"That was incredible, Simon!"
"Thanks, Penny," I tell her, pulling out of the hug. "But it was just my job."
"Yes, but . . never mind."
"But what?"
"Nothing."
"Penelope Bunce; what?"
She sighs and looks away, bracing herself. "It's just that, um, I guess I never thought you could . . . well, do CPR," she admits.
"Penny! I did get trained to be a lifeguard!"
"Yes, but you also have been getting 'trained' to be a magician for the past 8 years," she laughs. "I just didn't think you'd actually retain any of your training."
"Well, I proved you wrong. I'm actually very good at CPR," I say, though it's a total lie. I'm pretty sure I did the entire thing wrong, but luckily Baz woke up so it doesn't even matter. Penny just rolls her eyes at me.
"Yeah, but you still need to work on the magician thing," she mumbles, smirking, as she turns away and heads back to her chair. She's right, of course; when it comes to magic, I'm still a powder keg about to explode. But I'm working on it.
I turn around find that Matthew, the other lifeguard working today, has returned to the chaos. "Snow, what happened to Pitch?" he asks, walking over, taking in the scene. Baz is sitting on one of the pool chairs, drying off. A crowd has gathered around him, making sure he's okay. No one's returned to the pool yet.
"He almost drowned. Some kid threw a ball at his head and he fell in the pool. I don't know why he didn't swim or anything though. It was weird," I shake my head. "But it's fine. He's fine."
Matthew nods, looking over at Baz. "Why don't you take Baz back to your room? Make sure he's okay? I'll handle the rest of the shift."
"But-" I protest. There's no way I'm going to take care of Baz. Not when I already saved his life.
"You've done enough today, Simon. Go home. Get some rest," Matthew says, patting me on the shoulder. Matthew's in the same year as me, but he's still technically my "boss" at the pool. So I do as he says.
I grab my shirt off the floor (where it fell after I flung it off) and my backpack. Then I head over to Baz's little entourage and cough loudly. Everyone's heads shifts toward me. Baz raises an eyebrow.
"Um, Baz, we should head back to the room."
"Why, Snow?" he scowls.
"To make sure that you're okay. I don't know. Check on your breathing and stuff." He quirks his eyebrow even higher. "It's protocol, okay, after someone drowns."
"Then why can't you do it here?" Dev asks.
"Cause we're roommates and my shift is over, okay? It just makes sense to go back. Baz should rest anyways." I feel heat creeping into my cheeks as Baz studies my face. I don't know why he's doing it but he is. And it's making me uncomfortable. I look away.
"Fine. I want to change anyways," Baz agrees, standing up. I start walking and he follows. We're silent all the way back to our room, right up until the second the door's closed. And then the real chaos starts.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Huh?" I say, sitting down on my bed, not caring that my swim trunks are getting my sheets wet.
"Why'd you save me, Snow?" His eyes are glaring into me; vibrant and bright and captivating.
"Crowley, Baz, cause it's my job!" I laugh, confused. Why is he angry? I did just save his life, right? I didn't imagine that whole scene.
"Don't play dumb, Snow. You've been trying to kill me since we first got here. You had your chance. You could have let me die. Pretended the CPR wasn't working. But you didn't. You saved me. You genuinely tried and succeeded and I'm alive right now because of you. Why?"
I blink. I'm not quite sure where this is going. "I wasn't just going to let you die."
"You honestly expect me to believe that my 'mortal enemy' wouldn't have just let me drown? That makes absolutely no fucking sense, Snow, and you know it."
"I can't say I didn't think about it," I smirk. Though when I thought about it, I knew I would never do it. It was just a thought to entertain my mind. I could never, would never, let Baz die, unless he really deserved it. And until our final duel comes, he doesn't deserve it. "But what fun would that be, Baz? If I just let you die? That'd be too easy." I play it off like a joke. I don't want him to know that I may actually care. That I don't want him to die.
Even though I'll eventually have to kill him.
I still don't want him to die. Not even then.
In a flash Baz is face to face with me, his hands on either side of my head, practically pinning me against the wall. His lean body, his (still shirtless) chest, looms over me on the bed. I press my lips together. "Are you fucking with me, Snow? Is this some sort of game to you?"
"I -I don't know what you're talking about." I swallow hard.
"You've been trying to get rid of me for 8 years, Simon. And now you have your chance and you save me? Because letting me drown is "too easy"?"
"You called me Simon," I whisper.
"What?" He steps back just an inch, confused. His hands remain against the wall though. Locking me in.
"Just now. You called me Simon, not Snow. You never do that."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I-"
"Yes-"
"Crowley, why does it matter what I called you? You still haven't fucking answered me!"
I take a deep breath and meet his eyes. They're still piercing, but there's something behind that intense stare. Something soft and gentle and vulnerable. Something human.
"I saved you, Baz, because I don't want to kill you. I've never really wanted to kill you. And I think I just now noticed it," I admit, trying to keep my breathing steady.
And then a strange thing happens:
Baz leans over and kisses me.
But the even stranger thing is this:
I kiss him back.