seven

                                    

                                          
Noah's head broke through the water's surface, water dripping everywhere as he took a deep breath. He glanced around only to see that Imran had already reached the edge of the pool moments before him. 
                          
Imran grinned at him. "Not bad, but you'd still need years of training to catch up." 
                          
Noah just laughed as he climbed out of the pool. He wasn't part of the swim team, but he liked to occasionally train with them. The coach didn't mind. She had already left since training had ended ten minutes ago, and a few of them were still racing each other in the pool. 
                          
"Let's call it a day," Noah said, and Imran climbed out of the pool as well. They could hear the rest of the team's laughter drift out from the locker rooms, barely masked by the sounds of running showers. 
                          
"Aw, we're late," Ian's voice suddenly echoed through the pool, and Noah looked up at him in surprise. However, his expression darkened when he spotted Kyle following behind him. 
                          
Ian walked over to them with a grin. "We wanted to see you race. Where's Finn?" 
                          
"Taking a shower," Imran replied before Noah could. "You just missed me beating Noah several times." 
                          
Ian pouted. "Damn, I would have loved to see that." 
                          
"I'm gonna shower too," Imran stated, already walking off towards the locker rooms. Noah would have followed him if Ian's piercing gaze on his body hadn't kept him in place. 
                          
Noah noticed Ian's eyes wandering over his bare skin - after all, he was only wearing swimming trunks - and he doubted Ian was aware he was being watched checking Noah out. Ian himself probably didn't even realize what he was doing. Kyle behind him rolled his eyes. 
                          
"I hate this place, the chlorine smells awful." 
                          
"Then you shouldn't have come here," Ian replied with a grin, finally tearing his gaze away from Noah's body. Kyle just raised a brow at the blonde, not hesitating a second to put his arms around Ian and drag him towards the pool. 
                          
Finn stepped out of the locker rooms at the same time Ian's eyes widened in fear. It happened to fast for anyone to intervene, and before Noah could even fully grasp what was going on, Kyle had already pushed Ian into the pool. 
                          
Finn started running towards them but Noah was faster, immediately jumping in after Ian's head disappeared underwater. Ian was panicking; he hadn't even had time to take a deep breath before he was pushed into the huge body of water. The ground seemed incredibly far away and Ian just kept sinking, opening his mouth in desperate need of air, but there was only water and chlorine burning in his lungs. 
                          
A pair of arms wrapped around him and pulled him to the surface, and when Ian's head finally broke the water's surface he was coughing violently, still not able to breathe. 
                          
Noah dragged him to the edge where Finn was already waiting. The swimmer pulled Ian out of the water and crouched beside him as Ian coughed up the rest of the water he had swallowed. 
                          
Noah knew Ian was safe with Finn, so he climbed out of the pool himself and turned to Kyle with nothing but burning hatred in his eyes. Kyle took a step back, apologetically raising his hands. 
                          
"I didn't know he can't swim." 
                          
"Get the fuck out of here." 
                          
"I wanna see if he's okay." 
                          
Noah took a step forward and Kyle took one back, visibly intimidated by the scowl on Noah's face. Kyle was taller but his figure slender while Noah was toned and his gaze fierce, allowing him to stare Kyle down despite their height difference.