CHAPTER 61 | Detached

MARK'S P.O.V.

Summer break is finally here, and to celebrate these first days of being school-free, we decided to come to this really beautiful place. We were sitting on the edge of a wooden bridge with a small lake in front of us, our feet submerged into the cold, crystalline water. It felt so refreshing at this hot time of the year. We splashed them around for a bit, enjoying the calm atmosphere of the place with its sounds of nature. Tall pine trees and bushes surrounded the edges of the lake. We could see the top of some mountains further ahead.

I had an arm wrapped around Zack's shoulder, and he had his head resting on my left one. We continued moving our feet lazily on the water, looking up when we saw a flock of birds flying above us. Everything about nature felt so peaceful, although admiring the view of a city isn't that bad either. I looked down at my feet under the water, then I started to rub my left one with Zack's little one, expecting some kind of reaction from him.

"Does this turn you on?" I asked him, looking into his face.

He rolled his eyes. "Stop mocking me about my foot fetish, Mark."

I laughed, hiding my face on the crook of his neck and kissing the skin there. This tickled Zack a bit and he started laughing with me. We spent a few more seconds fooling around with ourselves and with the water, until Zack spoke in a calm tone.

"You know... This would be a nice place to swim for a while."

I turned to look at him, surprised. "You know how to swim?"

"Yeah. But it's been long since the last time I did it."

"How did you learn?" I asked him curiously.

"Well... My dad taught me."

"Your dad?"

"Yes. You see, when I was little, around 8 years old, my dad used to take me and my mom to this kind of places. He liked to go fishing and hunt animals because that's what a real man would do. One of those times, I was sitting on the grass of a forest with my mom, eating a sandwich while we watched my dad swim on a nearby lake, much bigger than this one. Then I heard him calling for me and he told me to get in with him, but I didn't want to because I was scared of the water. But then both my dad and mom insisted that I should learn at least one skill because at that time I wasn't able to do anything, then they started to compare me to other kids of my age who were better than me. So, after my mom asked me if I was a coward, I had to demonstrate her that that wasn't the case, and so I got in the water with my dad. He was a bit harsh on me while he taught me how to move my arms and legs so I wouldn't drown, but at least he never left me alone. We continued to practice each day until I was able to swim on my own and I wasn't scared anymore... You could say that I was forced to learn, instead of me wanting to, but in the end I guess it was worth it. I think that's the only good memory that I have of my dad." He said that last part a bit sadly.

"Oh..." I said after he finished, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it gently. "I'm glad that you were able to develop that skill. But I think that your parents comparing you to other kids or your mom calling you a  coward, weren't good reasons to encourage you to do it."

"I know. But I guess that's the way that my grandparents taught them to educate their children."

I nodded. We remained silent for a few seconds when Zack decided to change the topic. At least the topic about his parents.

"So, what about you? I bet you're a great swimmer."

I snorted. "I wish. But the truth is that I suck terribly at swimming. You see, one day my parents took me and Wyatt to this water park. Wyatt was the one who was more excited about this stuff than me, he was the fanatic of jumping into the water and splashing people. But I wasn't. I was even too shy to take off my clothes and that people would look at my ugly body." I said and Zack chuckled at that part. "The thing is that I was just sitting at the edge of one of the pools, moving my feet on the water like I'm doing now. That was until the idiot of my brother insisted that I should get in the pool fully with him and the rest of the people, but I didn't want to, and what he did was to pull my arms so I would fall directly into the water. I began to thrash around the water because I had no idea of how to swim and I swear I felt like I was dying. That was until my dad had to get in the pool to pull me out. I obviously became the center of attention of everyone, and I felt so damn embarrassed. After a while Wyatt apologized to me but I remained angry with him for the rest of the day."

"Aw, poor Marky." Zack said in a sad voice while he rubbed my back, but I could hear he chuckled once or twice. "What Wyatt did was something dumb. I think he only wanted you to have fun like him, but he must've known that you couldn't swim." He said and I nodded. "But now that we're here... Would you like to give it a try?"

