“Why don’t you have your suit on?” Jane asked as she hobbled up to Austin’s door. He had just pulled a black tee on and was now sliding on his shoes.

“Old friend wants to meet for drinks, he’s buying,” he smiled.

“Oh…” Jane responded, realizing it’d just be her and Rob tonight. She felt the hot flash of panic take over her. “Do you think-“

“You’re beet red, J,” he blurted before cracking up.

“Well, I don’t know, you just told me to steer clear of Rob and my feelings, and now-“

“And now you’re going swimming?”

When put like that, it sounded pretty stupid. “Swimming.” Just swimming. 

“I think you can handle it. Hell, maybe it’d be good for you two to have some alone time… learn how to be next to each other without being so awkward.”

“It’s not that bad,” Jane rolled her eyes. But in reality, all Jane wanted was for them to be friends again. For her to not want to crumple any time it was just the two of them in a room. 

“Oh, it is,” Austin walked out of the room and beckoned her to follow. “Maybe next we can work on you and Sam.”

“That’ll take more than a dip in the pool, I think.”

Austin slid open the back door so that Jane could exit with her crutches, but before closing it, he whispered a quick “don’t do anything stupid.”

Jane, unsure of what she was doing at all, nodded, then turned her attention to Rob who was swimming in the pool 20 feet away. In her hands along with her crutches, she had a ACE bandage to reapply to her foot once she was done, and her phone, which she attached to the aux cord that played [url= https://youtu.be/z26eM4Gr0cA]a Mars Volta song[/url] over the outdoor speaker. But not even the song drowned out her heart thumping in her ears as she approached the edge, setting her crutches down behind her and hopping down to the second step. The saltwater pool was heated, and Jane closed her eyes as the warmth of engulfed her.

“I have an interview tomorrow morning, so no partying hard tonight,” she joked as Rob swam towards her. Her nerves were settling, why was she even nervous to begin with? 

“I, uh, I thought you were going out with Adrianna and then tonight,” she stated, even though it sounded like more of a question. 

Their eyes met, and as always, Jane felt herself melt. Rob, both a stranger and the best friend she never replaced. All these years and she just wanted to hug him. To apologize another thousand times for all of the bullshit she put the both of them through. But for now, she lowered herself another step until just her shoulders and head were out of the water.