Emily's POV

I hesitated at the edge of the pool. The water called to me, as it had ever since I was a little girl, but everything was different now. Aside from pulling Spencer out of the pool, I hadn't swam since Maya had died.

I looked away from the pool, and found Spencer standing near the diving board, but with a few feet between her and the pool. She was looking at me, waiting for my approval. I loved how she wanted to make sure that I was comfortable with her swimming. I knew she knew how to swim, and that the other day had been a fluke, something that wasn't probable to happen again, granted it wasn't probable to happen in the first place, but as long as she was conscious, I knew she could handle herself.

I shivered, trying to block out the memory of seeing her face down in the pool. It wasn't something I wanted to visualize with her about to go swimming. I nodded to her, granting my approval, letting her know that I wouldn't freak out if she jumped in the pool (as long as she came back up).

Spencer smiled at me. Her smile alone sent warmth radiating throughout my body. I knew the signs, and this wasn't a good one. I tried to push the warmth out, but to no avail.

Spencer mounted the diving board, standing at the edge, looking at me once more, making sure that I was really okay with this. She was so considerate, so loving, so surprisingly optimistic about life. She was fiercely loyal, and I knew I was lucky that she cared about me. Unfortunately, I also knew that I shouldn't let her care, that she would be better off if she didn't, at least not about me.

Spencer dove into the water. I noticed how perfectly executed her dive was, though she was a Hastings, so it wasn't surprising. The timing, the posture, everything was exactly right until she was submerged in the water. The second she was underwater, I saw her push towards the surface instead of riding out towards the shallow end. I knew it was only because she wanted to break the surface as quickly as possible, so that I knew she was okay, which I already knew.

Spencer's POV

I got to the surface as fast as I possibly could. I needed to make sure that Emily was okay, that she hadn't panicked when I had gone under. But if I was honest, I just needed to see her.

I looked at Emily, who was smiling weakly at me with a pained expression on her face. It wasn't the way she had been before, but it certainly wasn't a happy face. She seemed haunted, like she was once again running from the memories of her past.

"Coming in, Fields?" I said trying my best to sound mischievous.

Emily didn't answer.

I swam to the side of the pool so that I was right in front of Emily.

"Em?" I said softly.

She looked down at me, and then crouched so that she was closer to my level.

I wondered what she was thinking about. I could see her thinking at a mile a minute, the wheels turning in her head showing through her eyes.

"If you didn't want to swim, you could've told me," I said softly.

She shook her head. Her face mere inches from mine, making my head slightly cloudy.

"I just… I don't think I'm ready."

"It's okay," I told her.

I pushed off the edge of the pool, propelling myself into the center of the pool.

"More practice for me, so I can finally beat you when you get back in the water," I said smirking at her.

Swimming had always been the one thing I'd never been able to beat her at, given my competitive nature, I was dying to see whether her time out of the pool would give me the edge I needed to finally win. Though, because it was Emily, I wasn't bitter about her winning every time we raced. She was a strong swimmer, the best really, and she was my best friend.

"You think so?" She said smirking back at me.

I nodded confidently.

That was all it took to get her to jump in after me. I was thrilled that it had worked, not that I'd really planned that part.

Just like I'd predicted, Emily had flourished as soon as she was in the water. It was her natural element, that I was sure of. The smile that spread instantly upon her lips was stunning, natural, and the biggest one I'd seen in quite some time. She seemed to light up whenever she was in the water, and I was so happy to have brought that back to her. It was something I'd known she needed, even if she hadn't realized it.

Emily's POV

Spencer and I had been in the pool for hours, literally. Being in the water again, it was like a weight had been lifted off of me, and I felt free, like I was flying, and there was nobody who could take my wings from me.

"We should probably get ready for bed," Spencer said reluctantly.

I nodded, knowing that this was the last night of freedom, the last night before our senior year started.

We got out of the pool, and Spencer got us some towels to dry off. She gave me a shirt to sleep in, which I quickly changed into and sat on her bed waiting for her.

I looked out the window, staring aimlessly into the night.

"Hey, Em?" I heard Spencer ask hesitantly.

I looked up at her. She must have been hit with a thought and felt the need to address it immediately because she was in the middle of changing. My eyes traced her abs before finding her face, silently telling her to continue with the slightest nod of my head.

"Are you going to be okay?"

It was an ambiguous question that could potentially have many answers, but I knew what she was talking about. After Maya had died, I hadn't interacted with anybody but the girls and my family, and even the interactions with them had been few and far between.

Was I going to be okay? I knew Spencer was going to try her best to make everything as easy for me as possible. And it was only with her that I felt that I could be me again, be open. It was only with her that my fears seemed to melt away.

"Just don't leave me, okay?" I answered her.

She quickly finished changing, and sat down beside me, wrapping her arms around me. I felt her warm breath on my neck, leaving butterflies I knew I shouldn't be having in my stomach.

"Never," she whispered into my ear.

And I knew she meant it. She would never leave me, I would not have to fend for myself in the crowded hallways filled with people I had honestly forgotten existed until just now. She would protect me.

With the promise of Spencer by my side, the prospect of school didn't seem so daunting anymore, not that I'd been thinking about it much.

With a light heart, and Spencer's arms around me, I found myself drifting off to sleep.

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A/N: As of September 16th all my current fics will be on hiatus, so that I can focus on writing my novel. For updates on my novel, or when I might resume my fics, follow me on twitter: CapeCodPhoenix I will be updating all my fics as much as possible between now and September 16th