"What? Swimming?" I asked him.

"Yep."

I shook my head. "No way. I don't think I can do it."

"I will teach you." He offered.

"Thanks Zack... But it's okay like that, really. You can go and swim and I'll watch you from here, okay?"

"Why to watch when you can join me?"

"But..." I trailed, trying to look for an excuse. "We didn't bring swimsuits."

"We don't need them. We can just get in in our birthday suits, you know?"

I raised a brow at him. "Are you suggesting we go skinny-dipping in this lake?"

"So that's how it's called? Interesting. Then yes, let's go skinny-dipping." He said with a playful smile, but I was still very unsure. He placed his hand on top of mine and caressed it in a comforting manner. "Come on, Mark. Let's at least try. I'll be by your side all the time if that's what you want. I don't want you to become a professional swimmer, just go to the water with me and have some fun. Besides, it's really hot today and I could really use some refreshing cold water. What do you say?"

I thought about it for a moment, biting my lower lip. The day was indeed hot, and having my feet on the water only wasn't enough. The water looked quiet and harmless, but I could also tell that it was very, very deep. But Zack doesn't seem to mind about that. He seems so confident and that makes me trust him to do this with him. So after some more seconds of battling with my mind, I nodded my head and Zack gave me a big smile.

"Okay. Then let's go." He said, pulling out his feet from the water and standing up on the bridge. I did the same and stood up with him. We walked towards the edge of the lake where there was some grass and small rocks. Once at that place, Zack proceeded to take off his clothing.

"What if someone comes?" I asked a bit worriedly.

"No one will come. And if they do, they will probably leave us alone." He shrugged, dropping his shirt on the grass and pulling down his pants and boxers until he was now fully naked. I started to do the same, albeit reluctantly, feeling like we were going to have sex right here. If we take off our clothes it's either to take a shower or to have sex, but right now he only wants us to swim for a while and here I am thinking of damn sex. Naughty Mark.

When my pants and boxers came down and I was standing naked on the grass, the wind hitting my uncovered areas and making me shiver a bit. I almost felt like freaking Adam and Eve right now. Only that this was more like Adam and Steve. I watched as Zack's naked body started to step into the water, going every time further down until it was at the level of his neck and he was now floating on it.

"Ah, it's so refreshing!" Zack said, moving his arms around the water and playing with it for a while before he looked up at me and stretched up his arms. "Come here."

I gave small steps forward until my toes were touching the cold liquid which the lake was formed of. I reached to take Zack's hands in mine as I dared to go lower and lower, nervousness starting to grow in me the more the water crept up my body.

"Good, good. Come on, you're almost here." He encouraged me gently, the water now at the level of my chest and I felt even more nervous. It was when my neck was surrounded by the water when I started to panic and I felt like I was being pulled down, and I quickly clutched to Zack's body for dear life. He held me by my armpits, keeping me in place so I wouldn't go down.

"Easy there, I got you. You're safe with me." He told me softly, his voice sounding so soothing, making all my worries and fears fade away almost completely. "See? You're here already. It's not that bad, is it?"

"No... It's okay. I guess." I replied, still clutching onto him, feeling our bodies touching under the water.

"It'll get better. You just have to get used to it." He told me, as he started to swim backwards slowly, taking me with him. "It's like having sex with a guy for the first time. You're not going to like it at first, but then you will love it."

We both laughed at his words as he continued to swim around the lake, his strong arms holding me. He started to give me instructions about how I must move my legs or arms in order to keep myself floating on the water. I followed his steps, trying to do as best as I could, Zack's encouraging and gentle voice motivating me to do even better.

As time passed, his arms were slowly starting to leave my body. And before I knew it, I was no longer clutching onto him as I found myself floating on my own.

"You did it! See? I knew you would do it." Zack cheered. I gave him a thankful smile and tried to get close to him to show him my thankfulness, but then he retreated away from me, swimming backwards in that cool position where his back was on the water, and he used his feet to propel himself back. He was really talented at this. He always managed to impress me.

