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From what little Sergio had seen of it the past three days, Croatia was beautiful.
The scenery was lovely, and so was the weather. Despite it being the dead of summer, it never got past ninety degrees.
Christ. Sergio had been living in America so long he was starting to use fahrenheit.
“Sese, are you even listening?” the beautiful voice of Luka Modric asked from the driver’s seat, snapping Sergio out of his musings.
“You look beautiful today,” responded Sergio, his unfortunate habit of saying whatever was on his mind at any given moment rearing its ugly head.
Used to his best friend’s behavior, Luka just rolled his brown eyes. “Whatever, weirdo,” he said, and went back to focusing on the road.
It was weird seeing Luka drive, since he spent all of junior year passenger princessing for Sergio every day. Whenever Sergio gave Marcelo or Toni or one of his other friends a ride, they always found a strand or two of Luka’s hair in the passenger seat of the Hispana Suiza Carmen, and usually followed up said finding with a teasing remark about Sergio’s “boyfriend.”
Oh, how he wished.
Luka’s Rimac, which he had to have shipped over from America, was most certainly not built for the deserted dirt road he was driving on, and would probably need a thorough cleaning when this trip was over.
“Hey, so what were you saying earlier?” Sergio asked when he was done admiring Luka’s determined grip on the wheel.
“Right, sorry. I was just saying how excited I was to be going back to the lake. I mean, I haven’t been there since my grandpa last took me, which was… like, before I even moved to DC, so yeah. A while.”
Sergio simply hummed in response. Luka had been doing a lot of reminiscing on this trip, and Sergio wouldn’t have had it any other way. He couldn’t help himself; he was just enthralled by everything about his best friend. Luka’s voice, his accent, his intelligent word choice, the way he played with his crucifix necklace whenever he told a story about his childhood… Sergio would be happy watching him recite the phonebook.
Within minutes, a beautiful lakefront scene came into view. It was its own little space, surrounded by trees and completely cut off from the rest of the world.
Luka turned the car off, and the duo opened the car’s butterfly windows to get out.
“Alright,” said Luka, kicking off his sandals and not caring where they landed. He then proceeded to pull his white t-shirt off and chuck it into one of the open car windows, leaving him in his swim trunks. All the motion left his dark blonde hair tousled in that way Sergio was so fond of. “Time for a swim!”
Sergio had started removing his shoes and shirt well after Luka did, so by the time he was ready for the water, Luka was already knee deep. Sergio went in after him, and the second his feet hit the water, he got a bright idea.
“I can’t swim,” he blurted out.
In response, Luka whipped his head around to face Sergio, long locks of hair swaying against his neck as he did so. “Huh?”
“Yeah, I uh… can’t swim.”
Luka laughed his beautiful laugh. “Very funny.”
“I’m serious!”
Now Luka turned his whole body to face Sergio, placing his hands on his hips in that no-nonsense stance he found himself taking pretty often with his best friend, usually after Sergio had been involved in a physical altercation on Luka’s behalf. “And you didn’t think to tell me this when I woke you up this morning and said, ‘Hey, Sergio, let’s go for a swim’?” he asked dryly.
“... I forgot.”
Luka sighed. “Well, that’s fine. We’ll just stay in the shallow areas so you don’t kill yourself.”
Sergio panicked internally. That was not part of his plan. “Teach me!” he blurted out.
“What? No, I’m not qualified to teach someone how to swim, I could kill-”
Before Luka could finish his protest, Sergio made a mad dash further into the lake, already predicting what Luka would do.
Sergio seemed to be right in his prediction, as Luka made quick work of grabbing Sergio’s arm before he could get dangerously far.
“Okay, okay, fine, I’ll teach you, you psychopath!” Luka exclaimed, exasperated. Which was how he usually was with Sergio, to be fair. “Just don’t come crying to me when we both drown.”
Naturally, Sergio spoke without thinking. “I would never let anything bad happen to you.”
“That’s nice. Just… here, take my hands.”
Luka took Sergio’s hands in his, and just that moment alone made Serigo’s little scheme worth it.
The soon-to-be high school seniors were hands in hands, with Luka walking backwards to guide them into the deep part of the lake.
This lake’s water was surprisingly clear. Looking down, Sergio could easily make out the red and white checkered pattern of Luka’s swim trunks.
“Okay, so… I guess we’ll go as far as we can. Or, as far as you can, I guess. As long as you can touch the bottom.”
“Got it,” Sergio muttered, more interested in the world inside Luka’s brown eyes than their little swimming lesson. He didn’t even realize they were in waist deep.
