the lake for any signs of disturbance.

This wasn't happening. Come on, come on, come on.

Conor was so scared, the sinking feeling of his stomach was making him queasy.

Heavenly father, please.

Please don't do this to him!

Please, no.

He couldn't stand to wait around anymore. Connor went back into the lake and was about to dive down, when he spotted bubbles a few feet to his left.

Kevin resurfaced with a loud gasp. He wiped water off his face and grinned at Connor, holding up some kind of a metal figurine.

All Connor could manage at the moment was to keep treading water. His brain was not up to speed with what had happened yet, after the overwhelming shock his system had just experienced. He thought that Kevin had drowned! For gosh's sake.

"Connor! Look what I found at the bottom," Kevin panted, looking extremely pleased with himself.

All of this panic for a stupid piece of litter.

Connor clutched onto his own hair tightly, until it started hurt.

"Fuck," Connor choked out.

He was never one to swear, but he had to let all the stress out somehow.

"I think it's a gorilla. Or a monkey," Kevin was too focused on trying to wash the dirt and grime away, to notice how much Connor was freaking out.

He felt like crying. This was too much for his poor heart to take. It was still beating quickly against his ribcage. He was too young to have a heart attack.

"Fuck!" Connor said it louder this time.

Kevin finally glanced at Connor properly, "What's…wrong?"

Connor just turned around and climbed back onto the shore. Less than a minute ago, he was under the assumption that Kevin had died on his watch.

Connor hadn't noticed how he was on all fours, his chest heaving, until Kevin's cool hand was on the small of his back.

"Connor, what's wrong?" Kevin's concerned face was only inches from his, "Please say something."

Connor pulled Kevin into a fierce hug.

Kevin was really here. He was alive.

"Okay?"

"I'm so mad at you right now, Kevin Price," Connor held on tight.

Kevin squirmed in his grip, "Umm…Is this related to the gorilla I found?"

Connor let out a strangled laugh. What was he going to do with Kevin?

"I didn't see you when I came up. I thought I lost you," Connor sat back onto his heels, hands still on Kevin's shoulders.

Connor wanted to shake some sense into Kevin. Why wouldn't he stop scaring Connor like that?

"Oh," Kevin was taken aback, "Well, there was no need to worry."

"What else was I supposed to think, Kev?! I thought I was going to have to drag your body out of the lake by myself!" Connor cried out in frustration.

He had way too many close calls with losing Kevin. It was too much. This was probably the sort of situation which the Church was trying to avoid by banning missionaries from swimming during their missions. It was a tad controlling, sure, but on the upside, no drowned missionaries.

"I'm fine, I've always been a decent swimmer. You need to stop assuming the worst every time."

"And do you know how many times have I saved your life by doing so?" Connor retorted.

"I'm not a baby, Connor. I am totally capable of functioning without supervision."

Connor snapped, "Sure! Next time I see you dying, I'll just leave you to it. Is that what you want?"

Kevin narrowed his eyes at Connor, "Now you're just being mean."

Connor stopped and took a deep breath, "All I'm saying is that you can't blame me for worrying, when you don't exactly have a great track record at keeping out of danger and not asking for trouble."

"Yeah. Okay, fine!" Kevin threw his hands up, "I asked for it! I asked for all of it! What are you going to do, handcuff me to your bed for the rest of my life?"

Connor blew out a breath, "Don't be ridiculous."

Kevin scoffed and started putting on his clothes without another word. Connor had made Kevin mad. Well, what did Connor expect when he implied that everything that happened was Kevin's fault?

"I don't mean that," Connor sighed, "Sorry."

The situation was nobody's fault. Connor was a worrier by nature, and Kevin was reckless as heck. He couldn't tell if this meant that they were a made for each other, or if the universe was trying to tell him something.

Something like how being with Kevin was a bad idea.

Connor shook his head. They were fine. Life is not a bed of roses. He should have expected that life with Kevin was not going to be easy, if the past six months were any indication.

Kevin picked up his figurine from the ground and dusted it off with his towel.

"Are you going to keep that?" Connor changed the topic. An olive branch.

Kevin shrugged, "Finders keepers."

The figurine was surprisingly hefty in Connor's hands. The gorilla was sitting on a pile of leaves, with a twig sticking out from its mouth. Its eyes were giving Connor the creeps.

"Have you not watched enough horror movies to know that this is a bad idea? Cursed objects? Haunted dolls?" Connor pointed out, "Think about it, why would someone throw this into a lake? It could have been a murder weapon!"

Kevin snatched it back from Connor's grasp, "You think that'll deter me from keeping it? You just made me want it even more."

"Just...make sure we won't get jailed or killed for bringing this back, alright?" Connor had no choice but to concede.

"Oh," Kevin's eyes widened, "Are you thinking that there may be drugs hidden in this thing?"

Kevin flipped it over to examine the bottom.

"I wasn't thinking that, but now that you've mentioned it, perhaps we should just throw it back to the lake where it belongs."

"No!" Kevin declared adamantly, clutching the figurine to his chest.

Life is not a bed of roses, Connor reminded himself.