"If you want to kiss me, you'll have to catch me first." He challenged, smirking as he swam farther away from me.

"Oh of course I will catch you!" I said, putting into practice the movements he had taught me as I launched myself forward, using my arms like rows and using my legs to push me forth even more. The cool water hit my face every time I splashed my arms against it, wanting to reach my objective, who I was managing to get closer to.

But before I could grab Zack's arm and pull him towards me, he splashed a big amount of water with his hand, landing straight on my face and making me gasp and close my eyes at the coldness.

Zack started laughing, and I ran a hand down my face to get rid of the water so I could open my eyes. A laughing Zack was trying to escape from me. "So that's how you want to play?" I asked with a smirk, before I lifted my arm and managed to splash his face too.

Soon we both were laughing like little kids, in a war of splashes. I could see some strands of my hair hanging on my forehead due to how wet it was already. Zack was very skilled that he managed to avoid some of my splashes, but still I was able to make his own hair look as flat on his head as mine.

I wiped my face again when another splash came at it, and I was getting ready to unleash my final super splash on him, but I stopped myself when I noticed that the lake was empty.

I started to look around, behind me, on the grass, or on the bridge, to see if he had decided to get out of the lake and change. But there was no one there either. My heart quickened in pace and I started to worry a bit.

"Zack?" I called his name, but I got no response.

Until I felt something touching my feet under the water, and I jumped and yelped at the same time, looking down to see what the hell that was.

Suddenly, Zack emerged from under the water right in front of me, taking a deep breath and running a hand over his wet hair, allowing me to see his angelic face smiling at me. Droplets of water fell down his hair and the tip of his nose, they decorated his perfect toned chest and arms, and that smile... It sent a thousand shivers up my body and made my heart thump like crazy. Everything about him made him look absolutely gorgeous.

He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer to him, our lips smashing together. I returned the action and placed my hands on both sides of his face, kissing him back with the same love and affection that we had for each other. Our lips were cold and wet from all this playing around in the lake, but as we continued kissing more and more, they started to get warm. We breathed through our noses, not wanting to detach our lips from the slightest second, they were just so soft and tasty, I could kiss them for centuries. My thumbs caressed his cheeks and his hands rubbed my back, the touch of our hands adding to the beautiful experience we were living. The water burbled gently with the movements of our hands and our bodies, and the fear of drowning in it was completely gone. His mouth and his kisses were the only things where I wanted myself to drown.

We finally pulled apart to get oxygen, our breathings hitting our faces. We opened our eyes at the same time and they locked with the other's for a few seconds, until I leaned forward to nuzzle my face on his neck and I hugged him tightly. I felt Zack smile and he hugged me back, caressing the back of my head with one hand.

"My sweet angel." I mumbled into his neck.

"My precious bear."

And so we stayed on the water for a few more minutes. Another perfect and sweet moment between us.

================

The evening of that same day, Zack and I decided to chill at home by watching some movie on Netflix. We had a bowl of butter popcorn between us and a few other snacks that we had bought on our way here. We even decided to turn off all the lights to give the place a cinema feel. It was a lot better than a cinema, it was free, there weren't people around, and the couch was super comfortable. We were having an excellent time as we commented on random parts of the movie.

Our moment was interrupted when I felt my phone vibrating in my sweatpants. Then it vibrated a second time. I stopped eating popcorn and looked down at my pants to pull out my phone, wondering who that was. Ever since I'm together with Zack, I don't receive a lot of messages from people anymore. I don't receive any, actually. Not that I care because I don't feel the need to talk to anyone else but Zack. So since I talked to Rupert and Wyatt some time ago, I suppose it must be one of them.

So I turned on my phone, and went to the messages app to find two messages from an unknown number.

???: Mark
We need 2 talk

I frowned at the messages. I had no idea whose number this was. Until I went to check the profile picture. I sighed at seeing a brunette girl sitting on a bed with very few clothes, in a ridiculous pose and a horrible smile. Scarlet. Hasn't this bitch given up on me yet? And how the hell did she get my new number?