“But for real, you’re from a town not far from a beach, how the hell can you not swim?” Luka asked abruptly after the duo had gone a little deeper.
“I dunno man! I just… never got around to it, I guess.”
Luka rolled his eyes. “Y’know, I wonder what Luis Suarez would say if he found out you couldn’t swim,” he said with a satisfied smirk.
“Tell anyone and you’re dead.”
Luka laughed. Like, actually laughed. Hard. Like Kira at the end of Death Note type of laugh. “Ha! As if!”
Luka was the only soul in school - and probably the whole world, but then again, UEFA felt like its own little world - who ever laughed at Sergio’s threats. Sergio loved him for it.
Eventually, they got to the point where Sergio was about shoulder deep in crystal clear Croatian lake water. Luka, being not as tall as Sergio, had to actively keep paddling to stay afloat, which Sergio found funny and cute at the same time.
“See, the thing about swimming is that it’s less about swimming and more about… not drowning. I think. I dunno, man, I’ve never taught anyone to swim before!”
“Not even your sisters?”
“No… I just kinda threw ‘em in and let ‘em figure it out.”
“Wow… that’s fucked up.”
Luka didn’t entertain that with a proper response. “Look, the key to, uh, keeping yourself from drowning is to just kinda… move your legs around. Like this. Am I doing a good job explaining this to you?”
Sergio looked down at Luka’s legs, and was totally super respectful about it. “You’re doing amazing.”
Luka was, in fact, not doing amazing, and it was a very good thing that Sergio already knew how to swim, or else they’d both be dead.
Luka put a hand on Sergio’s shoulder. “Now, if you hold onto me, do you promise not to freak out and drown us both?”
“I’d die before I let anything bad happen to you.”
“Cool. Now let’s get you in the deep water.”
And sure enough, while holding onto Luka, Sergio managed to keep himself afloat in seven feet of water. The fact that he had known how to swim for over a decade probably helped.
“See, you’re doing good! Just be sure to keep your arms above the water, that’ll help you float. You think you’re ready to let go of me now?”
“No!” Sergio exclaimed, loud enough to scare away some birds from a nearby tree. “Just that I, uh… don’t feel ready yet. I think we should stay like this for a little while longer.”
“Alright, dude, chill, I’m not going anywhere.”
The duo stayed like that, staying afloat in the like, just enjoying each other’s company for quite some time. The idyllic scene, the warm water, plus the fact that he was holding onto Luka… Sergio could’ve died happy.
“Now do you think you’re ready to try not drowning on your own?”
“I guess so,” Sergio responded, complete with an eye roll.
Cautiously, Luka pried Sergio off of him, but stayed nearby just in case.
Being somewhat intelligent, Sergio pretended to struggle just a little, but not enough to give poor Luka a heart attack.
“Wow!” Luka exclaimed after Sergio stayed alive for several seconds. “Maybe I should look into being a swim instructor!”
Sergio let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, maybe you should…”
“Though maybe I should start by showing you how to move around a little.”
“Whatever you say, babygirl.”
“What?”
“WHAT.”
“... Anyways. So the way you move around is… Well I basically just, like, push the water outta the way? If that makes sense? None of that Free: Iwatobi Swim Club nonsense. You just kinda-”
Luka punctuated his sentence by demonstrating his swimming method, basically cupping his hands and attempting to move the water behind him. He swam a few feet in pretty decent time.
“Oh, and you gotta like, kick your feet while you do it. That’s important. I think.”
“Okay… I think you’re gonna hafta show me a few more times, though.”
Luka rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day, and swam around a few more times. By the time he was done, his hair was pretty much soaked. Sergio liked seeing him in this state. To be fair, Sergio liked seeing Luka in every state, but especially any state that wasn’t his prim and proper, studious, ambassador’s son one.
“Now you try,” Luka said between heavy breaths. “I’m tired.”
Sergio did as told, practicing Luka’s swimming method, and making sure he didn’t do anything extra that could’ve given away his secret.
“Look at you!” Luka exclaimed after observing Sergio for about a minute or so. “You’re a natural!”
“All thanks to you, Lukita,” Sergio said, stopping to catch his breath. All this false incompetence was making him tired.
* * *
Come noon, the sun was baking the Earth and everyone on it like a hot pocket. Not that Sergio minded, though, as he and Luka were lounging around in the lake, floating around and talking shit. Well, Sergio was talking shit. Luka had too much integrity to partake in such a thing.
