Elias took a deep breath before slowly leaning back, just like Louis instructed. His heart was beating rapidly, a mix of nervousness and anticipation washing over him. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, trying to follow the other's instructions, but that only made his body tense and rigid. Before his body could get even more tense, he felt a deep, soothing voice in his ear.
"Now... just relax. Don't struggle. Just let the water support you; I'll hold onto you, too. You're doing good, Eli. Just... relax, and... trust me."
They spent the morning like this, and soon, it was afternoon. In the blink of an eye, the entire morning passed with Louis patiently teaching Elias how to float, how to keep himself above water, and how to trust the water to support him. When he felt Elias was ready, he slowly moved on to teaching him how to kick the water. He held Elias throughout, never letting him sink even for a moment.
Now, it was past noon, and the summer sun was shining high in the sky. It was time for the second part of his planned "date"- The lunch. He'd already asked Jessica to make reservations.
"You've gotten the hang of it so quickly, Eli. You're a fast learner," Louis praised as they both got out of the water. He picked up two towels, taking one for himself and handing the other to Elias. "I think we've done enough for now. It's past one. We'll have lunch now, and you can rest for a bit. Before you ask, don't worry, it's a completely vegetarian place. No meat."
Elias was mildly surprised the other remembered his dietary preferences. He nodded gratefully, "Oh... you remembered?"
"Of course I remembered. Do you really think of me as that careless? I already took that into account when I planned lunch
" He shrugged, with a teasing smile, "I'll be damned if my plans fail just because the place doesn't have vegetarian options and serves you raw vegetables and grass or something."
Elias, who was unfortunately aware of how inadequate some places' vegetarian options were, knew the description wasn't far off. He just nodded as they both changed back into their clothes and got back into the car.
They had a nice lunch together, after which Louis took Elias to a movie. He'd rented out the whole theater, of course, which earned him a small lecture on excessiveness from the blonde. But he couldn't help finding that endearing, too. In the blink of an eye, it was evening. The final part of Louis' plan was ready. Right now, Louis was driving the other home, but in reality, he was just waiting. Waiting for the car that was supposed to crash into theirs, after which, he'd "protect" Elias and get injured.
Right on cue, he saw the headlights of an incoming car from the corner of his eye.
The car was, undoubtedly, on a collision course with their own. He felt a pang of pain at this. He really did, but if it would make Elias realize he cared, then he'd take the pain.
Louis glanced at Elias, who was asleep in the seat beside him, his soft hair falling out of a loose ponytail, framing his face beautifully. The evening sunlight made his hair shine in a way that did... something, to Louis' heart. But he didn't have the luxury of focusing on that right now. The other car was getting closer and closer, and for a moment... uncertainty gripped his heart. Today was... so good. A fairytale, almost.
Couldn't they just stay like this? Did he... really have to go through with this? Would it even achieve anything?
But his inner voice contradicted the thoughts as soon as they came. It was precisely because today was perfect that he had to do this. He had to make Elias stay with him. He... he had to. At any cost.
He sat there, his hand frozen on the steering wheel, not doing anything, not swerving the car- just waiting for the inevitable. He saw the car approaching faster and faster, but he didn't try to evade it. A blinding light was all Louis saw as he threw his body over Elias, shielding him from the impact.