Me: Scarlet?
What do you want?

Scarlet: I rlly need 2 talk 2 u mark
Imbnot feelung fine
Pls
Come 2 my place asap

Me: There's nothing to talk about. You and me are nothing anymore Scarlet, can't you understand?
Now please leave me alone

That didn't manage to calm her down and suddenly she started spamming me with lots of messages, saying that she really needed to talk. She said it wasn't anything bad, but that she only needed to talk things through calmly. But what things? I'm telling her that there aren't absolutely any strings attached between us.

I can't allow her to keep butting in my life anymore. There has to be a way for her to understand and make her stay away from me once for all. I'm going to sort this shit out just so she can leave me and my Zack alone.

"What's wrong, Mark?" Zack asked me. I turned to look into his slightly concerned look. He must've seen the frown and the anger on my face as I looked at my phone.

"It's Scarlet. She says she needs to talk." I replied.

He frowned. "That skank again? I thought she had decided not to bother you anymore?"

I chuckled. "Well, she hasn't. But right now, I'm going to tell her to stop doing it. I'm fed up of her!" I said, putting on my boots and standing up from the couch.

"Wait!" Zack paused the movie and stood up too, going to turn the lights back on. "Are you seriously going at her place?"

"Yes, Zack. She has to learn that I don't want anything to do with her anymore. I don't want her to keep barging into our life with her stupid obsession towards me."

"Can't you just block her?"

"Yes, but I can't risk the thought that someday she tries to do something to me... Or to you. Sometimes she can be very hot-headed, we never know what she would try to do."

"But then how are you going to solve this? I don't think that a simple talk will help her to understand."

"If that doesn't work, then I will have to talk to her parents about it. And in extreme cases, I will have to talk to the police. I don't know, but I'll do anything it takes so she can leave us alone." After I said that, I made my way towards the staircase and went to our bedroom, putting on a jacket since the evening was cold outside. I didn't bother to change my sweatpants and walked back down to the hall.

"Can I go with you?" Zack asked me, his eyes looking a bit scared.

"No, babe. You stay here. I won't take long, I'm just going to talk to her and then I'll be back. I'm sure she will understand." I replied gently, brushing his cheek.

Zack looked down, biting his lower lip worriedly. I didn't want to see him like this all because of that Scarlet whore.

"Hey." I told him, lifting his chin so he would look at me. "Don't worry. I'll be okay. I can do this, trust me. If anything happens, I will call you immediately. Hopefully I won't have to call you. Besides, I think her parents are going to be there."

He remained silent, averting his gaze and sighing, before he nodded slowly. "Okay."

I smiled and kissed his lips. Then I headed towards the door and opened it, letting in the chilly evening air. "You can continue watching the movie if you want. Then you can tell me what happened at the end when I get back, yeah?"

He smiled, although still looking a bit nervous. "Yes, Mark... Take care."

"I will. Be right back!" I blew him a kiss before I closed the door behind me and got inside the car. I took a deep breath and started the engine, pulling out of the driveway and driving through the darkening streets towards this hoe's house. I'm going to clear everything up.

Once there, some drops of cold water had already started to pour down from the sky. I climbed out of the car and looked at the purplish sky covered in thick clouds. It seemed like a really strong storm was approaching, due to the intense hot weather of this morning.

I approached Scarlet's house and I was about to knock on the door, only to stop myself at seeing that it was open ajar. That's strange. I frowned and decided to open it slowly, my eyes scanning around the house and getting into my extremely cautious mode, just in case that some burglars had barged into her house.

"Scarlet?" I called, closing the door and stepping into the living room.

"I knew you would come." A voice sounded from upstairs and I looked up to see Scarlet standing at the top of the stairs, wearing nothing but a red robe. She seemed relieved in some way. "That only means how much you really want to change."

"What?" I asked confusingly, but then I ignored her and shook my head. "May I know why the hell your door was open?