Another benefit of the scorching sun was that it let Sergio work on his tan, and he hoped that maybe Luka would like it. Luka, who was just floating around on his back, face soaking in the sun, a thing whose brightness didn’t hold a candle to the Croatian boy beneath it. The glow of the sun on Luka’s face, his hair splayed out so majestically in the water, plus just how at home he looked… It was the hardest Sergio had ever had to fight that constant urge to just grab his best friend and kiss him.
But Sergio couldn’t do that. There was no way Luka liked him. Luka was too good to like him. Plus, Sergio would die before kissing Luka without consent like that.
“It’s barely changed,” said Luka suddenly, snapping Sergio out of his intrusive thoughts about what Luka’s lips would feel like. “This place, I mean. I swear I’ve seen this view a hundred times.”
Not having anything of worth to add, Sergio stayed silent, in hopes that his best friend would keep talking.
“I remember now. The last time my grandpa took me here. It was… right after my parents broke the news to me and my sisters that my mom got the ambassador job. And we’d be moving to DC. Gosh, I was so mad.”
“Really?” Sergio said with a laugh, swimming around but always staying within Luka’s orbit. It was hard to imagine Luka mad at anyone that wasn’t him.
“Oh, you shoulda seen me,” said Luka, fondness evident in his voice. “Gave my parents such a hard time. Was so mean, all the time. Picked fights with them over every little thing. Kinda like how you are with… everyone.”
In response, Sergio flicked some water at Luka’s face, and the laugh it elicited was something worth dying for.
“I do not pick fights with everyone.”
“I’m sorry, does the name Mo Salah not ring any bells for you?”
Gosh, was Luka ever gonna stop bringing that up? “Well, he’s out of the hospital now!”
Sergio didn’t need to look at Luka to know he was rolling his eyes. “Your ability to have beef with even the nicest kids in school is… almost impressive.”
In their silence, Sergio looked down for the first time in a while. He was in deeper than he thought, and due to the clarity of the lake water, he could see the various logs and stones and other things at the bottom. It made him feel rather small, and was honestly quite terrifying.
But Sergio was not about to act scared in front of Luka, so that was just an L he was gonna have to take.
Seeming to be in a chatty mood today, Luka again spoke up out of nowhere. “You ever wish you never moved to DC?”
“No,” Sergio responded, before Luka’s question had even finished reaching his ears. “‘Cause then I never woulda met you.”
The sun must have really been doing a number on them, because Sergio noticed a bit of sunburn already forming on Luka’s cheeks.
“Oh…” was all Luka said for a while, which was strange. He was normally quick to dish out a clever response whenever Sergio inevitably said something a little too friendly.
Sergio wished he could have a recording of what Luka said next. “Yeah, I’m glad I met you, too.”
* * *
It was the first time Sergio and Luka had spent the weekend together since the school year started. They had both been quite busy the past couple weeks, with Luka adjusting to his new responsibilities as senior class president and getting started on his college applications, and Sergio doing… not that.
So when they both were free on a Saturday, they spent it at Sergio’s house, with Sergio promising Luka not to be productive at all. The guy needed a break.
While Sergio was chilling on his bed, Switch pro controller in hand, checking out the new DLC for Pokemon Violet, Luka was organizing Sergio’s closet. Because he enjoyed cleaning. Freak.
“Hey, Sergio?”
“Yeah?” Sergio responded, not bothering to look away from the TV.
“What’s this?”
Seeing as Luka was all the way by the closet, and that Sergio’s room was stupidly big, he had to squint to see what Luka was holding. He recognized it as one of the many photo albums that had been chucked into the closet when he moved and promptly forgotten about.
The specific picture Luka was pointing to was one of a group of kids, most of whom were Sergio’s sister’s friends, seeming to be enjoying a pool party. Sergio recognized the backyard as the one from his former home in Spain.
“Miriam’s tenth birthday, why?”
“Nothing, I just, uhm… Couldn’t help but notice how you’re in the pool in this photo. Just chilling. Minding your own business.”
“And? Is that a crime now?”
Luka looked at Sergio like he was stupid. “Do you not remember me teaching you how to swim, like, not even two months ago?!”
Oh, fuck. “Yeah, no, I remember!” Sergio said, voice uncharacteristically high. “I just, uh, forgot that day! I was really off my game… must’ve been the jet lag…”
Luka was making that face again. “You forgot?”
“Uh… yeah.”
Luka made sure Sergio wouldn’t forget the feeling of having a hefty photo album chucked at his face.